Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Committal for contempt after criminal acquittal: permission unlikely without new evidence; prioritise early applications (First Capital East v Plana) (England and Wales)

Published on: 05 November 2015

Published by a LexisNexis Dispute Resolution expert

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Article summary

Does a criminal prosecution prevent civil contempt proceedings? (First Capital East Limited v Ilmi Plana & Anor)

Practical implications

There is a steadily growing momentum across the wider insurance sector, especially in the personal injury sphere, to seek the toughest sanctions realistically available against those who attempt to advance fabricated or inflated claims. Although, to some, such measures may, at first blush, seem heavy-handed — and the PR dimension is ever-present — where the dishonesty is both clear and brazen, often shown by the deployment of covert surveillance, the urge to make examples of fraudsters is entirely understandable. The critical point in this matter appears to have been that the individual had been acquitted and there was no fresh evidence. In general, contempt applications ought to be brought as soon as possible after the civil proceedings and before any criminal prosecution. As the judge remarked, this could be achieved more readily if the route for obtaining permission from the County Court to the High Court were made more streamlined.

The attempted fraud and criminal prosecution

The first respondent issued personal injury proceedings in the County Court against his former employers for an alleged accident at work. He asserted he had...

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