Featured documents
This Practice Note outlines the law concerning criminal recklessness. The subjective test for recklessness Certain statutory and common law offences allow the prosecution to prove mens rea through ‘recklessness’. Put simply, recklessness is where the accused takes an unjustified risk that results in unlawful harm or damage. The House of Lords in R v G reaffirmed the subjective approach to recklessness. Before R v G, two distinct tests were used, depending on the offence charged: Subjective recklessness from R v Cunningham: the prosecution had to establish that the accused personally foresaw the risk. Objective recklessness from R v Caldwell: the prosecution only needed to show that the risk would have been obvious to a reasonable person, without proving the accused themselves foresaw it. In R v G, the House of Lords concluded that the objective test could operate unfairly where a defendant did not foresee the
This Practice Note examines the remedy of rescission, explaining when and in what manner a contract can be unwound (at common law, in equity and under statute) and thereby terminated and brought to an end. It covers the consequences and effects of rescission, the principal grounds for setting aside an agreement (misrepresentation, mistake, undue influence, duress, non‑disclosure, fiduciary misdealing and bribery) and the main obstacles to claiming rescission—affirmation, the intervention of third‑party rights and the impossibility of restitution. For further guidance on rescission in the context of misrepresentation, see Practice Note: Misrepresentation—rescission as a remedy. There are many ways in which a contract may reach its end; see: Terminating contracts—how and when a contract ends—overview for a brief and accessible summary, with links to the related further practical guidance, including Practice Note: Termination and expiry of contracts. For a table
What is a res judicata? A res judicata is a determination by a court or tribunal with jurisdiction over the cause of action and the parties, which finally disposes of the issues decided so they cannot be litigated again by those bound, save on appeal. Final judgments entered by default or by consent fall within this concept, whereas rulings on purely procedural points and any decision lacking finality do not. The doctrine’s aim is to bring litigation to an end and shield parties from being harassed by the same dispute twice. in personam—binds the parties and their privies in rem—binds all persons, privy or otherwise (ie a judgment binding the whole world) A party may rely on res judicata: as an estoppel to defeat an opponent’s claim or defence; and/or as the basis of their own claim or
The offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent can be tried solely in the Crown Court on indictment. Elements of the offence Under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (OATPA 1861), the prosecution must establish that the defendant unlawfully and maliciously: wounded with the intention of causing GBH, or caused GBH with that intention, or wounded intending to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person, or caused GBH intending to resist or prevent the lawful arrest or detention of any person ‘Unlawfully’ and ‘maliciously’ Unlawfully The wounding or causing of GBH must be unlawful. Such conduct may be lawful if used: in self-defence in defence of another in defence of property for the prevention of crime where the victim gave express or implied consent For further information on these defences, see below:
Most recent Practice notes
ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note examines how Brexit has influenced UK cybersecurity, with particular emphasis on the network and information systems legislation. It addresses: a snapshot of UK cybersecurity regulation before the end of the implementation period the origins of Directive ( EU) 2016/1148, the Network and Information Systems Directive ( NIS Directive), and how it was implemented in the UK the broad consequences of Brexit for the UK’s application of the NIS Directive what the end of the transition period means for relevant digital service providers ( RDSPs) a summary of effects on qualified trust services under Regulation ( EU) 910/2014 (the e IDAS Regulation) the impact of the transition’s end on UK– EU cooperation on cybersecurity The prominence of cybersecurity has been underlined by recent high-profile incidents affecting companies and public services. These have involved a wide array of attack...
The UK ranks among the most internet-driven economies globally, with its online market worth billions of pounds annually. That scale also heightens exposure to risk. Cybercrime poses a tangible danger to people, companies, and both national and international security. Various organisations and programmes work to reduce that risk. This Practice Note sets out a table highlighting the most prominent of them. National Each year, hundreds of millions of pounds in public funding is directed at bolstering the UK’s cyber capability and countering cyber threats. The table below indicates how portions of that funding are applied: Who/what? Connect Inform Share Protect ( CISP) How? CISP, part of the National Cyber Security Centre ( NCSC), is a platform for UK cyber security professionals......
Financial sanctions target behaviour Financial sanctions aim to influence conduct and have customarily focused on: terrorism nuclear weapons development human rights abuses (see Practice Note: Sanctions regime—global human rights) However, financial sanctions are increasingly moving into mainstream criminal law, with measures imposed in relation to global anti-corruption and cyber-attacks—see, eg Practice Note: Sanctions regime—global anti-corruption. Cyber-attacks transcend borders and have grown in intensity, complexity and seriousness. Hostile cyber actors are active and capable of mounting successful operations against states, compromising critical national infrastructure, democratic processes, commercial entities and the media. Their risk appetite is rising and motives may include economic, strategic, regional and/or financial gain. The scale and consequences of such operations have escalated, with co-ordinated campaigns, rather than isolated incidents, granting far-reaching access to thousands of victims worldwide and inflicting substantial financial and material harm. The cyber sanctions regime seeks to dissuade those...
ARCHIVED – This archived practice note sets out information on the criminal cartel offence as it stood before the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2014 came into force on 1 April 2014. It is no longer updated. The offence criminalises individuals who take part in cartel conduct in the UK. Previously, liability depended on the person having dishonestly entered into any of the following arrangements: fixing prices limiting output dividing markets or customers rigging bids The activity must relate to products or services in the UK and involve individuals at competing firms. The offence can be made out even where the scheme is never put into effect or is unsuccessful. The issue is whether the individual agreed to engage in cartel behaviour (for example, to fix prices) and did so dishonestly; no competition law assessment is required. A person...
This collates and monitors all publicly disclosed investigations conducted under the previous criminal cartel offence (section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002) from 2008, as well as under the updated criminal cartel offence (reflecting the changes introduced by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013) which took effect on 1 April 2014. Ongoing investigations There are currently no CMA investigations under the criminal cartel offence that have been publicly announced. Completed investigations 2017 Case name/individual: Supply of precast concrete drainage products ( CE/9705/12) — Barry Kenneth Cooper Issues: Agreement to allocate supply, fix prices and apportion customers between 2006 and 2013; arrangements concern Stanton Bonna ( UK) Ltd, FP Mc Cann Ltd, CPM Group Ltd and Milton Pipes Ltd Developments:......
ARCHIVED ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and not maintained. It tracks domestic legislation introduced by the UK government in response to the coronavirus ( COVID-19) pandemic, and includes a Coronavirus SI database compiling details of pertinent draft and made secondary legislation laid before Parliament. Quick links Click the links below to go to the relevant section: Coronavirus legislation Coronavirus SI database Coronavirus Act 2020 Coronavirus Act 2020—commencement tracker Bill Tracker Coronavirus legislation In addition to the Coronavirus Act 2020 (see below), the government has used delegated powers to introduce and deliver further coronavirus measures through secondary legislation. The chief vehicle is statutory instruments ( SIs). These SIs are made under varied enabling powers for multiple purposes, for example to modify existing UK law and to implement new or revised domestic policy prompted by the outbreak, including in public health,...
Corporate ‘failure to prevent’ offences Corporate ‘failure to prevent’ offences have proved an effective way of prompting organisations to establish and uphold internal systems and procedures aimed at stopping particular financial offences. Since the arrival in 2011 of the failure to prevent bribery offence under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 ( BA 2010), two corporate criminal offences of failing to prevent the facilitation of UK and foreign tax evasion under sections 45 and 46 of the Criminal Finances Act 2017 ( CFA 2017) were introduced in 2017, and the failure to prevent fraud offence under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) commenced on 1 September 2025. The growth in both scope and number of these failure to prevent offences reflects the acknowledged aim of successive governments to widen corporate criminal liability to encompass a broader range of...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained For current government bills relevant to corporate crime in 2024, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2024 [ Archived]. This archived Practice Note monitored government bills pertinent to corporate crime as they moved through the UK Parliament from 1 January to 31 December 2023, and included signposts to additional material on each statute. For significant secondary legislation of interest to corporate crime lawyers in 2023, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2023 [ Archived]. This bills tracker was created to help corporate crime practitioners stay abreast of primary legislation and bills affecting their specialist practice areas, including: Investigation of criminal conduct Criminal procedure and evidence Sentencing Consumer protection offences Cybercrime and data protection offences Environmental offences Health and safety and corporate manslaughter...
ARCHIVED This Practice Note is archived and no longer updated. For insights on what to monitor in 2022, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner 2022. Previously, this note outlined the principal legal developments anticipated to affect corporate crime lawyers during 2021. Coronavirus ( COVID-19) remained a major issue throughout 2021... Resources for corporate crime practice Practical guide to remote hearings in the criminal courts Brexit legislation tracker Brexit collection Brexit timeline Key primary legislation For details of primary legislation and the progress of government bills relevant to corporate crime introduced in the House of Commons or House of Lords, see Practice Note: Legislation tracker for corporate crime practitioners—2021... Key secondary legislation Upcoming secondary legislation of potential interest to corporate crime lawyers includes: Commencement date: 1 January 2022 — SI: The Food Information ( Wales) ( Amendment) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/1383 — Further...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer maintained. For insight on what to look out for in 2025, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2025 [ Archived]. This note outlined the principal legal changes affecting corporate crime practitioners in the UK during 2024. For developments in 2023, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2023 [ Archived]. Key primary legislation For information on primary legislation and the status of government bills relevant to corporate crime that were introduced in the House of Commons or the House of Lords during 2024, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2024 [ Archived]. Key secondary legislation For upcoming secondary legislation of interest to corporate crime lawyers as at 2 January 2025, consult Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2025 [ Archived]. Ongoing consultations/calls for evidence Ongoing consultations of potential interest to UK corporate crime lawyers include: Closing date: 22...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. For details on government bills touching corporate crime in 2025, refer to Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2025 [ Archived] as signposted. This Practice Note monitored the journey of government bills pertinent to corporate crime as they moved through the UK Parliament across the period 1 January to 31 December 2024. It also included links to additional material on each item of legislation, offering further information for every bill referenced. For insight into notable secondary legislation of interest to corporate crime practitioners in 2024, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2024 [ Archived] for context. After the 2024 general election was declared, numerous bills lapsed automatically on the dissolution of Parliament at that time. For further detail, see News Analysis: General election announced for 4 July 2024 and LNB News 24/05/2024 99 for...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained. For more on what to watch in 2024, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2024 [ Archived]. This note offered a summary of the main legal developments that affected corporate crime lawyers in the UK during 2023. For details of what occurred in 2022, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner 2022 [ Archived]. Key primary legislation For information on primary legislation and the progress of government bills relevant to corporate crime that were tabled in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords in the UK Parliament during 2023, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime bills tracker—2023 [ Archived]. Key secondary legislation For forthcoming secondary legislation that may interest corporate crime lawyers as at 2 January 2024, see: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2024 [ Archived]. Ongoing...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer maintained. For insight on what to watch in 2023, see Practice Note: Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2023 [ Archived]. This note outlines the principal legal developments anticipated to influence corporate crime lawyers during 2022 and beyond, and also summarises the key developments already realised in 2022. For information on what occurred in 2021, see Practice Note: Corporate crime horizon scanner— September 2021 and beyond [ Archived]. Key primary legislation For details of primary legislation and the progress of government bills relevant to corporate crime that have been tabled in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, see Practice Note: Corporate crime bills tracker—2022. Key secondary legislation For forthcoming secondary legislation likely to interest corporate crime lawyers as at 3 January 2023, see Corporate Crime horizon scanner—2023 [...
Reviewing 2017 This year’s annual round-up recaps pivotal changes from 2017 and signposts what is coming in 2018, including: a new corporate criminal offence for failure to stop the facilitation of tax evasion shifts in anti-money laundering regulation notable case law: SFO v ENRC, Ivey v Genting Casinos and R v Rose amendments to the Criminal Procedure Rules ( Crim PR) Looking ahead to 2018, we expect movement on: legal professional privilege in criminal investigations a new regime for financial and trade sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti- Money Laundering Bill the proposed Sentencing Code We also share updates on Lexis Nexis®’s content, covering last year’s highlights and what is planned for the next twelve months. Tax evasion—failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion What happened? The Criminal Finances Act 2017 ( CFA 2017) introduced two corporate...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer updated. At 11 pm ( GMT) on 31 December 2020, the implementation period ended, which had been designed to help the UK move away from the EU’s rules and bodies. From that moment (described here as ‘ IP completion day’), the UK’s legal framework shifted immediately and materially. This Practice Note outlines what that shift means for consumer protection. How does Brexit impact consumer protection? UK consumer protection rules originate partly in EU legislation and partly in domestic law. In several respects, Brexit produced a more muted short-term effect for consumer protection because EU Member States were already unevenly regulated, and businesses selling to EU consumers were used to addressing particular cross-border obligations. That said, if EU consumer protection rules depart from the approach taken in the UK, or if the UK pursues further...
Introduction This Practice Note sets out the UK framework for corrective action on consumer product safety, in particular covering: when and how to notify the relevant authorities about a product safety concern the applicable guidance for undertaking risk assessments the remedial steps that should, or must, be taken when a product is found to be unsafe Traditionally, product safety authorities in the UK have not been especially proactive. The enforcement landscape is, however, continuing to shift: recent years have brought heightened political and public attention to product safety, for example after multiple house fires, culminating in the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in January 2018, the government created the Office for Product Safety and Standards ( OPSS), the UK’s national product regulator. Its core purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, while enabling trade and growth by...
UK competition law UK competition law polices anti-competitive behaviour, oversees merger control and promotes competitive markets. The Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA) is the principal UK competition authority. Created by the merger of the OFT and the Competition Commission, it took over enforcing competition law in the UK on 1 April 2014. The CMA, together with other concurrent competition authorities, has powers to: enforce prohibitions on anti-competitive agreements and on abuse of a dominant position (see further, Chapter I prohibition and Chapter II prohibition) bring criminal prosecutions against individuals responsible for implementing hardcore cartels (see further, The UK criminal cartel offence) seek director disqualification orders against directors involved in competition law breaches (see further, Director disqualification) investigate UK mergers and block them or require remedies where they would result in a substantial lessening of competition (see further, UK merger...
Practice Note This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer being updated. It summarises the former civil/regulatory framework that governed market abuse and insider dealing prior to the Market Abuse Regulation ( EU) 596/2014 taking effect on 3 July 2016. That framework applies to breaches and civil offences under the FSMA 2000 that took place before 3 July 2016. Insider dealing and market manipulation may amount to market abuse......
The transport sector has a number of legal duties when bringing passengers into the UK. These are: to thoroughly verify passengers’ travel documents to stop clandestine entrants to the UK, including making sure commercial goods vehicles are properly secured to submit the specified advance electronic information to UK Border Force about passengers or crews of ships or aircraft to seek and obtain authority to carry a passenger to the UK under the Authority to Carry Scheme 2023 There are also various miscellaneous offences linked to carrier activities. Charges in relation to passengers without proper documents for passengers without proper documents UK Border Force, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department ( SSHD), may impose a fixed penalty of £2,000 on the owner of a ship or aircraft where a passenger arrives in the UK without the...
Introduction When moving hazardous goods, various international requirements must be observed relating to how consignments are packaged, labelled and transported, including how items are prepared, marked and moved. There are also mandatory training obligations for everyone engaged in the transport chain and involved in carriage. These requirements span the UN Model Regulations, pan- European accords, EU directives and regulations, with matching domestic statutes that transpose and implement the international framework. Provisions differ depending on whether consignments travel by road, rail, sea or air, as appropriate. Where only limited quantities are sent, the regime can be less stringent and more flexible. The core idea is a set of shared, cross-border rules and regulations across nations, establishing common standards for carrying dangerous goods. A principal UK measure is the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, SI 2009/1348 (as amended) (the CDG...
Popular documents
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 ]...
Discover more from LexisNexis
