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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 centres on supply chain sustainability within the EU and the implementing legislative measures of the European Green Deal. It offers a practical outline of the principal laws across core themes such as supply chains, product-specific regimes, and sustainability-linked due diligence obligations for trading in the EU. Note that wider, product‑specific rules should likewise be taken into account when evaluating due diligence duties. This Practice Note does not address UK legislation. For further information on legislation in the UK, see Practice Note: Supply chain sustainability— UK. What is supply chain sustainability in the EU and why is it important? During the last ten years, the EU has shifted supply chain sustainability from a voluntary strand of corporate social responsibility to a core element of regulatory compliance under the European Green Deal. This embodies the view that sustainable supply networks are essential to...
Artificial intelligence ( AI) and automated decision-making ( ADM) augment or substitute for human decision-makers in UK public administration. Examples include police use of live facial-recognition cameras, automated computations of social security entitlements, predictive environmental modelling, and algorithms proposing planning or licensing outcomes. UK government guidance treats ADM broadly, encompassing both fully automated outputs and tools that support human judgement. The legal principles set out in this Note bite even where a person ostensibly signs off the decision but substantially depends on an AI-derived score or recommendation. These technologies may deliver efficiency yet can trigger legal or comparably weighty consequences for individuals. The UK General Data Protection Regulation, Assimilated Regulation ( EU) 2016/679 ( UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 ( DPA 2018), the Human Rights Act 1998 ( HRA 1998) and the Equality Act 2010 ( Eq A 2010) impose...
Omnibus I (sustainability simplification package)—introduction The Commission issued a Communication on Simplification and Implementation on 12 February 2025, which sets out how it intends to make applying EU rules easier in practice over its 2024–2029 mandate, and elaborates further on the Commission’s plan to streamline a range of EU legislative measures. As highlighted in that Communication, a principal objective for this period is to cut administrative burdens (including reporting obligations) by at least 25% for all companies, and by at least 35% for small- and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs). As an immediate priority, in particular, the Commission aims to address what it regards as overlapping, needless, or disproportionate requirements that weigh on EU businesses and which may, as a result, stifle growth and hinder development. This ambition is to be delivered chiefly through the adoption of omnibus...
This Practice Note reviews certain judicial decisions that demonstrate how Part III of the Private International Law ( Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 ( PIL( MP) A 1995) operates in tort matters. Judgment and citation Facts Decision Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Inc [2024] EWCA Civ 759 at para [146] The proceedings involved follow-on competition claims. The Court of Appeal regarded this as an exceptional instance where the section 11 rule should yield to section 12. Its reasoning was markedly shaped by the Commission’s decision and the collective redress setting. The logic was that section 11 would otherwise lead to applying the laws of the countries in which the anti-competitive restriction occurred. Yet here, the European Commission had already determined the restriction of competition and the court was dealing with a follow-on action. It was judged ‘substantially more appropriate’ for the questions in the...
Over the course of the past month, annual adjustments have been made to merger control thresholds in Canada, Italy and the Philippines, while Montenegro has revamped its regime, introducing swifter timetables and more adaptable filing provisions. Canada—thresholds remain the same in 2026 On 2 March 2026, the Canadian Competition Bureau ( CCB) confirmed, after its yearly review, that Canadian merger notification thresholds will stay exactly as they are for 2026. The thresholds remain (in brief): size of transaction test: the target must be, or control, an operating business in Canada with more than CDN$93m (approximately €58.9m/ US$66.6m) in Canadian assets (book value) or gross revenue produced by those assets from sales in, from or into Canada (ie domestic plus export sales), and size of parties test: all parties and their affiliates (in aggregate) must together hold over CDN$400m...
EU mandatory corporate sustainability reporting—core legal framework Corporate sustainability—understood as performance against environmental, social and governance ( ESG) standards—has risen sharply in importance among investors, consumers and employees in recent years. In parallel, there has been swift expansion of ESG criteria (also called ESG metrics or factors) used to assess how a, typically corporate, undertaking performs. The central aim of the EU and worldwide mandatory and voluntary ESG reporting regimes is to gather quantifiable information demonstrating whether corporate bodies are genuinely ‘sustainable’ for each ESG measure pertinent to their operations, and to make those data as open and accessible as possible for investors and other stakeholders. Within the EU, the principal legislation setting out compulsory sustainability reporting is Directive 2013/34/ EU on annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain categories of undertakings (the EU Accounting Directive), as updated...
This Practice Note provides practical direction on implementing the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, Regulation ( EU) 2022/2554 ( DORA), in Ireland. On 17 January 2025, Regulation ( EU) 2022/2554 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector took effect in Ireland and throughout the EU. This Practice Note offers a high-level overview of DORA’s principal obligations and sets out more detailed information on Irish implementing legislation connected to DORA, alongside Irish regulatory guidance, commentary, template documentation and expectations relevant to financial entities regulated in Ireland that fall within DORA’s scope. DORA key requirements DORA applies to the wide range of financial entities listed in Article 2(1) of Regulation ( EU) 2022/2554. Its obligations are generally grouped under five pillars. ICT risk management framework: financial entities must establish an oversight and...
Background By 2 December 2026, EU Member States are required to have transposed the Platform Work Directive ( Directive ( EU) 2024/2831) ( PWD), adopted on 23 October 2024 and published on 11 November 2024. This Practice Note examines how reclassification under Article 5 might be introduced in Ireland. The working assumption is that Ireland will regard its current framework—statute and common law—on employment status as adequate to give effect to the PWD. Before turning to the present text of the PWD, it is necessary to situate it within its wider background. The headline of the initial proposal centred on a presumption of employment for persons delivering services via labour platforms. The 9 December 2021 draft ( COM(2021) 762 final) set out the original presumption model, creating a presumption of an employment relationship wherever a labour platform directed how work was...
Introduction and background Certain advisers who deliver tax advice and deal with HMRC for clients will have to enrol with HMRC in future and comply with baseline standards set by the department. HMRC has signalled that roll-out will feature a transition window of no less than three months. In the Autumn Budget 2024, on 30 October 2024, the government stated it would require registration of tax advisers acting with HMRC on clients’ behalf from April 2026, and it released a summary of replies to a consultation first issued in March 2024. Those replies clearly backed compulsory registration. In Budget 2025, the government said that, in light of the consultation feedback, it would not regulate tax advisers and would collaborate with the profession to lift standards in the tax advice market. In July 2025, HM Revenue & Customs ( HMRC) issued draft...
The Courts and Tribunals Bill sets out sweeping changes to the criminal justice system in England and Wales, designed to cut backlogs and improve efficiency. For criminal practitioners, headline shifts include ending the option to elect a jury trial, widening the categories of cases that can be heard in the magistrates’ court, removing juries for certain either-way offences, overhauling how appeals to the Crown Court are made, and introducing judge-only trials for matters that are complex or lengthy. This Practice Note surveys the core proposals affecting the criminal justice system in England and Wales, considers how they may operate in practice, and clearly highlights potential benefits and drawbacks of the reform package across the jurisdiction as a whole today. Background The Courts and Tribunals Bill was brought forward amid what the UK government characterises as a criminal justice system ‘in crisis’, with a record queue of tens of...
This Practice Note summarises key authorities and linked materials on the duty to co-operate with an office-holder under section 235 of the Insolvency Act 1986 ( IA 1986). The cases are grouped by topic and cover: scope of the duty use of information obtained enforcement For further reading on this subject, see Practice Notes: Basic principles—the delivery-up of information and property to the insolvency office-holder Duty to co-operate with office-holder under section 235 of the Insolvency Act 1986 Scope of the duty Names of parties: Webb (as joint liquidators of Eversholt Rail (365) Ltd (in liquidation)) v Eversholt Rail Ltd [2026] EWHC 101 ( Ch) Judgment date: 22 January 2026 Case summary: Liquidators must demonstrate a reasonable need for documents or information under IA 1986, ss 235 and 236. An attempt merely to recreate the...
This Practice Note summarises the disclosure requirements for claims allocated to the small claims track. For general guidance on disclosure, see: Disclosure—overview. Note: this Practice Note does not cover claims subject to the Disclosure Scheme in the Business & Property Courts. For guidance on that Scheme, see: Disclosure Scheme ( Business & Property Courts)—overview. For general guidance on disclosure in other tracks, see the following Practice Notes: Disclosure in fast track cases Disclosure in intermediate track cases Disclosure in multi-track cases The scope of a claim in the small claims track Claims on the small claims track are described as ‘small claims’. This track is intended for claims worth under £10,000. For further guidance on cases allocated to and progressing on the small claims track, see Practice Note: Small claims track—case management. Proceedings in the small claims track are governed by CPR 27 and CPR PD...
Introduction This guide sets out the steps a solicitor preparing a Will should weigh when dealing with a testator who intends to omit a family member or dependant where a challenge may arise. It reviews the background to the testator’s choice, which ought to be recorded on the file in as much detail as possible to explain the reasoning behind it. It also addresses the statement a solicitor should draft within the Will, or refer to in the Will, giving a clear signal that this potential beneficiary was considered and intentionally left out. Estates are being litigated more often, and even a modest estate can represent a life changing sum for many. While it may not be entirely feasible to prevent a claim, certain measures can lessen claims and the related risks. Relevant...
This Practice Note outlines the UK framework for product governance that insurance firms must follow when manufacturing and distributing insurance products. It explains how the rules introduced by the Insurance Distribution Directive ( Directive ( EU) 2016/97) ( IDD) were transposed in the UK, as reflected in Chapter 4 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Product Intervention and Product Governance sourcebook ( PROD 4), and summarises the position of those rules after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU... Background IDD product oversight and governance requirements The IDD brought in product oversight and governance ( POG) duties for insurers and intermediaries that design insurance products for customers. Under Article 25, firms must establish, run and periodically review a product approval process for every insurance product—and for any material changes to an existing product—before it is marketed or distributed. That process must be...
Overview This Practice Note forms part of our LLB Contract Law series for law students. It surveys the remedies for breach of contract, with damages at the heart of the common law response. Setting remedies within the framework of contract, it explains when a party may terminate—most notably for breach of conditions and of innominate (or ‘intermediate’) terms. It then sets out the expectation principle from Robinson v Harman (1848) 1 Exch 850, stressing that an award should put the claimant in the position they would have been in had performance occurred. The Note next traces the principal constraints on recovery—causation, remoteness, and the duty to mitigate—and discusses leading cases on mitigation to show how these limits operate even once breach is proved. It also considers alternative measures—expectation, reliance and, in rare cases, restitutionary recovery—before addressing...
This Practice Note offers practical guidance on the execution of documents by third parties acting under a power of attorney, with emphasis on the principal provisions of the Powers of Attorney Act 1996 ( Ireland) ( POAA 1996 ( IRL))... What is a power of attorney? A power of attorney is an instrument—usually a deed—signed by, or on the instructions of, the donor that gives another person (the attorney) the authority to act for the donor in line with the instrument’s terms... The POAA 1996 ( IRL), which took effect on 1 August 1996, sets out the legal requirements for establishing a valid power of attorney... It is essential for practitioners to be conversant with the rules for appointing attorneys and for executing documents under a power of attorney... Contracting parties may face unintended consequences where an attorney has not been validly appointed, acts outside the scope of their...
Request A party in need of urgent interim relief, before the Arbitral Tribunal is constituted, may apply for the appointment of an emergency arbitrator ( Rule 12.1). A request for an emergency arbitrator can be submitted ( Rule 12.2): before submitting the notice of arbitration; when submitting the notice of arbitration; or at any time prior to the constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal. If the request is made before the notice of arbitration, the notice must be filed within 7 days thereafter ( Rule 12.3)......
This Practice Note sets out when the court may issue directions about the proper treatment and questioning of a witness or defendant at a ground rules hearing, explains the procedural framework for such hearings, and outlines the directions that might be made in a particular case. Those directions form part of a wider suite of special measures intended to support the effective participation of a vulnerable witness or defendant in criminal proceedings, where necessary and proportionate. For detail on other special measures available in criminal cases, see Practice Notes: Special measures and Special measures for the accused. The procedural scheme for a ground rules hearing appears in Part 3 of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2025 ( Crim PR 2025), SI 2025/909, with further guidance in Part 6 of the Criminal Practice Directions 2023 ( CPD 2023). Additional guidance is available in the Crown Court...
Restricted securities The provisions governing directors and employees in relation to restricted securities, as set out in Chapter 2, Part 7 of the Income Tax ( Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 ( ITEPA 2003), are frequently seen in practice on management-involved corporate transactions. Put simply, restricted securities are employment-related securities which: at the time of acquisition are subject to identifiable restrictions that depress the value of the securities For the meaning of employment-related securities, see Practice Note: What is an employment-related security? For a fuller explanation of the definitions of restricted securities and restricted interests in securities, see Practice Note: What are restricted securities? Restrictions are commonly intended to encourage an employee or director to remain with the employer and to meet specified performance conditions. They may affect an employee’s ability to keep shares (for example, the articles of association may require a transfer to...
This Practice Note sets out a concise overview of recent key legal developments influencing Irish commercial lawyers throughout 2026 and beyond. Please send suggestions for topics to feature in our horizon scanner to: irelandcurrentawareness@lexisnexis.com. To monitor forthcoming legal and regulatory changes for Irish commercial lawyers, see Practice Note: Ireland— Commercial horizon scanner 2026. For previously tracked Irish commercial developments, see Practice Notes: Ireland— Commercial horizon scanner 2025 [ Archived] and Ireland— Commercial horizon scanner 2024 [ Archived]. The tracker highlights principal Irish commercial law developments across: contract consumer protection competition agency and distribution sale and supply of goods and services confidential information and intellectual property data protection and e Privacy digital trade Legislation This section provides details of recent legislative changes relevant to Commercial practitioners that are partly or fully in force. Act/ SI title:...
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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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