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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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Grain Communications Ltd v Shepherd Groundworks Ltd [2024] EWHC 3067 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision shows that, when interpreting variation instructions under a construction contract, the court may adopt a common-sense view of whether directions satisfy any limits on scope or formal requirements; it will not read instructions in a strict or overly pedantic way. Even so, parties should scrupulously observe any stipulated mechanisms for instructing variations—especially where works are to be omitted or deferred, as such directions can be contentious or create ambiguity. The judgment also offers clear and concise illustrations of the courts’ handling of other frequently disputed contractual issues, including implied terms, the interaction between common law and contractual rights, and claims that terms are unfair. What was the background? Grain Communications Ltd ( Grain) and Shepherd Groundworks Ltd ( Shepherd) entered into a framework...
The FCA has said it intends to clarify the line between free-of-charge guidance that retirement savings schemes or insurers can provide and regulated, professional financial advice in practice. The proposals would give pension providers more room and flexibility to offer customers targeted support and guidance on which options are likely to suit them best when they retire......
Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor and justice secretary, said the review will weigh the creation of an ‘intermediate court’: matters surpassing magistrates’ jurisdiction, yet falling short of Crown Court gravity, would be tried before a judge sitting with magistrates, rather than in either existing tier. Brian Leveson—a retired judge, known for leading the 2011–12 public inquiry into British press culture—will be tasked with assessing if magistrates ought to take on a larger share of cases, and to what extent. This could release capacity in the crown courts, enabling focus on more complex and grave offences that demand attention. The review will also examine reclassification of offences and extension of magistrates’ sentencing powers in that review too......
Mergers The Commission authorised the purchase granting exclusive managerial control over I. D. C....
LC& F bosses must repay £180m over Ponzi scheme High Court judge Robert Miles has ruled that LC& F's chief executive, Michael Thomson, together with others involved in the firm that sold mini-bonds and ISA bonds, are jointly and severally liable for defrauding the company's investors after the business collapsed in 2019. Miles J said it was highly improbable the defendants could satisfy the claims, even for principal sums, observing that none has disclosed assets anywhere near the amounts owed. The action was brought by the fund's administrators following intervention by the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA), after which LC& F collapsed. The civil proceedings began in February 2024 but have been beset by delays, including an adjournment when Thomson's lawyers demanded fees in advance and then left the courtroom. Administrators are seeking recoveries for 11,600 investors who placed £237m with LC& F before it...
Mandatory descriptions for visual disclaiming techniques The first change to take effect from 1 January 2025 will cover any Hague design registration that relies on a visual disclaiming technique, for example by using dashed lines or a semi‑transparent coloured overlay, to exclude one or more elements of the design shown in its drawings or reproductions. Under this change, whenever a visual disclaiming method appears in the drawings or reproductions of a Hague design registration, that method must be clearly explained in an accompanying description submitted for the same registration. Previously, providing a description in such circumstances was only optional under the earlier approach applied in these cases then......
The EU’s AI Act All entities that create or deploy AI must, under the EU’s AI Act, make sure—so far as they reasonably can—that staff and any other people operating or using such systems for them have adequate AI literacy. This duty, which captures virtually every organisation employing AI, begins to apply on 2 February 2025. However, Member States have until August 2025 to designate the market surveillance authorities tasked with policing this obligation. At the European AI Board’s meeting on 10 December 2024, the Commission shared a progress update on work to put this rule into practice. To date, it has indicated that its efforts have focused on mapping literacy requirements, obstacles, and leading practices for AI builders and users, within the framework of the AI Pact—the voluntary scheme through which tech firms can get ahead on meeting the Act’s demands. This...
Mergers The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has pushed back the deadline for submissions to its consultation on proposed changes to update the media mergers regime. The cut-off is now 15 January 2025 (previously 18 December 2024)—see further, consultation page The CMA has opened its phase 1 investigation into the anticipated acquisition by Black Rock, Inc of Preqin Limited—see further, case page NOTE— For a summary of all current competition law legislation, guidance and other policy developments, see further, UK competition horizon scanning—2024 and beyond NOTE— For all live mergers before the CMA, see further, UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker......
R (on the application of RWU (by his litigation friend)) v Governing Body of A Academy [2024] EWHC 2828 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment spotlights the vital need for rigorous, evidence-led exclusion decisions, requiring schools to record comprehensively and weigh all pertinent information, interventions and policies before deciding to exclude. It clarifies that GDPs are expected to conscientiously revisit their conclusions when fresh material comes to light or after IRP findings. The case also stresses the importance of recognising a pupil’s vulnerability to exploitation and the potential effect of exclusion on their welfare, while balancing the school’s duty to provide a safe, supportive environment for all students. Although minor slips should not overshadow the essence of a decision, schools can curb the risk of claims by strengthening procedures and avoiding errors that offer prospective Claimants grounds to...
The Court of Appeal agreed fully with Spain that the previous judge erred in concluding he was not bound by a June 2022 European Court of Justice ruling, which held that arbitration proceedings could not block enforcement in England of the Spanish judgment. Yet Master of the Rolls Geoffrey Vos, leading a panel of three justices, also expressly found that the High Court judge was right to decide that recognising the Spanish judgment, in the government's favour, against the London Steam- Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd, conflicted with an English arbitral decision. Justice Vos concluded that a 2013 arbitral award created a binding issue estoppel. He further said it would be manifestly contrary to English public policy, under the Brussels regulation, for the Spanish judgment to be recognised. Accordingly, the judge was correct, in the result, to refuse to register the Spanish...
Invest Bank PSC v El- Husseini and others [2024] EWHC 2976 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The decision underlines the necessity of articulating claims with clarity and exactness; where reliance is placed on inference, the foundational facts said to justify the conclusion must be set out. Litigants often contend that so-called pleading skirmishes are sterile, deployed merely to deflect scrutiny of the merits, and that it is 'wrong to construe a pleading like a statute' (per Lewison LJ in Ultraframe ( UK) Ltd v Fielding [2005] EWHC 1638 ( Ch) at [120]). Yet, in cases alleging dishonesty, grave misconduct or other discreditable behaviour—particularly when the case depends on inferences drawn from primary facts—strict adherence to the Three Rivers District Council v Governor and Company of the Bank of England ( No 3) [2003] 2 AC 1 pleading...
Judgment published on 10 December 2024 The Employment Tribunal ( ET) concluded that a mistake in the agreed statement of facts did not disturb its determination that refusing Majorj Charles Milroy access to the armed forces’ pension scheme, as a part-time worker, constituted less favourable treatment. In a reconsideration decision issued on 20 November 2024, Employment Judge Frances Eccles stated that, despite the inaccuracy, the interests of justice did not require the tribunal to amend or overturn its original ruling. The ET also recorded that the initial statement of facts was wrong to imply that mobilised reservists were eligible to join the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975, known as the AFPS 75. The panel found that the AFPS 75......
The country’s Financial Supervisory Authority stated the buy-now, pay-later provider had breached core parts of Sweden’s AML rules within its risk assessment and customer due diligence processes in question, the authority said. Klarna’s assessment omitted any analysis of how the bank’s services might enable money laundering or the financing of terrorism, and it lacked instructions for performing due diligence on clients in all conceivable situations. ‘ The anti-money laundering regulations must be followed,’ said Daniel Barr, the FSA’s director-general......
2024 has proved another fast-moving and notable year for environmental law. A change in government is set to shape ongoing legal developments across the UK, and in this review the Environment team at Lexis Nexis® reflects on these shifts while spotlighting several headline areas of reform. The team also highlights pivotal shifts in policy and practice. For an overview of significant judgments from 2024, see Environment 2024 cases round up. What does the new labour government mean for environmental law in England and Wales? The precise implications of the Labour government for environmental law in England and Wales are not yet clear. Thus far in 2024, ministers have moved to tighten oversight of water companies and address water pollution via the Water ( Special Measures) Bill; halted oil and gas licences, and retracted backing for a new coal mine. Great British Energy has been...
The Micula saga is complex and turbulent, marked by a UK determination of an EU law breach four years after Brexit, rulings from courts in the United States, and fresh EU law pronouncements by EU institutions. Recent turns now leave Romania contending with clashing duties. Romania stands as an ICSID award debtor, with enforcement allowed by both UK and US courts. At the same time, the Commission has barred Romania from making payments to satisfy the award. As a result, Romania faces a stark choice: breach its obligations under EU law, or those under the ICSID Convention and the Romania– Sweden bilateral investment treaty ( BIT). In principle, the presence of conflicting international duties (a proverbial pickle) does not excuse non‑compliance, and international responsibility would follow. Whether Romania identifies a legally viable path or weighs other...
On 11 December 2024, High Court Judge Matthew Nicklin held that Anton Chirkunov, the Swiss- Russian founder of chauffeur app start-up Wheely Ltd, may not serve those behind the Talk Finance and Rucriminal websites by email, directing the founder to make additional efforts to identify their publishers. The two sites both carried comparable articles, published there in June 2023 and January 2021 respectively, which claim that Chirkunov has connections to financial crime......
The Court of Appeal dismissed the group's appeal in its misuse of private information claim against Google UK Ltd and its artificial intelligence subsidiary, Deep Mind Technologies Ltd, finding that not all the claimants would have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Justices Victoria Sharp, Nicola Davies and James Dingemans rejected the contention advanced by a group of more than 1.6 million individuals that every item of patient‑related information arising within the patient–healthcare provider relationship automatically carries a reasonable expectation of privacy, and that claims should prevail even where a patient has placed that material in the public domain. Instead, the court determined that data privacy claims will not invariably succeed in situations where patients choose to make private information public. The judgment recognises that, as a general rule, there is ordinarily a reasonable expectation of privacy for...
What is the background to the revised NPPF? On 12 December 2024, the Government released an updated NPPF, together with its response to the July 2024 consultation on proposed amendments to the NPPF. In a written ministerial statement, Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, said the national policy changes are needed to unlock land for 1.5 million homes and to provide the scale of infrastructure required to support growth. This publication follows an eight-week consultation held from July to September 2024 on revisions to the NPPF, which attracted over 10,000 responses. Measures taken forward include undoing the December 2023 reforms by the previous government, which had made the standard method’s outcome an ‘advisory starting point’ for setting housing requirements. Now, the NPPF again makes clear that LPAs should use a new standard method to assess housing need and to plan their...
Darcliffe Homes Ltd v Glanville Consultants Ltd and another company [2024] EWHC 3184 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment serves as a caution that, to recover damages in negligence, proving a breach of the duty to deploy reasonable skill and care is insufficient. Causation must also be proved: the breach must have brought about the loss claimed. There must be an adequate connection between the particular head of loss for which the claimant seeks compensation and the subject matter of the defendant’s duty of care. If the claimant would have acted the same way regardless of the (negligent) advice received, any potential claim against their professional advisers for negligent advice will be undermined. What was the background? The claimant property developers ( Darcliffe) pursued damages for professional negligence against the defendant engineering firm ( Glanville), alleging faulty advice...
According to a disclosure filed on Monday, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA outlined a plan that would trim roughly US$1.7bn of prepetition funded liabilities and as much as US$850m in other commitments. The proposal further allocates about US$235m in fresh equity to unsecured creditors, with scope for extra value subject to how certain matters are settled. As part of the same plan, Abra has consented to convert over half of its claims into equity, receiving approximately US$950m in new shares to be issued by the reorganised company. The UK-based Abra is also set to take US$850m in take-back debt, with US$250m of that slated to flip into new equity 30 days after the plan becomes effective, the disclosure notes. GOL intends to raise US$1.85bn of new capital and to exchange other secured debt for take-back debt, the document shows. Voting on the plan closes on 25...
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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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