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Lucasfilm did not benefit in any way at Tyburn Film Productions Ltd's expense, counsel said to the appeals court there on 3 December 2025, in part because it already possessed rights over Cushing's likeness and an agreement and consent from the Cushing estate to 'resurrect' him as Grand Moff Tarkin. Tyburn contends it earlier made an agreement with the late actor then, at the time, granting the company a veto over any use of his image prior to his 1994 death. That contract concerns a TV series titled 'Heritage of Horror', which never aired. Tyburn further asserts the deal permits it to effectively 'resurrect' Cushing using stand-ins and CGI to ultimately finish the programme then if the actor were to die whilst filming remained in progress...
Irish telecom operator Eircom’s damages lawsuit against BT Group over a public-sector contract must be carefully managed to trial to deal with confidentiality issues and other matters, a UK judge told the parties today. At the High Court in London today, a judge said Eircom’s damages action against BT over a public-sector contract needs tight case management through to trial to address confidentiality and related concerns. Eircom brought the claim after Ofcom in 2020 penalised BT for its behaviour during a tender. Speaking to both sides, Judge Adam Johnson urged them to resolve any confidentiality flashpoints themselves and signalled he had no wish to step in unless it became unavoidable. He also expressed confidence that parties would do everything possible to keep confidential designations to a minimum, noting this was necessary to maintain control over the conduct of the trial. He framed this as the
The following document is attached: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/274 dated 5 February 2026, revising Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1981, establishing a final anti-dumping levy on imports of ceramic tableware and kitchenware produced in...
Justice Richard Arnold granted AstraZeneca leave to appeal and permitted lorries carrying about 175,000 packs of Glenmark’s generics to move on to wholesalers, provided they did not reach pharmacy shelves while the case continued at any point during those interim proceedings. In this way, Glenmark could keep its first-to-market advantage, while causing only minimal detriment to AstraZeneca should the Court of Appeal later be persuaded to issue an injunction against supply. The judge said this approach maintained the status quo with the least possible prejudice to Glenmark’s position overall. The hearing was arranged at short notice, just days after the High Court refused AstraZeneca an injunction to block the diabetes generic from sale while the court considered whether the patents supporting the branded medicine were valid in law. Glenmark, Generics (UK) Ltd and Teva Pharmaceuticals have each begun proceedings in the UK to set...
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In this issue: WTO Trade in goods Safeguards Anti-dumping Customs Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content International Trade Highlights 2024/2025 WTO WTO reports surge in trade restrictions amid growing global uncertainty The World Trade Organization ( WTO) has issued its annual trade monitoring report, signalling a marked upswing in trade‑restrictive measures. The WTO records that new actions by members impacted $US887.7bn of trade, a sharp rise on the prior year’s £US337.1bn. Although trade‑facilitating measures also increased, the WTO cautions that a swelling stock of import restrictions now covers 11.8% of world imports. The organisation additionally reports more export restrictions and a higher number of trade remedy initiations, alongside early indications of trade fragmentation linked to geopolitical tensions. See: LNB News 12/12/2024 41. Trade in goods DBT announces UK's official accession to CPTPP trade agreement The Department for Business and Trade ( DBT) has announced that the UK has formally joined the...
Risk & Compliance weekly highlights—19 December 2024 In this issue: Risk & Compliance forecast Data protection Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other Risk & Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Risk & Compliance Highlights 2024/2025 Risk & Compliance forecast Our refreshed Risk & Compliance forecast (dated 18 December 2024) is now available. This month we cover: (1) the EDPB’s consultation on Guidelines 02/2024 concerning GDPR Article 48; (2) expectations that the Data ( Use and Access) Bill will be enacted in early spring 2025; (3) the ICO’s indication that it will update its existing AI guidance in due course; and (4) two Treasury Committee oral evidence sessions on 4 and 17 December examining the acceptance of physical cash in the UK. See News Analysis: New Risk &...
In this issue: Corporate governance Regulatory Global incentive issues Budgets, Autumn Statements and Finance Bills Q& As Useful information Share Incentives Weekly Highlights 2024/25 Weekly highlights from other practice areas Corporate governance ISS Governance announces 2025 benchmark policy updates ISS Governance, a prominent global source of impartial shareholder meeting research and voting guidance, has unveiled revisions to its 2025 Benchmark proxy voting policies. These changes will typically apply to shareholder meetings scheduled on or after 1 February 2025. For the UK and Ireland, updates on remuneration matters are particularly notable: Revisions broadly align with the refreshed Investment Association ( IA) Principles of Remuneration issued in October 2024 (see: Share Incentives weekly highlights—10 October 2024— Investment Association publishes updated ‘ Principles of Remuneration’) and the January 2024 amendments to the UK Corporate Governance Code (see: Share...
This News Analysis reviews OPRC minutes spanning November 2023 through to November 2024. All minutes can be found here. Civil workstreams At its November 2023 meeting, the OPRC set out four key workstreams: fixed recoverable costs; the Renters ( Reform) Bill; enforcement; and integrated small claims mediation for claims up to £10,000. Each area has seen movement over the past year. Mo J proposals on the fixed recoverable costs regime, arising from the fixed costs consultation, were adopted via core CPR updates in April 2024 and October 2024. For more detail, see: Tracker— Fixed costs reforms. The Renters ( Reform) Bill lapsed on 30 May 2024 when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2024 General Election and therefore did not obtain Royal Assent. A Renters’ Rights Bill, with comparable objectives, is now before Parliament—see: LNB News 11/09/2024 19— MHCLG announces Renters’ Rights Bill. The Courts and...
In this issue: Planning policy Planning for nationally significant infrastructure Planning statutory review Environmental assessments Planning applications and decisions Heritage and natural environment Housing Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Related Documents Planning Highlights 2024/2025 Planning policy Revised National Planning Policy Framework published The government has released an updated National Planning Policy Framework ( NPPF). Significant shifts from the December 2023 edition affect green belt policy and the approach to identifying housing need and demonstrating housing land supply. Policy backing for infrastructure and community services is also strengthened, alongside other adjustments. A companion consultation response, issued the same day, outlines the government’s pledges for broader reform of the planning system, including amendments to the Planning Act 2008 ( PA 2008) regime for nationally significant...
In this issue: Criminal procedure and evidence Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Fraud, forgery, taxation and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Local authority prosecutions International Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Corporate Crime Highlights 2024/2025 Criminal procedure and evidence Mo J launches independent review of criminal courts in England and Wales with possible trimming of jury trials to cut criminal case backlog On 12 December 2024, the Ministry of Justice ( Mo J) began a major review of the criminal court system that may substantially reduce the number of jury trials to ease pressure on a system hampered by delays. Sir Leveson, appointed to lead the independent review, will look at...
At a hearing by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee HMRC was challenged at the committee hearing that it requires a targeted approach to cut the £5.5bn lost to tax evasion in fiscal year 2022–23. However, chief executive Jim Harra emphasised the authority has markedly reduced the gap over the long term. He told the committee, ' We have brought the tax gap down from 7.4% in 2005–06 to 4.8% in 2022–23'. A UK National Audit Office ( NAO) report released in September 2024 asserted that HMRC failed to prevent small businesses from avoiding more than £4.4bn in taxes in total. Dated 9 September 2024, the report further contended that HMRC lacks a focused, tailored strategy to address different tax evasion schemes......
Background Created under the Energy Performance of Buildings ( England and Wales) Regulations 2012, the EPB framework has played a key role in boosting energy efficiency and cutting carbon outputs across the building stock. EPC ratings have served as the foundation for targets like the minimum energy efficiency standards ( MEES) and have also acted as an eligibility criterion for funding. Yet, as energy performance evolves, the drive to achieve net zero and the supportive context of the Energy Act 2023 have led the government to conclude that reform is required. Key areas The consultation sets out several pivotal areas where changes are proposed: Updating EPC Metrics & Design: domestic EPCs rely on an Energy Efficiency Rating ( EER) derived from modelled energy costs per m2, using standardised heating schedules, temperatures and fixed fuel price assumptions. Non-domestic EPCs draw on the...
Re VTB Capital plc (in administration) [2024] EWHC 2612 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? While the judgment does not spell it out, the application seems to have proceeded under paragraph 76(2)(a) of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 ( IA 1986). VTB was not in special administration, and Schedule B1 to IA 1986 applied, subject only to the modifications introduced by the Credit Institutions ( Reorganisation and Winding up) Regulations 2004. There is no statutory cap on the duration of any extension a court can grant under IA 1986, Sch B1, para 76(2)(a); the appropriate period is fact-sensitive. Any period requested should represent a credible, principled estimate of the time required to meet the administration’s purpose—for instance, completing sales of residual assets or recovering sums due by instalments over a defined timeframe. The application should...
The Market Court in Brussels has referred to the EU Court of Justice the question of whether the right to erasure — the so‑called right to be forgotten — can be relied upon in a matter centred on an unnamed individual’s attempt to have his baptismal entry removed, according to a decision seen by MLex. It asks whether Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation, alongside the freedom of religion in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, means that a person baptised as a child who, as an adult, seeks to dissociate himself from the Roman Catholic Church does or does not have the right to have his personal data deleted from the register of baptisms......
BDW Trading Ltd v Ardmore Construction Ltd [2024] [ EWHC 3235 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment offers useful guidance on the way claims concerning historic defects under the DPA 1972—revived by amendments to the Limitation Act 1980 made through the Building Safety Act 2022, which extended the applicable period to 30 years—are expected to be addressed in adjudication and before the courts. In this instance, the judge showed little patience with the defendant contractor’s position about the passage of time, despite some 20 years elapsing between completion of the works and the bringing of the claim. The court also rejected submissions questioning the adjudicator’s remit to decide DPA 1972 claims on the footing that they were not disputes arising ‘under the contract’. It confirmed that the Fiona Trust principle applies to adjudication provisions: parties are presumed to have...
Eronat v CPNC International ( Chad) Ltd and another [2024] EWHC 2880 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? Under certain arbitral rules, such as the LCIA Rules, parties commonly waive any right to appeal an award under the Arbitration Act 1996 ( AA 1996). That exclusion can, however, be modified by contract. In this matter, the parties agreed a tailored right to appeal within 30 days of the award, where the tribunal had erred in fact and/or law. Although focused on a bespoke clause, the judgment operates as a reminder to heed relevant time limits and to move swiftly if an appeal is intended. It also offers a cautionary note for parties who, by agreement, aim to reduce the finality of arbitration: select wording carefully and reflect on how it will be construed alongside the practical steps inherent in the...
Development and Nature Recovery On 15 December 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs issued a Planning Reform Working Paper titled ‘ Development and Nature Recovery’. It seeks feedback on a new approach that channels development funding into environmental improvements, shifting more of the responsibility for delivering these outcomes from developers to the state. The goal is to unblock and speed up development while securing better environmental results. The measures form part of wider proposals for the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, anticipated in early 2025, which is intended to play a key role in driving economic growth and unlocking a new scale of housing and infrastructure delivery. A press release published alongside the paper stated that common-sense adjustments to environmental rules will support the Government’s commitment to build 1.5 million homes and move forward...
Mergers The CMA has now opened an initial phase 1 review into the proposed purchase by Topps Tiles Plc of specified assets from Tildist Realisations Limited (formerly CTD Tiles Limited)—see further, case page NOTE— For all live mergers before the CMA, see further, UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker Private actions The CMA has formally issued a collective proceedings order in Nikki Stopford v (1) Alphabet Inc.; (2) Google LLC; (3) Google Ireland Limited; and (4) Google UK Limited, granting Ms Nikki Stopford leave to commence collective proceedings, under section 47B of the Competition Act 1998, against Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited and Google UK Limited (together, Google), alleging abuse of a dominant position in the online search market and in certain adjacent markets relating to mobile device functionality—see further, order ( CPO) NOTE— For all live private actions in the UK that have been...
The Paper outlines a number of perceived issues with how planning committees operate in England, which the government wishes to address. Among these are: numerous local schemes of delegation fail to set out clearly whether a planning application will be decided by committee or by a planning officer, creating uncertainty for developers excessive time is spent considering applications that comply with the local plan, or post-permission matters, particularly where the site is allocated and clear policy requirements exist in the local plan; this slows decisions on schemes already examined through the local plans process, wasting time and resources on occasion, applications are refused contrary to officer advice and are then overturned at appeal, delaying appropriate development and wasting time and resources at times, committee members lack sufficient understanding of planning law, leaving their decisions more open to being overturned on appeal To address these matters, the Paper puts forward three...
EI Technology Unlimited Co, headquartered in County Clare, Ireland, told the High Court that a fire alarm range marketed by Hispec Electrical Products Ltd reproduces core aspects of EI Electronics’ patent for a system that oversees alarm devices linked via a common cable, according to a claim lodged on 28 November 2024. The claim plainly states that a reasonable person would see that the control unit and the mains interconnectable detectors are suited to put, and are meant to put, EI Electronics’ invention into effect in the United Kingdom, the claim reads. The company, which trades as EI Electronics, claimed that Lancashire, England based......
Financial remedies on divorce and dissolution— A scoping report What does the Law Commission do? The Law Commission is an independent statutory body with a duty, shared with the Scottish Law Commission, under section 3(1) of the Law Commissions Act 1965, to keep the law within its remit under regular review, with a view to its systematic development and reform. This remit covers all areas of law with which each Commission is concerned. Its tasks include, in particular, codifying the relevant law, removing anomalies, repealing obsolete and unnecessary enactments, reducing the number of separate enactments, and, more generally, simplifying and modernising the law. In carrying out this function, the Law Commission consults widely and accepts referrals from individual government departments, in order to devise a programme of law reform. That programme is then submitted to the Lord Chancellor for approval before any work...
See Q& A: Does the inheritance tax exemption for transfers between spouses apply where both spouses are non- UK domiciled and make a transfer of UK situs assets between them? Inheritance tax applies to chargeable transfers—refer to section 1 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 ( IHTA 1984)......
State aid General Court dismisses further actions against Commission’s decision finding that a scheme designed to promote regional development in Maderia was unlawful State aid The General Court delivered two judgments dismissing further challenges to the Commission’s decision of 4 December 2020 concerning the Madeira ( ZFM) regional development scheme ( Case SA.21259). The Court found that Portugal’s implementation contravened the Commission’s 2007 and 2013 decisions and thus constituted new aid. One judgment addressed a consolidated appeal by aid beneficiaries TA, Poppsyle, Durie, Starboard, Caledonian – Serviços Internacionais and Fuchinvest Real Estate Participações (collectively, the applicants). The other related to the action brought by Administradora Fortaleza Ltda. Joined Cases T-702/22 TA v Commission; T-704/22 Poppysle v Commission ( Zone franche de Madère); T-705/22 Durie v Commission ( Zone franche de Madère); T-710/22 Starboard v Commission ( Zone franche de Madère); T-711/22 Caledonian v...
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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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