Communication to the public 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 IPA 2016 superseded large parts of the framework previously, though not solely, contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000).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...

This checklist outlines the competition law factors that matter for corporate transactions... Preliminary considerations Before approaching the other party, it is vital to: Assemble a deal team and set up clear lines of communication across all relevant parts of the business. You may need specialist advisers, depending on PR needs, anticipated complexity or regulatory matters, for example: lobbying/PR specialists economists accountants Be careful with document creation (internal and external) and with public and internal statements Manage expectations, including any potential competition issues and early timing considerations Confirm that the proposed transaction has a legitimate objective Consider preserving legal privilege for relevant communications (see further, Legal privilege in EU competition cases) Issues before and during negotiation From the point a deal is contemplated and throughout negotiations, be mindful of risks, particularly avoiding any possibility of collusion and not creating ‘hostages to fortune’ that competition authorities could...

Thomas v Cheltenham Borough Council [2025] EWCA Civ 259 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment will interest practitioners dealing with prior approval applications for electronic communication developments, and, more generally, those pursuing public law challenges about material considerations and appeals against High Court decisions. It reviews the Supreme Court's guidance in Friends of the Earth v Secretary of State for Transport [2021] UKSC 52 on three types of information that can amount to a material consideration. These include: information that legislation or policy, either expressly or by necessary implication, obliges the decision-maker to take into account or to ignore; and information that the decision-maker is entitled to consider where, in their own judgement and discretion, they regard it as appropriate. The judgment underlines that, within this third class, a decision-maker may choose not to refer to something others might regard as pertinent; yet, unless it was so plainly relevant that no rational decision-maker could have left it out of account, the omission to have regard...

In this issue: Regulatory framework for medicinal products Research and development Data protection and life sciences Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Regulatory framework for medicinal products Commission releases Communication to boost biotechnology and biomanufacturing The European Commission has issued a Communication on building the future with nature, outlining the obstacles and constraints in the EU’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing arena and setting out a suite of targeted measures to invigorate biotechnology and biomanufacturing across the EU. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) welcomed the Commission’s Communication and urged the Commission to bring forward, in its next mandate, a comprehensive health and life science strategy so that European patients can access innovative new treatments and technologies. See: LNB News 20/03/2024 81. MEPs adopt proposal to improve EU pharmaceutical legislation The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee has adopted its proposals...

Although Stability AI Ltd. accepts that ‘at least some’ images from the stock photography giant’s site were used to ‘train’ its generative art system, the company — in a defence newly made public at the High Court on Wednesday — again asserted that no training occurred within the UK. ‘Stable Diffusion was not trained in the UK and we expect to be fully vindicated at trial’, a Stability AI spokesperson told Law360 on 1 March 2024. Getty brought proceedings against Stability AI in the High Court in May 2023, alleging copyright infringement for training Stable Diffusion on millions of its works via an online data set compiled by ‘scraping’ links to photographs and videos, together with their captions, from across the web, including websites such as Getty Images, Flickr and Tumblr. In certain instances, outputs from Stable Diffusion allegedly contained a ‘substantial part’ of photographs on the Getty platform, and even reproduced the stock agency’s watermarks, according to the initial claim...

Practice Note This Practice Note explores what amounts to a protected disclosure for the whistleblowing protections in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), into which the relevant provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA 1998) have been incorporated. It addresses the general features of disclosures, when they qualify as qualifying disclosures, the need for a whistleblower to hold a reasonable belief that a relevant category of wrongdoing has occurred, and that the disclosure serves the public interest, where appropriate and necessary. It further considers when qualifying disclosures obtain protection and identifies the prescribed persons (people) to whom a disclosure may properly be directed. In addition, the Practice Note summarises the reporting obligations placed on certain prescribed persons to produce an annual written report concerning the workers’ disclosures received by them...

Film and TV glossary A–B Film and TV glossary E–H Film and TV glossary I–L Film and TV glossary M–P Film and TV glossary R–S Film and TV glossary T–W CAP Code for non-broadcast media The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (the CAP Code) serves as the principal framework governing non-broadcast adverts, promotional sales activity and direct marketing messages. It is drafted by the Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP), a self-regulatory body whose membership comprises organisations representing advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and media industries. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) polices the CAP Code and may require the withdrawal or amendment of any advertisement that contravenes these standards. Refer to Practice Note: Advertising law and regulation. Channel 4 Channel 4 operates as a ‘publisher-broadcaster’: it produces no programmes internally, commissioning content from production companies across the UK. Cinematograph film Under the Copyright Act 1956 (CA 1956), films gained protection as...

Pre-emption rights on allotment Pre-emption rights on allotment provide every shareholder in a company with a means to guard against dilution of their percentage stake where this could result from a share allotment, the issue of rights to subscribe for shares, the conversion of securities into shares, or a disposal of treasury shares by that company. This Practice Note addresses the pre-emption rights applicable to an allotment of equity securities by a public company that is neither a listed company nor an AIM company (that is, an unlisted public company), as prescribed in the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). Close attention should be paid to the breadth of those statutory pre-emption rights, because an unlisted public company must observe them to the extent that they have not been disapplied, varied, waived, or excluded and ensure that it complies with them to that extent...

Social media Social media platforms and services provide powerful means to bolster our brands, advertise our products and services, and cultivate relationships with our existing customers and potential clients. They enable open dialogue, debate, and the exchange and circulation of information. Within this Code, ‘social media’ refers to evolving, socially interactive, networked information and communication technologies that enable personal details, viewpoints, or other material to be displayed for public viewing on the Internet, and shared openly with audiences. This covers social networks or platforms, community websites, blogs, microblogging services, wikis, web forums, social bookmarking tools, and user review services...

[ On headed notepaper of company ] [ Insert shareholder name ] [ Insert shareholder address ] Dear [ [ shareholder name ] OR Sir/Madam ] Request to send or supply documents in electronic form and by making them available on a website This letter is from [ insert company name ] [ PLC OR Limited ] (the Company) to request your agreement to receive [ documents and information OR [ insert details of specific document or information ] ] in electronic format and through publication on a website. As well as obtaining your personal consent to communications via website publication, the Company must either secure the members’ authority by ordinary resolution, or have wording in its articles of association that permits communication by website. [ The Company [ has already obtained such authority by way of ordinary resolution passed at [ a OR an annual ] general meeting on [ insert date ] OR already has provisions to allow website communications in...

Index to the articles An overview of the company’s constitutional framework, setting out meanings of key terms, the extent of members’ liability, how directors exercise and delegate powers, procedures for board and member decisions, rules on share capital, dividends and other distributions, and ancillary provisions on communications, records, seals, and protections for directors... Part 1: Interpretation and limitation of liability – definitions and the limit of members’ liability. Part 2: Directors – general authority, members’ reserve power, delegation, committees, meetings, quorum, chairing, voting, casting votes, conflicts, written resolutions, further rules, appointment, rotation, termination, remuneration, expenses, and alternate directors. Part 3: Decision-making by members – calling, attendance and speaking, quorum, chairing, adjournment, voting, errors and disputes, polls, proxy content and delivery, amendments, restrictions, and class meetings. Part 4: Shares and distributions – classes and redemption, commissions, interests, certificates, uncertificated holdings, share warrants, liens and enforcement, calls and consequences, forfeiture and surrender, transfers and transmission, consolidation, declaring and calculating dividends, payment methods, deductions, no interest,...

The organisation must ensure it fully complies with the TPS Assured (Call Centre) Handbook 2016, which specifies that a call centre must disclose its own organisation’s identity whenever requested by a recipient. Regulation 24 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) provides the following below: 24 Information to be provided for the purposes of regulations 19, 20 and 21 (1) Where a public electronic communications service is used to transmit a communication for direct marketing, the person using, or causing the use of, that service shall make sure the following information is supplied with that communication— in relation to a communication to which regulations 19 (automated calling systems) and 20 (facsimile machines) apply, the particulars mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) and (b); in relation to a communication to which regulation 21 (telephone calls) applies, the particulars mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) and, if the recipient of the call so requests, those mentioned in paragraph (2)(b)...