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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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THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES IN RELATION TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES At present, only trustees of “relevant schemes” — essentially defined contribution ( DC) occupational pension schemes — are obliged to appoint a chair. This obligation took effect on 6 April 2015 via the Occupational Pension Schemes ( Charges and Governance) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/879 (the Charges and Governance Regulations 2015), which added the requirement to the Occupational Pension Schemes ( Scheme Administration) Regulations 1996, SI 1996/1715, reg 22. This Practice Note centres on that obligation. From 6 April 2024, trustees of defined benefit ( DB) occupational pension schemes must also appoint a chair, who must report on the scheme’s funding and investment strategy to the Pensions Regulator ( TPR). This arises under the Pension Schemes Act 2021 ( PSA 2021) and supporting regulations. For more detail, see: Trustee chair requirement for DB schemes, below. PSA 2021...
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO REGISTERED OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES Trustee reporting duties have grown markedly over the years, mainly owing to the establishment of the registered pension scheme framework and regime and the creation of the Pensions Regulator ( TPR), which depends, at least in part, on trustees’ both prompt and accurate reporting of scheme affairs and matters to fulfil its statutory objectives. The following are trustee reporting obligations. The duty to report notifiable events Within the notifiable events framework, trustees must comply with requirements set out in the following sources: sections 69–69A of the Pensions Act 2004 ( Pe A 2004), as amended the Pensions Regulator ( Notifiable Events) Regulations 2005, SI 2005/900 (the Notifiable Events Regulations) TPR’s notifiable events directions TPR’s General Code module on notifiable events TPR's code-related guidance on the notifiable events...
FORTHCOMING DEVELOPMENT : Section 10 of the Finance Act 2022 is set to lift the normal minimum pension age ( NMPA) from 55 to 57 with effect from 6 April 2028, excluding members of the firefighters, police and armed forces public service pension schemes. In addition, the Finance Act 2022 will grant members of registered pension schemes the ability to take their benefits before reaching 57 where, on or before 4 November 2021, they either already possessed an ‘unqualified right’ to draw benefits, or were in the course of a substantive transfer to a scheme that provided an unqualified right to a protected pension age below 57 by that date. To rely upon this new protection in 2028, the scheme’s governing rules must, as at 11 February 2021, have contained an unqualified right to access entitlement to scheme benefits prior to age 57. For...
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES IN RELATION TO DB OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES Certain events can give rise to a section 75 debt becoming payable from a participating employer of an underfunded defined benefit ( DB) occupational pension scheme. This Practice Note sets out the situations in which such a section 75 debt might be triggered. The legislative framework for section 75 debts is set out in the following key pieces of legislation: sections 75–75A of the Pensions Act 1995 ( PA 1995), which state the circumstances in which a section 75 debt is triggered the Occupational Pension Schemes ( Employer Debt) Regulations, SI 2005/678 ( Employer Debt Regulations), which provide further detail and information on when a section 75 debt arises, how it is calculated and the alternative ways of addressing the debt the Occupational Pension Schemes ( Deficiency on Winding Up etc)...
This Practice Note adopts terminology derived from the relevant statutory provisions and earlier case law, which remains binary and, to a degree, clinical in character, reflecting the phrasing of the instruments and decided authorities. The extent to which attitudes and language have moved on is illustrated by the House of Commons Women and Equality Committee’s report issued in December 2015. In the pensions sphere, however, entitlement can still, in certain respects, turn on whether an individual is regarded as male or female at a given point in time. That position contrasts with issues that arise particularly in the delivery of services, where discrimination may concern non-binary or fluid gender identity. Accordingly, the Note uses terms aligned with those sources, even where discourse may differ. This Practice Note also cites rights under the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR), together with rulings of the Court of...
Contracting-out on a salary-related basis (also known as DB contracting-out) This was abolished on 6 April 2016. Members of salary‑related schemes that were contracted‑out ( COSR schemes) before abolition may have built up one of two forms of contracting‑out rights: guaranteed minimum pensions ( GMPs), being rights accrued before 6 April 1997 Section 9(2B) rights (also known as post‑1997 contracted‑out salary‑related rights or post‑1997 COSR rights), accrued on or after 6 April 1997 Collectively, this Practice Note refers to these as ‘contracted‑out salary‑related rights’ or, in short, ‘ COSR rights’. For details of the legal regime for COSR rights after 6 April 2016, see Practice Note: Legal regime applicable to Section 9(2B) rights and GMPs from 6 April 2016. Before abolition, the legislative requirements for transferring COSR rights were set out in the Contracting‑out ( Transfer and Transfer Payment) Regulations 1996, SI 1996/1462 (the...
Rising cost pressures in running a defined benefit ( DB) occupational pension have prompted a sharper focus on reducing financial risk and investment swings tied to these arrangements (often called ‘derisking’). The most complete form of de‑risking is a pension buy‑out, which shifts DB liabilities to an insurer. Yet buy‑outs can be costly, and moving to a DB superfund may offer a more economical route. Broadly, a DB superfund is an authorised vehicle to which DB schemes can transfer for a fee, thereby cutting off the employer’s responsibility to the DB scheme. Typically, the employer covenant is substituted with a capital buffer that the superfund can deploy if funding falls below a set threshold. For further details, see Practice Note: DB consolidation—what are DB superfunds? According to the DWP, the entry cost for a DB superfund is expected to be around 10% less than a...
The Pensions Regulator’s scheme management enforcement strategy explains its approach to compliance and enforcement across defined benefits funding, defined contribution and public service pension schemes, while also describing the outcomes TPR may pursue and the means by which it could achieve them, all to strengthen safety and security for pension savers. Its prosecution policy and broader enforcement strategy set out the principal aims of its enforcement activity and give insight into the framework TPR applies when deciding which cases to take forward for enforcement action. Initial considerations in TPR investigations In its capacity as the UK regulator for work-based pension schemes, TPR has a suite of information-gathering powers to identify and track risks and to obtain evidence to support criminal prosecutions. These include: requiring reports of breaches of the law and notifiable events requiring reports prepared by skilled persons on specified issues ...
What are the moral hazard powers? In essence, the Pensions Regulator’s ( TPR) moral hazard powers under the Pensions Act 2004 ( Pe A 2004) and related regulations permit it to look through corporate structures and assign liabilities to third parties that are connected and associated with the employer of a defined benefit pension scheme, where specified statutory criteria are fulfilled as set out in applicable legislation......
Entries in this tracker are arranged by topic in alphabetical order. You can locate these topics in the Table of Contents to the left of the page. WARNING: Although the Pensions Ombudsman’s determinations provide helpful guidance, they are not binding precedents for the same Pensions Ombudsman or any successor. Judgments of the court are binding on the Pension Ombudsman, unless the factual position can be distinguished. For key themes drawn from recent Pensions Ombudsman determinations, see Practice Note: The Pensions Ombudsman—key themes from the determinations. Abatement PO reference: [ PO-25374] PO news report: 5 November 2021 Parties: Complainant— Mr E; Respondent— Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service Scheme: Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 1992 The Pensions Ombudsman upheld a complaint that a public sector pension scheme misapplied an abatement rule on a member’s re-employment......
This paper includes a link to a glossary of pension and finance terms from Tolley’s Pensions Law Service. Tolley’s Pensions Law Service— Pensions Key Terms ......
This Practice Note outlines the remit of the Pensions Regulator ( TPR). For details on TPR’s role specifically regarding public sector pension schemes, see the Practice Note in respect of public sector schemes. Background to the role TPR, an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Work and Pensions, is the UK regulator for work-based pension schemes. The office was established on 6 April 2005 by the Pensions Act 2004 ( Pe A 2004), s 1, replacing the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority ( OPRA), the former pensions regulator. TPR’s remit and powers are, however, considerably wider than those of its predecessor. Under Pe A 2004, s 5(3), a ‘work-based pension scheme’ means: an occupational pension scheme a personal pension scheme where there are ‘direct payment arrangements’ for one or more members of the scheme who are employees, or a...
This practice note relates solely to defined benefit occupational pension schemes. The Pensions Regulator's moral hazard powers The Pensions Act 2004 ( Pe A 2004) granted the then newly established Pensions Regulator a broad suite of powers. Foremost among these, and the most groundbreaking, were the moral hazard measures set out in sections 38–54 of the Pe A 2004. These moral hazard powers—also referred to as anti-avoidance powers—allow the Pensions Regulator to challenge schemes aimed at evading pension funding duties and, ultimately, in turn, limit the Pension Protection Fund’s ( PPF) potential exposure. In specified situations, the Pensions Regulator may even look beyond corporate structures and also allocate pension liabilities to third parties that are connected with, or associated with, a scheme’s sponsoring employer......
This guide is chiefly intended for trainees, recently qualified lawyers and others who are new to, or unfamiliar with, pensions law. Aside from HMRC (and, arguably, the Pension Protection Fund ( PPF)), the Pensions Regulator is probably the key statutory authority in the pensions industry. Constituted as a body corporate under section 1 of the Pensions Act 2004 ( Pe A 2004), the Pensions Regulator took over from the former regulator, the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority ( OPRA), on 6 April 2005. Role of the Pensions Regulator The Pensions Regulator’s remit is broader than OPRA’s and, importantly, it is not limited solely to occupational pension schemes. Its principal objectives include: to safeguard benefits under occupational pension schemes for, or in respect of, members of those schemes to secure benefits under personal pension schemes for, or in respect of, members of such schemes who are employees with direct...
The Pensions Regulator The Pensions Regulator ( TPR) is the statutory authority overseeing occupational pension schemes, with a view to, among other aims, safeguarding members’ benefits, minimising calls on the Pension Protection Fund, and promoting and improving understanding of the good administration of work‑based pension schemes. Its remit also extends to UK public service schemes. TPR supplies guidance, education and training, and practical assistance to support scheme managers, pension boards, administrators, employers and others in meeting legal obligations while striving for best practice. It collaborates with scheme advisory boards so its message and guidance reach the widest possible audience. Where it considers it necessary, TPR has said it is willing to deploy its powers in relation to public service pension schemes. Detailing particular cases falls outside the scope of this Practice Note. Nonetheless, TPR has confirmed it has exercised its powers in the public service pension...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Pensions Regulator ( TPR) has opened a consultation on its new enforcement strategy, signalling a move to more proactive and prudential supervision. The draft strategy unveils a framework oriented around four core outcomes: prevention, reparation, accountability and saver confidence, buttressed by five strategic aims: prioritising key risks to savers, taking firm and timely action on non-compliance and economic crime, harnessing data for smarter enforcement, working with the wider sector for greater effect, and improving transparency to strengthen trust and behaviour. The proposals are intended to bolster TPR’s capacity to tackle emerging risks and breaches across pensions through a nimbler, more collaborative model. Consultation closes on 11 November 2025. TPR plans to issue the final strategy and its consultation reply in early 2026. Later in 2026, TPR also expects to review its complete set of published policies once the strategy is in place to...
This Practice Note examines the implications of the EU judgment Association belge des Consommateurs Test- Achats v Conseil des Ministres (the Test- Achats case) and other pertinent law for the use of sex-based actuarial factors in insurance products and occupational pension schemes. For guidance on whether EU judgments bind UK courts, see Practice Note: Assimilated law — Assimilated case law. Common insurance practices before the Test- Achats case Before the Test- Achats case, insurers commonly followed several standard approaches: statistically, women are expected to live longer than men, so insurers typically offered women lower annuity rates for the same capital sum because payments had to be made for a longer period statistically, men are involved in more car accidents than women, so insurers often charged men (particularly young men) higher premiums for motor cover statistically, women are more likely than men to claim on...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE : On 1 September 2022, the DLUHC opened a consultation proposing fresh obligations for the LGPS to oversee and publish climate-related risks, including the carbon emissions associated with its investments. As the UK’s largest public sector pension arrangement, the LGPS serves 6.2 million members and holds £342bn of assets worldwide. The government’s plans would require administering authorities to measure their carbon footprint, evaluate how climate change may influence pension assets and liabilities, and provide an annual report on the extent to which holdings align with the 2015 Paris Agreement, the global climate treaty adopted by much of the world. The initiative aims to strengthen the management of climate-related financial risk and to bring the LGPS into line with rules already applied to private pension schemes. The package seeks to give effect to the recommendations of the Task Force on...
Scope of this Practice Note This Practice Note explains the designated regulated activity of ‘providing targeted support’, arising from amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ( Regulated Activities) Order 2001 ( RAO), and mirrored in the Financial Conduct Authority’s near-final Handbook rules set out in policy statement PS25/22: Supporting consumers’ pensions and investment decisions: rules for targeted support. It also summarises the context behind the new framework, with particular reference to the FCA’s Advice Guidance Boundary Review ( AGBR), and points to associated HMT publications. The FCA expects firms to be able to apply for permissions to deliver targeted support from March 2026, with the rules planned to come into force on 6 April 2026, subject to legislation. Background to the AGBR: In its Consumer Investments Strategy, published in September 2021, the FCA outlined its ambition for a consumer investment market in which...
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES This Practice Note considers pension entitlements within occupational pension schemes for opposite-sex and same-sex spouses and civil partners, assessing the effect of Walker v Innospec and Goodwin v Secretary of State for Education on a member’s death benefits, alongside the extension of civil partnership law to opposite-sex couples. For analysis of the position of partners who are neither married nor in a civil partnership (i.e. cohabitants), see Practice Note: Pension rights of unmarried cohabitants on members’ death. The Note also cites case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU). For guidance on whether EU judgments are binding on UK courts, see Practice Note: Assimilated law — Assimilated case law. In October 2020, the Pensions Minister confirmed expressly that the Supreme Court decision in Walker v...
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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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