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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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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......
In this issue: Data protection Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Latest Q& A Data protection Clarity on processing sensitive data and right to compensation under EU GDPR ( Krankenversicherung Nordrhein) In its judgment, the Court of Justice delineated the reach of Article 9(2)(h) EU GDPR on the handling of special-category data. Specifically, an employer may process an employee’s health information where it acts as the medical service provider of a health insurance fund. The court further held that Article 9(3) should not be construed so as to block the employee’s colleagues from having access to that information. On remedies, it confirmed that damages under Article 82 of the EU GDPR serve a...
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...
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...
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...
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...
In this issue: Data protection Financial sanctions Fraud and corruption Other Risk & Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Data protection Top websites change advertising cookie banners following ICO warning The Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) has cautioned 53 of the UK’s top 100 websites that enforcement action will follow unless advertising cookies are adjusted to meet data protection requirements. Of those contacted, 38 organisations have already revised their cookie banners, with a further four pledging to implement changes within the next month. The ICO is also developing an artificial intelligence ( AI) tool to spot websites using non-compliant cookie banners. See: LNB News 02/02/2024 25. Financial sanctions FDCO announces sanctions on Myanmar military entities and infantry divisions The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ( FDCO) has confirmed that the UK has...
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...
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 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......
In this issue: Data protection Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Other Risk & Compliance updates this week Lex Talk®Risk & Compliance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Data protection EDPB launches website auditing tool to analyse legal compliance The European Data Protection Board ( EDPB) has introduced a free, open-source website auditing tool designed to assess compliance with the law. Within the tool, users can plan, conduct and review audits directly, import the audits’ results for appraisal, and create reports. It supports preparation and evaluation. Legal and technical auditors at data protection authorities, as well as controllers and processors, can use it to test their own sites. A second release is expected later in 2024. See: LNB News 30/01/2024 10. Financial...
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...
Mr Justice Martin Chamberlain dismissed Ildar Uzbekov’s High Court action accusing Revolut Ltd of unjustly “de‑banking” him in April 2020, relying on press articles that hinted at possible money laundering on his part. Uzbekov had pursued nominal damages and a declaration that the lender improperly closed his account, arguing the coverage was planted as part of a “shadowy smear campaign” against him. However, the judge held that, even were Uzbekov to show Revolut breached contract by relying on inadequate material, that would not establish the accusations were untrue in this case. The truth or falsity of such assertions can only be properly determined in defamation litigation, he added. Finding a contractual breach would therefore simply not “in any substantial sense vindicate Mr Uzbekov’s reputation here”. Uzbekov, a British national born in Kazakhstan, is the son‑in‑law of Alexander Shchukin, who died in 2021......
In this issue: Data protection Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Cybersecurity Other Risk & Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Data protection EDPB adopts report with recommendations to strengthen role of DPOs The European Data Protection Board has approved a report presenting outcomes from its second co‑ordinated enforcement exercise, centred on the appointment and status of Data Protection Officers ( DPOs). It highlights barriers DPOs face—such as non‑appointment and inadequate resourcing—and sets out recommendations to reinforce their independence and ensure access to the resources they need. See: LNB News 18/01/2024 22. EDPB publishes case digest on security of processing and data breach notification The European Data Protection Board has issued a one‑stop‑shop case digest on security of processing and data breach notification under Article 32 and Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation ( EU) 2016/679 ( EU GDPR). The digest sheds light on how Data...
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......
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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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