Legal News

Mergers The Commission has been notified of CDPE/ Trilantic/ Agri Holding ( M.11880) under the simplified merger procedure. Commitments were submitted in M.11253 involving Safran and part of Collins Aerospace’s actuation and flight control business. For live merger reviews, see EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker. Antitrust Meta Platforms and Meta Platforms Ireland have filed Case T–66/25 before the General Court, contesting the Commission’s decision in Meta ( Facebook Marketplace) ( AT.40684). For live antitrust appeals, see General Court appeals—ongoing cases tracker. Foreign Subsidy Regulation The Commission has received a concentration notification in Omnicom/ IPG ( FS.100190). For live Foreign Subsidies Regulation probes, see Foreign Subsidies Regulation—ongoing cases tracker. State aid Under EU State aid rules, the Commission approved a Czech scheme (€90m) to support building, refurbishing, and acquiring affordable rental homes—see Midday Express. For live State aid decisions and...

The Labour Government has stated in its reply that it will carry forward the former Conservative administration’s plans to cap the period for producing local plans at 30 months. These proposals introduce a six-stage process for preparing local plans and a six-month examination, with up to three further months where consultation on proposed modifications is required; any consultation pause cannot exceed six months. They also provide for three compulsory ‘gateway checks’ by inspectors, alongside simplified evidence demands on local authorities. LURA 2023 had set out within this proposed planning framework......

Employment Rights Bill— Stages What are the implications? This updated iteration of the Employment Rights Bill ( ERB) outlines the changes approved at the Report Stage in the House of Commons and is set to be examined by the House of Lords during its formal second reading there......

Connaughton v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2025] EAT 32. The EAT affirmed an employment tribunal’s decision that Dr Kevin Connaughton could not pursue claims against the health board because no relationship of employment existed, concluding that his position was unlike that of Uber drivers who secured notable workers’ rights. The EAT observed that the clear wording of domestic legislation did not support the interpretation advanced by the claimant. Connaughton, general practitioner, issued proceedings seeking compensation for periods he was absent between 2011 and 2020, together with payment for holiday that had accrued. The success of his case turned on whether he qualified as a worker, and the EAT has now confirmed the tribunal’s conclusion that he did not, and he could not recover sums sought in the claim......

As noted in our July 2024 piece, the High Court in Gilroy and Byrne v O’ Leary [2024] IEHC 349 interpreted s 11(3B) of the Statute of Limitations 1957 and determined that, in cases concerning material published on the Internet, a defamation cause of action accrues when the material first becomes capable of being seen or accessed. On that basis, the High Court declined the plaintiffs’ bid to add Google Ireland Ltd ( Google) as a defendant in their defamation proceedings. The plaintiffs challenged that refusal in the Court of Appeal, which, in a judgment issued on 24 February 2025, set aside the High Court’s decision. Facts The appellants allege they were defamed by a You Tube video uploaded on 23 June 2018. Proceedings against the defendant commenced on 29 June 2018. On 12 December 2022, they applied to join Google as a...

The High Court dismissed Howden’s contention that the matter should be determined in Brazil, where the claim accuses the broker of deploying Aon’s own staff as in-house recruiters to lure personnel from its Brazilian arm. Master John Dagnall found the bulk of the alleged misconduct is rooted in England, as Aon says London-based Howden leaders orchestrated matters as ‘puppet masters’ to prompt the raiding of its workforce. He added that the supposed actions of Howden’s UK operation serve as an ‘anchor’, keeping the entirety of the claims within this court’s reach. He stayed proceedings against Antonio Rodrigues, the then chief executive of Aon’s Brazilian reinsurance unit, whom Aon identified as the catalyst for 11 of its staff moving to Howden. The judge observed there is ‘no real commercial need’ for Aon to pursue Rodrigues, although, should it choose, it could bring action in...

What are the practical implications of this case? German rules on standard terms are frequently faulted as excessively rigid and demanding, particularly in cross-border settings. Consequently, commercial contract writers commonly opt to disapply it. Paired with an arbitration clause, this carve-out is viewed by some arbitration specialists as an inventive way to sidestep the exacting content control set out in sections 305 to 310 of the German Code of Civil Procedure ( Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO). As a matter of substantive law, the approach remains contentious. Here, the applicant—also the claimant in the pending arbitration—asked the German Federal Court of Justice whether inserting that exclusion into the arbitration clause makes the arbitration as a whole inadmissible. The court decided that the arbitration clause stands, and that it is for the arbitral tribunal to rule on whether German...

Hastings Insurance Services Ltd v HM Revenue and Customs Specialists at MHA, in a note issued on 12 March 2025, warned that the fallout from the Tax Tribunal’s decision in Hastings Insurance Services Ltd v HM Revenue and Customs, handed down on 3 March 2025, may trigger a surge of claims. The dispute focused on whether the UK-based intermediary, Hastings, can recover £16m of value added tax repayments spanning four years from the government. The broker said the total tax at stake for the wider sector could be between £250m and £400m. ' It is clearly a significant amount', Robin Prince, VAT partner at MHA, said......

Antitrust CMA launches consultation on replacement of TTBER; proposes new UK block exemption order The CMA has opened consultation on a draft recommendation to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade ( So S) concerning the replacement of the assimilated Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation ( Assimilated TTBER), which will lapse on 30 April 2026......

In a judgment issued on 12 March 2025, the court found that the EU Intellectual Property Office was correct to reject evidence submitted by Lidl Vertriebs- Gmb H & Co KG concerning the prior public disclosure of one of its lightbulb designs, and it dismissed the appeal in full. Lidl Vertriebs- Gmb H had asked the EUIPO to invalidate the design owned by Taiwanese company Liquid Leds, arguing the German company’s case that it lacked the 'individual character' required for IP protection. Lidl specifically maintained that the Taiwanese firm’s bulb was essentially the same as earlier designs that had already been made public before the Taiwanese company filed its application. The EUIPO rejected Lidl’s claim, prompting the company to appeal. However, the Board of Appeal dismissed the challenge after officials determined that the earlier designs......

Developers behind the most capable AI systems are encountering an updated EU code of practice that shifts from prescriptive rules to results‑focused expectations. The European Commission’s AI Office issued the third, and penultimate, draft on 11 March 2025, introducing revisions to give providers room in how they achieve the code’s safety aims, while removing key performance indicators. The code is scheduled to be finalised by 2 May 2025. Serving as a compliance tool for organisations such as Open AI and Anthropic that create general‑purpose AI models considered by the EU AI Act to carry ‘systemic risks’, the code obliges providers of general purpose AI ( GPAI) models with systemic risks to put in place a safety and security framework setting out risk assessment, mitigation measures, and governance arrangements. In the latest draft, model providers are asked to define the criteria by which they will judge...

These appeals mark the Supreme Court’s initial look at challenges to sanctions within the UK’s post‑ Brexit framework, and the first since its landmark ruling in Bank Mellat v HM Treasury [2013] UKSC 39 in 2014, which set out the test for assessing a measure’s proportionality. They stem from the UK’s Russia sanctions regime and follow several lower court judgments dismissing challenges to sanctions designations. At the heart of these cases is whether the measures accord with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR), and whether they are proportionate in light of Bank Mellat. Guidance from the Supreme Court on these key questions will have a significant bearing on future sanctions disputes. This article considers the issues raised that are likely to be examined by the UK Supreme Court in due course concerning...

In a decision published on 12 March 2025, the regulator said it had directed Emma Allchurch to pay £4,229, having found that, when seeking a renewal quote in July 2019, she failed to give her insurer complete details of the work she was carrying out or the advice she had provided on property developments and investments......

In points of defence lodged on 7 March 2025, Tesco informed the High Court that, while its Clubcard logo might have suggested to shoppers that its prices were comparable with Lidl’s, the approach also brought disadvantages for the UK retailer, and it should therefore not be compelled to pay additional losses. The pleading states that the logo conferred benefits by implying a price‑matching campaign, but any such upside was ultimately outweighed by associated drawbacks. Lidl succeeded in April 2023 with its claim that its competitor had infringed its intellectual property. At that stage, a High Court judge found that the Clubcard programme’s iconography called to mind Lidl’s branding and took unfair advantage of its reputation for low prices. In 2024, Tesco failed to convince the Court of Appeal that its Clubcard branding did not infringe the German discounter’s trade mark. However, the...

Mergers The Commission has approved: the set-up of a joint venture by subsidiaries of China Minmetals Corporation and a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation ( M.11884) following a phase I investigation—see further, Midday Express the establishment of a joint venture by Daikin Industries Ltd and Copeland LP ( M.11867) following a phase I investigation—see further, Midday Express The Commission received notifications in: TPG/ Techem ( M. M.11751) (normal merger procedure) Air Liquide/ Fluxys/ JV ( M.11782) (simplified merger procedure) The Commission issued the full texts of its phase I decisions in: Exyte/...

Lonham Group Ltd v Scotbeef Ltd & another [2025] EWCA Civ 203 Traditionally, English insurance law placed onerous burdens on insured parties: they were required to reveal every material circumstance capable of affecting the judgment of a prudent insurer when setting the premium or determining whether to accept the risk. If they did not, the insurer could treat the policy as though it never existed. Likewise, any failure to comply with a warranty discharged the insurer from liability under the policy, regardless of the warranty’s relevance to the risk and irrespective of whether the breach was later remedied. In the early development of insurance, these severe rules were arguably justified by the informational imbalance between insured and insurer. By the twenty-first century, however, a more sophisticated market generated pressure for reform. For non-consumer insurance, the result was IA 2015, which marked a substantial change in...

A revised edition of the Employment Rights Bill ( ERB), including the amendments agreed at Report Stage on 11 and 12 March, has been posted on the Parliament website. The 310‑page Bill has moved on to the House of Lords, where it is set for its second reading on 27 March. Employment Rights Bill (as brought from the Commons) We will provide more detail on the Bill’s new provisions in a separate bulletin, and will update our Employment Rights Bill—tracker to mirror these changes as soon as possible......

New requirement for care worker sponsors to recruit from UK ‘pool’ first A new eligibility rule now applies to applicants for care workers and home carers ( SOC 2020 code 6135) and senior care workers ( SOC 2020 code 6136) where they will be: working exclusively in England, and either: seeking entry clearance, or switching in-country into this route—unless they have already spent at least three months working for the sponsor in one of these SOC 2020 roles under their current immigration route In these circumstances, the sponsor must confirm it has attempted, but failed, to recruit from the UK-based ‘pool’ of Skilled Workers who: are currently in the UK, were most recently sponsored in one of the two SOC 2020...

A proposed negative SI was reviewed by the Transport Committee and the SLSC, and neither advised an upgrade: New Heavy Duty Vehicles ( Carbon Dioxide Emission Performance Standards) ( Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 Latest Commons select committee recommendations The most recent Transport Committee publication is: Votes and Proceedings, Tuesday 11 March 2025— Select Committees: Reports, Transport Committee Latest SLSC recommendations The latest report from the SLSC is: SLSC—94th Report of Session 2024–25, 13 March 2025 Instruments drawn to the special attention of the House The SLSC drew the following Brexit-related statement to the special attention of the House because the supporting explanation did not provide enough detail to make the policy aim and planned delivery clear: National Procurement Policy Statement Further conclusions are available here. Latest SIs laid for sifting For information on the most recently laid SIs for sifting, see: REUL( RR) A 2023 ......

Court of Appeal confirms deportation exclusion affecting trafficking victims ( SSHD v VLT & S) Secretary of State for the Home Department v S ( Advice on Individual Rights in Europe ( AIRE) Centre intervening); Secretary of State for the Home Department v VLT ( Advice on Individual Rights in Europe ( AIRE) Centre intervening) [2025] EWCA Civ 188 What are the practical implications of this case? Representatives acting for clients with CG concluded before 31 January 2023, and with an outstanding re‑trafficking protection claim, may inform them they qualify for KTT‑derived discretionary leave (‘the concession’). They may seek temporary leave owing to that unresolved protection claim. The applicable test, drawn from KTT, is whether leave is required by their ‘personal circumstances’. However, those subject to a deportation order are excluded from the concession. Instead, they must meet the same statutory threshold as everyone else:...