Legal Practice Notes

Practice Note This Practice Note outlines who may apply as of right for an order under s 8 of the Children Act 1989 ( Ch A 1989)—namely a child arrangements order, a specific issue order or a prohibited steps order—and who must first secure the court’s permission (leave). It identifies the criteria the court must take into account when determining whether to grant permission. It also describes the process for seeking permission, including the required application form, the supporting documents and the steps for service. Under the Ch A 1989, some applicants can seek a s 8 order because they are ordinarily closely connected with the child, whereas others must obtain the court’s leave before issuing an application. Distinctions also arise depending on the particular type of s 8 order sought, and the Note explains how these differences affect entitlement to apply and the need for...

A secret or half-secret trust can be helpful where a testator wishes to keep the identity of a beneficiary of a testamentary gift out of the wording of their Will. Types of secret trusts secret or fully secret trusts semi-secret or half-secret trusts A fully secret trust arises where the testator’s Will leaves property to a recipient without any indication that it is to be held on trust; on the face of it the gift appears absolute and beneficial, yet in reality the recipient is bound by a trust obligation. Such an obligation can only come into being if, during the testator’s lifetime, they asked the recipient to hold the gift not for their own benefit but for someone else, and the recipient, either expressly or by acquiescence, agreed to give effect to the testator’s intention. This type of trust was endorsed by the House of...

Contracts for the sale of second hand aircraft are concluded between an aircraft owner (as the seller) and, in the majority of situations, an airline or an aircraft leasing company (as the buyer). The parties usually keep the terms of such agreements confidential; however, where the buyer has a lender, certain provisions will be revealed to that lender if it is providing the airline with funding in relation to an aircraft to be acquired pursuant to the purchase agreement. There is no single standard form of agreement for second hand aircraft, though some sellers maintain a preferred form of purchase agreement that they seek to use with customers. The requirements of different participants in respect of second hand aircraft sales and purchases, as well as the commercial particulars of these transactions, vary markedly, and are considered in greater detail below. Key...

Stamp Duty Land Tax ( SDLT) is payable on chargeable land transactions, namely the acquisition of a chargeable interest. For fuller guidance on the operation of SDLT, see Practice Note: Land transactions, chargeable interests and chargeable transactions. In Scotland, SDLT was replaced by Land and Buildings Transaction Tax ( LBTT) with effect from 1 April 2015—see Practice Note: Scotland: Land and buildings transaction tax ( LBTT)—the basics. In Wales, Land Transaction Tax ( LTT) superseded SDLT from 1 April 2018—see Practice Note: Wales: Land transaction tax ( LTT)—the basics. Consequently, references here to land, property, or similar terms for SDLT purposes should be read as excluding any interests in or over land located in Scotland (from 1 April 2015) and Wales (from 1 April 2018). A land transaction is not chargeable for SDLT where an exemption applies. The transactions identified below, concerning...

This Practice Note offers an overview of the Scottish Parliament. It outlines how its members are elected and how it uses its power to make laws. In that setting, it also sets out how the Scottish government is formed, and the roles it performs. Which voting system is used in Scottish Parliament elections? Elected representatives in the Scottish Parliament are called Members of the Scottish Parliament ( MSPs). The voting method in use, the Additional Member System, blends a straightforward ‘first past the post’ constituency ballot with a proportional element. On election day, every voter has two votes: one for an MSP to represent the voter’s constituency (eg Edinburgh Central), and another for a political party or individual on a regional list (eg the region of Lothian) There are 73 constituency Members and 56 regional Members. The ‘first past the post’ system selects the MSP for each...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : The Trusts and Succession ( Scotland) Act 2024 obtained Royal Assent on 30 January 2024, signalling the first significant reassessment of Scottish trusts law in more than a century since the foundational Trusts ( Scotland) Act 1921. The trusts provisions will only commence once Scottish Ministers introduce the requisite secondary legislation, whereas certain succession provisions took effect on 30 April 2024. The key updates designed to modernise the regime are outlined in News Analysis: Trusts and Succession ( Scotland) Bill passed. Practice Notes covering aspects of Scottish trusts and succession law will be further revised to reflect this new legislation... Liferent trusts A liferent trust is a vehicle that, once established, grants a beneficiary or beneficiaries the right to use the trust property and to receive its income. The individual benefiting from the use or fruits of the trust property is termed the...

This Practice Note explains the legal framework governing rent and rent review clauses in Scottish commercial leases. For disputed elements of rent and rent review, see Practice Notes: Rent arrears in commercial leases—recovering— Scotland and Commercial property rent review disputes— Scotland. Rent At common law, one essential requirement for a lease is the obligation to pay rent, even if only a token sum. Rent is typically due quarterly in advance on the Scottish quarter days; however, it is also frequent for leases where the landlord is an English property company or pension fund to specify payment on the English quarter days (see below) to maintain uniformity across the landlord's portfolio. After the 2008 recession, retail tenants increasingly sought to pay rent monthly in advance, and many landlords have been willing to consent to this. Such arrangements are generally personal to the original tenant and are...

Read this Practice Note alongside Practice Note: Schemes of arrangement—convening hearing and sanction hearing, bearing in mind the distinct function assumed by the court when assessing jurisdiction at each stage. Jurisdiction— England and Wales—statutory provisions The Companies List within the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales derives authority to approve a scheme of arrangement from Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 ( CA 2006) and the Insolvency Act 1986 ( IA 1986). Under CA 2006, s 895(1), the procedure in Pt 26 applies to schemes proposed between a company and: its creditors, or any class of them; or its members, or any class of them CA 2006, s 895(2) provides that the term ‘company’ includes: a company within the meaning of CA 2006; and any company liable to be wound up under IA 1986 IA 1986, s 221 confirms that any...

The Practice Note titled UK financial and trade sanctions for insurers sets out which sanctions affect insurers, what those measures involve, how the Financial Conduct Authority oversees compliance, and the screening and due diligence insurers should implement. It delves further into policy wording—especially how sanctions interact with insurance contracts and the purpose of sanctions clauses. Lloyd's Market Association Sanctions Clauses The Note concentrates on the market-standard formulations: the Lloyd’s Market Association ( LMA) 3100A clause ( LMA 3100A) and the LMA 3200 clause ( LMA 3200). These were issued in October 2023 following an LMA consultation on the LMA 3100 clause first published in 2010. LMA 3100A keeps the LMA 3100 wording, but its title removes the words ‘and exclusion’ to indicate the clause pauses, rather than removes, cover. Under LMA 3100A, the Sanctions Limitation Clause provides that no (re)insurer is taken to provide cover, nor be...

STOP PRESS : Significant reforms to the UK prospectus regime came into force on 19 January 2026. Key provisions for UK public securities offerings and admissions to trading now sit mainly in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105 (the POATRs), and in the FCA sourcebook, The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market ( PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules stand repealed and no longer apply. The package aims to streamline capital raising and markedly cut the instances in which a company must produce an FCA approved prospectus for a subsequent issue of shares in practice. For comprehensive details of the amendments, see Practice Note: UK prospectus regime reform. This Practice Note describes the prospectus framework as it applied before 19 January 2026......

A B share scheme A B share scheme returns surplus capital to a company’s shareholders by creating B shares (so named to set them apart from ordinary shares), followed by either paying a dividend on those shares or effecting their redemption, buy back or cancellation. This approach was most frequently adopted by listed companies in the past, albeit not exclusively. It is now rarely used to distribute excess capital, as it no longer delivers the tax advantages it once did (see History of the B share scheme below). Companies can return excess capital without using a B share scheme via: a routine dividend payment a ‘special’ dividend (a one-off, usually large interim dividend, paid outside a company’s routine dividend programme) a share buyback a reduction of capital a scheme of arrangement For further details about these alternative methods of...

Retention of title in construction contracts Many companies supplying goods or materials to the construction sector operate under standard written terms and conditions. Those terms typically include a retention of title clause (also known as an ROT, reservation of title, or Romalpa clause). The function of a retention of title clause is to preserve ownership of the goods for the seller (eg a sub-contractor) until the price is settled in full, even after the goods have been delivered to the buyer (ie the contractor on site). For suppliers and sub-contractors in particular, such a clause can provide a degree of financial protection if the main contractor becomes insolvent. In any insolvency scenario, it is crucial to establish which party owns the goods or materials being used in the works, and the standard forms address ownership of unfixed materials. However, issues may become more complex where parties...

Where a party seeks to enforce an order, and the respondent plans to depart the court’s jurisdiction and thereby impede enforcement, a writ ne exeat regno, or a passport seizure order, may be pursued. In children proceedings, such an order may be made where there are concerns about abduction or to secure a child’s return; see also Practice Note: Child abduction—emergency remedies— Passport order. Mostyn J in Bhura v Bhura described the writ ne exeat regno as a ‘charming historical relic’ and ‘an anachronism given the availability of the modern form of order [the passport seizure order]’. In Re P ( Discharge of Passport Order), Cobb J characterised a passport seizure order as ‘a potent order, with significant implications, whose use it seems to me should be tightly controlled’ and therefore such orders should only be made for a finite period of...

This Practice Note explains the circumstances and process by which an innocent party may unwind a contract for misrepresentation, the reasons they might take that step, and the occasions when rescission is not allowed. For guidance on when a party may recover damages for a misrepresentation, or seek to limit/exclude liability for misrepresentation, see the following Practice Notes: Misrepresentation—damages as a remedy Misrepresentations—excluding and limiting liability for them The remedy of rescission in misrepresentation claims Where a misrepresentation has persuaded a party to enter a contract, that party can elect to rescind. If that decision is disputed, the party may invite the court to assist in giving effect to the rescission. The consequence of rescission, where it is available, is to restore the parties to the position they occupied before the agreement was concluded. This is often termed rescission ab initio, to set it apart from...

This Practice Note This Practice Note sets out how a company secretary of a public or private company can be removed from office. It does not, however, address the manner of appointment or resignation of a company secretary in public or private companies; for those topics, see the Practice Notes: Appointment of a company secretary and Resignation of a company secretary. Neither the Companies Act 2006 ( CA 2006) nor the model articles include any provisions on the removal of a company secretary. The company’s articles of association......

Remote hearings Remote hearings are proceedings conducted via electronic communication (eg telephone or video), as opposed to the usual in-person hearing where everyone attends an employment tribunal hearing centre. Traditionally, employment tribunals heard almost all cases in person. The coronavirus ( COVID-19) pandemic, however, seriously impacted the tribunals’ operational capacity, and the main safe way to hold hearings during that period was through a significant increase in remote hearings. Although the restrictions from the pandemic no longer apply, tribunals still conduct many more hearings remotely than they did beforehand. For further background, and to understand how and when employment tribunals decide if a hearing should be in person, remote, or partly remote (ie hybrid), see Practice Note: Format of employment tribunal hearings. This Practice Note considers how employment tribunal hearings are run remotely, in particular with reference to: the Presidential Guidance: conduct of...

The route to obtaining relief from forfeiture differs widely with the type of default. This Practice Note specifically addresses relief from forfeiture arising from rent arrears. For guidance on seeking relief for any alternative breach, refer to Practice Note: Relief from forfeiture for breach of covenant. Which interests does relief from forfeiture apply to? Beyond leases, relief may extend to certain other relevant proprietary interests. Consult the guidance in Practice Note: Relief from forfeiture for breach of covenant— Which interests does relief from forfeiture apply to? Jurisdiction Historically, the courts have exercised an inherent jurisdiction to grant relief from forfeiture for non-payment of rent. In some areas, this equitable jurisdiction has been supplanted by statute, including in relation to breaches other than non-payment of rent (see Practice Note: Relief from forfeiture for breach of covenant— Jurisdiction to grant relief in respect of breaches of covenant (other than...

Statute provides for two tax-efficient alternatives to a life assurance policy held within a registered occupational pension scheme: the relevant life policy ( RLP), and the excepted group life policy ( EGLP) In statute, an EGLP falls within the wider RLP concept; nevertheless, because it insures more than one life—rather than a single life—it is treated as a distinct insurance product line. For clarity in what follows, ‘ RLP’ is used for single-life policies and ‘ EGLP’ for multiple or group life policies. Originating in section 539A of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 in the run-up to ‘ A‑day’, and now set out in the Income Tax ( Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 ( ITEPA 2003) and in sections 480–482 of the Income Tax ( Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 ( ITTOIA 2005), EGLPs and RLPs provide lump sum...

Overview A harbour authority is an autonomous, self-regulating organisation tasked with the safe stewardship and efficient operation of a harbour. Although substantial general law applies to ports and harbours, in most instances the particular powers, functions and obligations of a harbour authority are established by multiple local Acts and Orders, some of which date back centuries and continue to have effect, in full or in part, and remain in force today, whether wholly or in part......

Whether a credit agreement is regulated is determined by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ( FSMA 2000), the Consumer Credit Act 1974 ( CCA 1974) and related secondary legislation and rules, most notably the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ( Regulated Activities) Order 2001, SI 2001/544 ( RAO). The RAO sets out multiple exemptions tied to the agreement’s nature and core characteristics, making it essential to pinpoint the correct agreement category. This Practice Note defines ‘credit’ and ‘regulated credit agreement’ and outlines the reach of the RAO and CCA 1974, including which agreements are brought within regulation. Meaning of credit under the CCA 1974 and the RAO For the credit limb of the consumer credit framework to bite, the transaction must involve credit. Separately, the regime also captures consumer hire agreements, which do not constitute ‘credit’. Under CCA 1974, s 9(1) and RAO, SI...