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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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Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 ( CASWA 2017) created Social Work England ( SWE) as the regulator for social workers in England, replacing the Health and Care Professions Council ( HCPC). The regulation of social workers was formally transferred to SWE from the Health and Social Care Professions Council in December 2019. SWE operates under the auspices and oversight of the Professional Standards Authority. As a result, the Professional Standards Agency is, in specified circumstances, able to refer a case to the High Court. See Practice Note: Professional Standards Authority. SWE was established to deliver a new and different approach to regulation. Accordingly, some variation can reasonably be expected between the approach of more established regulators and that of SWE. SWE aims to set the tone as a collaborative regulator, emphasising that it shares and reflects the values of those it...
STOP PRESS From 24 February 2025, the core provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 ( PA 2023) have taken effect. Any procurement launched on or after that date must proceed under PA 2023, while procedures commenced under the earlier regimes—the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ( PCR 2015), the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, the Concession Regulations 2016, and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011—must continue to be run and administered in line with those rules. See Practice Note: Key Implications of the Procurement Act 2023 for Construction Lawyers. PCR 2015 as assimilated law PCR 2015 constitute EU-derived domestic legislation and are therefore assimilated law under sections 2 and 6 of the European Union ( Withdrawal) Act 2018. For practical guidance on the status and interpretation of assimilated law, consult Practice Note: Assimilated law. The Public Services ( Social Value) Act 2012 ( PS( SV) A 2012), also known as the...
This Practice Note delivers a high-level overview of the varied forms of social media services and sites, setting out principal ways organisations may deploy them in practice today, while also recognising several business risks that accompany social media use at a glance... Key social media types Social media sites such as Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter (now known as X), You Tube, Linked In and Instagram commonly sit at the heart of campaigns and community-building efforts. This is in part due to the strong control they give over targeting and reaching specific audiences... A business’s approach to social media will typically be shaped by the nature of its industry, the audience segment in view (for example, Instagram and Tik Tok are popular with 16–24-year-olds), the online spaces and communities its customers and target market frequent, and the likely effectiveness of each site in supporting the...
This Practice Note summarises the reach and purpose of the Pre- Action Protocol for Possession Claims by Social Landlords (the Protocol), in force from 13 January 2020. It covers residential possession proceedings in England and Wales brought by social landlords (for example, local authorities and housing associations). It also outlines landlords’ duties to observe the Protocol, including how and when to make first contact with the tenant, circumstances in which proceedings must not be issued, and requirements for serving statutory notices. It further addresses the need to explore alternative dispute resolution ( ADR), the mandatory grounds for possession, and the implications of non-compliance with the Protocol. Scope The Protocol applies to residential possession claims in England and Wales brought by social landlords, including: a local authority, or a housing association Part 2 concerns claims based solely on rent arrears. Part 3 covers cases where the court’s power to defer...
This Practice Note outlines the meaning of ‘social housing’ and offers guidance on how social housing in England is regulated by the statutory regulator, the Regulator of Social Housing ( RSH). It summarises the RSH’s regulatory framework within which registered providers ( RPs) operate, including the applicable standards and enforcement powers, as revised by the Social Housing ( Regulation) Act 2023 ( SH( R) A 2023). Social housing Social housing means: low-cost rental accommodation, and low-cost home ownership accommodation Accommodation is low-cost rental accommodation if: it is offered to let the rent is below the market rate, and it is provided under rules designed to ensure it is available to people whose needs are not adequately met by the commercial housing market Accommodation is low-cost home ownership accommodation if: it is occupied, or made available for occupation, in...
Reasonable preference A local housing authority ( LHA) must operate an allocation scheme that sets out how priorities are decided and describes the processes to be used when allocating accommodation. That scheme has to be designed to provide reasonable preference to applicants who come within the reasonable preference groups. The obligation to ensure that preference is given to applicants in these groups is the primary statutory requirement placed on LHAs regarding overall prioritisation, and it rests on the applicant’s housing need......
For comprehensive commentary on the regulation, consenting and incentivisation of the net zero energy transition under the laws of England and Wales, see also: Collinson and Hockman on Energy Law: Regulating, Consenting and Incentivising the Energy Transition. That textbook offers an in-depth treatment of matters addressed in this Practice Note. Introduction to the Smart Export Guarantee This Practice Note sets out a detailed account of the ‘ Smart Export Guarantee’, a regulated scheme giving owners of small-scale, low-carbon installations in Great Britain a guaranteed contract to sell surplus electricity they produce. It considers, among other points, power purchase terms under the Smart Export Guarantee, the part played by electricity suppliers within the mechanism, and the categories of technology that can participate. The Smart Export Guarantee took effect on 1 January 2020. The proposal first emerged during consultations that announced the confirmed closure (for new...
This Practice Note sets out guidance on the regulation of sex establishments under Schedule 3 to the Local Government ( Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 ( LG( MP) A 1982), as updated by the Policing and Crime Act 2009 ( PCA 2009). It summarises the criminal offences arising from non-compliance and the penalties available on conviction. What is a sex establishment? LG( MP) A 1982, Sch 3, as amended by PCA 2009, s 27, introduced a further type of sex establishment, the ‘sexual entertainment venue’, alongside the existing ‘sex shop’ and ‘sex cinema’. Sex establishments are defined in LG( MP) A 1982, Sch 2. There are four categories of sex establishments: sex shops sex cinemas sexual entertainment venues hostess bars Sch 3 to LG( MP) A 1982 empowers a council to grant licences for these premises. The requirements for applying are set out in Sch 3,...
This Practice Note mirrors the procedural framework for sentencing offenders in England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Sentencing Code. For more detail, see Practice Note: Sentencing Code. Sentencing Council for England and Wales and its guidelines The Sentencing Council for England and Wales ( SC) is a statutory body authorised by section 120 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 ( CJA 2009) to devise and issue sentencing guidance for the courts in England and Wales. Under the CJA 2009, the SC must maintain guidance on reductions for a guilty plea under section 73 of the Sentencing Act 2020 ( SA 2020), and on the application of any rule of law concerning the totality of sentences. The SC may publish guidelines that are general in scope, or limited to a specific offence or to a category of offence or offender. Such...
Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 ( CFA 2014) From 1 September 2014, Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 ( CFA 2014) took effect in England, reshaping the system for special educational needs and disability ( SEND) provision. The Public Accounts Committee has urged the government to act to improve the system; see SEND emergency: Unviable system will end in lost generation of children without reform. This Practice Note addresses the law in England only; for the position in Wales, see Practice Note: Special educational needs law in Wales. A child or young person is regarded as having special educational needs when a learning difficulty or disability requires special educational provision to be made because: they experience substantially greater difficulty in learning than the majority of their peers, or they have a disability that prevents or hinders them from...
Selective licensing Selective licensing is a regulatory scheme overseeing the private rented sector within a defined locality designated by the relevant local housing authority ( LHA) under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 ( HA 2004). It functions in much the same way as the mandatory licensing provisions for houses in multiple occupation ( HMOs). For further detail on the licensing process, see Practice Notes: Houses in multiple occupation ( HMOs)—applying for a licence and Houses in multiple occupation ( HMOs)—licensing regime. Distinctively, in the context of selective licensing, it extends to all privately rented homes in a designated area, irrespective of whether the dwelling is occupied by a single household or several. The purpose of these measures is to enable an LHA to pursue improvements to the quality of rental stock available to private sector tenants by imposing licence...
Requirement for remediation Enforcement authorities must ensure any land they deem to be contaminated under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 ( EPA 1990) is brought to the necessary standard through remediation. Remediation can be undertaken by: an appropriate person, following a remediation notice issued by the enforcing authority an appropriate person or another party, acting voluntarily or under another regime, provided the enforcing authority is satisfied that suitable remediation is being, or will be, undertaken without serving a remediation notice the enforcing authority itself, where it is the appropriate person or holds the power to carry out remediation work According to the Environment Agency’s ( EA) report Dealing with contaminated land in England, at most remediated sites (371/460) the responsibility for carrying out remediation rested with either the Local Authority ( LA) or the EA. At these sites,...
Secure accommodation This Practice Note explains what is meant by secure accommodation and indicates which children a local authority may lawfully place there. It further considers human rights issues, placement outside the jurisdiction, unregulated provision, and the ‘mirror procedure’ employed under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction, which has developed in response to the shortage of secure accommodation places. For practical, procedural guidance on secure accommodation orders, see Practice Note: Secure accommodation—procedure, particularly regarding: Use of secure accommodation without a court order Applying to the court The statutory criteria applied The effect of a secure accommodation order See also Practice Notes: Children, deprivation of liberty and the inherent jurisdiction; Children, consent and deprivation of liberty; Deprivation of liberty court procedure; and The deprivation of liberty safeguards. In Re JR ( Deprivation of Liberty: Care Order: Principles of Care), Lieven J...
Practice Note This Practice Note offers local authorities best practice guidance for accommodating children by voluntary agreement under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 ( Ch A 1989). It sets out the essentials of a section 20 arrangement and underscores the particular need to prevent drift and delay when making decisions about a child’s long‑term care. It further examines whether claims for damages under the Human Rights Act 1998 ( HRA 1998), founded on an alleged breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR), are capable of being sustained. The information provided in this Practice Note concerns the current law in England. The Welsh framework in this field is contained in the Social Services and Well‑being ( Wales) Act 2014 and related statutory instruments. For further detailed reading on the Welsh position, see Practice Note: Local...
Applicable families This Practice Note addresses circumstances in which a family with at least one child under 18 is in the UK without current leave to remain ( LTR) (that is, a person within paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 ( NIAA 2002) who is in breach of immigration law and has not made an asylum/protection claim as defined by NIAA 2002, s 82(2) (as amended)). The case of R (on the application of EAT) v Newham London Borough Council examined how a local authority ( LA) should approach section 122(5)(b) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and whether there were reasonable grounds to believe a person had lodged an asylum claim that would prevent the LA from offering support. The court determined that the assessment must centre on the pertinent application and whether such a claim has been...
Once you have confirmed a transaction falls within SDLT, you should assess whether any reliefs or exemptions exist to reduce or eliminate the SDLT liability. This Practice Note outlines selected reliefs available for public and social purposes. For wider SDLT reliefs and exemptions (including charities relief), see Practice Note: SDLT—general reliefs and exemptions. For guidance on establishing whether a transaction is chargeable, see Practice Notes: Land transactions, chargeable interests and chargeable transactions and SDLT—notifiable transactions. This Practice Note summarises the following reliefs from SDLT: compulsory purchase facilitating development purchases by public authorities in connection with planning agreements statutory reorganisations and transfers between public bodies acquisitions by relevant housing providers, and acquisitions by bodies established for national purposes SDLT stopped applying to any land transaction involving interests in or over land in Scotland from 1 April 2015. From that date, land and buildings transaction tax ( LBTT) applies to those...
Multiple dwellings relief ( MDR) MDR is available for certain deals that involve buying at least two dwellings, or the purchase of one dwelling that is linked to another dwelling, where the effective date of the relevant land transactions falls before 1 June 2024 (subject to transitional provisions). When MDR applies, the overall consideration for the dwellings is split by the number of dwellings acquired to produce an average price. SDLT is then computed by reference to that average rather than the total consideration, and the total SDLT due is the SDLT on the average price multiplied by the number of dwellings acquired (with an effective minimum rate of 1%). In essence, the SDLT payable matches what would have been charged had each dwelling been bought on its own rather than alongside others. SDLT stopped applying to any land transaction involving interests in or over land in...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not being maintained. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 ( SMDA 2013) governs the buying and selling of scrap metal and seeks to deter large-scale cable and metal theft. The Home Office assessed that there were 80,000–100,000 reported metal theft offences each year, imposing a minimum economic cost of £220–£260m. SMDA 2013 introduced an updated regulatory framework for the scrap metal recycling sector and vehicle dismantling, covering licensing for scrap metal dealer businesses and creating offences connected to operating such a business. Paying in cash for scrap metal Section 12 of SMDA 2013 makes it an offence to purchase scrap metal using cash. The rule applies to all scrap metal dealers. Under section 12, dealers must not pay for scrap except by cheque or electronic transfer. The dealer, the site manager, and any person acting on the...
Civil justice reform Refer to our Practice Note, Civil justice reform in Scotland—virtual hearings and electronic submission of documents, for up-to-date rules and practice in Scotland’s civil courts on remote hearings and the electronic signing, transmission and lodging of documents. The Note also sets out the process for commencing a judicial review in Scotland. For guidance on: further aspects of judicial review in Scotland, see Practice Notes: Judicial review in Scotland; Judicial review in Scotland—grounds of challenge; Judicial review in Scotland—remedies; and Judicial review in Scotland—protective expenses orders other key areas of Scots law and procedure, consult our Scotland collection judicial review in England and Wales, see Practice Notes: Judicial review—what it is and when it can be used; and Judicial review—time limits and the pre-action protocol Key CR( S) A 2014: Courts Reform ( Scotland) Act 2014 CSA 1988: Court of...
School organisation ' School organisation' is the term used for the range of statutory procedures concerned with opening, amending and closing maintained schools. In England—when a new state-funded school is to be created—a local authority that identifies a need in its area must publish a notice under section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 ( EIA 2006), seeking proposals for a new academy, a process often called the 'free school presumption'. The Department for Education ( Df E) has issued guidance explaining how this presumption should operate in practice. The local authority must also secure the site for the school and meet all related capital expenditure, together with revenue costs incurred before or after opening. If an appropriate free school proposer cannot be found, non-academy proposers may then be invited, through a competitive process, to satisfy 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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