Legal Practice Notes

This Practice Note on domestic enforcement sets out, in outline, the range of enforcement options available, which will vary according to the type of judgment obtained and the identity of the judgment debtor. The likelihood of success with any selected mode of enforcement depends heavily on the breadth and depth of your knowledge of the judgment debtor. Enquiries into the nature and location of assets held by the debtor should not wait until judgment is handed down, but should instead form part of diligent case management from first instructions and continue throughout the life of the claim. For guidance, see Practice Note: Successful enforcement—knowing your defendant. Successfully obtained judgment—what next? Unless they are experienced in litigation, a successful client will often assume that the other party will comply with the judgment or order made. However, unsuccessful parties do not always comply. It is...

Practice Note This Practice Note explores the employment tribunal’s authority to determine breach of contract claims under the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction ( England and Wales) Order 1994 ( ET Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994), SI 1994/1623. It addresses claims for unpaid wages, the limits on the tribunal’s jurisdiction (including the exclusion of personal injury claims, intellectual property claims and restrictive covenant claims), the consequences of those limits where an employee’s losses exceed £25,000, time limits, breach of contract claims brought by employers, and the considerations when choosing whether to pursue a breach of contract claim in the employment tribunal or in the civil courts. Finally, it sets out proposals concerning reform of employment law hearing structures. For guidance: on unlawful deduction from wages claims, see Practice Note: Deductions from wages on the legal and practical issues to weigh when deciding whether an employee should bring a claim for...

Jurisdiction of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ( EAT) This Practice Note outlines the EAT’s remit and standing. As a statutory body, the EAT’s powers spring from legislation. It may convene anywhere in Great Britain, although its principal office is in London and, in practice, hearings are usually held in London and Edinburgh. The EAT operates under its own procedural code, the Employment Appeal Tribunal Rules 1993 ( EAT Rules 1993), SI 1993/2854, to be read with its Practice Direction. Its appellate role spans decisions of employment tribunals and, where relevant, rulings of the Certification Officer and the Central Arbitration Committee ( CAC). It addresses binding authority and the limited bases upon which it may depart from its earlier rulings. Appeals turn on questions of law, not fact, and may encompass challenges to case management...

Failing to recognise that a disqualifying event has happened is a leading reason why unexpected income tax, National Insurance contributions ( NICs) (both employer’s and employee’s) and the apprenticeship levy ( AL) can arise when enterprise management incentives ( EMI) options are exercised. Consequently, EMI eligibility is not a one‑off snapshot at launch but needs continual monitoring. This Practice Note considers: the consequences of a disqualifying event: for a market value EMI option, and for a discounted EMI option the disqualifying events: relating to the company relating to the employees relating to varying the option terms relating to...

The core purpose of assembling electronic bundles is to deliver a user-friendly set and ensure all hearing participants hold the same version of the court papers. This Practice Note gives guidance on preparing electronic court bundles in PDF. Bundles for major commercial trials are likely to be filed by external bundle providers. All other bundles can be submitted to the court via the HMCTS Document Upload Centre— Professional Users Guide, or using HMCTS’ electronic filing and case management system, CE- File. The procedure for CE- File is set out in CPR PD 5C—for more on CE- File, see Practice Note: How to use CE- File—from 1 October 2025. This Practice Note should be read with Practice Note: Electronic bundles in civil proceedings and the General guidance on electronic court bundles issued by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary on 29 November 2021 ( CTJ...

This Practice Note examines the rules in Section II of Part 6 of the CPR concerning the court’s discretion to waive the requirement to serve a claim form on a defendant. The court will only forgo service of the claim form in exceptional circumstances. Only in exceptional situations will the court excuse service of the claim form. Many decisions in this field precede 2008, when CPR 6.16, which addresses dispensing with service, adopted from the case law the need for “exceptional circumstances”. Before then, provisions enabling dispensation with service were contained in rule 6.9, and earlier authorities will therefore cite that rule. Several of the authorities predate 2008 and cite rule 6.9 accordingly. Materials that may assist when assessing whether service should be dispensed with include: Practice Note: Dispensing with service of documents—making an...

This Practice Note sets out the obligations on parties to assist the court with disclosure, having regard to the overriding objective, CPR 31 (including CPR PD 31B) and applicable data protection provisions. It highlights the need to co-operate throughout the disclosure stage and explains how the disclosure statement within the List of Documents ought to be addressed. It then considers the repercussions of inadequate disclosure, including the court’s ability to draw adverse inferences where matters are not handled properly. It also situates these duties within the framework of the overriding objective. What are a party's duties? CPR 1.3 obliges each party to help the court promote the overriding objective. In practice, this requires litigants to behave in a co-operative, proportionate and sensible way during proceedings so as to minimise costs. Frequently, this will involve discussing, and seeking to agree, the ambit of any...

Disclaimer Pursuant to sections 178 and 315 of the Insolvency Act 1986 ( IA 1986), a liquidator or a trustee in bankruptcy (the trustee) may disclaim property of the company or the bankrupt where it is regarded as onerous. This Practice Note focuses on the liquidator’s role, though the same principles apply to a trustee. For fuller guidance on disclaimer—its nature and the steps to implement it—see: Disclaimer—overview Practice Note: The process of disclaimer by a liquidator or trustee in bankruptcy under sections 178 or 315 of the Insolvency Act 1986 Practice Note: The effect of disclaimer by a liquidator or trustee in bankruptcy on property and third parties This Practice Note sets out what is treated, in practice, as ‘onerous’ for these purposes. What is onerous property?......

This Practice Note outlines the Companies Act 2006 ( CA 2006) mechanism for removing a company director from office, and should be considered alongside Practice Notes: How to remove a company director and Appointment, retirement and resignation of a director. For a visual guide to the steps required to remove a director, see —flowchart showing the actions that must be taken. Removal from office Resolution to remove a director A director can be removed from office by an ordinary resolution of the members passed at a general meeting of the company before their term expires and, despite any provision in any agreement between the director and the company, pursuant to CA 2006, s 168. For a sample ordinary resolution to remove a director from office, see Precedent: —ordinary resolution. Shareholder activists may seek the removal of a director (or the whole board of...

Overview of enforcement time limits Section 171B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 sets the cut-off points after which enforcement for a breach of planning control cannot be taken, unless the breach was deliberately concealed. The relevant periods are: For operational development: four years from the date the works were substantially completed in Wales, and in England where completion occurred before 25 April 2024; ten years in England where substantial completion fell on or after 25 April 2024 (see Practice Note: Substantial completion and planning enforcement for further detail on the legal test for substantial completion) For breaches involving a change of use of any building to use as a single dwellinghouse: four years from the date of the breach in Wales and in England where the breach arose before 25 April 2024; and ten years in England where the breach took...

Practice Note: Claim form in a Part 7 claim This Practice Note outlines what to include when preparing a claim form for a Part 7 claim. It identifies what a claim form is and why it is necessary, and cites examples of the court forms to be used in such matters. It further details the particulars that must be supplied when completing the form, and clarifies how the parties should be described in the claim form, including situations where the defendant’s name is unknown or uncertain, as appropriate. The claim form must contain a statement of value and a statement of truth. Depending on the court dealing with your case, you should also be alert to any additional requirements—see: Court specific guidance for that court, where relevant. This Practice Note is to be read alongside Practice Note: Drafting statements of case, which provides...

When court approval is required Any settlement, compromise, or payment made in a claim for a protected party has no binding effect until it is sanctioned by the court, and until then it cannot be treated as final. A compromise concerning a protected party requires approval because: the court must be satisfied the deal is fair, providing a safeguard against errors by legal advisers or undue pressure to accept an undervalued, hurried settlement that does not reflect the claim’s true worth a court-approved compromise also protects the defendant by ensuring a full and proper discharge from the claim the court oversees the protection and management of the funds, ensuring they are properly looked after, including appropriate investment on the protected party’s behalf For detailed guidance, see Practice Note: Claims involving a mentally incapacitated...

Part 1 of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non- Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 ( TLNPCTUAA 2014) governs consultant lobbying, namely the business of putting clients’ representations to government. Consultant lobbyists must be entered on the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists ( ORCL) register and name their clients on the register kept by the Registrar. They must also indicate whether they follow a publicly available code of conduct. Most firms will not be affected, but you should not assume the legislation has no relevance to you. Guidance from ORCL ( ORCL guidance) plainly envisages that law firms can be brought within the lobbying regime. For more detail, see Practice Note: Lobbying and law firms, which also sets out the registration procedure and the duty to file quarterly information returns. This Practice Note describes which kinds of activity amount to...

Timing This stage often coincides with the period in loan transactions when the finance documents are being prepared and negotiated (see Practice Note: Finance documents phase in loan transactions). Once lawyers begin drafting the facility agreement, a schedule of conditions precedent that the borrower must deliver to the lender (or the facility agent in a syndicated transaction) before it can sign the facility agreement and/or draw down funds under it will start to crystallise. As part of transaction management, the lender’s lawyers will typically produce a checklist of the conditions precedent (the CP checklist) to track the status of each relevant condition precedent, circulating it to all parties for review while the finance documents are being negotiated. The borrower, or the borrower’s lawyers, will then provide the various conditions precedent documents to the lender or the lender’s lawyers for review. Depending on the nature of the...

NOTE— On 25 April 2023, the Government unveiled the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill ( DMCC Bill), proposing major updates to UK competition law spanning merger control, antitrust, market studies/investigations and digital markets. The DMCC Bill will take effect once it has cleared Parliament. This Practice Note will be amended to capture the pertinent revisions when the DMCC Bill becomes law. For the principal changes introduced by the DMCC Bill, see further, The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024: key provisions from a competition and digital markets perspective. This Practice Note outlines the main procedural steps for bringing or resisting an appeal under section 46 or 47 of the Competition Act 1998 before the Competition Appeal Tribunal ( CAT or the Tribunal). Sections 46 and 47 of the Competition Act 1998 allow appeals to be made against decisions of the...

This Practice Note outlines how to issue a contempt application and the material it must contain. It explains the need for a penal notice on the application, and sets out requirements for service—on the defendant, on the defendant’s legal representatives, and for service out of the jurisdiction... For guidance on the court’s approach to contempt applications (including the hurdles that must be cleared), see Practice Note: Civil contempt proceedings—nature and legal framework. For details of the categories of contempt that may arise, consult the following Practice Notes: Civil contempt proceedings—non-compliance with a court order or undertaking Civil contempt proceedings—false statements Civil contempt proceedings—interference with the administration of justice Civil contempt proceedings—contempt in the face of the court Civil contempt proceedings— County Courts Act offences and High Court...

For guidance on causation in clinical negligence matters, refer to Practice Note: Causation and material contribution in clinical negligence claims. Did the breach cause the injury to the claimant? The baseline for proving causation is the ‘but for’ test: but for the defendant’s breach of duty, would the claimant have suffered the harm in question? In a personal injury claim alleging negligence or breach of statutory duty, the claimant must show the defendant owed and breached a duty, and that this breach resulted in loss or damage. It is helpful to consider the claim in key components: did a duty of care exist? was that duty breached by the defendant? is there a causal link between the breach and the loss or damage? what is the nature and scope of the loss or damage? The claimant bears the burden of proving the breach caused the...

Breach of restraint order A contravention of a restraint order made under section 41 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002) amounts to civil contempt of court and will be dealt with accordingly, as recognised in OB v Director of the Serious Fraud Office. However, sanctions imposed for civil contempt following such a breach do not prevent the relevant law enforcement agency (commonly the applicant for the order) from pursuing criminal proceedings, including for the offence of perverting the course of justice. In R v Kenny, the court considered it fanciful to imagine that someone contemplating disobedience of a restraint order would act on the basis that contempt of court would be the sole penalty. The guidance from that authority is therefore clear: there should be no legitimate expectation that violating a restraint order will lead only to civil contempt...

This Practice Note outlines three common forms of loan facility and considers their advantages and disadvantages from a borrower’s perspective: overdrafts term loans revolving credit facilities ( RCFs) What is an overdraft? An overdraft is the most common type of bank lending, used to ease short‑term, everyday cash flow pressures, and is often described as a ‘working capital facility’. It is a loan that allows borrowing on a named account up to a fixed limit. An overdraft can be ‘planned’ or ‘authorised’ (expressly agreed) or ‘unplanned’ or ‘unauthorised’ (where a payment instruction would take the account beyond any agreed overdraft limit). The lender has no duty to permit the account to become overdrawn. Key features are that it: is typically uncommitted, so the lender may withdraw the facility at any time is repayable on demand, enabling the lender to require immediate repayment even without any default......

What is a blind trust? A blind trust is designed to avoid conflicts of interest. Commonly, the settlor and beneficiary is a politician or someone in a similar public position. The settlor/beneficiary ( SB) transfers assets to trustees to hold absolutely; the trustees then manage and invest as they consider appropriate, taking no instructions from SB. They operate without telling SB how assets are bought, sold, managed or invested. The purpose is to prevent criticism of conflict where SB, in an official capacity, makes a governmental decision that affects the value of investments within the trust. The intention is that SB makes decisions without being swayed by potential effects on their own asset portfolio. Accordingly, a blind trust requires trustees to enjoy complete freedom and discretion over the buying, selling, management and investment of assets, and they are under no obligation to take orders from, or...