Legal Practice Notes

What is section 247 and when may it be used? Section 247(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ( TCPA 1990) gives the Secretary of State a discretionary power to authorise the stopping up or diversion of any highway outside Greater London, where he is satisfied that this is required to enable development to take place, either: in accordance with planning permission granted under TCPA 1990, Pt III, or by a government department Thus, an order will only be made where halting up or diverting the highway is necessary to allow the authorised development to proceed. There must be a direct clash between the planning permission and an existing right of way which typically, though not solely, occurs where the permitted scheme would obstruct the highway. Within Greater London, the same powers are held by the council of the relevant London borough under TCPA 1990, s...

This Practice Note explores key risks arising from a brand’s use of social media and user-generated content ( UGC). It focuses in particular on the risk of infringing third-party rights, including intellectual property ( IP). It also offers practical guidance to help those engaging with UGC reduce these risks. Social media Social media is a hugely popular way to communicate online. Driven by participation and interaction, it appears in many formats, including: online social and professional networking (eg Facebook, Linked In, Snapchat, Instagram) online blogs (eg Twitter (now X), Blogger.com) online forums (eg Mumsnet, Reddit) online shops and auctions (eg e Bay, Amazon) online digital media sharing (eg You Tube, Vimeo, Flickr, Tik Tok) online reference texts (eg Wikipedia) online games and applications (eg World of...

This Practice Note outlines that who owns school land and buildings is chiefly determined by the school’s category, and examines ownership across community schools, voluntary schools, foundation schools, academies and free schools. It highlights renewed attention to the School Sites Act 1841 ( SSA 1841), under which landowners were encouraged to gift plots for local schools on the understanding that, if a school later closed, the site would revert to the original donor. It also addresses provisions allowing schools to serve community uses such as elections. Ownership of school land and premises In broad terms, the ownership of school sites and playgrounds, school buildings and playing fields is largely dictated by the type of school. Community schools At ‘community’ schools, the land and premises are owned by the local authority for the area in which the school sits (that is, the county council, borough council or unitary...

Overview of consultation process The flowchart below sets out a straightforward overview of the matters to weigh up when deciding whether consultation is required and, if so, the sequence of steps to follow. It is not a replacement for the fuller guidance that appears below, which should be consulted at every stage. When do the consultation requirements apply? The landlord must consult with tenants before any of the following occur: carrying out qualifying works that will mean the contribution of any tenant towards those works exceeds £250, or entering into a qualifying long-term agreement where the costs will result in the contribution of any tenant being more than £100 within any 12-month accounting period This process is often informally called 's 20 consultation', a shorthand derived from sections 20–20ZA of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 ( LTA 1985). Its purpose is to ensure that, where a...

Overview Section 31 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 ( SCA 1981) sets out the remedies available on an application for judicial review which a court may grant. The list includes the following: quashing orders mandatory orders prohibiting orders declarations damages (including restitution or recovery of a sum due) injunctions/interim remedies Under CPR 54.6, the claimant is required to state, in the claim form, any remedy being sought. By virtue of SCA 1981, s 31(1), the remedies can be claimed in the alternative, or as cumulative options in addition to each other. For further information and discussion, see: Combining prerogative orders: Supperstone, Goudie and Walker on Judicial Review [16.2]. In this context, a conclusion that a judicial review has succeeded is not, as a general rule, sufficient finally to dispose of a claim (see R ( LND1) v The...

This Practice Note outlines the range of options open to a landlord where a tenant breaches the lease, such as forfeiture, issuing a statutory demand, potential court action to recover rent or damages, or to seek an injunction, together with Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery ( CRAR) (including taking rent from sub-tenants), claims against guarantors and other relevant parties, actions against former tenants (by serving a notice under section 17 of the Landlord and Tenant ( Covenants) Act 1995 ( LT( C) A 1995)), drawing on a rent deposit, and serving an entry and repair notice. Where a tenant breaks a lease covenant, various remedies are potentially available to the landlord, identified and described below. Before pursuing any remedy, landlords should consider whether: the tenant is subject to any form of insolvency. If so, check the list of restrictions on recovery action for each type of...

This Practice Note This Practice Note provides an overview of the safeguards available for geographical indications ( GIs) and designations of origin, such as appellations of origin, protected designations of origin ( PDOs) and protected GIs ( PGIs) in the UK, and highlights distinctions between the systems in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It examines the relationship between appellations of origin, PDOs and PGIs and trade mark law. It outlines the international architecture for protection under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement). It further reviews the protections afforded by UK legislation, including the UK GI scheme—introduced when the EU regime ceased to apply in Great Britain—as well as the narrower protection available under the Trade Marks Act 1994 ( TMA 1994). Businesses frequently seek to adopt marks that point to the...

Introduction Environmental permitting is one of the principal regulatory regimes in the UK. Its purpose is to control pollution and emissions from industrial and other operations. It is a core element of UK business regulation, placing controls on activities that could pollute the environment or harm human health. Permits set conditions for the construction, operation and decommissioning of a regulated facility, and prescribe how regulated activities are undertaken. This Practice Note summarises enforcement procedures, offences and civil sanctions under the Environmental Permitting ( England and Wales) Regulations 2016 ( EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154, which provide a single, unified permitting regime for facilities and activities. For detail on other key aspects of EPR 2016, see Practice Notes: Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016—permit determinations and appeals; and Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016—permits, applications and exemptions. EPR 2016 consolidated and revoked the Environmental Permitting ( England and Wales)...

This Practice Note outlines the process for making a without notice application for a child arrangements order or a prohibited steps order where urgent action is needed to safeguard a child. It covers out of hours application procedures and the appropriate form of order. It also highlights duties on the applicant and their legal representatives, together with the undertakings the court may require... Child arrangements orders A child arrangements order concerns: with whom a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact, and when a child is to live, spend time or otherwise have contact with any person Refer to Practice Notes: Child arrangements orders—residence and Child arrangements orders—contact. A prohibited steps order is an order preventing any person from taking a step that a parent could take in exercising parental responsibility for a child, where that step is specified in the order, unless the...

Effect of IVA on unsecured creditors The consequences flowing from approval of an individual voluntary arrangement ( IVA) are set out in section 260(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986 ( IA 1986). Under that provision, once an IVA is approved it: is deemed to have been made by the debtor at the moment the creditors decided to approve the IVA proposal; and binds, as if they were a party to the arrangement, every person who, in accordance with the rules, was entitled to vote when the creditors decided to approve the proposal, or who would have been so entitled had they received notice of it. An IVA becomes operative by creditor approval alone—no court order is required to bring it into effect. In legal terms, the arrangement operates as though a consensual agreement had been concluded between the debtor and each creditor at the time of...

Duration of special guardianship orders A special guardianship order ( SGO) remains in force until the child reaches 18, unless a court brings it to an end earlier. Unlike a child arrangements order ( CAO), an SGO cannot be imposed for a fixed term; it may, nevertheless, include particular provisions intended to operate for a defined period. Variation and discharge of special guardianship orders An SGO can be altered or discharged before the child turns 18, either on application by those permitted categories of applicant or on the court’s own initiative. Certain applicants must first obtain the court’s permission to apply. In some instances, the judge may act without an application being filed at all......

Central to bankruptcy legislation is the principle that a bankrupt yields up their estate for the benefit of creditors in exchange for protection against those creditors' claims. The consequences of discharge are prescribed by section 281 of the Insolvency Act 1986 ( IA 1986), which, for these purposes, sets out the relevant effect. Discharge frees the bankrupt from all bankruptcy debts recognised by law. A bankruptcy debt covers any sum or liability to which the bankrupt is subject when the bankruptcy order is made, or to which they become subject afterwards as a result of an obligation assumed before the order, together with any interest accruing on those sums. This can, for instance, encompass unsecured guarantees given by the bankrupt before the order was made, even if the principal debtor is not in breach of its obligations. That said, as outlined below,...

Role of material considerations in planning decisions In determining an application for planning permission, or for permission in principle, section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 ( TCPA 1990) requires the decision-maker to take into account: the development plan’s provisions, in so far as they are relevant to the proposal a neighbourhood development plan in post-examination draft form, where pertinent to the application in England, from a date yet to be set, any national development management policies, to the extent they are material considerations concerning the use of the Welsh language, where material any local finance considerations, where relevant all other material considerations Each item is to be considered only so far as it is material to the application in question, together with any material considerations arising. Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 ( PCPA 2004) states that, if a...

What duty is owed by a landlord under the Defective Premises Act 1972 ( DPA 1972)? This Practice Note explains the landlord’s obligations under the DPA 1972, the circumstances in which they arise, duties owed to others (including trespassers), whether disrepair is required, if awareness or notice of a defect is needed, and the effect of works during the tenancy. When the duty takes effect Obligations to third parties and trespassers The necessity for disrepair Whether knowledge or notification of a defect is required The position where works occur during the tenancy For guidance on duties under DPA 1972, sections 1(1) and 2A (the latter introduced by section 134 of the Building Safety Act 2022) for those undertaking work for or connected with providing a dwelling, or other work relating to a dwelling, how those obligations operate, and their...

This Practice Note addresses the key practical steps that arise when pursuing a defamation claim, such as: pinpointing a defamatory statement; deciding whether it amounts to libel or slander; and evaluating the overall suitability of interim relief. It thoroughly reviews the effect of the Defamation Act 2013 ( DA 2013) on both claimants and defendants, and sets out practical tactics for the procedural conduct of a defamation case. Defamation Act 2013 Before DA 2013 came into force, defamation proceedings had a reputation for technicality and disproportionate cost, chiefly because arguments centred on the meaning of the impugned words. The government, reacting to a wave of negative media commentary that English defamation law unduly favoured claimants, enacted DA 2013. The Act brought in a suite of reforms, making defamation a tort grounded equally in common law and statute, and, through...

This Practice Note outlines the core principles governing awards of damages in tort actions. It addresses the compensatory purpose of tort damages; separates general from special damages; explains when exemplary (punitive) and aggravated damages may be available in tort; considers restitutionary and ‘user’ damages; sets out the date and method of assessment; deals with interest on tortious awards; and the reduction of damages through contributory negligence and mitigation. It also summarises when damages may be recoverable for a tortious wrong, including negligence. For further reading, see Practice Notes: The remedy of damages—general principles; Loss of chance damages; Claiming damages—tort and contract claims compared. It does not cover damages in clinical negligence or personal injury claims. General principles of liability in tort claims To succeed in a tort claim for damages, a claimant must, on the balance of probabilities, establish that: the...

rules on interpreting contracts (agreements) This Practice Note outlines the rules for construing contracts and their terms, reviewing leading cases— Rainy Sky v Kookmin, Arnold v Britton, and Wood v Capita—together with the principal canons of construction. It should be read alongside the Practice Notes: Contract interpretation—the guiding principles; and How to approach a contractual interpretation dispute—a practical guide. Lord Hoffmann’s five principles in ICS v West Bromwich Building Society (see Practice Note: Contract interpretation—the guiding principles) provide the central approach to interpretation, which is then supported by general rules or guidelines (often called canons of construction) used to help determine the meaning of a written agreement. This Practice Note examines the most significant of these, namely: the whole document is relevant commercial sense (business common sense) and avoiding an unreasonable outcome cutting down rights and remedies saving the...

What is the nature of the liability? The Environmental Protection Act 1990, Part IIA ( EPA 1990) sets out a liability‑focused framework designed to address the United Kingdom’s legacy of contaminated land. Under Part IIA, causing contamination is not, in itself, a criminal offence. By contrast, failing to comply with a remediation notice served by the enforcing authority is an offence. Retrospective liability An ‘appropriate person’ can be required to meet the costs of cleaning up contaminated land where the contamination occurred before 1 April 2000, even if the conduct was lawful at the time. This retrospective element enables the enforcing authority to require remediation at historically polluted sites that would otherwise be unlikely to be remediated. ‘ New’ contamination is ordinarily addressed under other regimes, such as the environmental permitting or environmental liability regimes. Strict liability For the ‘causation’ limb of the liability test, the regime is...

Context When an acquiring authority intends, as part of a compulsory purchase order ( CPO) to which the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 ( ALA 1981) applies, to obtain any land or interests, or to create new rights over land that benefits from special protection, additional procedures and/or safeguards come into play. The protected land categories, and the processes that must be observed for each, are prescribed in ALA 1981, Pt III (for the acquisition of land or interests) and ALA 1981, Sch 3, Pt I (for securing rights by creating new rights) and are discussed below. In England, the Compulsory purchase process: guidance, and in Wales, the Compulsory Purchase in Wales and ‘ The Crichel Down Rules ( Wales Version 2020)’ ( Circular 003/2019) (together, the CPO Guidance), provide advice on how those provisions should be applied in practice. It is crucial that land with...

All criminal cases begin in the magistrates' court however serious the offence. Every criminal matter starts in the magistrates' court, however grave the offence......