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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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See Q& A: Must the full shareholding, regardless of share class, be taken into account to accurately establish beneficial ownership under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, SI 2017/692, as amended? Determining beneficial ownership The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds ( Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 ( MLR 2017), SI 2017/692, as amended, place duties on firms to conduct client due diligence ( CDD) regarding beneficial owners. Where the client is a legal person, trust, company, foundation or comparable legal arrangement, firms must take reasonable steps to comprehend the ownership and control framework of that legal person, trust, company, foundation or comparable legal arrangement. If another person beneficially owns the client, you have three duties to fulfil: identify who the beneficial owner is take reasonable measures to verify the beneficial owner’s identity so you are confident you know who they are where the...
Miller v Irwin Mitchell LLP [2024] EWCA Civ 53 What are the practical implications of this case? Where, in the onboarding of a prospective client, solicitors expressly state that no advice is being provided and that there is no duty to advise, they will not incur liability for the absence of advice, even if it later emerges that the omission could gravely disadvantage the client’s case when they are subsequently accepted as a client. It remains vital that this is communicated to the prospective client during the period before any retainer is concluded. That clarification should be repeated in early communications before any formal instructions are finally agreed. What was the background? Mrs Miller arranged an all-inclusive holiday in Turkey via an agency called Lowcostholidays Spain SLU. An entity referred to as LTS acted as the intermediary between the hotel owners and Lowcost, and LTS supplied a...
Court of Justice judgment C-667/21, Krankenversicherung Nordrhein What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling departs slightly from C‑456/22, Gemeinde Ummendorf, and C‑340/21, Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite, which confirmed that liability under Article 82 rests on showing an infringement, damage and a causal link. The present decision introduces a fourth element: the controller’s fault is presumed unless the controller proves that the event causing the damage cannot be attributed to them. The Court of Justice stated that this fault‑based approach (as opposed to strict liability) is supported by a contextual interpretation of the EU GDPR. In theory, this may narrow GDPR liability for companies that fall victim to cyberattacks. In practice, the threshold will be demanding, requiring organisations to demonstrate not only that they had suitable technical and organisational measures in place to prevent...
In this issue: Financial sanctions Fraud and corruption Data protection Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions FDCO announces sanctions on Myanmar military entities and infantry divisions The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ( FDCO) confirmed the UK has brought in fresh measures against four Myanmar army‑affiliated entities and infantry units implicated in suppressing civilians and breaching human rights. Under the Myanmar sanctions framework, 25 individuals and 33 entities have now been designated by the UK. These latest listings focus on army divisions responsible for rights abuses and on organisations that supplied funds and backing to Myanmar’s security apparatus, among them two state‑owned companies. Those named face asset freezes and restrictions on travel. The UK, alongside eight other nations, has also issued a joint statement...
A study by the campaign group Spotlight on Corruption says regulators and prosecutors routinely fall short of making top executives at large corporates personally answer for misconduct. By contrast, the report labels directors of small and medium-sized firms as ‘low-hanging fruit’, far more prone to convictions, bans or fines... Spotlight’s executive director, Susan Hawley, said that after each corporate scandal—from the financial crash to the Post Office—there are rightful calls for senior leaders to be held to account, yet it seldom happens. Citing Airbus’s worldwide bribery operation and Nat West’s money laundering, she said senior executives continue to dodge responsibility. This failure of accountability, she argued, harms British business, damages the UK economy and hurts the British public... Spotlight’s research shows the Serious Fraud Office ( SFO) obtained roughly £2.1bn in penalties from eight convictions and 12 deferred prosecution agreements against 20 companies between 2013 and 2023, but...
UK banks Lloyds and Santander have been contacted by the FCA following allegations that they were used by Iranian companies to move money around the world in breach of sanctions rules. According to a Financial Times article dated 4 February 2024, the two major lenders provided accounts to UK shell companies secretly controlled by the sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals group, Petrochemical Commercial Company. PCC and its subsidiary, PCC UK, have been under US sanctions since 2018, after claims they were used to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and for allegedly working with Russian intelligence agencies. On 5 February 2024, the FCA said it was in touch with both banks and the UK’s sanctions enforcer regarding the allegations. It noted it was aware of the reports and, as expected, was engaging with the firms and the Office of Financial Sanctions...
What is the US Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (or FEPA) and when did it come into force? On 22 December 2023, President Biden enacted the FEPA, after its approval by the US Congress as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 national defence authorisation legislation. The law reflects the President’s sustained commitment to confronting global corruption as a national security priority. It requires the US Attorney General to deliver an annual, publicly accessible report to Congress summarising major Department of Justice ( DOJ) actions under FEPA, enabling Congress (and the public) to assess the effectiveness of the DOJ’s enforcement efforts year on year. That disclosure duty is expected to heighten pressure on the DOJ to bring cases in practice. FEPA widens the scope and reach of US anti‑bribery and corruption laws by expanding bribery offences to capture the ‘demand...
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ( SDT) The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ruled that Michael Little’s 2018 conviction for a tax evasion scheme meant he should no longer be permitted to practise in England. He was found guilty of assisting the heirs of investor Harry Seggerman to avoid paying tax on US$14m in inheritance. Tribunal chair Carolyn Evans stated that every allegation was proven and featured the aggravating element of dishonesty. A New York jury convicted Little on 19 criminal counts. The counts included obstructing the IRS, conspiracy, aiding the Seggerman family to submit years of false returns, as well as failing to file any such reports of......
A newer, though less widely known, idea is ‘bluewashing’. Whereas greenwashing centres on environmental claims, bluewashing relates to social matters such as modern slavery, labour practices and corporate diversity. It describes instances in which a business leverages affiliation or participation in a corporate social responsibility ( CSR) scheme to mask the reality that it is not applying those standards itself. In practice, numerous corporates treat ESG memberships as a tick-box tactic to win customers, without embedding the underlying principles internally. This piece will explore bluewashing further and highlight warning signs to consider. United Nations Global Compact ( UNGC) A prominent illustration of bluewashing emerged around the launch of the UNGC. Often, such signalling diverts attention from the absence of genuine change behind the scenes within their own operations......
On 30 January 2024, the trade body issued fresh guidance on generative AI to support barristers in meeting legal and ethical duties. It urges them to grasp the risks and other factors linked to using Chat GPT and similar tools built on large language models. Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council, noted that AI’s expansion within the legal field is unavoidable, and the most advantaged barristers will be those who take time to understand these technologies so they can deploy them with oversight and integrity. He added: ‘ Any deployment of AI must be undertaken with care to protect client confidentiality and uphold trust and confidence, privacy, and adherence to applicable laws’, Townend said. The guidance stresses careful, informed use across practice to maintain standards......
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 Lex Talk®Practice Compliance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Financial sanctions Government updates Russian sanctions guidance to include Schedule 3DA The government has revised its Russian sanctions guidance to add licensing grounds connected to Schedule 3DA revenue‑generating goods. See: LNB News 31/01/2024 59. UK and US announce new coordinated sanctions package against Iranian officials The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ( FCDO) reports the UK and US have aligned on a fresh sanctions package targeting seven individuals and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC) Unit 840 organisation. All seven designated persons are members of IRGC Unit 840. ITV revealed the unit in December 2023 during an...
In December 2023, the Home Office unveiled fresh steps to address the nation’s economic crime challenge, featuring tighter cooperation between government and business. Under the plan, the NCA will be granted authority to ‘direct’ the SFO to assume responsibility for cases involving fraud, bribery, and corruption. This reform will be implemented via an amendment to the UK’s Crime and Courts Act 2013, as set out......
See Q& A: What should I include in a letter terminating my client retainer? This Q& A is for law firms regulated by the SRA. It outlines what you might include in a letter ending your client retainer and directs you to further content on when and how a retainer can be terminated. It assumes there are no concerns about tipping off or prejudicing an investigation (or similar matters)......
We contend that, within employment, person-specific explainability is essential. Our review of the main types of AI safeguards, alongside a case study on how local explainability operates in reality—see: here, shows that such a measure can both build confidence in AI and harness its capacity to detect and mitigate bias and discrimination. In employment settings, such personalised transparency is central to automated decision-making in this context. The evolution of AI regulation AI’s march into workplace decision-making has been checked by worries about safety and, notably, the risk of bias and discrimination. Used well, AI can enable swifter, more efficient and even higher-quality determinations. Yet it can also entrench bias and discrimination within decisions—see: Discrimination and bias in AI recruitment—a case study. Governments and policymakers worldwide are examining a range of safeguards to bolster AI safety. Existing and draft frameworks tend to favour different tools aimed at...
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 New and updated content Latest Q& A Financial sanctions ECJU revises General Trade Licence Russia Sanctions - Vessels The Department for Business and Trade’s Export Control Joint Unit ( ECJU) has issued ‘ Notice to exporters 2024/02: General Trade Licence Russia Sanctions – Vessels’, indicating that an updated edition of this General Licence takes effect on 18 January 2024. The General Licence sets rules for supplying technical assistance, brokering services, financial services and funds in relation to vessels. See: LNB News 19/01/2024 14. FCDO and OFAC report sanction of Alexander Gennadievich Ermakov The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ( FCDO) and the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control ( OFAC) have announced that Alexander Gennadievich Ermakov is sanctioned. He played a part in the 2022...
Second only in size in the UK to the 2020 global Airbus SE corruption settlement, Entain has acknowledged the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery as part of a deferred prosecution agreement ( DPA). It accepts the alleged shortcomings arising from previous GVC Holdings management missteps. Under the DPA announced on 5 December 2023, the package includes Entain’s agreement to cover HMRC and CPS investigation costs of £10m and to make a £20m charitable payment. Entain is also required to cooperate fully and in good faith with the CPS on any and all matters linked to the conduct at the centre of the underlying allegations, and to take all reasonable steps to implement revisions to its ethics and compliance programme where required. This article outlines the UK’s DPA framework and sets out practical learning points for companies facing...
The Solicitors Regulation Authority ( SRA) has issued fresh guidance for law firms on the best ways to meet legal and regulatory obligations relating......
What’s the issue? Established in 1971, the common law identification doctrine sets the benchmark for determining when the conduct and state of mind of an individual can be treated as those of a corporate person. It has historically been the principal mechanism by which criminal culpability is fastened onto companies. Under this approach, attribution only arises where the offence is committed by the corporation’s ‘directing mind and will’. In reality, this typically captured only the managing director or proprietor, provided they were directly engaged in running the business. Consequently, prosecutors have long faced a demanding threshold. Section 196 of ECCTA alters the landscape: where a senior manager, acting within the actual or ostensible scope of their authority, perpetrates a ‘relevant offence’, the organisation itself commits that offence. Practical implications for commercial organisations The practical upshot is that businesses are vulnerable to findings of primary economic crime, with...
But what happens when the criminal property is only a fraction of the sums held in an account? Case law has meant that, even where only a small portion of an account is tainted, the entire balance had to be frozen, an outcome widely seen as unfair. Parliament has now remedied this through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023). Section 183 of the ECCTA 2023, ' Money laundering: exemptions for mixed-property transactions', took effect on 15 January 2024. It revises the POCA 2002 provisions that set out the principal money laundering offences. The change introduces an exemption for regulated firms that maintain a client account or hold client funds while knowing or suspecting that only part of the funds or property is criminal. In those circumstances, the regulated firm may carry out transactions on the account or property...
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology ( DSIT) and the National Cyber Security Centre ( NCSC) have opened a consultation on a new draft Cyber Governance Code of Practice intended to strengthen businesses’ cyber resilience. The proposed guidance aims to put cyber security at the forefront for businesses and sets out recommendations......
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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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