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8th March, 2001 - Background to the Legal Challenge

We are anticipating a certain level of interest in next week's JR hearing.
This newsletter contains essential information regarding our coverage of events.

The hearing starts next Tuesday morning, 13th March at the High Court in London. The Court is expected to sit until Thursday 15th. We do not expect a decision on Thursday. Judgement is likely to be deferred a few days, but unless the case has been referred to Europe on a point of law, we expect an outcome before the end of the month.

Chairman's message
PCG Chairman Gareth Williams writes:

There is no doubt we have a very good case. But equally the judge will - quite rightly - demand a high standard of argument before overturning legislation passed by Parliament. We would not have got this far without a very good legal team, and the efforts of members who have contributed to the legal fund, and provided their own personal testimony in evidence.

The result of this effort is that we now have a fighting chance of striking IR35 off the statute book. It is now up to the lawyers and the judge.

Background to the legal challenge
A full background to the legal challenge, including history, the appeals process and the PCG legal team is available.

Here

Support at the Proceedings
A number of PCG members have expressed an interest in attending court over the three days. We are expecting press coverage outside the Court on Tuesday 13th from 9.30am. The High Court is on the Strand (near the Aldwych)

If you are planning to attend, Legal Director Neil Wilson has advised that we should maintain our "professional business image� in reality as well as on paper. Especially for those who appear in the public gallery who *will* have an effect on the Judge. (And don't forget your PCG badges.)

We do not know how many members will be attending, and space in the public gallery will be very limited. Members will also be welcome at the PCG Press Office, which for the duration of the hearing will be located at:

The Cheshire Cheese Public House,
5 Little Essex Street, (opp - High Court)
(NB. Not the same as Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet St).

The office will be open upstairs from around 9.30am to 6.30 everyday and will act as an HQ for members and the Press. A light breakfast will be available from the Cheshire Cheese from 10.30 on the first day (13th) and of course the bar downstairs will be open as usual.

Susie Hughes and a team of volunteers will be running press briefings, interviews, contractor meets, and providing live feedback online to members.

If you do decide to attend, please note that there may be journalists wanting to speak to PCG members. If you are asked, or would like to speak to the Press, Susie Hughes will be available (at the Cheshire Cheese) to offer some guidance on presenting your case clearly.

Cheshire Cheese location: (see map and arrow)

Updates from the Court - Web address
Clearly many members will not be able to attend in person. We have set up a temporary �noticeboard� site for the hearing. We will publish regular updates on this PUBLIC site for Press and Members.

This is a read only site - no discussion facility. As soon as news breaks, it will be posted to this site. (Link available from PCG Homepage)

http://www.ir35update.co.uk

All the latest news will be posted here first - so please use this site as a first resort for information.

Press Briefing
The Operational briefing to the Press for the JR is available from the website above:

http://www.ir35update.co.uk and here

Susie Hughes
(Head of Executive Services)

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