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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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The Equality and Human Rights Commission ( EHRC) has advised Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities, that organisations still use 2011 guidance to interpret the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010) which is outdated and now deemed unlawful, rather than the Commission’s new advice sent to Phillipson six weeks ago, the watchdog said. The EHRC’s revision sets out relevant case law on disability, the threshold for a legally protected philosophical belief, and changes flowing from the Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 about the definition of sex. Baroness Kishwer Falkner, the EHRC’s chair, pressed Phillipson to withdraw the obsolete guidance and to present the draft update to Parliament for parliament to consider......
The European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) has issued its final report concerning draft implementing technical standards ( ITS) aimed at broadening the use of the alleviated format for insider lists. The draft ITS are set out in Annex III. The Listing Act, printed in the Official Journal on 14 November 2024, amends the Market Abuse Regulation ( MAR) and instructs ESMA to reassess the ITS governing the format for compiling and maintaining insider lists, so that the alleviated format can be extended to all issuers......
Competition policy Government sets out a regulatory reform plan, including scrapping the CMA’s panel member system for Phase 2 merger reviews and market investigations. HM Treasury has issued an update to its March 2025 Regulation Action Plan, charting progress on bringing regulation and regulators into line with the UK’s growth and innovation priorities. The update sets out the government’s strategic steer to the CMA, asking it to put economic growth at the heart of its remit, and records the CMA’s ongoing roll-out of its ‘4Ps’—principles, pace, predictability, proportionality and process—across its portfolio. The CMA will establish new KPIs, with full reporting due by summer 2026, and will run two stakeholder surveys to deepen engagement with business. Alongside this, the Department for Business and Trade will consult on measures to give firms greater clarity on merger control, implement routine remedy reviews, and reshape the CMA’s...
Competition policy Commission adopts its 2026 Work Programme setting out competition law and policy initiatives The Commission has endorsed its 2026 Work Programme, titled ‘ Europe’s independence moment’. From a competition law angle, it intends to: Put forward revisions to the EU antitrust procedure framework ( Regulations 1/2003 and 773/2004) in Q3 2026. Assess the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption in Q2 2026. Conclude the update of the EU merger guidelines......
The Austrian Data Protection Authority ( DSB) reported breaches of the EU General Data Protection Regulation ( EU) 2016/679 ( GDPR), citing illicit student tracking and partial replies to subject access requests. Microsoft 365 Education, a cloud-hosted collection of Microsoft’s productivity applications (such as Teams, Word, Excel and One Drive), is designed for schools, teachers and pupils. The matter stemmed from a complaint lodged last year by the privacy advocacy group Noyb, representing a student, against her school, the regional education board, Austria’s Ministry of Education, and Microsoft. The complaint alleged that none of these parties properly addressed a request to access personal information handled via Microsoft 365 Education. The DSB concluded that Microsoft had offloaded much of the duty for GDPR adherence onto schools and national bodies, which cannot fully govern or grasp the breadth of processing occurring in the cloud, the...
Law firms say investment advisers at financial institutions will tread carefully before backing exposure to digitalised funds under the FCA’s tokenisation framework, as they could be liable for any missteps. Yet lawyers warn that the real escalation in consumer risk sits within targeted support. This FCA model permits advisers to steer groups of comparable customers towards products, without the expense and hazards of full advice. The regulator has clarified that firms offering targeted support must only secure better results, which falls short of guaranteeing good outcomes under the Consumer Duty. Lawyers stress the nuance matters for both firms and customers alike today. That distinction may prompt businesses, via targeted support, to funnel clients into digital funds transacting on distributed ledger technology ( DLT) systems. Harming consumers Michelle Quinn, a partner at Grosvenor Law, cautioned that setting the bar at better, rather than...
This package of measures spans financial penalties, travel prohibitions, asset freezes and bans on exporting materials, goods and technologies that aid Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Paused by the UN under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA) brokered in 2015 by the Obama administration alongside China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK, these restrictions are now being revived by the relevant authorities. The Office of Foreign Assets Control ( OFAC) has already unveiled two waves of new entries to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons ( SDN) list to underpin the snapback. On 29 September 2025, the European Commission likewise moved to reinstate all of these measures—and additional ones beyond the prior scope. On 30 September 2025, the UK named 71 individuals as part of a staged approach to reimpose UN sanctions. It would be a mistake to regard the...
EU, Competition & Procurement— Freedom to set resale price never goes out of fashion: The EU fines Gucci, Chloé and Loewe over €157m As a matter of law, resellers must retain substantial freedom to decide their resale prices. Manufacturers and suppliers have only limited scope to steer the amounts at which their goods are resold by retailers or other intermediaries. This holds whether the resale happens online or in physical, bricks-and-mortar stores. The constraint stems from the so‑called ‘resale price maintenance’ ( RPM) rules. The European Union and Irish RPM frameworks can be outlined as follows: The EU RPM rules ✓ Suppliers may set maximum resale prices—ie the highest amount at which a reseller may supply goods. A supplier may tell a retailer, ‘you may not resell it at more than €100’. ✓ Suppliers may recommend resale prices but may not enforce the resale...
The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) intended for the UK’s proposed consolidated tape for bonds to launch in early 2026, having awarded the inaugural five-year mandate to operate the platform to London-based Etrading Software. That timetable is now in doubt after Ediphy, a UK competitor that also bid for the mandate, filed a legal challenge to the FCA’s selection process. This has triggered a suspension order preventing the regulator from finalising its agreement with Etrading Software at present. The FCA may seek to have that suspension lifted once full particulars of the challenge are lodged with the High Court in due course, if appropriate. Ediphy’s deadline to provide additional details is 24 October 2025, MLex has learned ......
KO UK Pension Trustees Ltd v Barker [2024] EWHC 3661 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? KO Trustees shows the court is prepared to endorse pragmatic measures to address the challenging circumstances trustees frequently encounter, and that judicial scrutiny centres on the calibre of trustees’ decisions, assessed against markers of reasonableness, rationality and good faith, rather than on prescribing outcomes. The focus of the inquiry is the integrity of the process and the soundness of the judgment exercised. Building on the Arcadia ruling ([2025] EWHC 11 ( Ch)) from earlier this year—another blessing application exploring innovative routes to surplus distribution— KO Trustees underlines that staged strategies can be crafted to unlock surplus where it is confined or otherwise outside trustees’ control, including multi-step pathways to reach amounts that are trapped or inaccessible. Against industry estimates that about £45bn of surplus...
Scott Brothers Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1206 ( TC) The appeal concerned an assessment for landfill tax together with a penalty for wrongdoing. The hearing had been listed to run over four days, and the bulk of day one was taken up with the company’s expert providing evidence. On the morning of the second day the company verbally abandoned its appeal in court. It later made an application seeking reinstatement of its appeal under rule 17(3) of the First-tier Tribunal ( Tax Chamber) Rules 2009, SI 2009/273. The managing director stated, in his evidence, that after the first day of the original hearing he had discussed the matter with his advisers and was told that, if HMRC were to lose, it was highly likely they would appeal, which would lead to another hearing and potentially further appeals. He then took an...
Isio reported the LGPS is currently now in surplus by £147bn, owing to unprecedented gains in funding. The government intends to combine the LGPS schemes into a handful of far larger mega-funds, equipping them with the financial clout to invest more heavily in infrastructure projects. When the reforms were unveiled in May 2025, the government assessed the LGPS as holding assets worth £392bn......
The LMG, representing all London insurance firms, noted that businesses are starting to recognise how the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority ( PRA) are shifting to meet their new aims. The two watchdogs are now tasked with lifting the financial sector’s relative competitiveness by cutting bureaucracy and tolerating greater risk. However, on 14 October 2025 the LMG stressed there must be ongoing scrutiny of both regulators to confirm they are fulfilling the mandate. Caroline Wagstaff, the LMG’s chief executive, said the FCA and PRA have ‘talked extensively’ about embedding a mindset of growth and competitiveness. ‘ Their......
The letter marks the newest sign of rising worry and frustration across the creative sector, as the government has yet to outline its approach to AI and copyright while the technology becomes more sophisticated by the day. As things stand, we continue to await the outcome of the major AI and copyright consultation launched at the end of last year, which we discussed previously......
Glencore International AG v Shree Ganesh Metals and another Civil Appeal No. 11067 of 2025 @ Special Leave Petition ( C) No. 27985 of 2019, 2025 SCC On Line SC 1815 What are the practical implications of this case? The SC’s ruling strengthens the presumption in favour of upholding an arbitration clause/agreement, making clear that a formal signature is not a precondition for the clause within a contract to be valid and binding. Where the parties are shown to have assented to a contract through conduct, the agreement is treated as concluded, all the more so when it has thereafter been performed. It follows that once a valid contract is found to exist, every right and obligation it contains binds the parties, including the provision embodying the arbitration agreement. In reaching this position, the SC reaffirmed its earlier...
Home Office changes to the immigration skills charge The Home Office stated that revisions to the immigration skills charge are intended to boost investment in British workers and reduce dependence on overseas hiring, with the government directing the funds into training the domestic workforce. The fee payable varies according to factors such as an organisation’s size and the length of a worker’s sponsorship. The government also confirmed that, from January 2027, international students will have 18 months, rather than the current two years, to secure graduate-level employment after completing their studies. These reforms, detailed in the government’s immigration white paper, also set out measures aimed at drawing in highly skilled workers......
Watson v Chief Constable of Humberside Police [2025] EWHC 2544 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision addresses who bears the burden of proof in claims for false imprisonment and assault, and underscores that any detention or use of force by police must be justified by the rationale an officer advances for acting as they did at the material time. It illustrates that disputes should be resolved on the pleaded issues and the evidence tested in court, and not beyond them. Positions resting on a narrative the court rejects will rarely withstand judicial examination, and judges ought not determine matters on hypothetical versions of a party’s case or on speculation. What was the background? The claimant, experiencing several physical frailties and impairments, made an emergency call saying he might cut his own throat owing to the distress he was...
Mergers Getty Images/ Shutterstock meets the test for reference to phase 2 The CMA has issued its decision that the proposed acquisition of Shutterstock, Inc. ( Shutterstock) by Getty Images Holdings, Inc. ( Getty Images) meets the threshold for a phase 2 reference. Getty Images and Shutterstock both provide digital content, including photographs, illustrations, video and music. The companies operate platforms through which content is licensed to customers. Their content can be broadly divided into: editorial material, covering pictures and video of newsworthy events, people and landmarks; and stock (or creative) content, held in inventory and licensed for use across a wide range of industries......
According to the ABI, major pension firms lifted their allocations to unlisted shares by £800m over the 12 months to the end of February 2025, channelling money via defined contribution ( DC) portfolios. The move increases DC funds’ stake in privately held businesses — including start-ups and other expanding firms — from 0.36% to 0.6%. In July 2023, DC scheme providers collectively pledged, under the so‑called Mansion House Compact, to place up to 5% of their assets into unlisted equities by 2030......
XX (by her litigation friend YY) and another v Young and another company [2025] EWHC 2443 ( SCCO) What are the practical implications of this case? The principal practical takeaways are: Allegations of fundamental dishonesty ought to be pursued within the primary action under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 ( CJCA 2015), rather than deferred to CPR 44.11 at a later stage. This case’s oddity—fundamental dishonesty being raised but never determined in the claim—serves as a stark reminder to ensure any costs order accurately captures the parties’ intended outcome. Reaching a conclusion on fundamental dishonesty at detailed assessment, absent a discrete hearing on that issue, would be plainly unfair. Finality is critical: detailed assessment is not the place to salvage or alter the consequences of imprecise drafting in an order. For claimants, the takeaway is to record...
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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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