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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Amid these developments, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s ( FCDO) strategy, ‘ Deter, disrupt and demonstrate— UK sanctions in a contested world’, released on 22 February 2024, sets out reflections on achievements, challenges and what lies ahead for the UK sanctions framework. The paper highlights that: international co-operation is central for the FCDO, covering both aligned sanctions and tackling circumvention routes in third countries businesses must balance strong, effective sanctions compliance systems and controls with avoiding over‑compliance the government may bring forward a new humanitarian exception to financial sanctions designated persons could soon seek the unfreezing of assets to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction the government is watching closely how the courts interpret relatively new UK sanctions regulations UK government focus A defining strand of the strategy is collaboration. It stresses the need for international...
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection Lex Talk®Practice Compliance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions FCDO publishes Post- Legislative Scrutiny Memorandum for SAMLA 2018 — The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has issued a Post‑ Legislative Scrutiny Memorandum on the Sanctions and Anti‑ Money Laundering Act 2018 ( SAMLA 2018). It sets out and offers an initial review of the Act and its operation, features a Russia sanctions case study demonstrating how the framework supports the UK’s sanctions response to international crises, and includes an annex listing secondary legislation made under the Act, including sanctions regulations. See: LNB News 05/03/2024 51. OFSI publishes new general licence...
After a consultation period, the ICO is preparing to release guidance offering deeper clarity on how it works out penalties – to a degree, according to Claudia Berg, ICO general counsel, speaking at the ‘ IAPP Data Protection Intensive: UK 2024’ in London on 28–29 February 2024. ‘ People need to grasp, and to some extent anticipate, what the likely penalty will be if you do break the law,’ Berg said, adding that monetary sanctions are ‘one tool in the toolbox.’ Steps, buckets, traffic lights The updated approach will use five stages. First comes a ‘traffic light’ grading into ‘three buckets’ of seriousness, Berg explained. Subsequent stages consider both aggravating and mitigating elements. These will inform any potential fine to be imposed......
The recommendations accepted by the government On 12 February 2024, the government issued its reply to the Law Commission’s report. Although most of the Commission’s recommendations were accepted, wholly or in part, the practical impact on the current SARs framework is slight, and real change is limited. Measures that keep matters as they are were approved, including retaining the consent regime, leaving unchanged the process for handling SARs linked to international criminality, and declining to provide a statutory definition of suspicion. Several other recommendations were endorsed only in a qualified way, with caveats and constraints. Further research into targeted reporting (where in specified circumstances filing a SAR is mandatory) was agreed in principle; however, the government said it had already covered this when passing the ECCTA 2023 and elected not to pursue it further. The question of how a financial...
Enforcement against those already identified as non-compliant is coming At a privacy conference in London, Information Commissioner John Edwards warned that action is imminent. “ Our bots are coming for your bots,” he said, describing a coding challenge his office launched on 28 February 2024 with external experts, using AI to scan websites and verify cookie banner compliance. Flagged earlier in 2024, the hackathon complements established enforcement. In November 2023, the ICO wrote to 53 of the largest websites with non-compliant cookie banners. By January 2024, the ICO said 38 had complied and four more would do so within a month. That figure has not shifted, Edwards added, and enforcement now awaits the remainder. Enforcement is coming for the rest, he confirmed......
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection Cybersecurity Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions Law360 notes that a billionaire linked to Roman Abramovich was unsuccessful on 27 February 2024 in seeking to overturn sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, representing the first substantive appeal against the UK government’s sanctions regime since the conflict began. See News Analysis: Abramovich ally loses appeal to upend UK sanctions in test case. The US Department of the Treasury ( USDT) has released analysis on the second phase of the price cap on Russian oil. It highlights three themes: prices secured by Russian sellers have fallen since phase two commenced; market participants and analysts associate the widening discount on Russian oil with the Coalition’s heightened enforcement; and Russian oil export volumes have remained stable in recent months. See: LNB News...
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Belgian officials, overseeing EU legislative negotiations as the current holder of the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, reported that a meeting of national envoys failed to break the deadlock. They noted that a final compromise on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive had been tabled for Coreper ambassadors to endorse, but, despite the presidency’s efforts, sufficient backing did not materialise. For adoption, the proposal required a qualified majority: at least 15 Member States, together accounting for a minimum of 65% of the EU’s citizens. However, Germany and Italy, along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovakia, all abstained, and Sweden voted against the measure. Austrian officials said they were unable to take......
Legal Service Board report: The misuse of non-disclosure agreements: call for evidence themes and summary of evidence The LSB reported that clients and their legal advisers deploy these binding agreements to hide conduct that is lawful yet unethical, including bullying, settlements involving consumer products, and conflicts in construction and building. Numerous respondents also indicated NDAs are used across workplaces to conclude employment disputes. Matthew Hill, the LSB’s outgoing chief executive, voiced his gratitude to those who contributed to the review, which ran from May to July, noting that the exercise helped to illuminate a corner of legal practice that is, by its very nature, hidden. He further observed that the recurrent patterns set out in the report demonstrate that, when NDAs are misused, the consequences for people’s lives can be devastating......
The Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal unanimously threw out Eugene Shvidler’s bid to have the sanctions against him ruled unlawful. The judges concluded the government had reasonable grounds to believe the oil magnate derived financial advantage from his association with Russian billionaire Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club. The Anglo- American businessman was designated by the UK in March 2022 due to his personal and commercial links with Abramovich. The Court of Appeal further determined that targeted measures are indefinite in nature and add to the overall force of the sanctions regime, introduced in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and breaches of international law. Shvidler had sought to reverse a refusal of his challenge to the Foreign Office’s March 2022 decision to sanction him following Russia’s assault on Ukraine. He alleges that Grant Shapps, then transport...
What are the report’s key findings? UK enforcement bodies continue to struggle to bring prosecutions against senior leaders in major companies and lack concrete, clearly defined strategies for pursuing individual responsibility and accountability. Even when companies are fined, action against specific individuals remains exceptionally rare. Directors of small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs) are far more likely to be convicted, fined and disqualified than peers at larger businesses; moreover, penalties imposed on big firms tend to be smaller relative to turnover. The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has done little to enforce the new Senior Managers and Certification Regime ( SMCR) in practice, and has in fact issued fewer fines and prohibition orders against individuals over the past decade. Although the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA) and the Insolvency Service have sought to disqualify directors at large...
A recap: What changes were already made in the period 2018–2020, as part of implementing Brexit? At the point when EU rules ceased to apply in the UK (31 December 2020), the European Union ( Withdrawal) Act 2018 ( EU( W) A 2018) preserved EU-derived rights and duties within domestic legislation. This covered the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation ( EU) 2016/679 ( EU GDPR), which was then recast as the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation, Retained Regulation ( EU) 2016/679 ( UK GDPR) under the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications ( Amendments etc) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/419, reg 2. The Data Protection Act 2018 ( DPA 2018) likewise continued in force. The EU law so preserved, together with UK measures that had implemented EU rights and obligations, formed a broad category of domestic law termed retained EU...
In this issue: Practice Compliance forecast Financial sanctions Other financial crime Data protection Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Practice Compliance forecast Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 February 2024 Our refreshed Practice Compliance forecast (dated 20 February 2024) is now available. This month’s highlights cover: the Home Office reply to the review of the SARs regime; the timetable for the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill; anticipated amendments to OFSI’s sanctions guidance; and the SRA’s consumer protection review. See News Analysis: Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 February 2024. Financial sanctions OFSI updates its guidance on UK financial sanctions in relation to Russia The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) has revised its Russia sanctions guidance to add FAQ 56, ‘ When are persons...
This piece considers these questions by exploring the scope—and the inherent ambiguity—of the new offence... The new offence Section 199 of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) states that a large organisation commits the failure to prevent fraud offence if it does not stop an associated person from committing a fraud offence, where that associated person intends to benefit, directly or indirectly, either: the organisation the person to whom, or to whose subsidiary, the associated person provides services on the organisation’s behalf Qualifying fraud offences are set out in ECCTA 2023, Schedule 13. An organisation is not guilty of the failure to prevent fraud offence if it is, or is intended to be, the victim of the fraud itself. There is a defence where, at the time the fraud offence occurred, the organisation had reasonable fraud...
The SRA was judged to offer 'sufficient' assurance against two benchmarks: 'well-led' and an 'effective approach to regulation'. The board has shifted to a traffic light system, grading regulators as delivering 'sufficient', 'partial' or 'insufficient' assurance. However, the LSB, the body supervising the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales, noted that its review spanned only October 2022 to May 2023. As a result, then, 'significant events for the sector' sat beyond the review window. The SRA's August 2023 intervention into Axiom Ince, together with the board's subsequent look at the steps preceding that move, are excluded. Nor did the LSB consider the possible extent of solicitors' involvement in the miscarriages of justice central to the Post Office scandal. The oversight regulator also gave no explanation for limiting the assessment to eight months rather than a full year during the period under...
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) Through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023), reforms have taken hold, shifting corporate fault from the old ‘directing mind and will’ test to a ‘senior manager’ benchmark. Sara Lawson KC confirmed that the SFO is actively weighing adjustments to the identification principle, which permits the agency to attribute criminal responsibility to companies for individuals’ misconduct. Addressing a white-collar defence gathering in London, Lawson described the changes — which make it easier for prosecutors to pursue companies for economic crimes — as 'a very nice Christmas present for us'. Although the application of the revised threshold is expected to face court challenges, the measures 'should have a huge effect for us', she added. The ECCTA 2023 displaces the long-established approach with the new senior manager model for corporate...
Meta Platforms' Irish court challenge against enforcement over EU- US data transfers Meta Platforms’ legal bid in Ireland contesting enforcement actions tied to EU- US data transfers will include the participation of renowned activist Max Schrems, the original complainant. The Austrian privacy advocate, who has twice toppled EU- US data transfer accords, received leave on 13 February 2024 to take part in Meta’s Irish High Court appeal......
What is the scope of the Bill and which are the key provisions in the Bill which are of relevance to corporate crime lawyers? The Bill spans an unusually broad remit, addressing multiple strands of governmental policy. A large share of its proposals do not concern economic or corporate offending—for instance, clauses aimed at tackling ‘nuisance’ begging and broadening offences linked to encouraging or aiding self-harm. Even so, it also advances several reforms of relevance to corporate crime practitioners, some of which are of pivotal importance for corporate crime lawyers especially......
Under parliamentary rules, proposed laws are generally expected to gain approval within 12 months from the day they are lodged in Parliament, and additional time must be secured through extensions. The long-postponed Bill was first released on 8 March 2023 and was carried forward to the next session of Parliament on 17 April 2023. Since that debut, it has undergone several amendments along the way. As the Bill again approached its lapse date, the government then on 7 February 2024......
On 1 February 2024, the ICO stated it had given approval to the legal services operational privacy certification scheme, referred to as LOCS:23. The programme is intended to support the legal profession in evidencing adherence to data protection standards whenever law firms handle clients’ personal information. According to Emily Keaney, the ICO’s deputy commissioner, providers of legal services handle significant quantities of sensitive personal data. Choosing to join the new certification scheme, she added, will help to reassure clients that firms are committed to safeguarding their personal details and have robust information security arrangements in place. This certification scheme is the fifth set of certification criteria the ICO has approved since such criteria were first introduced under the UK General Data Protection Regulation ( UK GDPR), which brings elements of the EU’s GDPR into UK law. The UK data...
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection Other Practice Compliance updates this week Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Latest Q& A Financial sanctions OFSI reports on Russia Regime reporting requirements for designated persons The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) has published a blog outlining two reporting obligations that took effect in December 2023 under the Russia ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) ( Amendment) ( No 4) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/1364. These measures were brought in to enhance transparency around frozen assets in the UK and to help HM Treasury oversee compliance with, and detect evasion of, financial sanctions. The ‘immobilised assets reporting measure’ obliges firms to notify OFSI of any funds or economic resources they hold for the...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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