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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:
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Commercial Property Standard Enquiries The Commercial Property Standard Enquiries ( CPSE) are the recognised pre-contract enquiries for commercial property transactions: CPSE.1: Core enquiries for all transactions CPSE.2: Where the property is subject to commercial tenancies CPSE.3: On the grant of a new lease CPSE.4: On assignment of a leasehold CPSE.5: Before surrender of a rack rent lease CPSE.6: Where residential tenancies exist CPSE.7: Short-form enquiries for any transaction Several CPSE address environmental issues across the forms. Solicitors should note environmental, health and safety and planning matters and may raise additional enquiries. Additional environmental enquiries Land contamination: Known contamination, pollution, landfills, prior clean-up or remediation duties? Any environmental reports? Any underground storage tanks ( USTs) now or...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For guidance on the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters' Rights Act 2025—key provisions. Law Society guidance on green leases The Law Society’s Guidance on Green Leases and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards sets out what green lease drafting involves, what this means for solicitors and their clients, why green leases matter, how they affect the market and client demand, and model green lease clauses. It covers commercial property in England and Wales only. The key points are summarised below. What is green lease drafting? ‘ Green lease drafting’ refers to provisions by which landlord and tenant assume clear responsibilities and obligations to minimise carbon emissions linked to the sustainable development, operation and occupation of a property. Examples include energy efficiency measures, such as obtaining and/or...
The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 ( COMAH 2015), SI 2015/483, seeks to avert major workplace accidents and establish controls so that, if an incident does occur, the consequences for people and the environment are limited. COMAH 2015 operates by defining core duties for all obligated sites/businesses and also sets a tiered regime, imposing tighter controls on businesses handling dangerous substances above stated thresholds. The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE) issues guidance on applying the COMAH regime, and operators are urged to follow it, and to review and update, where necessary, risk assessments and emergency arrangements under COMAH. This supports ongoing compliance and risk reduction. Legislative framework COMAH 2015 received Royal Assent in March 2015 and came into force on 1 June 2015. COMAH 2015 implemented the requirements of Directive 2012/18/ EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the...
This training pack provides ready-to-use Power Point slide templates and accompanying trainer notes for use by trainers to support sessions introducing the law on climate change. It explores what climate change means and why it matters, the policy and legislative landscape, whether current targets are adequate, how these issues affect businesses, climate change and biodiversity—the twin crisis, and lawyers’ responsibilities in relation to climate change. The materials can be tailored to suit your session. Follow the link provided to download the Power Point presentation now. Contents An introduction to climate change Legislative and policy framework Are current targets sufficient? Climate change and business Environmental regimes Climate change and biodiversity—the twin crisis Lawyers’ duties ......
The Waste ( England and Wales) Regulations 2011 The Waste ( England and Wales) Regulations 2011 ( SI 2011/988) gave effect in domestic law to the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/ EC ( WFD), as updated in 2018. Earlier Directives were put into practice through a suite of Acts and Regulations, among them: the Environmental Protection Act 1990, notably section 34 on the duty of care owed by those handling waste the Control of Pollution ( Amendment) Act 1989 and the Controlled Waste ( Registration of Carriers and Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations 1991 ( SI 1991/1624), addressing registration of waste carriers the Environmental Permitting ( England and Wales) Regulations 2016 ( SI 2016/1154), covering permits for waste disposal and recovery activities the Hazardous Waste ( England and Wales) Regulations 2005 ( SI 2005/894), the Hazardous Waste ( Wales)...
By-product or waste? Working out whether a substance or item counts as waste can be intricate. See Practice Note: Meaning of waste—what is waste? The task may require judging if the material is a product/by-product, or instead a production residue. The expression ‘by-product’ lacks a definition in domestic legislation, and production residues are especially hard to evaluate......
ARCHIVED : This Practice Note is retained purely for historical reference. The principal legislation addressing reforms to funding arrangements is contained in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 ( LASPO 2012), with consequential amendments reflected in the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 ( CLSA 1990). Changes The changes relating to funding arrangements are set out in: conditional fee agreements ( CFAs): LASPO 2012, s 44 concerns success fees in CFAs, defines the requirements for a valid CFA including a success fee, and confirms that success fees are no longer recoverable from the losing party......
Buyer beware An unsuspecting buyer may inherit substantial environmental liabilities linked to land and buildings. ‘ Caveat emptor’, meaning ‘let the buyer beware’, is a common law rule under which the seller has no obligation to reveal material facts to a prospective purchaser. See Practice Notes: Property—enquiries before contract and Misrepresentation, misstatement and non-disclosure in property matters. Consequently, the buyer must undertake its own searches, raise enquiries and carry out inspections before committing to a contract, to obtain the information it needs about the property. See Practice Notes: Pre-contract searches and Types of environmental searches and investigations. Contaminated land Remediation of contaminated land can incur very high clean-up costs, reaching several million pounds where groundwater contamination is involved. It can also cause property blight and derail a transaction. The local authority has a statutory function under Part IIA of the...
It is now broadly recognised that human rights are not solely an issue for nation states and international organisations. Companies operate worldwide with increasingly intricate structures and supply chains, and their activities can affect human rights in both beneficial and harmful ways. This has driven the creation of international initiatives designed to heighten business awareness of, and respect for, human rights. This Practice Note highlights the key matters that business organisations should understand about human rights. It summarises the requirements of the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights, the UN Global Compact, and the obligation on organisations to respect human rights, and it also considers the business case for doing so. Human rights standards and initiatives The UN Global Compact The UN Global Compact ( UNGC) is a voluntary initiative established in 2000 under the auspices of the United Nations. Its purpose is to...
Introduction Ambient air quality is, at its core, the state of the air outside. The WHO indicates that, in 2019, outdoor air pollution across both urban and rural areas was linked to an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide. This mortality stems from exposure to fine particulate matter, associated with cardiovascular conditions, respiratory diseases and cancers. The House of Commons Research Briefing— Air quality: policies, proposals and concerns ( HC Library, March 2025)—reported that the government regards poor air quality as the largest environmental threat to public health in the UK. It also noted that, beyond human health, air pollution carries consequences for the natural environment and the economy. Given the transboundary character of air pollution, measures to control and enhance air quality in the UK have been shaped by international agreements and EU legislation, together with national and devolved laws. The briefing further...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and not kept up to date or maintained. Context of the 25 Year Environment Plan In January 2015, the Committee ( NCC) recommended that government should draw up a 25 Year Plan for the Environment. The 2015 government manifesto included a commitment to develop a 25-year plan to restore the UK’s biodiversity and to ensure that both public and private investment in the environment is directed to where we need it most. In January 2017, the NCC advised that the 25 Year Plan ought to be put on a statutory footing. For more information, see also News Analysis: Developing the government’s 25-year environment plan. In September 2017, the NCC issued advice on the government’s 25 year environment plan (25 YEP). On 11 January 2018, A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment was...
What is an environmental management system ( EMS)? An environmental management system is a documented, structured approach for overseeing a company's environmental performance and obligations. It equips an organisation with procedures and tools to prevent or reduce negative environmental effects, and is suitable for enterprises of any size. Adoption is voluntary—there is no blanket legal duty to implement one, although certain environmental permits do require an EMS. An EMS follows the Plan- Do- Check- Act cycle. The process includes setting policy, defining the EMS scope, and putting it into practice. Because it is grounded in continual improvement, the organisation regularly reviews and updates the system. The EMS should reflect the business's size, complexity, activities, and the level of environmental risk. Different styles of EMS exist: bespoke EMS developed in-house an EMS aligned to a recognised standard without pursuing formal certification or...
When weighing up whether, and in what way, to pursue a claim for judicial review, your opening task is to assess if that procedure is the suitable mechanism for resolving the issues presented by the matter before you. For additional help, see Practice Note: Judicial review—what it is and when it can be used. Time limits If judicial review is the route chosen, the next step will typically be to confirm there is still time to commence proceedings. Under CPR 54.5, claims for judicial review (apart from the three exceptions referred to below) must be issued promptly and, in any event, within three months of the date on which the grounds first arose. Promptness is an overriding requirement, and you should not assume a claim is in time merely because it is brought within three months. Accordingly, once the basis for the challenge has...
Environmental permitting Environmental permitting sits among the principal environmental regulatory frameworks in the UK. Its purpose is to manage pollution and releases to the environment from industrial and other operations. As a cornerstone of UK business regulation, it seeks to control activities that could contaminate the environment or endanger human health. Environmental permits set a suite of conditions for the design, operation and eventual decommissioning of a regulated installation, and prescribe how regulated activities must be undertaken. This Practice Note reviews the process for deciding whether to issue an environmental permit under the Environmental Permitting ( England and Wales) Regulations 2016 ( EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154, and the conditions to be attached. It also explains the procedure for appealing a decision. EPR 2016 establish a single, unified permitting system for facilities and activities. They combined and revoked the...
ARCHIVED: This tracker has been archived and is not maintained. This Environment cases tracker highlights notable judgments and appeal movements relevant to Environment practitioners from 1 January 2024. It is organised into: Upper tribunal High Court of England and Wales Court of Appeal UK Supreme Court Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Judgments and appeal notes appear under the forum delivering the latest ruling. Entries are ordered newest first. For earlier notable rulings and appeal updates from 2021 onwards, see: England and Wales environment cases tracker 2023 [ Archived] Environment cases tracker 2022 [ Archived] Environment cases tracker 2021 [ Archived] For EU matters, refer to: EU environment cases tracker 2024 [ Archived]. Upper tribunal Case: GDFC Assets Ltd v Heaney [2024] UKUT 345 ( AAC) Judgment date: 6 November 2024 Key...
This Practice Note examines harm caused by tree roots, covering the neighbourly duty, issues of foreseeability and causation, practicable steps to avoid or reduce damage, and available remedies. Liability The leading authority on property damage from intruding tree roots is Delaware Mansions v Westminster City Council. The House of Lords held that responsibility is assessed by applying nuisance principles: reasonableness between neighbours—both literal and figurative—and reasonable foreseeability. The court stressed that attaching the label ‘nuisance’ or ‘negligence’ is of little significance; the common law instead concentrates on working out the fair and just content, and incidents, of a neighbour’s duty, rather than fixing a label and inferring the scope of the duty from it. In practice, liability turns on these questions: What obligations exist between neighbours in relation to trees? Did the tree’s roots cause damage to the adjoining property? Was that harm reasonably to be...
What are Category 4 Screening Levels? Category 4 Screening Levels ( C4SL) offer technical direction for environmental consultants and regulators when evaluating land impacted by contamination. By comparing soil contaminant concentrations with C4SL values, a preliminary judgement on risks to human health can be formed. C4SL is integral to the contaminated land regime. Where soil results fall beneath the relevant C4SL thresholds, regulators may decide the site is plainly not contaminated land. These screening benchmarks can also be cited in environmental reports lodged by developers with planning applications. Role of C4SL in the contaminated land regime Local authorities have a statutory obligation under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to identify and secure remediation of contaminated land within their areas. See Practice Note: Contaminated land—local authority duty to inspect land. Sites should be determined as ‘contaminated land’ if they satisfy the statutory...
Introduction The strand of domestic law that originally arose from EU obligations and was captured by the European Union ( Withdrawal) Act 2018 ( EU( W) A 2018) as retained EU law ( REUL) is, from 2024, referred to as ‘assimilated law’. This change follows the Retained EU Law ( Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 ( REUL( RR) A 2023). The new label signals notable shifts in the domestic standing and handling of assimilated law. Its objective is to advance the process of bringing former EU rules into the UK’s legal system and to support their reform... Reminder: what was retained EU law ( REUL)? To understand the move from REUL to assimilated law, it is useful to revisit REUL, which was established by EU( W) A 2018. For background on EU( W) A 2018, see Practice Note: Brexit—key legislation explained. After the Brexit...
Basic principles Carbon markets sit within the discipline of economics—the analysis of how limited resources are apportioned among rival uses, as set out by Lionel Robbins ( An Essay on the Nature & Significance of Economic Science, 2nd ed., revised and extended, 1949, Ch 1.3). Through this lens, a decent environment counts as a scarce resource. The central proposition is that by conferring property rights over greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions—by ‘pricing carbon’—market participants can allocate this resource in a cost‑effective way. Consequently, a stated emissions goal (for instance, cutting emissions by 100% by 2050) can be achieved at the lowest overall cost. Setting a carbon price creates climate‑aligned incentives: it discourages carbon‑intensive behaviour and spurs investment in the low‑carbon economy, so that when actors face the social cost of high‑carbon goods and services, they switch to lower‑carbon...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Background This Practice Note outlines how Brexit has affected the regulation of chemicals. More detailed guidance is available in the additional Practice Notes referenced for each specific chemicals regime. Withdrawal from the EU At 11 pm ( GMT) on 31 December 2020, the transition/implementation period following the UK’s exit from the EU concluded. From that moment—described in UK legislation as ‘ IP completion day’—principal transitional arrangements fell away and notable changes began to apply across the UK’s legal system. EU Energy and Environment Sub- Committee inquiry into the future of chemicals In the wake of the EU referendum, the Environmental Audit Committee commenced an inquiry into the future of environmental law and policy, with an emphasis on Regulation ( EC) 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the registration, evaluation,...
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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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