Legal News

What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment supplies key direction to local authorities when preparing housing needs assessments and personalised housing plans under HA 1996, s 189A. Lang J underlined the need to evaluate, on every assessment, not merely the first, the requirements of the applicant and of those who might reasonably be expected to live with them. An assessor may evidence this by cross-referencing earlier housing needs assessments, and may draw upon pertinent information held by other departments within the authority. If the assessment is unlawful, any housing plan derived from it will inevitably be flawed. Lang J further stressed the necessity of consulting the applicant about revisions to assessments or plans, and of notifying the applicant of any such alterations. However, the authority is not obliged to spell out in detail the method by which it will search for a...

Next month, Tik Tok plans to launch an in-app ‘local language election centre’ for each of the 27 EU Member States and will establish an elections unit at its Dublin base, according to Kevin Morgan, Tik Tok’s European head of trust and safety. Alongside efforts to counter falsehoods about elections, the platform is also moving to address deceptive AI-generated material, Morgan added......

What does the toolkit comprise? While the heart of the toolkit is a set of model green lease clauses, free for anyone to adopt and weave into their leases, it also offers a range of supplementary materials. There is an explainer on what green leases involve and why they matter. You’ll also find advice for preparing heads of terms, since addressing sustainability from the outset is vital to securing inclusion of the clauses and to ensuring both sides engage with sustainability from the beginning of the relationship. Further content supports the owner–occupier dynamic, alongside case studies and links to additional helpful sources. The legal provisions span multiple themes and, with light, medium and dark green variants, provide the flexibility to meet people wherever they are on their sustainability journeys. How does it differ from the previous toolkit? The last refresh was in 2013. The new edition is...

See Q& A: When preparing a deed of variation in an Inheritance ( Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claim, is it necessary to make an election within the deed for inheritance tax and capital gains tax purposes? When resolving an Inheritance ( Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ( I( PFD) A 1975) claim, careful attention must be given to potential tax consequences. Such a claim can be concluded by a deed of variation. If the deed is completed within two years of death, and the further requirements in section 142 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 ( IHTA 1984) are met, it is treated as taking effect from the date of death. To secure this ‘read-back’ treatment, the deed must contain a statement confirming that the parties intend IHTA 1984, s 142(1) to apply to the variation (often...

The Arbitration Rules are available here. Electronic communications and virtual hearings The Rules prioritise electronic correspondence: both the Request for Arbitration and the Answer must be filed electronically, or if that cannot be done, in paper form. Where practicable, electronic filing is the default position, with paper serving as a contingency measure. Notices and communications may, inter alia, be sent by email or by any other telecommunications method, as appropriate to the circumstances at hand. Hard-copy pleadings are required only where a party expressly asks for service by delivery against receipt, registered post or courier ( Articles 4(1), 5(5) and 6(6)). To promote swift and efficient proceedings, the Rules also allow for remote hearings ( Article 30). After consulting the parties and considering the pertinent facts and circumstances, the arbitral tribunal may determine that any hearing be held remotely via video...

Mergers The Commission cleared the acquisition of sole control of several Stork entities, active chiefly in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, by Bilfinger SE ( M.11298) after a phase I investigation—see further, Midday Express. The Commission approved the acquisition of joint control of Geo2link Group SAS by CVC Capital Partners SICAV- FIS S. A. and Keensight Capital SAS ( M.11425) following a phase I investigation—see further, Midday Express. The Commission received notifications in: Lantmännen/ Hkscan Sweden ( M.11442) (simplified merger procedure). BPI France/ Meridiam/ Exoes ( M.11411) (simplified merger procedure). Note— For all live merger investigations before the Commission, see further, EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker. Antitrust The General Court published an order in Case T-156/22, Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings v Commission, an appeal against the Commission’s decision in Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings/ Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering ( M.9343) seeking annulment of the decision to prohibit the...

Re H ( Step- Parent Adoption: Human Rights) [2023] EWHC 3186 ( Fam), [2023] All ER ( D) 165 ( Jul) What are the practical implications of this case? Had the step‑parent adoption not been granted, the child would have been left without any legal parent, despite his stepfather having raised him and acted as his de facto parent since the age of two. The child’s biological father, who left the mother during her pregnancy, did not hold parental responsibility. The child himself described to the court the routine, day‑to‑day difficulties he would face in the absence of a legal parent, including issues around signing permission slips for school activities and worries concerning his immigration and nationality status. Whilst the step‑parent adoption proceedings were ongoing, the court made in the applicant stepfather’s favour an interim child arrangements order and a...

Beyond the articles presented in detail within the Financial Services news feed on 14 February 2024, subscribers could also find value in these other developments of note here: Bo E: Minutes of Money Market Committee meeting – December 2023 ......

Amaplat Mauritius Ltd, et al v Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, et al , No 22-58, D DC, 2024 US Dist Waived immunity In the 9 February 2024 decision, US District Judge Christopher R. Cooper in the District of Columbia determined that the plaintiffs, Amaplat Mauritius Ltd. and Amari Nickel Holdings Zimbabwe Ltd., have adequately pleaded that the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. ( ZMDC) function as alter egos. Judge Cooper explained that the pleadings sufficiently assert that Zimbabwe exercised control over ZMDC’s affairs and finances, thereby satisfying the standard for an alter-ego relationship and meeting the relevant test. Because ZMDC had entered into memoranda of understanding ( MOUs) with the plaintiffs in which it waived sovereign immunity from suit under section 1605(a)(1) of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ( FSIA), 28 USC § 1605(a)(1), the judge concluded that Zimbabwe is...

North East London NHS Foundation Trust v Beatrice (by her litigation friend the Official Solicitor) and another ( No 2) [2023] EWCOP 60 What are the practical implications of this case? This is Mr Justice Mostyn’s assessment of B’s best interests, measuring the stark alternatives of life and death through five components [(1–5) below]. The two principal forces are: the robust presumption for preserving life, reflecting the categorical terms of Article 2 ECHR in both its mandatory and prohibitory dimensions, and the wording of MCA 2005, s 4(5) (paras [2, 3, 11]) a core facet of personal liberty— B’s wishes, feelings, beliefs and values. The Official Solicitor submitted, and Mostyn J “strongly agrees”, that the “fundamental precept” is that we are “free people entitled to live our lives as we choose, subject only to general lawful constraints”, even where capacity is absent (paras...

Triathlon Homes LLP v Stratford Village Development Partnership and others [2024] UKFTT 26 ( PC) (not reported by Lexis Nexis®UK) What are the practical implications of this case? Since the BSA 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 June 2022, advisers have keenly anticipated how its knottier provisions would be read by the courts in practice across disputes and regulatory contexts of real significance for those operating in building safety matters daily. From that perspective, this ruling is something of a goldmine. The FTT—after the judges swiftly reconstituted themselves, having realised that, sitting as the Upper Tribunal as intended, they lacked power to make a Remediation Contribution Order ( RCO)—was confronted with a number of what could fairly be called ‘hot topics’. Chief among them, in the extensive closing part of their judgment, was an analysis of what is, and is not, pertinent when applying the ‘just and...

Re YM ( Care Proceedings) ( Clarification of Issues) [2024] EWCA Civ 71, [2024] All ER ( D) 53 ( Feb) What are the practical implications of this case? There are frequent situations in which a trial advocate, often in the immediate aftermath of a judgment, must decide whether to seek clarification of the trial judge’s findings. Harder still is judging how far to go. Where does one draw the boundary between a bona fide request to elucidate the judge’s reasoning and matters that properly belong in an appeal? Might the appellate court criticise a party for not first raising certain points with the trial judge before asking for permission to appeal? The touchstone is proportionality. Clarification ought to be requested only where it is required to grasp the judge’s conclusions on pivotal issues that inform decisions about a child’s future. Judges need not...

Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2024] UKSC 1 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling settles the long-running disagreement and friction in the caselaw about the correct treatment of secondary victim claims arising from clinical negligence, as opposed to accidents (for example, road traffic crashes, workplace injuries or major incidents such as the Hillsborough disaster). In the clinical negligence arena, the scope for a relative to pursue a secondary victim claim for psychiatric harm is now very narrow, albeit not entirely precluded where the events can properly be viewed as an accident, as defined by the Supreme Court. As these appeals did not involve an accident but concerned a medical crisis, the court considered that whether such claims might succeed should be resolved in a case where an accident is present on the facts. Even then, the central enquiry will be...

Mergers Korean Air Lines/ Asiana Airlines merger conditionally cleared after phase II The Commission has conditionally approved the acquisition of Asiana Airlines ( Asiana) by Korean Airlines Co., Ld ( Korean Air) following a phase II investigation ( M.10149). Both airlines offer international passenger and air cargo services. The Commission was concerned the deal could restrict competition in two areas of concern: air freight transport between Europe and South Korea; passenger air services on routes linking Seoul with certain European destinations, notably Barcelona, Paris, Frankfurt and Rome. It found that Korean Air and Asiana compete directly in carrying cargo and passengers between the EEA and South Korea. Together, they would have been by far the biggest operator on these routes, removing a significant alternative supplier for customers. Rivals face regulatory and other barriers to expanding their services and would have been unlikely to exert...

Jacobs v Chalcot Crescent ( Management) Company Ltd [2024] EWHC 259 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment carries weight for both procedure and substance. On the procedural side, it demonstrates how a trial’s result can hinge on a pleading issue. However unfashionable such arguments are with courts and litigants, Fancourt J confirms that deciding a claim on an unpleaded basis is not permissible. If a party wishes to rely on a point not pleaded—for example one arising from the trial evidence—the burden lies on them to flag it to the judge and obtain permission to amend. Permission is improbable where it would have necessitated running the trial differently; and if no amendment is sought, any ruling resting on that new ground is exposed on appeal. It also matters for property practitioners: Fancourt J allowed the appeal from the finding that the...

Braceurself Ltd v NHS England [2022] EWHC 2348 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? Mistakes arise in public procurement from time to time; however, when courts seek to do justice between the parties, both the intention behind, and the impact of, such errors remain significant. For practitioners, the priority is to deploy relevant, objective selection criteria and to avoid scoring errors—whether inadvertent or otherwise—and to take prompt remedial steps at the earliest opportunity, thereby minimising the scope for contentious proceedings and unfavourable factual findings in court on a damages claim. At first instance, the judge concluded that the phrase “sufficiently serious” signals a relatively demanding threshold before the test is met, having regard to all the facts and circumstances (as recorded at para [15] of the judgment). Those threshold considerations are liable to provide some reassurance to...

The Republic of India v Deutsche Telekom AG [2023] SGCA ( I) 10 What are the practical implications of this case? Choosing the seat of arbitration reflects the parties’ selection of the forum and legal system that will regulate the arbitral procedure and any related court proceedings arising from it or connected litigation. Recognising transnational res judicata/issue estoppel, together with the primacy principle, therefore safeguards a fundamental feature of arbitration, namely party autonomy as a core organising value. The decision confirms that the doctrine applies in Singapore within the realm of international commercial arbitration conducted under the framework of the New York Convention, and in turn will: narrow divergence in judicial determinations and reduce inconsistency across outcomes; and enhance the efficiency of arbitral proceedings and improve the effectiveness of the arbitral...

The UK withdrew from the Unified Patent Court ( UPC) of the EU in 2020 and law firms are banking on the government in Dublin, to ratify the UPC agreement. The UK stepped away from the UPC in 2020. At the time, ministers argued that a tribunal applying EU law and subject to the EU’s highest court “is clearly inconsistent with our objective of becoming an independent self-governing nation”. Nonetheless, specialists report that since its June debut the UPC has already reshaped the landscape, cutting costs and simplifying both patent filings and enforcement. The system brings in a single ‘unitary’ patent alongside a unified forum for infringement and revocation cases, presently spanning 17 EU Member States (for the time being). Unsurprisingly, practitioners in England are keen to stay engaged. “ Most firms with significant patent litigation practices [in London] have invested in seeking UPC work”, said...

WOL ( London) LLP v Croydon Investments Ltd and others [2024] EWHC 251 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? Although the dispute turned heavily on its own facts, the decision offers a clear illustration of the courts’ stance on applications for summary judgment and strike-out. The court signalled caution about disposing of claims summarily where the core question is contractual interpretation. Here, the defendant argued that the claimant’s case was barred by provisions in a sale and purchase agreement between the parties. The court rejected that contention, noting it could only have entered judgment for the defendant if the defendant’s construction of the agreement was “beyond any realistic contradiction”. That is a demanding threshold, so parties should reflect carefully on the prospects, risks and expense of pursuing summary judgment or strike-out where the dispute hinges on construing...

Court of Justice judgment C-667/21, Krankenversicherung Nordrhein What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling departs slightly from C‑456/22, Gemeinde Ummendorf, and C‑340/21, Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite, which confirmed that liability under Article 82 rests on showing an infringement, damage and a causal link. The present decision introduces a fourth element: the controller’s fault is presumed unless the controller proves that the event causing the damage cannot be attributed to them. The Court of Justice stated that this fault‑based approach (as opposed to strict liability) is supported by a contextual interpretation of the EU GDPR. In theory, this may narrow GDPR liability for companies that fall victim to cyberattacks. In practice, the threshold will be demanding, requiring organisations to demonstrate not only that they had suitable technical and organisational measures in place to prevent...