authorities meaning

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) revamped the legal regime regulating covert surveillance by public authorities. IPA 2016 superseded large parts of the framework previously, though not solely, contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000). See Practice Note: The regulation of intelligence gathering—an introductory guide. This note outlines the offences introduced by IPA 2016. For details of general sentencing limits in a magistrates’ court, see Practice Note: Sentences imposed following conviction—General limits on magistrates’ courts powers to impose custodial sentences following conviction... Section Offence Statutory defence Maximum sentence IPA 2016, s 3 — Unlawful interception: a person, by conduct in the UK, deliberately intercepts a communication during its transmission without lawful authority. Defence: where the individual has the right to control the operation or use of the system, or had that person’s express or implied consent to carry out the interception. Maximum sentence: on summary conviction, a fine; on indictment, up to two years’ imprisonment and/or a...

To gauge concentration within a particular market, competition authorities often turn to the Herfindahl‑Hirschman Index (HHI) as a primary tool that supports and streamlines their assessment. Although the absolute HHI level provides an early signal of post‑merger competitive pressure, the movement in the HHI (the ‘delta’) functions as a practical proxy for the change in concentration directly attributable to the merger itself and its immediate effects. How to calculate the HHI The HHI is obtained by adding the squares of the individual market shares of all firms participating in the market, without omitting any active competitor...

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) reshapes the statutory regime governing covert surveillance conducted by public authorities, a regime largely, but not entirely, previously contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000). This Checklist carefully sets out those public authorities that hold the power to apply for authorisation to obtain communications data under IPA 2016, Pt 3, preserving the established focus and scope throughout. Authorisations to secure communications data may only be granted where defined conditions are satisfied, by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner under IPA 2016, s 60A, by designated senior officers under IPA 2016, s 61, or by designated senior officers in urgent circumstances under IPA 2016, s 61A. In operational practice, the Office for Communications Data Authorisations carries out this function on the Commissioner’s behalf. The table below specifies which public authorities may apply to access communications data, the kinds of communications data they are permitted to request, together with the purposes for which such data may be obtained, whether...

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL(RR)A 2023) confers a suite of legislative powers, allowing the relevant national authorities to reshape retained EU law (REUL) by making secondary legislation to amend, revoke, restate and/or replace REUL and assimilated law. Its principal powers are located in REUL(RR)A 2023, ss 11–16. The core procedural obligations (including parliamentary scrutiny routes) for these instruments appear in REUL(RR)A 2023, s 20 and Schs 4–5. REUL(RR)A 2023 sifting process—background Under REUL(RR)A 2023, before specified statutory instruments (referred to here as ‘REUL reform SIs’) are formally presented to Parliament, they must first undergo a preliminary sifting exercise to confirm the suitable parliamentary procedure. Details of the sifting mechanism are set out in REUL(RR)A 2023, Sch 5 Pt 2, para 6...

This Flowchart It outlines the competent authorities tasked with implementing UN and UK sanctions pursuant to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) within the United Kingdom jurisdiction...

Practice Note: Contract interpretation—distinguishing between liquidated damages and penalty clauses As highlighted in this Practice Note, working out whether a liquidated damages provision will be struck down as a penalty is seldom straightforward and often demands careful judgment. Although each dispute turns on the court’s construction of the contract, there are several points to weigh when examining the ambit of a supposed liquidated damages term and its potential exposure to a penalty challenge, both in substance and effect. When you are drafting such a clause, it is vital to keep these considerations in view, and to think about how it sits alongside connected provisions, including any related terms that operate with it. See: Drafting and negotiating a liquidated damages clause—checklist Precedent: Liquidated damages clause For targeted analysis of the way authorities have treated provisions in commercial agreements that stipulate ‘default interest’, see the following materials: Penalty interest rates in commercial contracts Contract interpretation—distinguishing between liquidated damages and penalty...

Competition policy Commission publishes report on enforcement of EU antitrust and merger control rules in the pharmaceutical sector between 2018–2022 The Commission has issued a report on competition enforcement—covering antitrust and merger control—in the pharmaceutical sector, outlining the activities undertaken by the Commission and national competition authorities during 2018 to 2022. It updates an earlier 2019 report that examined the period from 2009 to 2017. Alongside a broad overview of enforcement in pharmaceuticals, the report describes the sector’s key features that guide competition assessments and, through concrete and practical examples, clearly demonstrates how competition law action protected undertakings and consumers, including in the course of the Covid-19 crisis...

State aid General Court dismisses action relating to Commission’s decision approving compensation to Česká pošta for universal service obligations The General Court delivered its ruling in Case T-784/22, Zásilkovna v Commission, a challenge to the Commission’s decision of 25 July 2022, which concluded that compensation granted to Česká pošta by the Czech Republic for carrying out the universal postal service obligation for the years 2018-2022 was compatible with the internal market (SA.55208). The General Court rejected the action in full. By its ruling, the Court endorsed the Commission’s approval of the compensation measure. Background Česká pošta, the incumbent postal operator in the Czech Republic, has been designated as the country’s universal postal service provider. Under the universal service obligation (USO), Česká pošta is required, amongst other duties, to make available specified letter and parcel delivery services on each business day throughout the whole territory of the Czech Republic. The General Court upheld this decision on appeal. In January 2018, the Czech authorities pre-notified compensation intended for Česká...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR)-UK government publishes Business Model documentation On 27 August 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) released a suite of papers on its proposed Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) Business Model and accompanying policy. The Lexis+ Energy team, working with Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh Law School, set out the context for the GGR Business Model; its relationship with the Power BECCS Business Model; the technologies the GGR framework intends to encompass; its legal footing and principal features; and how...

The extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime for packaging and packaging waste The extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime for packaging and packaging waste shifts the entire cost of managing household packaging waste from households to packaging producers, placing on them accountability for their packaging costs throughout its lifecycle. Lower charges apply to sustainable packaging, incentivising designs that use fewer materials and are easier to recycle. Under EPR, Local Authorities (LAs) receive producer-funded payments covering the net costs of collecting, managing, recycling and disposing of this household packaging waste. EPR is governed by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1332 (as amended). These regulations define a range of persons and bodies with specific functions within the regime. These are: producers—these are the principal duty holders compliance schemes the Scheme Administrator (SA) (PackUK) ‘relevant authorities’ which are LAs as household waste collection and disposal authorities responsible for household waste services reprocessors and exporters the ‘appropriate agency’—in England, the Environment...

This Practice Note identifies the traffic authorities empowered to manage highway traffic across the highway network under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (RTRA 1984), and outlines a traffic authority’s obligations in relation to road traffic. It sets out how that duty is discharged by making Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) pursuant to the RTRA 1984, and the situations where approval from the Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers is required, where necessary and appropriate, before an Order is made. What is a Traffic Regulation Order? A TRO is a formal order or byelaw issued by a traffic authority specifying the type and scope of traffic restrictions within a particular locality...

The public sector equality duty (PSED) Set out in Part 11 of the Equality Act 2010 (ss 149–159), the public sector equality duty (PSED) comprises a general equality duty applying UK-wide to public bodies listed in Schedule 19 of the EqA 2010, alongside specific duties intended to support delivery of the general duty and enhance transparency. Although the general duty is identical across England, Wales and Scotland, the specific duties made under EqA 2010, s 153 vary. In Wales, listed public bodies must meet particular specific duties that sit alongside the UK-wide general duty. These specific duties bind listed Welsh bodies only. They do not extend to non-devolved public authorities operating in Wales. Under EqA 2010, s 149, the general duty requires public authorities and those exercising public functions to have 'due regard' to the need to: eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and any other behaviour prohibited by or under the EqA 2010 advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and...

Precedent report This Precedent report serves to alert a client, or another area of the business, to anti‑counterfeiting issues and related matters. It may cover detentions by customs authorities pursuant to the simplified procedure set out in Assimilated Regulation (EU) 608/2013, and detentions by the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards (‘Trading Standards’) or the police, as well as other discoveries of counterfeit goods. Its aim is to simplify the process of obtaining instructions on whether any detained or discovered good is counterfeit. It is regularly employed to handle relatively low‑value, time‑sensitive detentions or discoveries in practice...

1 Introduction 1.1 This policy outlines the duties of staff and leaders regarding inquiries into fraud, bribery, the facilitation of tax evasion, and other commercial offences (collectively, ‘financial crime’) within [ insert organisation name ]. We have zero tolerance for any form of financial crime and pledge to safeguard our assets and uphold honesty and integrity at all times. 1.2 [ Insert organisation name ] is dedicated to running its operations transparently, honestly and fairly, at all times. Everyone employed by, or acting for, [ insert organisation name ] must consistently demonstrate the highest level of accountability and foster an ethical culture at all times. 1.3 When financial crime is suspected, [ insert organisation name ] will initiate an impartial inquiry into the allegations and take suitable remedial action. Actions may involve disciplinary processes, dismissal and/or providing information to the relevant criminal prosecution authorities. [ Insert organisation name ] will, where appropriate, pursue recovery of funds lost through financial crime perpetrated or enabled by employees...

[ TO BE TYPED ON THE HEADED NOTEPAPER OF THE SPECIAL ADMINISTRATORS’ FIRM ] TO ALL KNOWN CREDITORS [ ENTER DATE ] [ name of Investment Bank ]—in special administration (the ‘Investment Bank’) I am writing to inform you that I was appointed Joint Special Administrator of the Investment Bank on [ date ], together with my colleague, [ name of other special administrator ]. A formal notice of our appointment accompanies this letter. In accordance with the Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011, SI 2011/245 (the ‘Regulations’), the purpose of the special administration is to pursue the following objectives: secure the return of client assets as soon as reasonably practicable maintain prompt engagement with market infrastructure bodies and the authorities pursuant to Regulation 13; and to either: rescue the investment bank as a going concern; or place it into winding up in the best interests of creditors In this...

A well-known problem amongst procurement professionals A widely recognised headache for procurement practitioners arises from the duty in regulation 53 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102 (PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 53). It requires the ‘procurement documents’ to be accessible at the time a public contract is advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (the Official Journal, or OJEU). In essence, contracting authorities must use the internet to provide unrestricted, complete and immediate access, at no cost, to those documents from the day a notice, issued under regulation 51, appears in the Official Journal, or from the day an invitation to confirm interest is dispatched. The issue most often raised, particularly for public procurements run under the restricted procedure (and comparable routes that involve a pre-qualification phase ahead of the award stage), is whether the invitation to tender and the specification must already be available when the contract notice is published in the OJEU. Timing this disclosure often proves challenging for contracting authorities...

Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102, reg 33(2) defines a framework agreement as: Regulation 33(2) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102) describes a framework agreement as an arrangement between one or more contracting authorities and one or more economic operators, intended to set the terms that will govern contracts awarded over a specified period, notably concerning price and, where appropriate, the quantities anticipated. The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) guidance interprets a framework agreement as a broad term for arrangements with providers that lay down the terms and conditions under which agreements for specific purchases—referred to as call-off contracts—can be put in place throughout the life of the agreement...

Neither the legislation—Part 4, Schedule 6 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (EIA 2006)—nor the guidance—Governance handbook and Schools causing concern—Statutory guidance for local authorities—addresses whether a duty to consult persists where a local authority intends to exercise its EIA 2006, s 65 powers to appoint an Interim Executive Board (IEB) after the entire governing body has stepped down. Warning notice As stated at page 14 of the guidance, a warning notice under Part 4 of the EIA 2006 must be provided in writing to the school’s governing body and must include: the matters on which the local authority’s concerns are based...