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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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The Immigration Rules set out comprehensive schedules of actions expressly banned and clearly allowed for visitors of all kinds. When deciding an application for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain as a visitor, the Home Office assesses whether all the proposed activities amount to any banned conduct or sit within the permitted activities for the relevant visitor route and category applied for. Certain activities are only permitted where visitors satisfy further eligibility criteria set out in and detailed within the Immigration Rules, Appendix V: Visitor, paras V 5.1- V 15.4. For more detail and context, see Practice Note: Visitor: eligibility— Additional eligibility requirements for specific types of visitor applicants. Each time a visitor seeks to enter at the frontier, unless using an e Gate, they will normally be asked to explain clearly what they plan to do in the UK and for how long in...
This analysis covers the main changes to the Immigration Rules (the Rules) set out in HC 693 that are likely to be of most interest to business immigration advisers. Readers can move swiftly to particular subjects via the Contents bar located at the foot of the page. Issued on 16 October 2014, HC 693 brings in a broad set of measures, including: new procedural provisions and Appendix AR, setting out the administrative review ( AR) process that replaces appeal rights for Tier 4 students and their family members who have not made a human rights or protection claim substantive changes to the Tier 1 ( Investor) category, following the government’s consideration of a related Migration Advisory Committee report published earlier in the year what many commentators describe as the ‘final death knell’ of the Points- Based System ( PBS), with...
Important note— Archived Practice Note This Practice Note is no longer updated or maintained, as it concerns the position before the introduction of simplified Immigration Rules and procedures at and before the end of the Brexit transition period. It has been retained in archived form for reasons of historic interest. The Note outlines the evolution and scope of evidential flexibility policies in the consideration of UK immigration applications, and also explains how evidential flexibility operates when challenging refusals. What is evidential flexibility? ‘ Evidential flexibility’ originally arose as the name of an internal policy of the former UK Border Agency ( UKBA) in relation to Points- Based System ( PBS) applications. Provisions on evidential flexibility are now found primarily in the Immigration Rules themselves. Under these provisions, Home Office decision makers may, in certain circumstances, request additional information and/or documents from an applicant and, in limited...
STOP PRESS: This Practice Note is currently being updated for changes to the Sponsor Guidance which came into force on 6 March 2026 See News Analysis: Detailed list of Home Office’s Sponsor Guidance changes of 6 March 2026. Any organisation that secures a sponsor licence must meet a range of duties and responsibilities owed to the Home Office. By submitting a licence application, it confirms it is able to comply with each of these obligations. A failure to meet these duties can have serious repercussions for the organisation and its sponsored workforce. The consequences of non-compliance can be significant, including: revocation of the licence, with a 12-month cooling-off period imposed before a fresh licence application can be made; the permission of existing sponsored employees being cancelled. In some circumstances, where breaches have occurred repeatedly, a longer cooling-off period of 24 months can...
This review outlines the key amendments to the Immigration Rules contained in HC 1039, most relevant to advisers on business immigration. These amendments take effect on 6 April 2013 and, unless specified otherwise, apply only to applications lodged on or after that date. They are expected to be of particular interest to business immigration advisers. Visitors Intention not to live in the UK for extended periods Paragraph 41(ii) has been added within the General visitor route, introducing a condition that applicants must not plan to reside in the UK for prolonged periods via frequent or successive visits, or by stringing visits together to create an extended period of residence. Paragraph 41(ii) applies across several other visitor categories, namely: child visitor business visitor sports visitor entertainer visitor parent of a child at school visitor for marriage or to enter a civil...
This Practice Note This Practice Note sets out where to find up-to-date Home Office materials on immigration and nationality, and how to consult the guidance archives in Lexis Nexis® Immigration, on GOV. UK and in the National Archives when researching replaced immigration law and policy... Locating Home Office guidance On GOV. UK, Home Office immigration and nationality guidance appears in several streams, divided between documents for: applicants sponsor businesses and education institutions Home Office decision-makers and other relevant staff It can also be necessary to find prior versions of guidance to: confirm what applied on the date of a sponsor’s or applicant’s act or omission identify precise changes in the guidance wording Applicant guidance Before the post‑ Brexit immigration system, many routes for entry or stay relied on detailed PDF policy guidance for applicants. From 1 December 2020, the Home Office moved...
Entry clearance applications are now, in every instance, to be submitted online. For many routes, the digital application is accessible via the relevant visa tool on GOV. UK. There is also a web platform hosting forms for particular family member routes, including relatives of individuals exempt from UK immigration control, as well as for Armed Forces and assorted other routes. A small number of routes still require completion of Appendix forms. Most remaining paper-based forms relate to citizenship. Postal citizenship applications are compulsory for applicants in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man (and, in some situations, a British Overseas Territory), but applicants elsewhere may use post if they prefer not to apply online. This page provides an A– Z list of the outstanding hard copy application forms for use in applications made outside the UK and, in some...
Section 31 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 ( SCA 1981) Section 31 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 ( SCA 1981) sets out the statutory scheme for judicial review. It is not an exhaustive catalogue of powers, and case law can identify or clarify how inherent powers operate in practice (for example, when the High Court will grant bail). The routes and rules for judicial review in the Administrative Court—a specialist ‘list’ within the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court—are prescribed by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 ( CPR). CPR 54 and CPR PD 54A address judicial review specifically. From 14 July 2022, fresh remedial powers appear in SCA 1981, s 29A, introduced by the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022. This discretionary jurisdiction permits the court to make suspended and prospective-only quashing orders. Debate about these powers emerged alongside...
Practice Note This Practice Note examines the main points to consider for applications made by dependant children of individuals in work, investment and study routes. In most of these categories, dependant partners and children are permitted. However, there are notable exceptions and limitations: Youth Mobility Scheme — no provision for dependants Student, Graduate and Skilled Worker routes — subject to certain restrictions For the position in those routes, see Practice Notes: Applying under the Skilled Worker route — Dependants, Applying under the Graduate route and Student: eligibility — Dependants. Before the Rules were simplified, the provisions governing dependant partners and children within these routes appeared in Part 8 of the Immigration Rules (covering dependants of relevant Points- Based System migrants and Appendix W workers), or in Part 5 (covering dependants of individuals in other economic routes, notably UK Ancestry and...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and no longer updated. This overview reviews the principal amendments to the Immigration Rules (the Rules) contained in HC 217 that matter to business advisers. The Statement of Changes appeared on 10 September 2024, accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum ( EM). For help on interpreting a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, see Practice Note: Sources of immigration law and their legal status. The headline development within the Statement is the expansion of the Electronic Travel Authorisation ( ETA) scheme, which sets out the final countries whose nationals must obtain an ETA before travelling to the UK. A new Appendix ETA National List will be created, with rollout dates for two further—and final—cohorts. The Statement also revises the EU Settlement Scheme ( EUSS), including clarification that the process for assessing ongoing eligibility in...
This review examines the principal amendments to the Immigration Rules (the Rules) contained in HC 617. Released on 10 September 2021 with an Explanatory Memorandum, it is lengthy. Readers can jump to particular sections of this note rapidly via the Table of Contents bar on the left of the screen for quick navigation. Beyond unveiling the International Sportsperson route and renaming the remaining temporary work routes, the Statement of Changes makes numerous small adjustments across assorted areas of detail. These involve minor fixes to policy points and alterations to terminology/wording that have emerged in relation to routes streamlined for the post‑ Brexit Immigration framework in HC 813 as implemented. Frequently, revisions are delivered through wholesale paragraph replacement, which gives them a more weighty appearance than they truly warrant (and also increases the time a user must spend to pinpoint what has in fact been...
This analysis considers the main changes to the Immigration Rules (the Rules) set out in HC 1154. HC 1154, published on 15 June 2018 with an accompanying Explanatory Memorandum ( EM), outlines updates of note for business immigration advisers. The package comprises: Revisions to Tier 2 ( General), including: removing the requirement for doctors and nurses to seek a Tier 2 ( General) restricted certificate of sponsorship ( RCo S) barring Tier 2 migrants from owning, even indirectly, more than 10% of shares in their sponsoring employer updating references to the Find a Job service, which supersedes Universal Jobmatch for meeting the resident labour market test ( RLMT) Amendments to the Rules on indefinite leave to remain ( ILR) for...
This Practice Note examines the power of immigration bail This Practice Note explores immigration bail as the sole mechanism of release, effective from 15 January 2018, for individuals subject to detention and those liable to be detained under immigration powers in particular where relevant. For guidance on liability for detention and related Home Office policies, see Practice Note: Immigration detention. The purpose here is to outline immigration bail; it does not, for instance, address the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court or Court of Appeal to grant bail, nor the bail jurisdiction of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, as detailed analysis of those subjects currently falls outside the scope of Lexis+® UK. The majority of the bail provisions in Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016 ( IA 2016) commenced on 15 January 2018. For details of provisions not yet in force, refer to...
This analysis considers the main changes to the Immigration Rules (the Rules) set out in HC 309 HC 309, accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum ( EM), was issued on 7 December 2017. It addresses: the digital issuing of entry clearance contentious revisions to the Rules on indefinite leave to remain ( ILR) for principal applicants and their dependants in work categories, particularly how absences from the UK are assessed significant amendments to the Tier 1 ( Entrepreneur) sub‑tier changes to Tier 1 ( Exceptional Talent), including: raising the Tier 1 ( Exceptional Talent) limit to 2,000 endorsements per year, with 1,000 to be distributed among the Designated Competent Bodies on a first‑come first‑served basis introducing a provision allowing migrants endorsed under the...
This Practice Note This Practice Note explores how advisers can steer the competing risks that arise in practice when an employer either omits to complete a compliant right to work check, or comes to doubt an employee’s entitlement to work. Where illegal working is suspected, several interlinked matters must be addressed, including: employment — employment law shapes the risks and liabilities flowing from an employer’s choice whether to dismiss and what steps to take if illegal working concerns emerge. Potential exposures include unfair dismissal (generally only engaging after two years’ service) and discrimination claims. For more information, see Practice Note: Illegal working: dealing with employees regulatory — an employer may face a civil penalty for employing someone who lacks the right to work. In addition, for sponsor employers, employing a person without the right to work in the UK places their sponsor licence at risk of...
STOP PRESS This Practice Note is being updated to incorporate changes to the Sponsor Guidance that took effect on 6 March 2026. For a full breakdown, see News Analysis: Detailed list of Home Office’s Sponsor Guidance changes of 6 March 2026. This Practice Note sets out how a sponsor in the Workers and Temporary Workers routes may lose its licence or have it curtailed. These routes are: downgrading revocation suspension surrender by sponsor reduction of Certificate of Sponsorship ( Co S) allocation The applicable Home Office guidance for sponsors is the Workers and Temporary Workers Sponsor Guidance, with Part 3 in particular covering sponsor duties and compliance. In R ( New London College Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department ( SSHD); R ( West London Vocational Training College) v SSHD, the Supreme Court confirmed that the...
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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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