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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: Key developments UK immigration control: how it works Sponsored work Work sponsorship: sponsors Family routes Long residence, discretion and human rights EU law rights and EU Settlement Scheme Challenging immigration decisions and enforcement Citizenship applications Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Key developments Future developments— Immigration calendar Please note that our Immigration calendar outlines key forthcoming developments relevant to business immigration advisers. UK immigration control: how it works Updated guidance confirms 31 October 2024 as the date to cease issuing BRPs The Home Office has stated, via an update to its ‘ Online immigration status (e Visa)’ guidance page, that Biometric Residence Permits ( BRPs) will stop being issued from 31 October 2024. This message had previously been circulated by email to stakeholders on 26 September 2024, yet it was not made public on the GOV. UK website until 16 October 2024......
In this issue: Investigating criminal conduct Criminal procedure and evidence Bribery, corruption, sanctions and export controls Environmental offences Financial services and pensions offences Fraud, forgery, tax and theft offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter offences Insolvency offences and Companies Act offences Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Investigating criminal conduct New sexual harassment law to alter work safety for good Employers are expected to evaluate the likelihood of staff being sexually harassed and to implement preventative policies and procedures, as they ready themselves for a forthcoming duty that, according to lawyers, marks a step-change in workplace health and safety. See News Analysis: New sexual harassment law to alter work safety for good. Investigatory Powers ( Amendment) Act 2024—provisions commenced and consultation opened The Investigatory Powers ( Amendment) Act 2024 ( Commencement No 1 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024 have brought specified elements of the...
A trio of judges has overturned a High Court finding that compensation proceedings brought for 13,000 villagers against Shell Plc must be run as a so‑called ‘all or nothing’ (or global) action. Justices David Bean, Stephen Males and Jeremy Stuart‑ Smith signalled their conclusion on 11 October 2024 at the end of a four‑day hearing. A detailed written judgment will follow in due course. Counsel for the claimants contended that the lower court’s approach compelled farmers and fishers from the Bille and Ogale communities in the Niger delta to connect Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary with every episode of entrenched pollution in the region, failing which their cases would collapse. Leigh Day, acting for the two communities, told the court this stance would, in practice, render it near impossible for people to bring environmental proceedings following repeated pollution incidents in the years ahead and in the area,...
In this issue: Company incorporation and constitution Directors and company secretaries Corporate governance Accounts and reports Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Company incorporation and constitution Independent Expert Panel publishes report on corporate re-domiciliation The Independent Expert Panel on Corporate Re-domiciliation ( Panel) issued its report on 1 October 2024. Established by the Department for Business and Trade in December 2023, the Panel was tasked with crafting proposals to revise the legal framework so companies incorporated overseas could move to the UK while keeping the same legal personality. The report backs a two-way re-domiciliation regime, permitting entities registered outside the UK to become UK companies, and allowing UK companies to re-domicile abroad. It sets out features of the regime, including organisational eligibility, required information for re-domiciliation, and the application pathway. The government welcomes the report and plans to consult on the regime’s design in due...
In this issue: Key developments and horizon scanning Disputes and remedies Enforcing security and property insolvency Trespass and adverse possession Daily and weekly news alerts Additional Property disputes updates Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& A Key developments and horizon scanning Renters’ Rights Bill Law Society provides update on Renters’ Rights Bill second reading debate The Law Society, in its weekly summary of Parliamentary developments and debates, has reported on the Renters’ Rights Bill second reading in the House of Commons on 9 October 2024. MPs from across the benches endorsed the introduction of a new landlord database to follow the Bill’s enactment. The Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook, confirmed the government will ensure HM Courts and Tribunals Service is ready for the system’s implementation, while making clear that reshaping the private rented sector will not depend on an unspecified level of future court reform. The Bill passed its second...
Digital Markets Act Commission concludes that X’s online social networking service should not be designated under the Digital Markets Act The Commission has confirmed the closure of its market investigation, initiated on 13 May 2024, to review X’s submissions arguing that, although it satisfies the Article 3 thresholds for a ‘gatekeeper’ in Regulation 2022/1925 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (the Digital Markets Act ( DMA)), its online social networking service should not be regarded as a gateway......
Parish v Wikimedia Foundation Inc [2024] EWHC 2301 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision offers a concise, practical roadmap to the settled principles governing permission to serve proceedings beyond the jurisdiction. In doing so, the court offered structured guidance of direct use to practitioners. The judgment addresses, sequentially, all three requirements a claimant must satisfy to obtain permission to serve out, noting that the ‘ Forum Test’ was recast by DA 2013, s 9. More significantly, it is a pointed reminder of the obligation to provide full and frank disclosure of material matters on a without notice application, and the repercussions of neglecting that duty. Of particular interest is the court’s treatment of DA 2013, s 8, and whether two iterations of a Wikipedia page were materially alike. Despite stylistic differences, the defendant persuaded the court that the...
Barclays Partner Finance Barclays Partner Finance, the trading name of Clydesdale Financial Services Ltd, pressed the High Court to permit it to launch a judicial review challenging the findings of the Financial Ombudsman Service that the lender unfairly treated a customer who bought a used car in 2018. The financial disputes body concluded Barclays did not treat the customer, identified only as Ms L, fairly and reasonably because it failed to disclose the nature of the commission arrangement it had with the broker. The ombudsman further determined that Barclays paid Arnold Clark Automobiles Ltd a £1,326 commission linked to the car loan. Counsel for the bank, Ben Jaffey KC of Blackstone Chambers, said the application is being advanced on a point of law arising from what could amount to a test case, with potential consequences for future complaints. Jaffey added that Ms L has already been...
Confidential settlement with ENRC The Serious Fraud Office agreed a confidential settlement with ENRC moments before the Kazakhstan-based mining group was set to open its trial on 8 October 2024, without conceding that it had leaked incriminating aspects of its criminal investigation to the press. The SFO denied disclosing details of its corruption probe into ENRC, insisting the company’s claim rested on speculation rather than evidence, and the accord means current and former SFO officials will sidestep potentially awkward questioning. Zoe Osborne, a lawyer at Steptoe & Johnson LLP who has represented defendants in SFO matters, said neither camp appeared to benefit from pressing ahead. She told Law360 that for ENRC the downsides included adverse facts resurfacing, senior management being diverted from their roles, and mounting costs. As for the SFO, she noted there is precedent for concluding difficult cases,...
An MLex source stated that, in addition to the CCCME proposal, several further offers on price undertakings have been tabled, and the Commission remains prepared to pursue discussions on them. Since mid- September 2024, the EU has conducted intense talks with the CCCME, which represents the 12 largest Chinese EV makers, including Geely, BYD and SAIC, on an undertaking deal that would permit them, under certain strict conditions, to avoid paying the planned EU countervailing duties. Those Chinese government-controlled negotiations fell apart on 11 October 2024, as the two sides were unable to overcome wide differences over the key......
The Worker Protection ( Amendment to Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 Coming into force on 26 October 2024, this Act requires employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment or face a 25% uplift in employment tribunal awards. It also hands the Equality and Human Rights Commission ( EHRC) new powers to step in where employers breach that duty. On 10 October 2024, the government signalled, through the Employment Rights Bill, an intention to raise the bar to ‘all reasonable steps’. Lawyers say Labour has set such a demanding threshold that few employers would risk relying on it as a defence. That reform is not anticipated to apply until 2026 at the earliest. Even so, EHRC guidance published in September 2024 confirms that employers will be judged against a tougher benchmark than many had expected. The regulator has also warned it stands ready to act...
Note: the CPRC no longer shares the underpinning papers alongside the minutes, so no background documents explaining the discussion points accompany this News Analysis. A copy of the minutes can be found here: Minutes of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee. Welcome, action log and matters arising (item 1) The minutes of the 7 June 2024 meeting were approved and the action log noted—see News Analysis: Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting—7 June 2024. The committee then considered: CPR statutory instrument ( SI) and Practice Direction ( PD) update—it was confirmed that the 1 October 2024 commencement date would be maintained. Note that this CPR update is now in force Committee Papers ( AL(24)52)—the final draft proforma was presented and will be introduced for the October 2024 meeting. The Secretariat will circulate a worked...
The Treasury announced in a news release that, next month, the jurisdiction’s Parliament will receive legislation to enact the qualified domestic minimum top-up tax ( QDMTT) alongside the income inclusion rule ( IIR) for consideration......
See Q& A: Where there are two executors of an estate and the first wishes to administer the estate alone, but the second objects and wants to participate, can the first apply for a grant on their own, without the second executor’s consent, and simply and formally serve notice on the second executor in accordance with the Non- Contentious Probate Rules 1987, r 27(1); or must the second executor instead have power reserved so that they may ultimately apply for a grant at a later point in time thereafter? If someone appointed as an executor in a Will does not wish to act immediately, but intends to reserve the right to come in and prove at a later stage, then, provided that more than one executor was appointed by the testator and at least one of the others is both ready and willing to take out a...
As at 15 October 2024, our Practice Compliance forecast maps out proposed regulatory shifts relevant to law firm compliance, enabling you to prepare for developments that could affect your organisation. A careful read is essential; below we flag several points that merit attention. New items we’re tracking this month SRA inspection and review plans—the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority ( SRA) has confirmed its next thematic review will examine source of funds. It also intends to carry out two further inspection rounds between January and March 2025, concentrating on AML and sanctions. See: AML, CTF and counter-proliferation financing SRA guidance on sham litigation—the SRA told delegates at the Law Society Anti-money laundering and financial crime conference 2024 that it plans to issue guidance on sham litigation in October 2024. See: AML, CTF and counter-proliferation...
The insurer is aiming to reverse conclusions that a 2013 ruling failed to settle whether other actions against HMRC were in time, concerning how far a range of UK direct tax measures infringed EU law and what remedies taxpayers could pursue. AXA’s advocate, Jonathan Bremner KC of One Essex Court, said HMRC was 'having two bites of the cherry' by arguing that the limitation point in Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v HMRC could not operate as a precedent. ' It undermines the utility of having a test case in the first place', Bremner noted. This litigation sits among numerous cases arising from the protracted disagreement over HMRC’s approach to dividends from overseas subsidiaries. UK-headquartered companies with foreign subsidiaries maintained they bore a heavier tax burden on dividend receipts than groups with solely UK subsidiaries. Their stance was bolstered by a European Court of Justice...
Kompaktwerk GMBH (a company incorporated under German law) v Liveperson Netherlands BV (a company incorporated under Dutch law) [2024] EWHC 2278 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? Kompaktwerk v Live Person is the first judicial foray into whether the Saa S model can sit within the ‘sale of goods’ category. Historically, English law has not treated computer software as ‘goods’; however, after the Court of Justice decision in The Software Incubator v Computer Associates ( Case C410/19), it remained a live issue how English law would characterise software—and, in particular, how it would address the now‑dominant Saa S model. The court determined that a time‑bound subscription to Saa S is not a ‘sale’ and does not concern ‘goods’, a conclusion with broad reach. Although the ruling concerned the Commercial Agents ( Council Directive) Regulations 1993, SI 1993/3053 (...
Spain announced that, for the first time, two ICSID arbitral tribunal majorities ruled on 11 October 2024 that they lack jurisdiction to hear purely European investment disputes. The resultant awards, totalling US$78.5m, stem from two separate and distinct renewable energy generation legal cases brought against Spain by European Solar Farms AS, incorporated under the laws of Denmark, and Sapec SA, a company domiciled in Belgium, Spain said. According to Spain’s statement, both decisions rely on very closely aligned and consistent reasoning and expressly point out that the Energy Charter Treaty bears the interpretation advanced by Spain and the European Commission, whereby the EU’s participation in the ECT, as a regional economic interest organisation, brings within its scope the supremacy of EU law in those areas of competence that member states have transferred to the EU......
Haigh v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] UKFTT 810 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? Understanding the FTT’s conclusions in Haigh will assist practitioners facing FP 2012 notification refusal appeals. The ruling confirms that, when a taxpayer contests HMRC’s refusal of a notice, the FTT’s role is limited to testing compliance with regulation 4. The tribunal considered itself bound by The Executors of David Harrison ( Deceased) & Simon Harrison v HMRC [2021] UKUT 0273 ( TCC) ( Harrison), which states the FTT has no jurisdiction to review HMRC’s discretion. Drawing on Harrison’s construction of the FP 2012 Regulations, SI 2011/1752, reg 7, it defined the limits of its jurisdiction. Harrison accepts this narrow view yields an unwelcome consequence for taxpayers, and Haigh repeats that passage in full at paragraph 71. As a result, the FTT is confined to applying the tax...
TPR research on trustees’ ESG duties According to the Pensions Regulator ( TPR), most trustees are meeting their ESG obligations; however, Mark Hill said closer scrutiny of compliance indicates many pension schemes are only reaching a basic level of competence. In a blog post, Hill encouraged trustees to make strategic choices that integrate ESG matters, noting these can be financially material for schemes. He added that ESG and climate disclosures issued by schemes should clearly demonstrate the steps taken to capitalise on opportunities linked to the government’s drive towards a net-zero economy. Yet, he cautioned, disclosure on its own is insufficient; weaving ESG considerations into the broader decision-making of a scheme is essential to safeguard savers’ pensions—a vital step, he explained. TPR’s research underpins these findings......
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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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