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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Tribunal chair Alison Kellet confirmed the SDT will, in principle, issue an order supporting Claire Gill, after misconduct proceedings brought by the SRA against her were thrown out. At a hearing in January this year, Gill’s solicitors said the SRA should cover close to £1m in legal costs and tax. The SDT resolved that a costs judge must undertake a detailed assessment of quantum in the High Court. That judge will also determine associated matters, including the legal basis on which costs are to be recovered, and whether any deductions should be applied to the overall figure. Kellet further noted that no interim payment would be made for the time being......
R ( EPS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 3462 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling marks the first interim relief application about the withdrawal of MSVCC support to be determined after R ( ABW) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 3280 ( Admin) (‘ ABW’). ABW has plainly shifted the balance towards granting claimants relief in comparable future matters. It further illustrates that once guidance — even statutory guidance — is declared unlawful, its mere existence can no longer be deployed by public authorities as a persuasive reason to refuse interim relief. What was the background? The proceedings concerned an application for interim relief within a claim for judicial review. The claimant, a 53‑year‑old Chinese national, entered the UK in February 2002 and asserted he is a victim of modern slavery. On 20 May...
Commission Implementing Regulation ( EU) 2026/276 of 5 February 2026 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty and definitively collecting the provisional duty Enclosed is the following document......
O’ Brien v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 127 ( TC) In RFC 2012 plc (formerly the Rangers Football Club plc) v Advocate General for Scotland [2017] UKSC 45, the Supreme Court decided that a liability to income tax on earnings arises where an employee’s pay is directed to another person with the employee’s consent or passive agreement. A host of later rulings have adopted this redirection doctrine; see, for example, Sheth v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 368 ( TC). In this matter, the FTT found that the doctrine extended to monies paid into a contractor loan arrangement. Under that arrangement, the taxpayer, a contractor, became an employee of a company in the Isle of Man. The company entered into contracts with, and issued invoices to, the taxpayer’s clients, paying the taxpayer a modest wage and placing the remainder of his remuneration into an EBT. The EBT...
Webb and another (as joint liquidators of Eversholt Rail (365) Ltd (in liquidation)) v Eversholt Rail Ltd and another company [2026] EWHC 101 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? For office-holders, this decision serves as a prompt to ensure that applications under IA 1986, ss 235 and 236: are precisely targeted; and set out why the office-holder reasonably needs each category of information or documents. It is insufficient, on its own, that the office-holder seeks to rebuild the company’s knowledge. That may well be the objective in a given matter, but the applicant must also establish that there is a need for the information and that the need is reasonable. As the judge observed, unless the liquidators could demonstrate that they reasonably required all the information and documents requested, it was incumbent upon them to pinpoint the portion that was...
Digital Markets Act CMA consults on Apple and Google commitments to improve App Store fairness and mobile platform interoperability Following their designation with strategic market status ( SMS) under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 for their mobile platforms, the CMA has now opened a consultation on undertakings proposed by Apple and Google. That designation, made in October 2025, signals the CMA’s view that both companies possess significant and entrenched market power spanning mobile operating systems, app distribution, and mobile browsers......
EU financial services developments EBA seeks views on simplifying the credit risk framework The European Banking Authority ( EBA) has issued a discussion paper examining how to streamline and assess the credit risk framework. It outlines initial proposals to enhance usability, efficiency and simplicity, with the goal of sparking a wider debate on how best to shape and prioritise the EBA’s future programme of work in this area. Feedback is invited by 10 May 2026. Alongside prospective policy simplifications, the paper considers ways to present the framework more clearly by merging EBA deliverables and harmonising key regulatory definitions, thereby making the EBA’s credit risk publications more coherent, consistent and easier to navigate. It also identifies a range of challenges tied to particular mandates within credit risk, and sets out approaches to be used in forthcoming mandated reports that will assess the...
Subsidy control The Subsidy Advice Unit has accepted a request to advise the Department of Business and Trade on a proposed subsidy to British Business Bank—see case page. NOTE— For referrals under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, see UK subsidy control—ongoing cases tracker. Private actions The CAT issued an order (6 February 2026) in JJH Enterprises Limited (t/a Value Licensing) v Microsoft Corporation and Others, a damages claim by JJH Enterprise against Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Limited and Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited (together, Microsoft), alleging a campaign to stifle resale of pre‑owned Microsoft licences in the UK/ EEA, breaching Articles 101/102 TFEU and Chapter I/ II. Proceedings are stayed pending Court of Appeal judgments on preliminary issues—order. The CAT made an order (6 February 2026) in Skimbit Limited v Google UK Limited & Others, a damages action by Connecity UK Limited against Google UK Limited, Google Ireland Limited, Google LLC and...
Antitrust Commission issues SO to Meta over Whats App AI access limits; flags possible interim measures The Commission has delivered a statement of objections to Meta, outlining its preliminary assessment that Meta blocked third-party artificial intelligence ( AI) assistants from accessing and engaging with users on Whats App, infringing Article 102 TFEU ( AT.41034). The Commission considers that Meta’s behaviour risks preventing competitors from entering or growing in the rapidly expanding market for general-purpose AI assistants and has therefore indicated its intention to impose interim measures (subject to Meta’s rights of defence) to avoid serious and irreparable harm to competition. Background On 15 October 2025, Meta announced changes to its Whats App Business Solution Terms, effectively prohibiting third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the platform. Consequently, from 15 January 2026, Meta’s own assistant, Meta AI, has been the only AI assistant available on Whats App. On 4...
Financial services developments FCA note on prioritisation of authorisation applications for defence-focused funds The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has refreshed its ‘ Apply for fund authorisation’ webpage to outline a focus on defence-oriented funds. The FCA states that its remit is to protect and strengthen the integrity of the UK financial system, with defence and resilience seen as central to market integrity. Consequently, investment funds seeking authorisation that centre on the defence sector may receive prioritised assessment. This prioritisation reflects the view that defence and resilience are core to market integrity. The regulator adds that this approach does not alter existing statutory timeframes and should not impact the service standards applied to other authorised fund applications......
What are the practical implications of this case? The decision carries clear real-world importance for advisers on residential service charges, building safety works and the construction of leases. The Court of Appeal made plain that service charge liability is narrowly bounded by the lease wording, even if works are undertaken for safety reasons and even where the expenditure is significant. Widely framed repair, maintenance or safety clauses will not, without more, transfer responsibility for rectifying inherent, pre-existing structural defects to leaseholders unless the lease clearly allocates that risk. For those acting for landlords and local authorities, the ruling exposes the limits of leaning on general or ‘sweeper’ provisions to recover the costs of major structural remediation, particularly in older buildings erected using methods now discredited. It underscores the need for early, meticulous lease review before commencing large-scale works and may oblige advisers to...
The court found that metals tycoon Mr Prateek Gupta ( Mr Gupta, the first defendant) was the 'mastermind' of a 'fraud on a grand scale', executed against Trafigura through entities he controlled, by which it was sold metal shipments that ultimately had no value. Mr Justice Saini stated that Trafigura was 'duped' by the first defendant into acquiring consignments of nickel that were in reality 'cargoes of low-value or worthless materials'. At the opening of the trial, Trafigura's barrister, Nathan Pillow KC of Essex Court Chambers, asserted that Mr Gupta had 'knowingly signed a false document' when certifying nickel shipments for Trafigura. The court was told that the contents of the 500 separate consignments were not so-called LME-grade nickel (nickel approved by the London Metal Exchange). Rather, they consisted of stainless steel and other 'worthless' products......
EU financial services developments AMLA consults on proposed harmonisation of CDD rules AMLA, the European Union’s anti-money laundering authority, has opened three consultations as part of its drive to align customer due diligence ( CDD) requirements across the financial and non-financial sectors, pursuing consistent application and greater clarity in supervisory expectations......
Boghossian v IOP Publishing Ltd [2025] EWHC 3317 ( IPEC) What are the practical implications of this case? This case underlines the importance of keeping clear records of who contributed what, so that copyright in collaborative works can be established. The joint authorship principles explored here are not confined to scholarly articles and may extend across other sectors. Take software development: code is frequently produced collectively, both through live co-working in ‘pair programming’ (with a ‘driver’ writing code while a ‘navigator’ simultaneously reviews and advises) and through deferred collaboration using source control structures (where colleagues examine or amend proposed changes before they are accepted into the codebase). Either route can trigger questions about joint authorship. In the creative sphere, it is common for two writers to craft a screenplay together (for instance, Florence Foster Jenkins considered in Kogan v Martin [2019] EWCA Civ 1645), and books are...
KGLNG E& P Pty Ltd v Santos Toga Pty Ltd [2025] QCA 114 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling clarifies that where commercial counterparties peg a payment duty to an obligation in another contract that contains an arbitration clause, they are taken to accept the result of any arbitral determination of that obligation—particularly where the third party had notice of the arbitration agreement. It endorses prevailing market use of ‘back-to-back’ drafting in complex project structures, and places the burden of any miscalculation, or even a mistaken award, on the party that chooses to mirror the payer’s actual liability. For contractors, joint venture participants, and financiers with liabilities tied to third-party arrangements, the decision shows that tethering payment liability to another contract’s provisions can import that contract’s dispute resolution outcomes, including arbitration awards even if wrong......
Mergers The Commission authorised the acquisition by SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.Ş. of shared control over SOCAR Aliağa Liman İşletmeciliği A.Ş...
Dryrobe Ltd v Caesr Group Ltd (trading as D- Robe Outdoors) [2025] EWHC 3167 ( IPEC) What are the practical implications of this case? Exercise care when adopting descriptive terms as indicators of source. Marketing teams should balance the ability of a proposed trade mark to communicate clearly to consumers the nature of the product against the risk that, in legal terms, its protection will be more limited. Genericide is a demanding threshold, and the danger of a mark becoming generic can be managed proactively. Specialist legal advisers can help businesses devise strategies to counter generic usage, and marketing can promote goods/services in a way that makes clear to the public the sign is a brand name. The claimant deployed both approaches in this matter, and the court took them into account when finding that DRYROBE was not...
EU financial services developments EU EMIR: Active account requirement RTS published in the OJ Commission Delegated Regulation ( EU) 2026/305, dated 29 October 2025, supplementing Regulation ( EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, setting out regulatory technical standards that define the operational conditions, the representativeness obligation and the reporting duties linked to the active account requirement, has now been published in the Official Journal of the EU ( OJ). The measure will take effect on 26 February 2026, which is the twentieth day after its appearance in the OJ. Source: COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION ( EU) 2026/305 of 29 October 2025 supplementing Regulation ( EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards specifying the operational conditions, the representativeness obligation and the reporting requirements related to the active account...
Edozo Ltd v Valos ( UK) Ltd [2026] EWHC 93 ( IPEC) What are the practical implications of this case? The practical consequences of this judgment are significant and noteworthy for practitioners pursuing copyright infringement actions, particularly where the subject matter is software and its source code. Although His Honour Judge Hacon determined that the Valos Steps were not protected by copyright within the Valos source code, he nevertheless pointed to alternative routes by which the intellectual originality invested in devising them might have been safeguarded through other legal regimes. In particular, Hacon J indicated that literary or artistic copyright could have subsisted in the Valos Steps as works in their own right and, moreover, that if the Valos Steps were sufficiently inventive, Valos might have sought patent protection, provided the invention did not fall foul of Article 52(2) and (3) of the...
Fresh analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility ( OBR) suggests employers will alter pay structures and pension funding in light of the government’s move to cap National Insurance contributions ( NICs) relief on pension contributions made via salary sacrifice. From 6 April 2029, any salary-sacrificed pension amount over £2,000 per year will attract both employee and employer NICs. Published following calls for greater clarity on the pensions salary sacrifice measure trailed at Budget 2025, the OBR indicates firms are likelier to respond than shoulder the added expense, with a principal assumption that firms will restructure remuneration rather than absorb charges......
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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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