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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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Peter Stockill told the High Court he had, in error, thought he was entitled to propose alterations to an expert’s statement where he believed it failed to mirror the pleaded issues, in a clash with AXA XL Insurance Co Ltd concerning an indemnity policy for a Notting Hill, London, property. “ I acknowledge that my firm did not adhere to the relevant rules and guidance,” Stockill said. “ That breach resulted from a misunderstanding of the applicable rules and guidance, and I offer an unqualified apology to the court and to AXA XL for it.” The Technology and Construction Court permits lawyers to suggest changes to expert evidence only where it might otherwise mislead. Simon Lofthouse KC, sitting as a High Court judge, found that, although there had been “substantial and impermissible interference” with the expert evidence, Stockill was not...
State aid General Court dismisses further appeal regarding Spanish aid for the acquisition of ships The General Court has delivered its judgment in Case T-509/14, Decal España v Commission, an action challenging the Commission’s decision of 17 July 2013 which found that a Spanish scheme for acquiring ships, using leasing and financing aided by tax relief, involved unlawful State aid ( SA.21233) (the Commission’s 2013 decision). The Court dismissed the action. Under that scheme, a shipowner could commission a new vessel and benefit from a reduction on the amount billed by the shipyard. However, to obtain the reduced price (net of the rebate), the shipping company was required to refrain from purchasing the vessel directly from the shipyard and instead buy it from an economic interest grouping ( EIG) established under Spanish law and set up by a bank. The...
Meta Platforms, Tik Tok and Linked In are being probed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the watchdog that oversees the bulk of the EU’s Big Tech data cases, as numerous companies site their European headquarters in Dublin. For years the DPC has faced accusations of sluggish, light-touch enforcement against these firms—allegations it has consistently denied. Hostility towards the regulator has eased in recent times, in the last few years, after it concluded several high-profile investigations, many centred on Meta in particular, leading to penalties amounting to billions of euros. In February 2024, two new commissioners, Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland, were appointed, succeeding long-serving chief Helen Dixon. It is due to begin the process of selecting another shortly......
Key takeaways From 29 January 2024, the Arrangement comes into force in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It will streamline the cross-border recognition and enforcement of the majority of civil and commercial judgments across both legal systems and jurisdictions. The Arrangement marks a material enhancement to the existing regime, giving parties engaged in Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese proceedings heightened confidence that, where criteria are met, eligible judgments will be recognised and enforced. It also allows for the recognition of non-monetary judgments, empowering judgment creditors to seek enforcement of injunctions and orders for specific performance. In addition, the Arrangement’s simplified jurisdictional criteria will materially ease enforcement by Hong Kong judgment creditors against assets within Mainland China, and by Mainland Chinese judgment creditors against assets within Hong...
Nausicaa Delfas, chief executive of The Pensions Regulator ( TPR), told an audience on 22 May 2024 that opening up consumers’ data and strengthening trustees’ data management would drive a healthier pensions landscape. Delfas, who took up the post in March 2023, argued that higher data standards should encourage master trusts to take on smaller savings arrangements, with consolidation meaning fewer providers serving a larger number of members. ‘ Compliance with regulation is compulsory,’ she said. She also promised the public would notice a significant shift in TPR’s enforcement stance—deploying large-scale, market-wide supervision to verify that schemes maintain robust, high-quality data and deliver value for savers......
See Q& A: In order for the downsizing addition to apply in a claim for the residence nil rate band, are there any conditions about where the deceased should have lived and with whom after they sold the qualifying former residential interest and downsized? Acknowledging that many older individuals might sell their family home so as to move to a smaller place, enter a residential care home, or meet the cost of nursing care, the original provisions in Finance Act 2015 were strengthened by Finance Act 2016 with steps designed to counter the potential loss of available residence nil rate band ( RNRB) on downsizing. It applies to those who have downsized or sold their......
Prohibition on bundling Among the most hotly debated aspects of the 2014 Markets in Financial Instruments Directive ( Mi FID II) was the ban on investment managers accepting services from broker‑dealers that were effectively funded by charging clients an elevated brokerage commission. From the start of 2018, when Mi FID II took effect, research fees had to be separated and settled independently from execution charges. Asset managers were required either to meet research expenses from their own budgets—via hard dollar payments—or to use a more complex mechanism, the research payment account, which pooled contributions collected by broker‑dealers and deployed them solely to purchase research. While numerous large firms chose to absorb research outlays themselves, smaller managers frequently relied on the research payment account route or passed the costs straight through to their fund clients. The prohibition proved...
Beyond the pieces featured in full within the Financial Services news feed on 29 May 2024, subscribers may find the following extra developments of particular interest today: European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA): 29th Extract from the FRWG ( EECS)’s Database of Enforcement List of decisions published in the Extracts from the EECS’s Database of Enforcement The role of ESG in building an effective Capital Markets Union FCA Decision Notices: Murray Motors ( Belfast) Limited ......
Challis v Bradpiece [2024] EWHC 1124 ( SCCO) What are the practical implications of this case? This appears to be the first judgment (so far as the writer is aware) to squarely consider whether qualified one-way costs shifting extends to detailed assessment proceedings. The ruling will assist claimant solicitors, who can now confidently tell clients that QOCS protection runs for the full duration of a personal injury claim. Those representing defendants are likely to be dismayed, as this removes a valuable bargaining lever, notably in matters where the principal claim was issued before the April 2023 revisions to the QOCS rules. As the hearing took place in the Supreme Court Costs Office, its precedential weight is, in most situations, persuasive rather than binding, and therefore does not rule out further challenges. Even so, the deputy costs judge undertook a...
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Sally- Ann Hales KC jailed 42-year-old Jian Wen for six years and ten months for washing money linked to an alleged scam targeting Chinese investors, remarking indeed the ex-restaurant employee 'knew what [she was] dealing with'. Hales J explained the jury needed only to be satisfied Wen suspected she was handling criminal proceeds to convict with a guilty verdict by the jury. However, she herself was absolutely certain Wen understood how the funds were produced and came about. ' They had only to be sure that you suspected this to be the case', Hales J told Wen as she passed sentence. ' I am in no doubt that you knew this was what you were dealing with.' Hales J said there was 'no degree of exploitation' in Wen's participation in the laundering scheme in this case, although she...
Paul Maynard, the pensions minister, confirmed officials are examining the issue at this time. However, he warned the options currently under consideration are 'unlikely to solve' every difficulty confronting retirement savings schemes at present. He outlined these worries in correspondence to the parliamentary Work and Pensions Committee ( WPC), released on 22 May 2024. Meanwhile, there have been appeals for the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 ( PECR 2003), SI 2003/2426 to be revised so that communications from pension providers are permitted automatically in the matter......
Payone Gmb H v Logo [2024] EWHC 981 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision draws attention to the considerations a court will assess when deciding if material mentioned at a hearing should be treated as being in the public domain and no longer protected by duties of confidence or related restraints. In this matter, the judge held that the documents had not become public and continued to attract confidentiality; however, the court underlined that the assessment is inherently one of fact and degree. The judgment further recorded that, if information has entered the public sphere, the court will not stand in the way of circulation, since doing so would lack any legitimate purpose. Parties engaged in litigation should therefore keep this ruling in view when selecting which documents and information to mention in, and place within the court...
Mergers The CMA has released an issues paper as part of its phase 2 probe into Lindab/ HAS- Vent...
Mergers The Commission has authorised the acquisition of joint control over PSA Canada Ventures by PSA International and Terminal Investment Limited ( M.11429) following a phase I review—see also, Midday Express. The notification has been filed in Tasaru/ Benteler/ Holon ( M.11563) under the simplified merger review procedure. In EEX/ Nasdaq ( M.11241), commitments have been offered during the phase I examination. NOTE— For all live merger investigations before the Commission, see further, EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker. State aid Under EU State aid rules, the Commission approved a fourth Important Project of Common European Interest (€1.4bn) to support research, innovation and initial industrial deployment within the hydrogen value chain—see further, press release. The Commission also approved, under EU State aid rules, the first Important Project of Common European Interest (€1bn) to support research, innovation and the first...
On 22 May 2024, the Kingdom of Spain sent a letter to the appellate body, replying to a 20 May 2024 submission to the court from Dutch subsidiaries of US-based Next Era Energy Inc and Luxembourg-based 9REN Holding SARL. Those companies seek to enforce arbitral awards against Spain with a combined value of approximately €359.3m (roughly US$386m). Spain, meanwhile, asks the DC Circuit to deny enforcement, contending that the arbitration clause in the multilateral Energy Charter Treaty ( ECT) does not apply to intra- European Union disputes between EU Member States and European investors. Spain’s letter notes: ‘ Spain and the EU have legally committed themselves to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.’ It adds: ‘ As the European Commission has observed, the Energy Charter Treaty (a 1990s agreement to develop fossil-fuel resources in the former Soviet bloc) is no longer compatible with the EU’s...
L v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 401 ( TC) The taxpayer sought a hearing in private and anonymisation on two main grounds. The first concerned a substantial threat to her health. She had bipolar disorder and had gone through repeated episodes of psychosis, depression and anxiety. Her earliest episode, precipitated by workplace stress, was, in her view, the foundation for the discriminatory treatment she considered she had received from her employer. The prospect of a public hearing intensified her anxiety, and her psychiatrist’s opinion was that compelling her to face the pressures of a public forum created a high risk of relapse. These matters were central to her request. As its starting point, the FTT turned to Rule 32 of the Tribunal Rules, the provision that mandates that all hearings be held in......
HM Solicitor General v Trudi Ann Warner [2024] EWHC 918 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? There are numerous global issues driving sizeable demonstrations. Climate change is one such concern, prompting controversial protests across the world. These movements are likely to continue and may, in some instances, lead to criminal convictions. However, when protest activity is directed at, or situated around, criminal proceedings, it cannot simply be assumed to amount to contempt of court. The position depends entirely on the evidence of what, in fact, the protestors were doing during the protest. In this matter, Mr Justice Saini determined that the claim rested on a mischaracterisation of Ms Warner’s conduct that morning and failed to recognise that her placard conveyed essentially the same message commonly read by jurors on the Old Bailey plaque—something acknowledged by our highest courts as part of the...
Options UK Personal Pensions LLP v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 541 What are the practical implications of this case? This decision is the newest step in Options’ prolonged bid, as an authorised SIPP operator and administrator, to resist claims by dissatisfied SIPP members who were introduced by unregulated third parties, made imprudent investments and lost their funds: see in particular Adams v Options SIPP [2020] EWHC 1229 ( Ch), Adams v Options UK Personal Pensions [2021] EWCA Civ 474, T v Carey Pensions [ DRN2076425] and S v Options SIPP [ DRN5472159]. Though adverse to Options, it underlines for practitioners how the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction departs from the courts’. The Ombudsman must resolve complaints by reference to what is, in his view, ‘fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case’ (section 228 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ( FSMA...
HMCTS: Employment Tribunal Reform Project— Urgent update for ET professional representatives ( May 2024). What are the practical implications of this development? This update from HMCTS, dated 24 May 2024, points practitioners to a You Tube tutorial outlining the revised My HMCTS digital process. From 30 May 2024, professional users (ie solicitors, barristers, advocates and regulated professional representatives with a Companies House number) are required to issue claims through the My HMCTS portal for Scotland, Leeds, Midlands East, South West England, and any of the three London offices. Those professional users (ie solicitors, barristers, advocates and regulated professional representatives with a Companies House number) who have not yet created a My HMCTS profile should register without delay, as activation of an account may take up to five days. In due course, when the online service is launched for the remaining locations,...
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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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