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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 Planning case tracker compiles key 2025 legal judgments pertinent to planning lawyers, with all entries arranged in reverse chronological order. See also: Planning case tracker—2022, Planning case tracker—2023 and Planning case tracker—2024. December 2025 Judgment date Case Summary 8 December 2025 R (on the application of Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) v Secretary of State for Transport [2025] EWHC 3206 ( Admin) — Securing, varying and delivering planning permission: The High Court concluded that Finch does not oblige decision-makers to quantify every downstream climate impact. The touchstone is whether an impact is probable and capable of meaningful appraisal using the evidence and benchmarks available. For aviation schemes, it is lawful to appraise outbound emissions against national carbon budgets and to consider inbound emissions separately where no recognised benchmark exists to place them in context. See News...
Context The Planning Act 2008 ( PA 2008) establishes a consent framework for nationally significant infrastructure projects ( NSIPs) spanning energy, transport, water, waste water, and waste. Development consent order ( DCO) applications are determined by reference to National Policy Statements ( NPSs), which express national policy for NSIPs. See Practice Notes: Permission for nationally significant infrastructure projects and National Policy Statements. Environmental impact assessment ( EIA) is the process for examining a project’s likely significant environmental effects and factoring them into the decision on whether consent should be issued. It ensures environmental considerations receive appropriate weight alongside economic and social matters, and it facilitates public participation in environmental decision-making. In the DCO context, EIA is required in defined situations under the Infrastructure Planning ( Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/572 (the EIA...
There are four ways in which a local planning authority ( LPA) may take enforcement action against unauthorised works, or potential/impending future unauthorised works, to a listed building: by issuing a listed building enforcement notice; and/or by issuing a temporary stop notice by bringing a prosecution; and/or by seeking an injunction Unauthorised works to a listed building are a criminal offence, irrespective of whether the LPA proceeds with enforcement action. For further guidance on listed buildings in general, see Practice Note: Listed building regime and listed building consent in England. The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and must be conserved in ways proportionate to their significance, ensuring their contribution to the quality of life is available to present and future generations. The enforcement regime remains a vital element of that...
Overview of plan-making reforms under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 As explained in detail in Practice Note: Plan-making in England under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023—principles and key steps, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 ( LURA 2023) revises Part 2 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 ( PCPA 2004) with effect from 25 March 2026, delivering substantial reforms to the plan-making framework. Linked secondary legislation—most notably the Town and Country Planning ( Local Planning) ( England) Regulations 2026 ( Local Planning Regulations), SI 2026/186—also commencing on 25 March 2026, sets out detailed procedural obligations. At present, two plan-making regimes run concurrently: the Legacy Plan- Making System under the PCPA 2004, without the amendments made by LURA 2023 (the Legacy Plan- Making System); and the Current Plan- Making System under the PCPA 2004,...
Legislation and guidance On 14 June 2023, the Historic Environment ( Wales) Act 2023 ( HE( W) A 2023) obtained Royal Assent. It unifies the main laws safeguarding Wales’s historic environment, namely the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the Historic Environment ( Wales) Act 2016, whose provisions are now consolidated within HE( W) A 2023. Part 2 of HE( W) A 2023 establishes the statutory framework for scheduled monuments in Wales. Section 14(3) (regulations on applying for scheduled monument consent) and s 26(5)–(6) (regulations on scheduled monument partnership agreements) commenced on 9 September 2024, with the remainder of Part 2 coming into force on 4 November 2024. National policy on scheduled monuments is articulated in Planning Policy Wales and Technical Advice Note 24: The Historic Environment ( TAN 24). Welsh Ministers have additionally issued guidance entitled Managing scheduled monuments in...
FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 ( PSTIA 2022) is only partly in effect. Additional measures will commence on dates to be set by regulations. PSTIA 2022 updates elements of the Code and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954), mainly on rights to share apparatus, valuation on an LTA 1954 renewal, and dealing with unresponsive occupiers. Both the current and anticipated adjustments are highlighted in the Practice Note below... The Code The Electronic Communications Code (the ‘ Code’) appears in sections 106–119 and Schedule 3A Part 1 of the Communications Act 2003 ( CA 2003). It superseded the earlier Electronic Communications Code formerly in Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Act 1984 ( TA 1984), as amended by CA 2003. This Practice Note explains the scope of Code rights, how they are created (by agreement between the parties or by court...
Building Safety Act 2022 ( BSA 2022) In July 2021, the government laid the Building Safety Bill before Parliament, aimed at delivering the recommendations and principles from Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, and confronting the urgent safety issues exposed by the Grenfell Tower tragedy of July 2017. Branded as the most significant overhaul of building safety rules in a generation, it obtained Royal Assent on 28 April 2022, becoming the Building Safety Act 2022 ( BSA 2022). BSA 2022 makes sweeping changes to the law and regulation of building safety, with the objective of securing the safety of people in or around buildings and improving the standard of buildings. This Practice Note outlines for construction lawyers the principal elements of BSA 2022, including its reshaping of regulatory regimes and standards for building and fire safety and for...
A requestor, or more accurately a complainant, may challenge the handling of a request for environmental information where they believe a public authority has not met a requirement under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, SI 2004/3391 ( EIR 2004). The initial step is to take the matter up with the relevant public authority. If it remains unresolved, the further steps referred to in this Practice Note should then be followed... How and when should a requestor complain? Internal complaints procedure In the first instance, a complaint should be submitted to the relevant public authority itself, which is required to operate a process for handling internal complaints. It should be lodged within 40 working days from the date on which the complainant considers the authority failed to comply with the EIR. Upon receipt of a complaint, the public authority must, free of charge: consider the...
Introduction and background The State of Nature and Climate 2025 briefing from the World Economic Forum set out key conclusions: the Planetary Health Check supplies robust scientific proof that human activity is destabilising the Earth system, thereby jeopardising global economic development. Overall, planetary boundaries lie in a zone of escalating risk, with six of the nine already crossed and trends signalling further deterioration. Climate change Novel entities Biogeochemical flows Freshwater change Land system change Biodiversity Ocean acidification is worsening and is rapidly nearing its planetary threshold. These insights mirror the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report 2022, which found average global wildlife populations have fallen by 69% since 1970, while freshwater species have suffered the greatest losses overall, with an 83% global decline. In summary, the need to protect species is immediate......
Under the Planning Act 2008 ( PA 2008), a framework exists for granting development consent to nationally significant infrastructure projects ( NSIPs) within England, covering the sectors of energy, transport, water, waste water, and waste. Decisions on development consent orders ( DCOs) are made by the Secretary of State ( So S) having regard to the relevant National Policy Statements. Refer to Practice Note: Permission for nationally significant infrastructure projects. Fees Regulations and guidance Charges for DCOs are payable solely for the defined items listed in the Infrastructure Planning ( Fees) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/106 (the Fees Regulations). Different charging arrangements apply to projects that are not nationally significant (i.e. development progressing under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 rather than PA 2008). Refer to Practice Note: Planning fees......
On 23 October 2023, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 ( LURA 2023) secured Royal Assent...
The National Planning Policy Framework ( NPPF) The National Planning Policy Framework ( NPPF) provides robust safeguards for the green belt. It explains that the government places significant weight on green belts, and makes clear that the core objective of green belt policy is to stop urban sprawl by ensuring land designated as green belt remains permanently open. Consequently, there is a clear presumption against development that is inappropriate within the green belt, and considerable weight must be afforded to any harm to the green belt when deciding planning applications. The first iteration of the NPPF came into force in 2012 (the 2012 NPPF). It was then updated in 2018, 2019, 2021, September 2023, December 2023 and December 2024. The latest NPPF, issued in December 2024, does not change the essential aim of green belt policy or its five stated purposes. Yet it has...
STOP PRESS From 25 March 2026, the principal provisions of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 on plan-making are in effect. This Practice Note is being revised to reflect those changes. This Practice Note outlines the core aspects of the planning frameworks in England and Wales relevant to minerals development. As minerals are only workable where they occur, and because site restoration is integral to such schemes, particular considerations arise when planning for and consenting mineral extraction. Minerals policy for England The key policy and guidance sources in England include: the National Planning Policy Framework ( NPPF) Planning Practice Guidance ( PPG) — offering detailed direction on applying NPPF policies the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, which established mechanisms for the sustainable stewardship and use of marine resources, including the requirement for a Marine Policy Statement ( MPS). The UK MPS sets out...
This Practice Note sets out guidance on permission to appeal ( PTA) under CPR Part 52. For detailed, step-by-step guidance on making an application for PTA under CPR Part 52, see the Practice Note: Permission to appeal—the application. For advice on the conduct of the hearing of a PTA application, and on what to do thereafter, in particular, see the Practice Note: Permission to appeal—hearing and next steps. Alongside clearly explaining to a client the effect, implications and consequences of pursuing an appeal, including matters relating to costs, practitioners should also recognise—and be ready to address, as appropriate, the possibility of the court granting only limited or conditional permission; see Practice Notes: Permission to appeal—hearing and next steps— Limited permission to appeal and Imposing conditions on an appeal respectively. For PTA arising in civil contempt proceedings, see the Practice Note: Civil contempt...
This Practice Note explores how artificial intelligence ( AI) engages with planning law in England and Wales. It examines AI as a tool within plan‑making, development management, appeals and evidential work, and the planning questions prompted by AI‑related projects, especially data centres and related infrastructure. It also signposts the public law, governance and information law considerations that may surface when AI is deployed in the planning system. This Practice Note was last updated on 14 May 2025. AI in planning terms In planning practice, AI typically features in two ways: as an instrument applied across plan‑making, development management, enforcement, consultation, appeals and other planning functions as a driver of development, most clearly data centres and associated energy and communications infrastructure AI does not introduce a separate planning code. Legal questions usually fall to be resolved under existing planning and public law frameworks. In most...
What are reserved matters? Outline planning permission gives a decision on the overarching principles for developing a site. It is granted while keeping back specific aspects for later sign-off by the local planning authority ( LPA) or the Secretary of State; these are known as reserved matters. In England, article 2 of the Town and Country Planning ( Development Management Procedure) ( England) Order 2015 (the 2015 DMPO), and in Wales, the Town and Country Planning ( Development Management Procedure) ( Wales) Order 2012 (the 2012 DMPO), describe reserved matters as any of access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale, where details have not accompanied the outline planning application. The 2015 DMPO and the 2012 DMPO set out the following meanings: Access — the means of reaching and moving within the site for vehicles, cycles and pedestrians, including the siting, positioning and treatment of entry points and...
Planning conditionality A large proportion of property deals entail various rights and duties that depend upon, or are activated by, the granting of (a satisfactory) planning permission......
What is a purchase notice? The purchase notice route enables landowners to require a local planning authority ( LPA) to acquire land that has ceased to be capable of reasonably beneficial use. Frequently described as ‘reverse compulsory purchase’, it allows the owner to set in motion the compulsory acquisition of the land by the LPA and to receive compensation on the same footing as a compulsory purchase. This mechanism is not a catch‑all solution whenever planning permission is turned down; rather, it operates as a longstop where no form of development could be undertaken to render the land capable of reasonably beneficial use. The government has issued guidance on how the purchase notice process works. Further official guidance on this is available. When can a purchase notice be served? ......
What is solar energy generation? Solar energy generation refers to converting sunlight into electrical power using solar panels made up of photovoltaic cells. When light lands on these cells it produces an electric field, which in turn drives an electrical current. Panels are usually placed on roofs or at ground level in locations with strong sunshine. Electricity produced can be used straight away or stored in batteries for later consumption. Key elements of a solar scheme also include buried cabling, a substation linking the project to the national grid, and an access road or track so construction, decommissioning and maintenance vehicles can reach the site. As a renewable, sustainable option, solar has become popular for its ability to cut dependence on non-renewable sources, reduce carbon emissions, and lower energy costs over time. For practical guidance on solar projects across various...
What is the community right to bid? The community right to bid was created by sections 87–108 of the Localism Act 2011 ( LA 2011), allowing local community organisations to nominate buildings or land for the local authority’s list of assets of community value. When listed buildings or land are to be sold or transferred, a moratorium of up to six months can be triggered, giving community groups a window to bid to purchase the asset on the open market. Crucially, the community does not have a right to buy the asset, nor a right of first refusal. Rather, the community is only permitted to make a bid (and is given time, during the moratorium, to put together a proposal for the asset). The owner is at liberty to decide to whom to sell and at what price. Although the LA 2011...
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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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