In May 2015 the High Crt ruled in the case of Paul Nicolson v Tottenham Magistrates Crt, HERE with Haringey council as Interested Party,
"relating to the costs sought by local authorities with regard to the enforcement of unpaid council tax"
that
" i) the Magistrates did not have sufficient relevant information before
them to reach a proper judicial determination of whether the costs
claimed represented costs reasonably incurred by the Council in
obtaining the liability order;
ii) the Magistrates erred in law by failing to make further inquiries
into how the £125 was computed and what elements it comprised; and
iii) the Claimant was denied a fair opportunity to challenge the
lawfulness of the order before it was made, by reason of the failure to
answer his requests for the provision of information as to how the sum
of £125 was arrived at."
23 December 2015 HERE the same issue of council tax recovery costs and not following the rules, produced the same results in regards to Highbury Corner Magistrates Crt with Camden council as Interested Party.
Yes its the Terence Ewing again and this time it may be a first in that
a) JP ruled not an abuse of process/vexatious and
b) he actually won a case.
I'm guessing many in the TE camp will be jumping up and down in joy at TE's victory and are in further awe of him and his gang/s.
These two court cases where not a victory in regards to the fairness of council tax demands, or anything like that - only that it showed the magistrates up for not following the proper rules in relation to the issuing of council tax liability orders on behalf of the local councils. It also showed the local councils up for not following the proper rules when starting enforcement action for non payment of council tax with added recovery costs
But I guess at the end of the day it may all be about scoring points, looking good to followers/supporters and creating the illusion that they are a force to reckon with. The authorities may be unintentionally handing them these cases on a plate.
On saying that the bigger issue could well be that both councils and indeed all councils and magistrates crts make sure they take note of the judgements and follow the proper procedures, which in reality may be a problem to regulate.
