Penalty meaning

This Checklist highlights the principal points and potential pitfalls to address when preparing and agreeing a payment clause in a business to business contract, covering late payment as well. For a model clause, see Precedent: Payment clause-commercial contracts. Guidance on late payment is in Practice Notes: Penalty interest rates in commercial contracts and Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, including, in particular, the sections on: Contracts, organisations and debts subject to LPCD(I)A 1998 Calculating the statutory interest Express terms for late payment in place of statutory interest Meaning of 'grossly unfair' Price and payment terms in a contract are often closely linked. When using this checklist, also refer to: Drafting and negotiating a price clause-checklist. Legal issues, general comments and what to watch out for are noted. Late payment legislation The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (LPCD(I)A 1998) allows all businesses and public sector bodies to claim statutory interest on late payment of commercial...

In brief In summary, UK data protection rules exist to make sure details about living people — captured as 'personal data' — are handled lawfully, fairly and responsibly. To achieve this, the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR) places a range of obligations on anyone 'processing' personal data, and on the controllers supervising that processing, when they fall within the scope of the UK GDPR regime. The UK GDPR also confers rights on individuals whose personal data is handled (the 'data subjects'). 'Processing' covers practically any operation performed on personal data, meaning doing almost anything with it, such as storing, sharing, deleting, or using it. It is almost impossible to run a business or other organisation without processing personal data. Among other requirements, the controllers of personal data processing must provide information to data subjects, to make sure they are aware of the following: the reasons their personal data is collected; the ways it is used; ...

From 6 April 2011, a stricter penalties framework has applied to an individual’s tax position where non-compliance involves an offshore matter or an offshore transfer. The operative dates for the different penalties, sanctions and criminal offence measures relating to offshore tax matters are as follows: Operative date 6 April 2011 — Section 35 and Schedule 10 to the Finance Act 2010 (FA 2010), together with the Finance Act 2010, Schedule 10 (Appointed Days and Transitional Provisions) Order 2011, SI 2011/975 — Offshore-focused penalties introduced for inaccuracies on returns, failures to notify and failures to submit returns for any tax year beginning on or after 6 April 2011 for the purposes of income tax and capital gains tax (CGT). See Practice Note: Penalties for offshore tax non-compliance—Scope of offshore penalties regime 27 March 2015 — Section 121 and Schedule 21 to the Finance Act 2015 (FA 2015), with Royal Assent on 26 March 2015 — Introduction of an aggravated penalty targeting the movement of concealed funds...

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...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental permits and consents Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DESNZ releases quarterly waste data reporting template for the UK ETS. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has issued a template for quarterly waste data submissions under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). It is designed for waste operators to use when sending quarterly data reports to their regulator during the voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) period. See: LNB News 19/02/2026 50. AFME responds to European Commission consultation on climate resilience legislative framework. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has provided...

In this issue: Criminal procedure and evidence Proceeds of crime Appeal and judicial review Sentencing Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Food safety and hygiene offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions Money laundering International LexTalk®Corporate Crime: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Criminal procedure and evidence Court delays soar as backlogs break records Between April and June 2025, the criminal courts in England and Wales amassed an unprecedented caseload of almost 440,000, with incoming matters exceeding disposals and a system hampered by long-standing funding shortfalls. In response, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), together with The Rt Hon David Lammy MP, confirmed extra resources to accelerate outcomes for...

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council v Kazi [2024] EWCA Civ 1037 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling will be welcomed by local authorities nationwide, many of whom operate comparable policies. They can continue to apply those policies with confidence, while recognising they are guidance to be used flexibly in light of the facts of each case. Local authorities and the FTT should likewise keep to Marshall [54]: start from the policy and deviate only where a landlord has shown there are exceptional grounds. That said, they must remain alert to the policy’s aims and consider whether those aims will still be achieved if the policy is not followed. In this matter, having decided the second ground, the Court of Appeal declined to determine the first issue (para [47]). Interestingly, the judgment also signals agreement with the view that appeals under HA 2004, s 249A are not a vehicle for challenging a local authority’s housing policy, but only a means to contest a penalty...

Overview This Practice Note forms part of our LLB Contract Law series for law students. It surveys the remedies for breach of contract, with damages at the heart of the common law response. Setting remedies within the framework of contract, it explains when a party may terminate—most notably for breach of conditions and of innominate (or ‘intermediate’) terms. It then sets out the expectation principle from Robinson v Harman (1848) 1 Exch 850, stressing that an award should put the claimant in the position they would have been in had performance occurred. The Note next traces the principal constraints on recovery—causation, remoteness, and the duty to mitigate—and discusses leading cases on mitigation to show how these limits operate even once breach is proved. It also considers alternative measures—expectation, reliance and, in rare cases, restitutionary recovery—before addressing quantification, including the contrast between ‘difference in value’ and ‘cost of cure’ illustrated by Ruxley Electronics v Forsyth [1996] AC 344. Finally, it deals with non-pecuniary loss and the contemporary approach to liquidated...

This Practice Note examines the statutory bars to extradition from the UK contained in section 11 of the Extradition Act 2003 (EA 2003). There are numerous specific grounds that an individual may rely upon to resist extradition under EA 2003. Some of these grounds apply across both categories of request, while others are confined to EA 2003, Pt 1 or EA 2003, Pt 2 requests only. For an overview of the statutory scheme under EA 2003, see Practice Note: Extradition and the statutory framework—an introduction to extradition. For further guidance on the procedure applicable to EA 2003, Pt 1 and EA 2003, Pt 2, see Practice Note: Extradition under Parts 1 and 2 of the Extradition Act 2003—procedure. Statutory bars At the extradition hearing, the district judge will assess whether the request relates to an extradition offence and whether any of the statutory bars to extradition apply. The statutory grounds for opposing extradition are then considered in turn...

CASE HUB NOTE—appeal lodged before the Court of Justice in Cases C-806/19 P and C-883/19 P ARCHIVED —this archived case hub records the state of play as at the judgment dated 24 September 2019; it is no longer maintained. See further: timeline and relevant/related cases. Case facts Outline: Appeal brought before the General Court challenging the Commission’s decision of 7 December 2016, which found infringements and levied fines on three banks that did not settle, due to their involvement in a cartel in the Euro interest rate derivatives (EIRD) market (Case AT.39914). Latest developments On 24 September 2019, the General Court delivered its judgment, largely confirming the Commission’s conclusion that HSBC Holdings plc took part in a single and continuous infringement of Article 101(1) TFEU. Nonetheless, the General Court set aside the fine imposed on HSBC Holdings plc because the Commission provided ‘insufficient reasons’ for the methodology used to calculate that penalty...

We must not use a client account to provide banking facilities for clients or third parties. This is a firm requirement of rule 3.3 in the SRA Accounts Rules, covering our main client account and any separately designated client accounts as well. Permitting use of our client account as a banking facility creates the risk that we could potentially facilitate money laundering or comparable offences. You must understand and adhere to our policy on anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), and counter-proliferation financing when taking receipt of client or office monies. This also encompasses our distinct policy on accepting cash. The SRA may levy substantial penalties for breach of rule 3.3. There need not be a risk of money laundering, or any hint of impropriety, for this to apply. A breach of rule 3.3, by itself, is enough for the SRA to impose a penalty on the firm and/or any individuals concerned. We should only accept funds into our client account where...

Stop press: The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/82 now commence the remaining provisions of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025). Provisions covering the areas below apply from 5 February 2026, while those on penalty notices and complaints apply from 19 June 2026. For further details, see Practice Note: Data (Use and Access) Act 2025—employment implications. This Precedent will be updated shortly to reflect these changes. subject access requests legitimate interests purpose limitation automated decision-making international transfers enforcement [ Insert name of organisation ] Data protection privacy notice (secondment) As you are aware, it is proposed that you will be seconded to [ insert name ] (host employer). This notice sets out which personal data (information) [ insert name of employer ] [ trading as [ insert trading name, if different ] ] (‘we’ or ‘Company’) will provide to, and receive from, your...

Stop press The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/82 now bring the remaining parts of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025) into effect. Provisions on subject access requests, legitimate interests, purpose limitation, automated decision-making, international transfers and enforcement apply from 5 February 2026, while those concerning penalty notices and complaints apply from 19 June 2026. For further details, see Practice Note: Data (Use and Access) Act 2025—employment implications. This Precedent will be updated shortly to reflect these developments. 1 Introduction 1.1 The Company upholds the highest standards of information security and regards confidentiality and data security with the utmost seriousness...

This Q&A This Q&A considers how the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) applies to assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) governed by the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988). In brief, when a landlord takes a deposit for an AST, two actions are required within 30 days of receiving the funds. First, the initial requirements of an authorised tenancy deposit scheme must be satisfied in full (HA 2004, s 213(3)). Secondly, the tenant must be provided with specified prescribed information (HA 2004, s 213(5)(6)). The relevant prescribed information is set out in the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007, SI 2007/797. Failure to comply limits the landlord’s entitlement to serve a notice under HA 1988, s 21, and entitles the tenant to apply for an order for the return of the deposit or for its payment into an authorised scheme (HA 2004, s 214(3)), together with a financial award of not less than one, and not more than three, times the deposit’s value (HA 2004, s 214(4))...

What is the waste duty of care? Under section 34(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990), businesses are required to handle controlled waste safely and dispose of it lawfully. This obligation is called the waste duty of care. Controlled waste covers household, industrial and commercial waste, and anything of that kind. In brief, the duty means waste holders must: ensure their waste goes to a suitably permitted facility ensure anyone managing their waste complies with permit conditions prevent the escape of waste transfer waste only to a registered carrier or authorised permit holder provide a written description of the waste when it is transferred Failure to meet these duties is an offence under EPA 1990, s 34(6), and is punishable: on summary conviction, by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum on conviction on indictment, by a fine Who does the waste duty of care apply to?...

The Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) The HA 2004 brought in obligations concerning the safeguarding of tenancy deposits, which have been amended on a number of occasions since their introduction. The rules are complex and technical in nature, yet breaches can furnish a defence to possession proceedings under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988), and may require the landlord to return the deposit and pay a financial penalty of between one and three times the deposit amount for non-compliance...