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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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Antitrust CAT strikes out Scottish solicitor’s competition claim against Faculty of Advocates The CAT handed down its judgment in Patrick Henry Mc Auley v Faculty of Advocates Services Ltd, a damages action contending that the Faculty of Advocates’ (the Faculty) decision not to supply services to a solicitor holding a restricted practising certificate infringed Chapter I and Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 ( CA 1998). It concluded that the Faculty’s actions were covered by the “legal requirement” exemption in Schedule 3 to the CA 1998 and thus could not amount to anti-competitive conduct. Accordingly, the CAT struck out the claim......
Directors must advance the company’s best interests, while also adhering to legal requirements that dictate what must be revealed to shareholders and how their interests are considered in corporate decision-making. When decisions were taken with the benefit of legal advice, the ‘ Shareholder Rule’ created uncertainty about who could access that advice in future disputes, in the absence of a statutory footing. On 24 July 2025, in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd No 2 [2025] UKPC 34 ( Jardine), the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council issued a landmark judgment abolishing the ‘ Shareholder Rule’. That rule had functioned as an exception to legal advice privilege, preventing a company from maintaining privilege over its legal advice vis-à-vis its shareholders in later litigation. Although the ‘ Shareholder Rule’ had stood in England and Wales for more than 135 years, the Privy...
On 7 October 2025, an authority official said the Irish examination of Google’s advertising data handling is not analogous to a separate inquiry into a domestic data broker accused of vending highly accurate location information from users’ smartphones. The Irish DPC has opened a probe into the broker following RTÉ’s findings that the datasets marketed are detailed enough to pinpoint people’s residences, places of work, and sites of private activities. RTÉ further disclosed that brokers within the digital advertising sector have traded the exact movements of tens of thousands of Irish handsets, including those belonging to security personnel......
The long-anticipated AIFMD II, amending Directive 2011/61/ EU ( AIFMD) and Directive 2009/65/ EC on Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities in relation to delegation arrangements, liquidity risk management, supervisory reporting, the provision of depositary and custody services, and loan origination by alternative investment funds, entered into force on 15 April 2024. Delegation The recitals to AIFMD II acknowledge the crucial contribution of third-party delegation to streamlined portfolio management and to securing know-how in a specific region or asset class. AIFMD already bars AIFMs from outsourcing to such an extent that they amount to a ‘letter-box entity’. Delegation remained a central theme of the AIFMD review, and the recitals also stress the need for supervisors to hold up-to-date details on the principal features of delegation set-ups, and to implement targeted adjustments to enhance AIFMD’s operation, including the standards for AIFMs that delegate to third...
' Frontier' Clean Energy Industries The Plan spotlights a set of ‘frontier’ Clean Energy Industries that will receive focussed government backing: Wind (onshore, offshore and floating offshore) Nuclear fission Fusion energy Carbon Capture Usage & Storage ( CCUS) Greenhouse gas removals Hydrogen Heat pumps Conspicuously absent from the ‘frontier’ line-up are solar, long duration energy storage ( LDES), bioenergy, heat networks, and smart grid technologies. These are characterised as ‘vital’, with an assurance that government will continue to support their deployment, yet they are largely unmentioned for the remainder of the Plan. The Plan’s ten-year programme confirms long-term deployment plans for the frontier technologies. It seeks to drive investment by providing greater certainty to industry. Across the document, two principal levers for delivery are emphasised: delivering targeted catalytic public investment and breaking down barriers to investment. Although not the focus of this blog, the Plan also outlines how government intends to ensure a...
Original news Mr Y ( CAS-59303- Y0Z8)-12 June 2025 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has supported a complaint concerning a transfer payment. The member began a pension transfer to the receiving scheme, but the transaction was significantly delayed, largely because the receiving scheme did not supply the requested HMRC certificates and reference numbers. The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman concluded that the receiving scheme had assumed responsibility to ensure the transfer was completed promptly and was therefore accountable for any losses resulting from unreasonable delay. This decision serves as a clear warning to receiving schemes to deal with transfer requests from ceding schemes swiftly and efficiently What were the facts? Mr Y belonged to the Reassure Pension Group Stakeholder Pension Plan (the Scheme), which was administered by Aviva. He wished to move his pension benefits from another arrangement into the Scheme. Regrettably, there were a number of hold-ups before the...
Original news Mr S ( CAS-90949- P2D1)—16 June 2025 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman partially upheld a complaint arising from unreasonable delays in processing a transfer payment. A small award was granted for distress and inconvenience, although the complainant suffered no financial loss. The transfer value ultimately paid was higher than the amount that would have been payable had the transfer been completed in good time. The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman also declined to impose an obligation on the scheme to avert adverse Spanish tax consequences. This outcome serves as a reminder to pension schemes of the need to ensure transfer requests are handled promptly and in a timely fashion. What were the facts? Mr S belonged to the Re Assure Pension Group Stakeholder Pension Plan (the Scheme)......
The Legal Services Board ( LSB) said that it will look at how regulators drew up their guidance on who could conduct litigation The Legal Services Board has confirmed it will scrutinise the way regulators developed guidance on who is permitted to conduct litigation. That entitlement has come under scrutiny following a recent High Court ruling, which has sparked significant unease among lawyers concerned that their working practices could be viewed as unlawful. According to the LSB, the review will examine whether approved regulators and regulatory bodies ensured that information about conducting litigation was both accurate and dependable. The intention is to draw lessons and to sustain clarity and confidence in the regulatory framework. The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty triggered by the High Court’s 16 September 2025 decision in Mazur & Stuart v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2025] EWHC 2341 ( KB). In that case, Judge Clive...
Background The question of employment status has taken centre stage in Irish employment and tax law following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Karshan and the release of the updated Code of Practice on Determining Employment Status (the Code), produced after a review by an interdepartmental group including the Department of Social Protection, Revenue and the Workplace Relations Commission ( WRC). For fuller analysis of Karshan and the Code, see our earlier briefings: Supreme Court delivers reformulation and restatement of law in Domino’s Pizza case updated Code of Practice on determining employment status now published In Karshan, the Supreme Court clarified the governing approach to differentiating employees from independent contractors, introducing a structured five-step assessment. The ruling has reshaped how employers, advisers and decision-makers evaluate working relationships, and the Code brings these principles together as a practical guide for compliance and risk control. Revenue has also issued its own...
Regulatory Technical Standards ( RTS) on Settlement Discipline The European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) has issued its final report proposing amendments to the Regulatory Technical Standards on Settlement Discipline, designed to improve settlement efficiency across the EU and help the shift to a shorter settlement cycle ( T+1) by......
State aid Commission publishes staff working document finding State aid rules on guarantees still relevant but can be updated The Commission has issued a Staff Working Document presenting the results of its evaluation of the Commission Notice on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid in the form of guarantees (the “ Guarantee Notice”). This Notice explains how the Commission evaluates State-backed guarantees for loans and other financial instruments... Commenced in August 2022, the review set out to determine whether the Guarantee Notice remains fit for purpose, with attention to its ongoing relevance, effectiveness, and consistency within the wider State aid framework... Background The Guarantee Notice clarifies how Member States can ensure that State guarantees reflect market terms and therefore do not amount to State aid......
On Tower UK Ltd v British Telecommunications Plc [2025] EWCA Civ 844 What are the practical implications of this case? Landlords and site providers will need to ensure that an agreement’s term has been, or will be, brought to an end in accordance with its contractual terms before serving paragraph 31 notices under the Electronic Communications Code, in Schedule 3A to the Communications Act 2003 ( CA 2003) ( Code), where those notices are intended to take effect after the contractual term has ended. The decision leaves open whether a landlord or site provider must wait for a break notice to expire, and demonstrate satisfaction of any break pre-conditions, before a paragraph 31 notice can then be issued; or whether it is adequate simply to serve the break notice and then—perhaps the following day—a paragraph 31 notice (or even to place both...
Findings from TPR’s most recent DC survey, issued alongside its press release, indicate that schemes have moved to review, roll out or collaborate on decumulation solutions for their members ahead of the statutory obligation set out in the Pension Schemes Bill, which is presently progressing through Parliament. This forthcoming duty will compel trustees to make available at least one default route for members to draw their retirement income, commonly referred to as the guided retirement duty......
ESMA 2026 workprogramme In its 2026 workprogramme, the European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) confirmed that teams are already getting ready to assume fresh supervisory duties, including oversight of consolidated tape providers that will supply a unified electronic stream of price and volume market data. ' Through extensive outreach and preparatory work, ESMA supervisory teams are gearing up to take on these new responsibilities', ESMA Director Natasha Cazenave said in a statement. ESMA’s preparations are already under way now. The regulator added that the broader remit will align with new or updated European rules taking effect across financial services. From 2 July 2026, ESMA will begin registering ESG rating agencies under the new ESG ratings regulation. This framework, enforced by ESMA, sets out how agencies issue environmental, social and governance assessments to gauge companies’ financial exposure to these risks......
Mergers Constellation Developments Limited/ ABVR Holdings Limited merger referred to phase 2 The CMA has referred to phase 2 the completed purchase by Constellation Developments Limited ( Constellation) of ABVR Holdings Limited ( Aston Barclay), after Constellation chose not to provide proposed undertakings in lieu. Constellation forms part of a larger group active in used vehicle remarketing and retail throughout the UK and Europe. It controls British Car Limited, a business-to-business ( B2B) used vehicle auction operator, and We Buy Any Car Limited (trading as webuyanycar), a consumer car buying service. Aston Barclay also supplies B2B used vehicle auction services in the UK and runs a car buying business via The Car Buying Group. On 29 September 2025, the CMA announced that the transaction met the test for reference to a phase 2 investigation. At phase 1, the CMA found that the deal gives rise to an SLC...
Domestic The Department of Finance launches a public consultation on the transposition of the ( EU) Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive The Department of Finance has recently opened a public consultation on the transposition of the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive ( EU) 2025/1 ( IRRD). The IRRD entered into force on 28 January 2025 and must be transposed into Irish law by 28 January 2027. It is intended to deliver a harmonised approach to recovery and resolution across the European Union, ensuring insurers and the relevant authorities are better prepared for periods of significant financial distress. The key objectives of the IRRD are to: protect policyholders, beneficiaries and claimants preserve financial stability secure the continuity of (re)insurers’ critical functions......
Re Standard Profil Automotive Gmb H [2025] EWHC 2313 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment reinforces the position in Re DTEK Energy [2022] 1 BCLC 260, confirming that a cross-border scheme does not require absolute certainty of international recognition before the English court will approve it. Rather, there must be a genuine prospect or likelihood that recognition will be obtained in the relevant jurisdictions, and the court will refuse sanction only where it concludes the exercise would be wholly futile because international effectiveness is absent. The court further stated that, where the underlying debt documentation is governed by English law and includes an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the English courts, international recognition can reasonably be anticipated pursuant to the Hague Convention and/or the Hague Judgments Convention, despite the recent preliminary ruling of the Regional Court of...
Beacon Cymru Group Ltd (formerly Coastal Housing Group Ltd) and another company v Mitchell and another; Bron Afon Community Housing Ltd v Wadley ( The Welsh Ministers, intervening) [2025] EWHC 2477 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling covers both converted and new contracts and applies to every type of landlord in Wales. Advisers must take both decisions into account when representing a client concerned about a failure to provide an electrical condition report ( ECR) to either a new or converted contract-holder. Particular care will be required in rent arrears matters or housing conditions claims. The decision does not lessen the importance of complying with the sometimes complex statutory and regulatory requirements of the Renting Homes ( Wales) Act 2016 ( RH( W) A 2016) and its suite of supporting regulations. Nevertheless, read together the judgments suggest, in very broad...
According to an official paper dated 8 October 2025, the European Commission intends to publish guidance on the EU AI Act’s relationship with other digital rules starting in Q3 2026, implying the documents could appear shortly before or after core provisions begin to apply. An annex to the Apply AI Strategy—an effort to accelerate AI uptake in priority industries—states the Commission will ‘develop guidelines on the EU AI Act’s interplay with other Union law from Q3 2026’. The annex outlines timelines for planned AI measure. Some projects are pinned to precise quarters, while others are slated to kick off from a broader window, implying activity may not commence until that point. Overall, the schedule signals a staggered roll-out across actions......
Cyber resilience needs to be built in from the very start, not bolted on after terms are settled. Bringing legal teams into procurement at an early stage allows organisations to set expectations before contracts are concluded, ensuring protections are workable, clear and aligned to supplier practice. This early involvement reduces the likelihood of retrofitting clauses and promotes more integrated risk management. Before the contract lay the groundwork early Effective resilience planning should start before the contract is signed. Legal teams should collaborate with stakeholders to evaluate: applicable laws and frameworks by sector and service where the solution sits within the wider business ecosystem how it connects to other systems—connectivity can pose greater risk than criticality the supplier’s visibility of its own supply chain, including indirect dependencies who holds responsibility for different layers of technology, particularly in cloud...
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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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