1. Upcoming German Annual General Meetings season 2020 A lot of German corporates have traditionally lined up their annual general meetings (AGM) for May, June and July. In the wake of the co-rona virus crisis, the boards of a large number of compa...

The Property Sector needs to be aware of the Property Sector Transformation Charter Code (“the Property Charter”) as Section 20(1) of the Property Practitioners Bill (“the PPB”) states that: “The Property Sector Transfo...

AI AND ROBOTICS IN RETAIL HAS UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM. IT WILL BE A KEY FOCUS AND POTENTIAL DIFFERENTIATOR FOR RETAILERS Earlier this year, MEPs voted for a set of regulations to be drafted to govern the use and creation of robots and artificial intell...

Précis New EU copyright directive entered into force on 7 June 2019, ushering in new EU copyright rules, bringing radical changes to the EU copyright regime. Member states have until 7 June 2021 to implement the new directive. Background The Europea...

Speed brief: On 11 July 2019, the UK Government published legislation confirming its intention to introduce a digital services tax (DST). The key features of this DST are as follows: • 2% tax on revenues (not profit) generated from UK users &bu...

2020 looks set to be a significant year for privacy, cyber security and Internet content reforms in China and Hong Kong. On 20 December 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China released the “Regulation on Governance of Internet Information...

The European Commission has announced proposals to amend the Enabling Regulation adopted in 1998. This forms part of the EC’s State Aid Modernisation Initiative. It will allow the EC to focus on larger more...

? The European Commission has announced proposals to amend the Procedural Regulation adopted in 1999. This forms part of the EC’s State Aid Modernisation Initiative and will support quicker decision making and ensure a focus...

? The Solicitors Regulation Authority has undertaken consultation on proposed changes to the rules for solicitors employed by local authorities.  The SRA is proposing to amend rule 4.15(e) of the Practice Framework Rules, to ...

Code of Conduct for Operational PFI/PPPs HM Treasury recently published a brand new PFI/PPP code of conduct (the ‘Code’) which is aimed at delivering savings in operational PPP contracts. What has been introduced? ...

On 1 July 2013, following its consultation Judicial Review: proposals for reform, the Government introduced significant changes to the judicial review process.  The stated aim was to balance the need to ensure lawful public administration with ...

Freedom of information and the private sector -  the next chapter in transparency by the Coalition Government Extension to Transparency agenda and Freedom of Information In March 2014, Justice Minister Simon Hughes MP stated: “We do inten...

On 4 February 2015, the government launched a consultation on draft regulations implementing the cap on care costs contained in the Care Act 2014. The consultation also sought views on the need for new appeals system in relation to local authorities...

With the dust settling after the recent General Election, it is possible to better speculate as to the likely direction of travel of the new Conservative government. The new administration has a slim majority, therefore, there still may be an elemen...

Introduction The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill 2015 (“the Bill”) is currently before Parliament. The Bill is relatively short and deals with two areas in particular: i) the powers of charities to make social investmen...

A commitment to reduce public sector termination packages has seen the Government explore various proposals for reform in recent years; from draft regulations seeking recovery of termination payments, to a financial cap upon the amount of any indivi...

The security of personal information, including customer payment card data and related details, is integral to the functioning of retailers with an online offering, and there are serious consequences in the event of security breaches. Penalties...

3D printing is becoming an increasingly versatile and commercially attractive tool. The technology has many applications beyond its roots in prototyping and it is being used to create products such as clothes, cars, musical instruments and even huma...

This month Visa Europe announced its expansion of V.me, a digital wallet service which will be available to the majority of internet shoppers in the UK before the end of 2015. V.me launched in 2013 following a surge in the use of smartphones and tab...

The protection of trade secrets has been on the European legislator’s agenda since 2011. It was felt that the lack of harmonisation in this field is very disadvantageous for cross-border innovation in Europe. After the initial report requested...

On 31 March 2015, the German Federal Cartel Office (“Bundeskartellamt”, BKartA) announced that it has blocked the proposed takeover of approximately 450 Kaiser’s Tengelmann supermarket branches by EDEKA, the leading German food ret...

On 9 September 2015, in his first State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a review of the power wielded over food markets by groups of retailers and the “need to break some retail oligopolies&rd...

On 9 September 2015, in his first State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a review of the power wielded over food markets by groups of retailers and the “need to break some retail oligopolies&rd...

On 17 September 2015, the House of Lords EU Internal Market Sub-Committee (“the Committee”) launched an inquiry into the regulation of online platforms in the EU. The Committee intends to gather evidence on the benefits and problems online platforms...

Selective Distribution – Some recent developments in the adidas case: when can sales via online platforms be restricted? On 18 November 2015, the Autorité de la concurrence (the “French Competition Authority” or “...

The Covid-19 Block Exemption for the Retail Property Sector (the “Regulations”) were published on 24 March 2020 in response to the declaration of the National State of Disaster. The Regulations exempt certain agreements or practices with...

Introduction It is always important to establish whether or not communications with the opposing party in a dispute are truly without prejudice (“WP”). If a communication is deemed not to be protected by WP privilege, a party exposes the...

On 12 August this year, the Insurance Act 2015 will introduce the most significant changes to insurance law in 110 years – how will it affect the shipping industry? The Act applies to all insurance policies taken out by businesses which are subject ...

The Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984 (the “Act”) sets out the procedure to be followed when a claim is proceeding in the courts of England and Wales and the laws of any other country apply. Given the international nature of the shipping industry,...

Suez Fortune Investments Ltd and another v Talbot Underwriting Ltd [2016] EWHC 1085 (Comm) Introduction On the 15 January 2015, the English Commercial Court handed down a decision that highlights the importance of compliance with disclosure obligati...

In our pre-referendum briefin...

What is the Digital Railway programme? The Digital Railway programme is a Network Rail led initiative to modernise train command, control and signalling systems used on the British railway network with the aim of substantially improving the capabili...

The Fourth Rail Package, which was introduced between June and December 2016, is a set of six items of EU legislation designed to increase the reliability and competitiveness of European railways in accordance with the EU’s liberalisation agen...

What is the purpose of the Consultation? The Office of Rail and Road (the “ORR”) is engaged in the 2018 regulatory review of Network Rail, known as the 2018 Periodic Review or “PR18”. PR18 will determine what Network Rail mus...

What is the Hansford Review and what is its purpose? Professor Peter Hansford was commissioned by the Board of Network Rail to chair an independent review of “contestability” in the UK Rail Market, with the intent of “encouraging t...

Background As part of the Government’s commitment to the “Northern Powerhouse” agenda, legislation to turn Transport for the North (“TfN”) into a statutory sub-national transport body with legal powers and duties has be...

Background The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has recently published draft guidance on its approach to assessing rail franchise awards under its merger control powers (the “Draft Guidance”)1. The guidance has been ...

Highways England are moving forward with the A303 Stonehenge project (A303) and the Lower Thames crossing (LTC) and will be starting their market and supply chain engagement in March 2018. These projects are two of the largest in Highway England's R...

Following close consultation with IFI's including the IFC, World Bank and EBRD, Tunisia has launched a review process to aid with the structuring and implementation of new PPP projects. Eversheds Sutherland was privileged to have been spec...

Background The Office of Rail and Road (the “ORR”) has issued its final determination (“Final Determination”) on the regulatory review of Network Rail (“NR”), known as the 2018 Periodic Review (“PR18”)...

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published a set of guidelines (in draft) for public consultation. These will be absolutely key to providers of online services, such as social media, e-commerce, internet search engines, communication an...

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The DPC has published useful guidance on CCTV usage for controllers. The guidance is intended to assist owners and occupiers of premises to understand their responsibilities and obligations regarding data protection when using CCTV. This is particul...

The ICO has launched a public consultation on its new draft data sharing code of practice. The consultation period ends on 9 September 2019. It is an update of the previous code, to align it with GDPR so as to address transparency, lawful bases for ...

The operational resilience of retail banks operating in the United Kingdom has come under increased scrutiny following a number of high-profile IT failures and cyber-attacks. Regulators have shown a willingness to impose significant penalties for IT...

What you need to know UK regulatory guidance has been updated to the effect that the timescale for responding to individuals’ requests (including subject access requests) is one calendar month from the day of receipt of the ...

Quick Read Many readers may have chosen to skip looking at the Guidelines that the EDPB published for consultation recently, if you are one of them, and you routinely use CCTV (or other similar devices) within your business – you may want to h...

CJEU Ruling on Cookies On 1 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave a preliminary ruling1  on questions referred from the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice in Germany) that:   Consent is not validly ...

While fines recently imposed by the French and UK data protection supervisory authorities have been high, the supervisory authorities in Germany have so far imposed rather moderate penalties. This could now be changed by a new model for calculating ...

The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) has asked to be given the ability to exercise various powers (and gain access to investigation) under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”), and has opened a consultation ...