It is 3.08 am. What does a blawger do at this time in the morning? A quick trip to the blawgers to see what they have been up to this week. 
First up is a story from Family Lore about flying carpets and turkish delight in the Family Division. Mr Justice Singer has been ordered to stand down in a case for making what Lord Justice Ward called “thoroughly bad jokes”. The case, El Farargy v El Farargy and Others, concerns 
financial proceedings on divorce and involves a Saudi sheik, Khalid Ben Abdullah Rashid Al Fawaz. The sheik didn’t enjoy the jokes about flying carpets. Mr Justice Singer seemed to take the view that the sheik could depart on his flying carpet to escape paying costs and that his evidence was “a bit gelatinous … a bit like Turkish Delight”. Lord Justice Ward described the case as “a singularly unsatisfactory, unfortunate and embarrassing matter”.
Inevitably…perhaps, ineluctably?…. Geeklawyer wades in on this, like an information superhighway Rottweiler, with the acute observation: “Oh for fuck’s sake Court of Appeal – get a life”.
Pink Tape, the blog of a mainly family lawyer, has a different view on this case. Pink Tape is flabbergasted. A bizarre case. Pink Tape’s view is worth reading.
What about clients?, in the form of Holden Oliver, has gone surreally over the top in describing “Charon” as ‘an urbane and refreshing Londoner’ . Over refreshed occasion (and I make no admission(s)) may have been more accurate. WAC? went on to say … “Some lawyers are international lawyers. Charon is that, and much more: he’s a lawyer and an international kind of guy.” Yessss…. as Paxo may have drawled. (Note for overseas visitors or those who never watch BBC’s Newsnight. Jeremy ‘Paxo’ Paxman drawls nasally when he asks questions. A most effective technique.)
But… we have Geekawyer and Victorian Maiden, perhaps showing a streak of ‘Iron Maiden?, arguing about the Castree conviction. You have to visit the ‘comments’ section on GL’s post to drink from the well of knowledge on this one. Geeklawyer draws our attention to the recent conviction of Castree in the Lesley Molseed murder. Stefan Kiszko was wrongly convicted of this killing. Kiszko spent 16 years in prison only to die within 2 years of release of his conviction being quashed. You really need to view the comments section for this one.
And now, of course, we have the ‘unsafe conviction’ in the Dando killing. The Court of Appeal has ordered a re-trial.
Victorian Maiden has developed a taste for the word ‘egregious’. I always enjoy coming across unusual words. Although, as it happens, I knew the meaning of the word, I don’t tend to use it it down at The Bollo that often. Maybe I should? A quick search on Google kept me busy for a while:
egregious formal adj outrageous; shockingly bad. egregiously adverb. egregiousness noun.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c: from Latin egregius standing out from the herd, from e out of + grex, gregis herd.
But… then… Google had a reference: “How is it that the English meaning of ‘Egregious’ is the opposite of that in Italian?” I followed the link up and discovered from William Tell: “Why is it that egregious means very foolish or blatant, whereas the formal salutation egregio in Italian is clearly intended as a compliment, as in ‘Egregio Signore’?”
Next time I am at The Bollo and come across one of the denizens there (who is mildly eccentric and amusing) I shall ask him if he feels ‘egregious’ today. I feel confident that he will say that he does. The Bollo, is undergoing a ‘makeover’… and a very good one at that. We have
new wooden floors, flowers, new furniture, a grand piano and a very talented Jazz singer to entertain us as we eat our Sunday roast. Kelly Dickson does have a great voice… and a bit of live Jazz on a Sunday as we approach Winter is good for the soul.
I appear to have been diverted from my original purpose – to see what blawgers have been up to. But it is now approaching 4.00 am and…. time waits for no blawger. It is time to get on with the work of life…
But before I do…. Terror Police shot man in Coma with tazers.
“A man who had gone into a diabetic coma on a bus in Leeds was shot twice with a Taser gun by police who feared he may have been a security threat.”
Mr Gaubert said he was told the police believed he looked “Egyptian”.
Makes one think?
***
Bellum omium contra omnes – Everyman’s struggle against everyman…. as Hobbes liked to say. I like a bit of Latin in the early hours…
Charon QC 