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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
SM& CR— SMF interviews for regulatory approval This Practice Note sets out how the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) and/or the Prudential Regulatory Authority ( PRA) may deploy interviews as part of the approval process for those seeking to perform senior manager functions ( SMFs) at authorised firms under the UK regulators’ Senior Managers & Certification Regime ( SM& CR). It confirms that interviews are a discretionary tool within the SMF approval pathway and highlights when SMF candidates are most likely to be asked to attend. It also offers practical guidance for SMF candidates and their firms on preparing for interview, including frequent areas of focus, how the regulators approach external versus internal candidates, and additional points for candidates at dual-regulated firms. This Practice Note should be read together with: SM& CR Checklist—preparing for SMF interviews, which provides a practical framework to support...
This Practice Note considers: sexual harassment under section 26(2) of the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010) (see: Sexual harassment below), and the distinct duty on an employer under Eq A 2010, s 40A to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of employees in the course of their work (see: Duty to prevent sexual harassment below) the protection arising from whistleblowing where a person makes a disclosure concerning sexual harassment (see: Whistleblowing, below) The safeguards outlined here are separate from the ‘standard’ protection from harassment related to the protected characteristic of sex, which is covered comprehensively in Practice Note: Harassment. For a sample harassment and bullying policy addressing sexual harassment specifically, see Precedents: Policy—harassment and bullying and Policy—harassment and bullying (short form). For an employer toolkit to support a sexual harassment risk assessment and to determine measures to mitigate...
This Practice Note This Practice Note examines provisions in the Working Time Regulations 1998 ( WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833 regarding entitlement to statutory paid holiday, or annual leave, for irregular hours workers and part-year workers for leave years commencing on or after 1 April 2024. The amendments to the WTR 1998 address the issue raised in Brazel, where the Supreme Court decided that a part-year worker — a visiting music teacher paid by the hour with no guaranteed minimum or normal hours, who received pay for hours worked that month plus holiday pay at 12.07% — was entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid leave that was not to be pro-rated against a full-time worker. For a worker who is an irregular hours worker or a part-year worker in a leave year beginning on or after 1 April 2024, the right to paid holiday is...
STOP PRESS: The Data ( Use and Access) Act 2025 ( Commencement No 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/82, activate the outstanding provisions of the Data ( Use and Access) Act 2025 ( DUAA 2025). From 5 February 2026: subject access requests, legitimate interests, purpose limitation, automated decision-making, international transfers, and enforcement. From 19 June 2026: penalty notices and complaints. For further details, see Practice Note: Data ( Use and Access) Act 2025—employment implications. This Practice Note will be updated shortly to reflect these changes. It provides guidance on an individual’s rights as a data subject within the employment context. It aligns with the UK GDPR regime, and legislative links are to Assimilated Regulation ( EU) 2016/679, UK General Data Protection Regulation ( UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 ( DPA 2018), unless stated...
This Practice Note provides an overview of principal EU rules concerning employment and social policy, labour law (including safeguards for particular groups of workers), workplace conditions, protection from discrimination, equal treatment, and work–life balance, together with related matters across this field of policy development. The status of EU law in the UK Before the UK left the EU on exit day (31 January 2020), EU law applied domestically via the ECA 1972. That Act was revoked by the European Union ( Withdrawal) Act 2018 ( EU( W) A 2018) on exit day, though savings created by the European Union ( Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 ( EU( WA) A 2020) operated to deliver the implementation period. In broad terms, to secure continuity, the amended EU( W) A 2018 sought to maintain the legal position that existed immediately before 11pm on 31 December 2020 (a point in time...
SM& CR—essentials for solo-regulated firms Note: the SM& CR is in the midst of reform. In July 2025, government unveiled the Leeds Reforms, setting out plans to simplify the SM& CR. Concurrently, the PRA and FCA issued consultation papers CP18/25 and CP25/21. The supervisors envisage a two-stage programme of change, with Phase Two contingent on legislative amendments following HM Treasury consultation. Finalised Phase One obligations are anticipated around mid-2026, while any subsequent Phase Two measures will depend on HMT legislation. See News Analysis: Reform of the SM& CR— Proposals and next steps. For current developments, including those tied to the Leeds Reforms and non-financial misconduct, see: SM& CR—timeline and Culture and social governance in financial services—timeline. On 9 December 2019 (commencement), the Senior Managers and Certification Regime was extended to firms authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ( FSMA 2000) that are...
Harassment under the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010) This Practice Note examines harassment within the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010), meaning exposing a person to unwelcome behaviour linked to a relevant protected characteristic (race, sex etc), where that behaviour is intended to, or in fact does, undermine the victim’s dignity or produce an environment that is intimidating (eg bullying), hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive. Sexual harassment (ie unwelcome behaviour of a sexual kind with the necessary purpose or effect), and employers’ obligations to prevent sexual harassment, are addressed separately in Practice Note: Sexual harassment and the duty to prevent it. The Note also looks at the Protection from Act 1997 ( PHA 1997) (see: Protection from Act 1997, below). This Practice Note includes citations to case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU). For...
Under the Companies Act 2006 ( CA 2006), there are rules governing payments a company makes to a director by way of compensation for loss of office. Because these arrangements are especially susceptible to misuse, they must be approved by shareholders. Their interplay with the general statutory duties of directors is addressed in Practice Note: Directors' duties—scope, nature, interpretation and application. Among those duties is an obligation to inform the board whenever the director has, directly or indirectly, any interest in a proposed transaction or arrangement with their company, specifying the nature and extent of that interest. In relation to: the requirement to disclose an interest in a company transaction or arrangement, see Practice Note: Declaration of a director's interests—the statutory provisions; a director’s ability to participate, whether as a director or as a member, in decisions on such a...
This Practice Note This Practice Note examines the time periods applied in the procedural handling and case management of employment tribunal proceedings after a claim has been presented. It explains the different approaches to calculating deadlines, including fixing calendar dates, specifying the time of day by which a step must be taken, the approach to non-working days, and counting days running from or before a specified event. It also considers how time limits under the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 ( ET Rules 2024), SI 2204/1155, practice directions and employment tribunal orders can be extended or abridged. The tribunal’s jurisdiction to entertain claims is created by statute (eg the unfair dismissal jurisdiction derives from the Employment Rights Act 1996 ( ERA 1996)). The time limits for submitting such claims are likewise found in the applicable statute (eg the three month limit for bringing an unfair...
Under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ( HSWA 1974), every worker has a duty, while at work, to exercise reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others who might be impacted by what they do or fail to do. Where the law places obligations on an employer to protect health and safety, employees must co-operate with their employer so the employer can fulfil those statutory responsibilities. For guidance on employers’ duties to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of staff and third parties, see Practice Notes: Safety and the risk to safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Failure to carry out health and safety duties under HSWA 1974—offences, Directors’ duties for health and safety and Health and safety law and the...
What's the issue? The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE) describes lone workers as individuals who carry out their duties on their own, without close or direct supervision. Examples include: people working from home people whose roles take them away from a fixed base professionals visiting domestic and commercial premises people working apart from others on the same premises, such as cleaners, security, maintenance and reception staff, or those working outside normal business hours Evolving working practices and the growing use of technology are increasing how many people fall into the lone worker category. Employers are accountable for lone worker safety during working hours, whether staff are in the office, in a vehicle, working from home or undertaking a home visit. This duty relates not only to physical wellbeing but also to mental...
Paid holiday supports employers and staff alike by granting workers time for rest and recovery. The right to paid annual leave may arise on a statutory basis (that is, through legislation) or contractual basis (that is, through terms contained in the contract of employment)......
This Practice Note outlines the remedies available for whistleblowing unfair dismissal claims, as well as for claims concerning whistleblowing detriment... Whistleblowing unfair dismissal claims An employee asserting unfair dismissal because of whistleblowing may apply for interim relief. For guidance on the legal and practical considerations around interim relief, see Practice Note: Interim relief in unfair dismissal. Where a tribunal upholds an unfair dismissal claim and accepts that the principal reason for dismissal was the making of a protected disclosure, the usual unfair dismissal remedies will apply (subject to one exceptional feature—see below). These are: reinstatement or re-engagement a basic award a compensatory award For general information on these remedies, see Practice Note: Unfair dismissal remedies—general. If a protected disclosure is the reason or principal reason for the employee’s dismissal, the dismissal is automatically unfair (see Practice Note: Automatically unfair reasons)......
Brexit-related legislation of relevance to employment practitioners ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note helps you keep abreast of Brexit-linked legislation relevant to employment practitioners that is due or already in force. For general employment law developments, see: Legislation tracker-employment. Where appropriate, links to news reports offering full information on the relevant legislation are included. Commencement date (unless otherwise indicated) By 31 December 2023 (other provisions subject to commencement orders) - Retained EU Law ( Revocation and Reform). Under the Retained EU Law ( Revocation and Reform) Bill (previously the Brexit Freedoms Bill), the special status of retained EU law within UK law will end from late 2023. Retained EU law includes the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Equality Act 2010, TUPE 2006, the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 and the Part-time Worker Regulations 2000. The Bill enables the government to specify, amend, repeal and...
This Practice Note outlines the fundamentals of artificial intelligence ( AI) and machine learning ( ML) technology. It includes: A brief history of AI and ML Why data matters How ML models are trained Categories of ML Factors when choosing or evaluating an ML algorithm Neural networks What deep learning means Typical neural network architectures Examples of other widely used ML algorithms Core challenges for AI and ML-transparency, explainability and bias Privacy and data protection Safeguarding AI technology This Practice Note does not address legal or regulatory matters arising from the use or development of AI or ML technologies. For more on these topics, see Practice Notes: Artificial intelligence-data protection Artificial intelligence- UK regulation and the National AI Strategy Artificial...
This Practice Note sets out guidance on an individual’s rights as a data subject in the employment setting. It explores the matters an employer organisation should consider when drafting a privacy notice to fulfil the right to be informed, which applies to employees, as well as other workers and contractors. It refers to employers and to employees, although comparable principles apply where people are workers or independent contractors. It reflects the UK GDPR framework, and legislative references are to Assimilated Regulation ( EU) 2016/679, the UK General Data Protection Regulation ( UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 ( DPA 2018), unless stated otherwise. For an overview of the key themes of Assimilated Regulation ( EU) 2016/679, UK GDPR and DPA 2018, and guidance on issues relevant to employment lawyers, see Practice Notes: The UK GDPR and DPA 2018: key data...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE Section 10 of the Finance Act 2022 will lift the normal minimum pension age ( NMPA) from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028, excluding members of the firefighters, police and armed forces public service pension schemes. It will also permit members of registered pension schemes to access benefits before 57 where, on or before 4 November 2021, they either held an ‘unqualified right’ to take benefits, or were already undertaking a substantive transfer to a scheme that, on or before that date, offered an unqualified right to a protected pension age below 57. To rely on this new protection in 2028, the scheme’s rules must have, as at 11 February 2021, contained an unqualified right to take entitlement to scheme benefits before age 57. For further details, see Practice Note: Increasing the normal minimum pension age ( NMPA) to 57—pensions...
ARCHIVED This Practice Note is archived, retained solely for reference purposes and is no longer being updated. It summarises and explains the cap provisions contained in the 2016 draft regulations, now overtaken by the 2020 draft regulations (which remain not in force as yet). For the present position on the capping of exit payments for public sector employees and office-holders, including discussion of the 2020 draft regulations, see Practice Note: Capping the size of public sector exit payments—the revoked 2020 regulations [ Archived]. For how proposed legislation (also not yet in force) would operate to allow claw-back of part or all of an exit payment made to a public sector employee or office-holder in the event that they re-enter public service within one year of receipt, see Practice Note: Claw-back of public sector exit payments. A complete history of the status and legislation to cap exit...
Capping the size of public sector exit payments This Practice Note reviews revoked legislation and proposals not yet commenced. It traces the development of the cap on public sector exit payments, notably the Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1122, which applied from 4 November 2020 until 19 March 2021. It also examines the government’s suggested ‘framework’ to reform how public sector exit payments are calculated more broadly, alongside distinct plans to revise exit terms for local government staff, including those eligible for membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme ( LGPS). In addition, it summarises the 2022 government consultation on public sector exit pay that links cap proposals with Treasury approval routes for special severance payments. The background to the proposals and the now-revoked cap is set out immediately below—see Capping the size of public sector exit payments. For more on the...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note summarises how the Restriction of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2020 (the 2020 Regulations), SI 2020/1122, operated, although they have since been revoked. The 2020 Regulations took effect on 4 November 2020. After just four months, on 12 February 2021, the government confirmed that the 2020 Regulations would be withdrawn, and a Treasury Direction disapplied the cap from 12 February 2021 pending formal revocation, which was delivered by the Public Sector Exit Payments ( Revocation) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/197, with effect from 19 March 2021. Because public sector exit payments were processed during the period when the statutory exit pay cap applied, the provisions of the 2020 Regulations remain pertinent. This Note is not updated and is provided for background reference only. For an account of the development of the proposals and legislation to cap public sector exit...
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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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