Legal Practice Notes

This Practice Note This Practice Note outlines the statutory powers enabling local authorities to investigate and bring prosecutions for criminal offences under the Local Government Act 1972 ( LGA 1972). A local authority exists only by statute; if it operates beyond those powers, it acts ultra vires. Under LGA 1972, s 222, authorities may prosecute criminal offences identified by their own departments, including: trading standards health and safety environmental health/food safety and hygiene education housing and council tax benefit Section 222 also empowers an authority to prosecute or defend criminal proceedings where it considers it expedient ‘for the promotion or protection of the interests of the inhabitants of their area’ (the expediency test). Deciding what serves residents’ interests is a matter for the authority, not the courts. In practical, and in general terms, this confines enforcement to offences within the...

This Practice Note sets out an overview of the principal legal papers used to bring a loan portfolio disposal to completion and highlights the usual negotiating stances taken by sellers and buyers. For a primer on loan portfolio disposals and a sample pathway these transactions often follow, see Practice Note: Introductory guide to loan portfolio sales. For an outline of some of the core matters that can arise on loan portfolio sales, see Practice Note: Loan portfolio sales—key issues. The market’s approach to documentation for portfolio disposals is not entirely uniform; however, over the last decade a number of recurring features and conventions have developed, which are considered in this Practice Note. Key documents used in portfolio sales The documents most frequently encountered in loan portfolio sales include: Confidentiality agreements Sale and purchase agreement Disclosure letter ...

STOP PRESS: The Loan Market Association ( LMA) has issued revised editions of the standard terms and conditions for Par and Distressed Trade Transactions, the complete suite of Funded Participation and Risk Participation Agreements, and the Secondary Debt Trading Documentation User Guide, effective from 17 March 2026. The changes include the removal of LIBOR references, updates to IBOR rate definitions and the Target2 definition, and refreshed ERISA representations incorporating additional exemptions from the prohibited transaction rules under ERISA and the US Internal Revenue Code. The refreshed materials are available exclusively to LMA members via the LMA’s Documentation Hub. In the London market, secondary debt trades are commonly documented using the LMA’s recommended form documents. The LMA’s secondary debt trading suite was developed to standardise and simplify the sale of loan assets and to establish a consistent settlement process. The use of common...

The timeline below is illustrative—often highly ambitious—and draws together the steps usually followed in a standard secondary debt trade; in practice, it is rarely met in full. A failure to keep to this timetable does not constitute a contractual default. The approach for par debt and distressed debt is broadly the same, though the table flags certain specific differences. This timetable assumes the parties will use the Loan Market Association ( LMA) secondary debt trading suite to document their transaction. For more on the paperwork used in secondary debt trades, see Practice Note: Overview of the key documentation in a typical secondary debt trade. Timeline of a typical secondary debt trade T = Trade date. All references to days are to business days. Pre-trade date To minimise delay between the trade date and the settlement date: The buyer and seller determine their respective...

This Practice Note sets out a comparison of the principal terms of the Loan Market Association ( LMA) intercreditor agreement for leveraged acquisition finance transactions (senior/mezzanine) (the LMA Leveraged Intercreditor Agreement), the LMA intercreditor agreement for real estate finance transactions (senior/mezzanine) where the mezzanine debt is structurally subordinated (the LMA REF Intercreditor Agreement— Structural Subordination), and the LMA intercreditor agreement for real estate finance transactions (senior/mezzanine) where the mezzanine debt is not structurally subordinated but is instead contractually subordinated within the intercreditor agreement only (the LMA REF Intercreditor Agreement— Contractual Subordination only) (together, the Intercreditor Agreements). For further information on the principles of subordination and the main provisions commonly found in intercreditor agreements, see Practice Notes: Subordination and Intercreditor agreement—key provisions. The LMA leveraged and REF intercreditor agreements The LMA Leveraged Intercreditor Agreement The LMA Leveraged Intercreditor Agreement was the first of the LMA’s...

The accused's eligibility for special measures Under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 ( YJCEA 1999), the court may put in place a range of provisions to support vulnerable and intimidated witnesses so they can give their best evidence in court. These are termed special measures. For details on the special measures available to vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, see Practice Note: Special measures. The accused is generally excluded from entitlement to most special measures; however, the court does have the power to direct that a defendant give evidence by live link and to appoint an intermediary to facilitate a defendant’s participation at trial. Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, SI 2025/909 ( Crim PR 2025), r 3.3 imposes a duty on the prosecution and the defence to notify the court of any potential impediment to the defendant's effective...

From a commercial standpoint, it is sensible and prudent for your firm to try to limit the scope of its liability to clients. Nevertheless, there are legal and regulatory hurdles to navigate and constraints on what any liability cap can realistically deliver. For consumer clients, you must take into account not only SRA requirements and guidance, but also the statutory constraints and limits in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 ( CRA 2015). SRA restrictions You must not exclude, or attempt to exclude, liability below the minimum level of cover required by the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules. This is: £3m for firms that are corporate entities (including LLPs) £2m for partnerships and sole practitioners (excluding LLPs) SRA guidance You should also have regard to guidance issued by the SRA. That guidance concerns the requirement to take out and maintain adequate and appropriate insurance under the SRA...

A lifetime gift A lifetime gift is a gratuitous shift of ownership in any property between living people, made without an expectation of death. By contrast, a gift made in contemplation of death may amount to a deathbed gift, or donatio mortis causa. See Practice Note: Devolution of assets and the need for a grant— Deathbed gifts. For a lifetime gift to be effective, it is not necessary for legal title to pass to the recipient. The donor can make a perfect gift of the beneficial interest while retaining the legal estate (constituting a trust). The hallmark of a gift, as opposed to another form of transfer, is the absence of consideration. A lifetime gift can be made by: deed or another instrument in writing delivery, where the subject-matter is capable of delivery declaration of trust, which is the equitable counterpart of a gift No gift arises if the donor lacks...

The ( LSB) is the sole independent oversight regulator of the legal profession and sector in England and Wales. It does not directly regulate individual lawyers and, in most circumstances, will not directly regulate firms. Mandate and structure The LSB acts as the overarching regulator for legal services in England and Wales. Created by the Legal Services Act 2007 ( LSA 2007), it has been fully operational since January 2010. It is independent of government and of the legal profession, although it is funded by the profession via a levy on secondary regulators such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority ( SRA). The LSB must include a lay chairman, a chief executive, and seven to ten ordinary members. A majority of the ordinary members are required to be lay persons. Its primary mandate is to ensure that regulation across the legal services sector serves the public interest and puts...

This Practice Note summarises the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 ( LFRA 2024), much of which is not yet in force. bans the grant or assignment of certain long residential house leases makes major changes to multiple aspects of leasehold enfranchisement and lease extension procedures and provisions (including the price payable) gives long leaseholders a right to replace their ground rent with a peppercorn rent on payment of a premium brings in a set of reforms to the residential service charge regime, regulation of estate management, and leasehold and estate management redress schemes clarifies uses of estate rentcharges and regulates remedies for rentcharge arrears amends various provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022 ( BSA 2022), including defining ‘relevant steps’ a landlord must take to remedy ‘relevant...

Where the parties agree a lease variation so fundamental that it is entirely at odds with the original lease, the law may treat there as being an implied surrender and re-grant taking effect by operation of law. In that scenario, the existing lease is taken to have been surrendered and a fresh lease is taken to have been granted between the parties on the varied terms agreed. An unintentional surrender and re-grant arising in this way can produce serious adverse consequences for both the landlord and the tenant—see ‘ Consequences of inadvertent surrender and re-grant’ below. This Practice Note covers: amendments to lease terms that do, or do not, prompt surrender and re-grant by operation of law, including: enlarging the demise or lengthening the term reducing the demise or the term ...

This Practice Note on the civil economic tort of lawful means conspiracy (conspiracy to injure) sets out the essential elements of the tort: a combination or co-ordinated course of action, a predominant intention to inflict loss upon the claimant, an overt step taken in furtherance of the arrangement, and consequent damage arising. For broader guidance on civil conspiracy claims more generally (including the distinction between lawful and unlawful means) and on pleading and evidencing such claims in practice, see the following key Practice Notes: Civil conspiracy claims (economic tort) Unlawful means conspiracy (civil action) Lawful means conspiracy is a civil cause of action—one of the economic torts—offering a potential remedy to those who suffer financial (economic) harm arising from the defendant’s conduct and behaviour. To make out the claim, the claimant must satisfy a set of key requirements in full. For general...

What is a Larke v Nugus request In 1959, the Law Society first advised that, when a dispute arises over a Will’s validity, the solicitor who drafted it ought to promptly provide appropriately a statement in writing setting out, clearly, their evidence and understanding about the instructions, the drafting, and the execution of the Will. The Court of Appeal carefully reviewed this guidance in Larke v Nugus SJ 123 (1979) 337 (not reported by Lexis+®). In that case, the court then indicated that where there is a genuine contest about a will’s validity, going beyond the simple entry of a caveat, and the solicitor’s knowledge renders them a material witness, the solicitor should supply a statement of their evidence concerning the will’s execution and the surrounding circumstances to any party involved in proving or disputing the will, irrespective of whether the solicitor acted for those...

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ( HSWA 1974) Employers owe a duty to their staff to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, their health, safety and welfare while at work. Additionally, any person exercising control over premises owes duties to individuals outside their employment who could be affected by their actions, ensuring, so far as reasonably practicable, that such persons are not subjected to risks arising from the premises, or from the plant and substances situated there. These obligations may originate not only from the physical condition of the premises, but also from shortcomings in the arrangements the duty-holder makes with a third party, such as a contractor. An individual protected by HSWA 1974 does not forfeit that protection by being in a part of the premises where they lack permission to be, or by being engaged in a...

This Practice Note explores the definition of an inherent defect, identifies whether the duty to remedy rests with the landlord or the tenant, considers any obligations implied by law to address inherent defects, and explains the position where a defect causes damage. It does not address repair liabilities under the Building Safety Act 2022 ( BSA 2022). For guidance on liability under BSA 2022, see Practice Notes: Building Safety Act 2022—key provisions and issues and Building Safety Act 2022—landlord and tenant issues... Inherent defects in leasehold property Design flaws, defective installation, or the choice of unsuitable or inadequate materials during construction can create serious issues over time... In a leading authority, failed joints in the basement of an office building allowed water ingress, leaving the basement unfit for use... In another case, inadequately designed double-glazing units caused condensation and black...

Call options Developers commonly employ call options to secure the ability to purchase land if and when planning permission is granted. Opting for this route gives the developer breathing space to prepare and pursue a planning application before being bound to pay for the site. At the outset, the developer’s spending is usually confined to an option fee—namely, the amount settled with the landowner as the price for refraining from disposing of the land to others while planning consent is sought. The developer is, however, likely to shoulder considerable costs in drafting and advancing the planning application. High among the developer’s priorities is the inclusion of terms that permit the option period to be prolonged if the planning process remains in train. Unless the option agreement or the contract expressly authorises extensions of time, the deadline must be observed to the letter (for further...

The Land Charges Act 1972 ( LCA 1972) The LCA 1972 sets out a scheme under which particular charges and incumbrances concerning unregistered land are to be entered as land charges on the land charges register, maintained by the Land Charges Department of HM Land Registry, which is based at its office in Plymouth. That register is completely separate from the register used for substantive title registration. Land charges operate to safeguard the interests, in unregistered land, of third parties who do not possess the title deeds to the land and therefore cannot control when and how the land is dealt with or disposed of. If a charge, or an obligation that affects unregistered land, is not protected by the registration of a land charge, there is a risk that valuable property rights will be lost. In addition, the LCA 1972 requires HM Land...

Note— To check whether notification thresholds in Kuwait and worldwide are triggered, refer to Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Kuwaiti merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Kuwait? From late 2020, Kuwait began a major overhaul of its merger control framework, which came into effect in the latter half of 2021. In November 2020, the legislator enacted Law 72/2020 on the Protection of Competition ( Competition Law 2020). Among other amendments, it replaced market share criteria with turnover- and asset value-based filing thresholds. Additional clarification on the new regime was set out in Decree 14/2021 on the Executive Regulation to the Competition Law ( Executive Regulations 2021). However, neither the Competition Law 2020 nor the Executive Regulations 2021 specified the...

The offence of kidnapping Kidnapping is a common law offence, triable exclusively on indictment. It is closely aligned with the offences of false imprisonment and child abduction. For further guidance, see Practice Notes: Common law offence of false imprisonment and Child abduction offences. Owing to its seriousness, kidnapping is heard only on indictment in the Crown Court, and when it occurs alongside other offences, it will be pleaded as a separate count on the indictment. Despite the recognised overlap between kidnapping and statutory abduction, an indictment should not include counts for both offences ( C (1990) The Times, 9 November 1990 (not reported by Lexis Nexis®)). Section 5 of the Child Abduction Act 1984 ( CAA 1984) states that, save with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions, no prosecution shall be brought for kidnapping where the victim is under 16 and the...

What is jury irregularity? An irregularity is any conduct capable of deflecting a juror or the whole panel from honouring their oath or affirmation to ‘faithfully try the defendant and to give a true verdict according to the evidence’. It covers anything that undermines the jury’s independence, or brings in outside matters that fall well beyond the evidence. Irregularities can also stem from efforts to menace, pressure or browbeat a juror. The setting up by jurors of a Whats App group for coordinating travel and lunch, where the case itself was not discussed, was held not to be an irregularity demanding any corrective step. That remained so although the trial judge questioned the jurors about their use of the group and did not ask to inspect the messages personally. The Court of Appeal considered it unrealistic to allow jurors to arrange logistics by...