Legal News

Friends of the Earth Ltd v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and another [2023] EWHC 3255 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This case supplies a concise restatement of the principles governing requests for specific disclosure in judicial review proceedings that challenge planning permission granted by the So S, with particular emphasis on applications concerning Ministerial Submissions. It confirms the approach in earlier authorities and decisions: disclosure will be directed only where doing so would genuinely and materially aid the court in performing the task before it. The judge observed that there has been only one decided statutory planning matter in which disclosure of a Ministerial Submission was ordered— Ball v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2012] EWHC 3590 ( Admin). In that instance, a claim of actual or apparent bias was...

Commercial and Interregional Card Claims I Ltd v Mastercard Incorporated [2024] CAT 3 The Competition Appeal Tribunal ( CAT) concluded that litigation funding arrangements are not damages‑based agreements ( DBAs) where the funder’s remuneration is calculated as a multiple of the finance advanced, rather than as a share of any damages recovered, reflecting a different model from that considered by the Supreme Court in PACCAR. On that basis, such funding terms were held to be enforceable for applications seeking both opt‑in and opt‑out collective proceedings orders in the case referenced above. The CAT’s reasoning mirrors its earlier ruling in the Sony matter ( Alex Neill Class Representative Ltd v Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd and another company [2023] CAT 73), which likewise determined that a multiple‑based return does not amount to a DBA— even if, as in the present case, the funder’s...

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology ( DSIT) and the National Cyber Security Centre ( NCSC) have opened a consultation on a new draft Cyber Governance Code of Practice intended to strengthen businesses’ cyber resilience. The proposed guidance aims to put cyber security at the forefront for businesses and sets out recommendations......

H v GH [2023] EWFC 235, [2023] All ER ( D) 79 ( Dec) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment clarifies the Family Court’s inherent power to alter the payment date of a lump sum order, but only where the postponement is slight or modest and does not undermine the core of the original order. Citing the leading authority, Masefield v Alexander [1995] 1 FLR 100, the judge noted the extension there was just five weeks, and concluded the husband’s request for two years was not modest; therefore, the court lacked jurisdiction to grant it. It also stands as a practical illustration of the Family Court’s strike-out jurisdiction under the Family Procedure Rules 2010 ( FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, r 4.4(1), namely where a statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the...

Mergers ITA Airways acquisition referred to phase II The Commission has referred the planned acquisition of joint control of ITA Airways ( ITA) by Deutsche Lufthansa AG ( Lufthansa) and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance ( MEF) to phase II. Lufthansa and ITA run a broad network of domestic services, extensive short-haul routes within the EEA, and long-haul links between the EEA and the rest of the world......

Mercer’s monthly analysis of FTSE 350 pension schemes Mercer’s latest review of FTSE 350 pension arrangements indicates that prospective changes making it easier for corporate sponsors to access defined benefit funding surpluses could prompt many schemes to continue operating rather than seek an insurance buy-out. The government is presently considering plans to let companies draw on pension surpluses, which could be used to enhance benefits for members in newer, less generous defined contribution schemes. These proposals are intended to encourage schemes to keep running, rather than wind up through a de-risking deal with the insurance sector. Mercer said......

What has been the impact of the first edition of the guide? We answer wearing our respective professional hats— Beverley writes as a practising solicitor working at the frontline and coalface of family breakdown cases, and Jonathan speaks not only as co-author of the Galbraith Tables, but as a frequently appointed Pensions on Divorce Expert ( PODE) offering specialist input in that capacity on divorces......

Insurance Europe, Leaseurope, FIA, Figiefa and Clepa had anticipated the European Commission would table a data-access law by the close of 2023, yet the proposal has faced repeated hold-ups. The Commission’s internal vetting stage, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, was still unfinished in late December 2023, with additional revisions on the horizon. The associations are pressing the Commission to move before the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s Regulation 155 takes effect on 7 July 2024. They fear it could undermine access to the on-board diagnostics port, or OBD, which remains the primary tool for most independent service providers. Richard Bullard, who chairs Leaseurope’s connected vehicle working group, warned at a Brussels press briefing that the regulatory cliff-edge is genuinely looming, and that, without action, independents will lose their sole route to the data on which they rely. He stressed that such access...

The Post Office Horizon scandal stands as a stark case of private prosecutions going awry. How did this happen? Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of self-employed Post Office workers (sub-postmasters) were wrongly taken to court for false accounting, theft and fraud. The accusations stemmed from defects in Horizon, the accounting system supplied by Fujitsu. Horizon appeared to show cash missing from branch accounts—but the funds had not vanished. While some were imprisoned, bankrupted, stripped of their contracts or saw their personal lives fall apart, the Post Office maintained for years that nothing was amiss with Horizon’s data. From the early 2000s, however, the system was erroneously flagging shortfalls at individual branches. In 2009, Computer Weekly reported claims that Horizon was flawed and highlighted prosecutions of sub-postmasters. The Post Office began to look into the issues, yet in 2015 the then chief executive, Paula Vennells, told a...

The long running Antrix- Devas Saga Deutsche Telekom AG ( DT), a German firm, held shares in Devas Multimedia Pte Ltd ( Devas), an Indian company. Devas concluded an agreement with Antrix Corporation Ltd ( Antrix), a state-owned Indian entity, to lease space-segment capacity and to collaborate in building and operating satellites. When Antrix brought the agreement to an end, DT initiated arbitration against India, alleging breach of the India– Germany Bilateral Investment Treaty. In parallel, Devas sued Antrix, and other Devas shareholders pursued claims against India. DT secured a favourable arbitral award in its arbitration. India then asked the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (the Swiss court), the court at the seat of the arbitration, to set the award aside for want of jurisdiction; however, the Swiss court dismissed the application...

The Society of Pension Professionals ( SPP), which represents firms that advise on pensions, argued that many employees lack the specialist expertise to choose wisely when it comes to their retirement investments. In November 2023, the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP) outlined proposals for rules letting staff carry on paying into a single pension pot, rather than being enrolled into a fresh workplace scheme every time they change employer. These changes, dubbed the lifetime provider model or 'pot for life', have split opinion. However, Giannis Waymouth, who chairs the society's defined contribution committee, cautioned that the approach may bring difficulties......

On 18 January 2024, Lima lodged a notice of appeal with the DC Circuit and filed a motion to stay enforcement of the court’s order, after US District Judge Ana C Reyes rejected the city’s bid to reconsider that order and, in the same decision, refused its application to push back the briefing schedule. In the underlying claim, the Peruvian capital is challenging a US$8.7m judgment issued by arbitrators at the International Chamber of Commerce ( ICC) in favour of former municipal contractor Rutas de Lima SAC. Rutas, which operated a toll station on a stretch of highway it had built for the city, prevailed after asserting the municipality closed the station and deprived it of revenue it says it was owed under a 2013 contract. The city maintains the tribunal failed to weigh alleged bribes that Rutas—an Odebrecht...

Belgian officials, who are steering negotiations for national governments during Belgium’s six-month stint chairing the Council of the EU, said they will uphold the freedom afforded to Member States when shaping auctions to roll out renewable energy, allowing them to treat the resilience contribution either as a pre-qualification requirement or as an award criterion. They added they will also uphold the course agreed by governments last December on using non-price criteria in auctions. Under that approach, such criteria would initially cover at least 20 percent of the annual volume auctioned in each Member State, with the share rising over time via implementing acts put forward by the European Commission and informed by assessments......

Employment Appeal Tribunal Judge Murray Shanks stated the tribunal was justified in concluding that Nicolas Toure’s allegation that a colleague used a racial epithet was 'fictional', and that his readiness to forget it in return for promotion was 'tantamount to blackmail', although the tribunal’s rationale for dismissing his victimisation complaint was 'plainly wrong'. He noted the tribunal had been mistaken in stating Toure was not dismissed by Ken Wilkins Print Ltd; yet Toure’s contention that his sacking was retaliation for raising race discrimination 'could not possibly have succeeded', in any event, according to Judge Shanks in a judgment handed down on 17 January 2024......

Covering the cost of the energy transition will demand at least €620bn a year through 2030, the European Commission estimates, a figure Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, highlighted in Davos there. ' Do we have the money? No,' she said, noting that governments lack sufficient fiscal room to step in, while 'banks can take some of it on, but it's not enough'. Lagarde once more floated the idea of creating an......

Subsidy control The Subsidy Advice Unit has agreed to a request by London Borough of Barnet to produce a report on its intended subsidy for Related Argent Property Limited Partnership—see further, case page Note— For all decisions submitted to the Subsidy Advice Unit under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, see further, UK subsidy control—cases tracker Upcoming dates: For schedules of forthcoming UK competition developments, see UK Competition calendar......

Skatteforvaltningen v Solo Capital Partners LLP [2024] EWHC 19 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling delivers a clear exploration of the governing principles within the CPR, notably CPR 32 and CPR 34, alongside the professional responsibilities of the judiciary when deciding whether, and in what way, a trial should be adjourned so that the trial judge may take a deposition as a special examiner outside the jurisdiction. The judgment offers a structured analysis of significant issues that have not previously been the subject of substantial argument, including discussion of both Peer International Corp v Termidor Music Publishers Ltd [2005] EWHC 1048 (not reported by Lexis Nexis®UK) and Attorney General of Zambia v Meer Care & Desai et al [2006] EWCA Civ 390, which had earlier touched upon the point. In addition, the judgment carefully evaluates the benefits and...

Lunn v Antarctic Logistics Centre International ( Pty) Ltd [2023] EWHC 2856 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling examines, among other issues, the position of a claim form once the four‑month period of validity set by CPR 7.5 has elapsed in a case where the defendant is outside the jurisdiction. Before Master Thornett it was argued that the court’s annotation on the claim form—‘not for service out of the jurisdiction’—meant the form became invalid after four months. That submission rested on what has now been identified as a misinterpretation of American Leisure Group Ltd v Garrard [2014] EWHC 2101 ( Ch). The court confirmed that, where the intention throughout is to serve the claim out of the jurisdiction and, as here, the defendant’s stated address for service is abroad, the claim form’s validity does not expire at the end of the...

Mergers The Commission approved: the takeover of sole control of Outsourcing, Inc by Bain Capital Investors, LLC ( M.11314) following a phase I review—see Midday Express for details the acquisition of joint control of UON Pty Ltd by ITOCHU, MTF Holdings Pty Ltd and the Keogh Family Trust ( M.11391) after a phase I review—see Midday Express for more Note— For a list of all ongoing merger investigations before the Commission, see EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker Antitrust The application was published in Case T-1129/23, Intel Corporation v Commission, challenging the Commission’s decision in Intel Corporation (re-imposed fine) ( AT.37990), which re-imposed a penalty of around €376.36m on Intel for a previously established abuse of dominance in the x86 CPU market—see the application Note— For all current antitrust appeals before the General Court, see General Court appeals—ongoing cases...

A Next Wealth study, commissioned by Aegon UK, reports that 49% of firms have experienced rising demand for guidance on pension tax allowances. As part of the research, 200 financial advisers were surveyed in November 2023. The so‑called lifetime allowance is due to be scrapped on 6 April 2024, lifting the ceiling on the level of tax‑free pension saving that can be put into retirement pots. Nonetheless, two fresh limits will take effect instead from April. On 18 January 2024, Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon UK, warned that the details of the lifetime allowance’s abolition, announced only very recently, would heap pressure on advisers as the tax year end nears. Until April 2024, the lifetime allowance stands at a little over £1m. HM Revenue and Customs says this will be superseded by two new limits, which apply to lump sums and death...