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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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In the matter of an application by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for Judicial Review ( Appellant) [2025] UKSC 47 Background This appeal addresses the proper approach to be taken when a court reviews, by way of judicial review, a coroner’s decision to disclose gists of information where Public Interest Immunity ( PII) has been claimed by a Minister acting on behalf of the Crown. The question is the criterion to be applied by the court when scrutinising such disclosure decisions. PII arises when an aspect of the public interest indicates that evidence which would otherwise be relevant and admissible in legal proceedings ought not to be revealed or placed in the public domain, and so must be treated as inadmissible, or only permitted in the condensed form of a gist capturing the information in the evidence. In this appeal, a...
In this issue: Brexit headlines Constitutional and administrative law Judicial review Equality and human rights Public procurement Public sector contracts Information law New and updated content Daily and weekly news alerts Free webinars Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Brexit headlines UK government and European Commission publish update on Windsor Framework delivery. Following a meeting of the Specialised Committee on implementation, both parties released a joint statement. Notable steps include cutting sanitary and phytosanitary identity checks from 10% to 8% for the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, advancing EU access to UK customs IT systems, and confirming full application of veterinary medicines rules from 1 January 2026. See: LNB News 04/12/2025 20. Weekly round-up of EU– UK TCA Specialised Committees’ publications—9 December 2025. This summary covers documents issued by...
On 8 December 2025, Sandie Peggie was successful in her claim that Fife Health Board harassed her when it declined, even on an interim basis, to suspend Dr Beth Upton’s permission to use the women’s changing room at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, in Eastern Scotland, following Peggie’s complaint. As a consequence, Peggie and Upton ended up in the facility together on two occasions before their rotas were altered so they no longer worked the same shifts. The decision also records that the board was too slow to look into Upton’s harassment complaint about Peggie and, late in the process, unfairly introduced unproven assertions that Peggie had not properly cared for patients. A three-judge panel further found NHS Fife created a hostile environment by telling her not to speak about her case. However, the panel held that Upton had not harassed Peggie, and it threw out the...
X v Lord Advocate [2025] UKSC 44 Background In this appeal, the Supreme Court was invited to determine whether the Crown bears vicarious responsibility for civil wrongs said to have been carried out by John Brown while he was a sheriff (a member of the Scottish judiciary). The pursuer, a practising lawyer, maintains that Mr Brown is liable in delict (the Scots law counterpart to the English law concept of tort) for assaulting her on three separate occasions. Two incidents allegedly took place in the court building where he sat as a sheriff, and a third occurred on a train. After she complained about his behaviour, he also attempted to contact her on her mobile phone. The pursuer further contends that the sheriff is liable for those assaults and, treating the four incidents together, for harassment contrary to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The...
In this issue: Brexit headlines Constitutional and administrative law Judicial review Equality and human rights Public procurement Management and strategic planning Information law State security and intelligence State accountability and liability Other Public Law news Lex Talk®Public Law: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Free webinars Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Brexit headlines Ayoola v Secretary of State for the Home Department In Ayoola v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1519, the Court of Appeal upheld the Upper Tribunal’s refusal of the appellant’s application for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme ( EUSS). The dispute centred on the meaning of Articles 24 and 25 of the Withdrawal Agreement ( OJ L 29,...
Lockwood v Cheshire and Wirral NHS Foundation Trust and Others ( ET case numbers: 2401211/2024, 2407178/2024) In the employment tribunal, Judge Nicky Benson found that Haech Lockwood, a Cheshire and Wirral NHS Foundation Trust employee, does not possess the protected characteristic of gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010), thereby rejecting a harassment claim. While Lockwood has changed their name and pronouns, they have not reassigned their sex from female to male, in a decision dated 6 October 2025 and published on 27 November 2025. Section 7 of the Eq A 2010 provides protection for gender reassignment only where a person is undertaking a process 'for the purpose of reassigning' their sex. Judge Benson stated that 'reassigning' denotes 'a move from one thing to another'......
Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments: Use of Special Severance Payments ( Nov 2025) What does the guidance do The HMT ‘ Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments: Use of Special Severance Payments’: outlines the factors employers must weigh before agreeing any special severance payment describes the approvals needed to authorise such payments, including the relevant delegated thresholds details the expectations on transparency and reporting adds to the special severance material in HMT’s Managing Public Money, Annex 4.13 For more information, see Practice Note: Dismissing a senior executive— Public sector employees. What are the practical implications of the guidance update Special severance payments are sums paid on ending employment that do not align with any existing contractual, statutory or other legal entitlement. The kinds of payments captured will depend on an employee’s particular circumstances. Where the employer contests, in whole or in part, an...
Note: the CPRC has stopped sharing the background papers alongside the minutes, so no explanatory documents accompany this News Analysis to set out the matters discussed. A copy of the minutes appears here now: Minutes of CPRC meeting 3 October 2025. Welcome, apologies and introductory remarks (item 1) The Chair greeted members at the opening meeting of the legal year. Minutes from the 4 July 2025 meeting (see News Analysis: Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting—4 July 2025) were approved, and the action log was recorded as noted. Part 82—closed material procedure (item 2) Mo J officials outlined the subsequent tranche of reforms from Sir Duncan Ouseley’s 2022 CMP report findings. The Committee approved a revised new rule 82.26A, to be renamed ‘ Special Advocate Position Statement’ and reframed by reference to CPR 5.4B and 5.4C provisions. Subject to minor drafting tweaks, the rule will feature in the...
In this issue Budget 2025 Brexit SIs Post- Brexit transition guidance Constitutional and administrative law State accountability and liability Equality and human rights Judicial review Public procurement Projects and infrastructure Information law Other Public Law news Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Free webinars Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Budget 2025 Budget 2025—key Public law announcements In the Autumn Budget 2025 on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, outlined a series of measures relevant to Public Law professionals. Headline themes included cross-government efficiency and public sector reform; oversight of coronavirus ( COVID-19)-era procurement and fraud; devolution with new integrated settlements for mayoral authorities; justice and sentencing reform; planning and infrastructure delivery (including changes to judicial review); public procurement and the Balance Sheet Framework; and investment in defence and security. See: LNB News 26/11/2025 51. Brexit SIs Farm Sustainability Payment Scheme ( Eligibility etc) Regulations ( Northern Ireland) 2025 SR 2025/179: These...
Background The appeal concerns whether the provision within a school in Northern Ireland of religious education and collective worship is in breach of Article 2 of Protocol 1 ( A2P1) to the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR), read together with Article 9 ECHR, as given effect domestically by the Human Rights Act 1998 ( HRA 1998). Article 9 ECHR protects everyone’s freedom of thought, conscience and religion. A2P1 states: ‘ No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.’ The child, JR87, attended a grant-aided controlled primary school in Belfast. As part of the school’s programme, JR87 took part in...
In this issue: Brexit headlines Brexit SIs Post- Brexit transition guidance Constitutional and administrative law Equality and human rights Judicial review Public Procurement Information law State accountability and liability State security and intelligence Other public law news Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Free webinars Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Brexit headlines Supreme Court confirms child element of Universal Credit is not a family benefit under EU co-ordination rules ( Simkova v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) The Supreme Court unanimously rejected an appeal brought by a Slovak national living in England, concerning entitlement to the child element of Universal Credit in circumstances where the claimant’s child lived outside the UK. It decided that the child element of universal credit ( UC) does not...
Background Ms Michaela Simkova, a Slovak national living in England with permanent residence in the United Kingdom, seeks the child element of universal credit ( UC) for her son, Markus. She claims entitlement to that element in respect of Markus as her own child. During the material period, Markus stayed with his grandparents in Slovakia. UC was created by the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (the WRA 2012). Under section 10(1) WRA 2012, UC contains an amount for each child or qualifying young person for whom the claimant is responsible. Regulation 4(2) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013/376 states that a person is responsible for a child or qualifying young person who normally lives with them. On the domestic rules, Ms Simkova cannot receive the child element because, although she met his maintenance costs, Markus resided with his grandparents. She...
What is the background to the changes The UK Government has unveiled what it calls ‘the most far-reaching asylum reforms in recent history’. A 32-page statement, laid before Parliament on 17 November 2025, sets out a comprehensive redesign of the asylum, appeals and human rights system, noting clear similarities with Denmark’s stricter temporary-protection approach. The Home Secretary argued the proposals respond to supposed ‘pull factors’ drawing migrants to the UK, and are intended to hasten the removals of people with no lawful right to remain. Refugee protection and settlement changes A new ‘ Core Protection’ scheme will supersede the current five-year refugee status, replacing it with a temporary 30-month leave to remain, renewable only while protection is still demonstrably needed. Automatic settlement after five years will end; instead, a 20-year pathway to settlement will apply, with detailed criteria to follow in a...
In this issue: Brexit headlines Brexit SIs Post- Brexit transition guidance Constitutional and administrative law Equality and human rights Judicial review Information law State security and intelligence Other public law news Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Free webinars Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Brexit headlines Cabinet Office publishes 1st Windsor Framework independent monitoring report The Cabinet Office has issued the Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel’s inaugural report, addressing the UK Internal Market Guarantee for 1 January to 30 June 2025. Created under the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the panel verified that the guarantee was achieved: 96% of freight movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland were deemed ‘not at risk’ and remained within the UK internal market, surpassing the 80% benchmark. Using HMRC data and...
In this issue: Brexit SIs Post- Brexit transition guidance Constitutional and administrative law Judicial review Equality and human rights Public procurement Public sector contracts Subsidy control and State aid Information law State security and intelligence Management and strategic planning Other public law news Lex Talk® Public Law: a Lexis Nexis® community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Brexit SIs Aviation Safety ( Amendment) Regulations 2025 SI 2025/1150: This instrument revises two elements of assimilated direct civil aviation law. It is brought forward using powers in the Retained EU Law ( Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 ( REUL( RR) A 2023) and in Regulation ( EU) 2018/1139, insofar as they relate to assimilated law. The provisions take effect on 1 December 2025. ( Revised from draft as at 14 November 2025.) Please refer to: LNB News 17/07/2025 45 for details......
The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Wandsworth v Young (by his litigation friend the Official Solicitor) [2025] EWCA Civ 1336 What are the practical implications of this case? The court accepted that, had Mr Young’s position on notification been right, councils might have been obliged to undertake multiple HA 1996, s 202 reviews where the main housing duty ended after an offer was declined. That scenario would be plainly unwelcome and, in truth, deliver little tangible benefit to the applicant. Consequently, local authorities may continue their established approach of telling applicants who have accepted or refused accommodation offers that the main duty has been discharged and that they are entitled to a suitability review. The court’s conclusions on public law defences are also important. Defendants often try to fend off possession proceedings for temporary accommodation by advancing judicial...
R ( Ammori) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1311 What are the practical implications of this case? Understanding the effect of this ruling will assist practitioners advising clients on how to challenge proscription decisions. The Court of Appeal concluded that, although Parliament has created a statutory route to contest an order adding an organisation to the proscribed list, an application for deproscription is not a substitute for judicial review of the proscription decision itself. The court clarified that the deproscription procedure, and any appeal from a refusal, serves to end proscription where circumstances have changed. While an organisation may have been a proper candidate for proscription when the order was made, conditions can shift, and the group may in time cease to be involved in terrorism. The Court of Appeal also stated that an applicant may argue, as a ground for...
Attorney General, Lord Hermer KC, gave evidence to the National Security Strategy Joint Committee Parliament’s slow move to scrap and replace the Official Secrets Act 1911 was a factor in a prominent espionage prosecution collapsing, the Attorney General told the National Security Strategy Joint Committee. Lord Hermer KC noted that, in 2017, the Law Commission warned MPs that the term 'enemy' in the statute was highly problematic and would cause difficulties for future cases. He said the Crown Prosecution Service would have had no difficulty bringing the matter to trial had Parliament acted on that advice earlier and passed the National Security Act before its 2023 enactment. He added that he struggled to see why the measure took so long, and that, had the new law applied during 2021–2023, he was certain the prosecution would have proceeded to trial. In April 2024, the CPS...
Coalitions have urged the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions to scrutinise the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission ( EHRC) and remove its highest accreditation. They argue the EHRC has failed in its responsibilities towards trans communities, potentially endangering other minorities as well. Chiara Capraro, gender justice programme director at Amnesty International UK, warned that trans people face an acute emergency, and that the EHRC’s neglect could also harm additional marginalised groups. She added that, amid a UK and worldwide surge in actors hostile to human rights, the country cannot tolerate a national human rights body that is unfit for purpose. Her remarks were issued in a statement, reiterating the call to examine the EHRC and its accreditation status......
Background This appeal considers whether VAT ought to have been levied on the Trust’s provision of car parking facilities. As a general rule, VAT is imposed on supplies of goods and services in the usual way. However, Article 13 of Directive 2006/112/ EC (the Principal VAT Directive, PVD) together with section 41A of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 ( VATA 1994) establish an exception for public bodies when they are acting as public authorities. A body is ‘acting as a public authority’ when it operates under a SLR. An SLR arises either where the public body is required by law to carry out the activity in a particular manner which does not apply to a private operator, or where the authority relies upon a specific public law power to perform the activity. If that exception applies, the public authority is not treated as a...
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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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