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...

The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment)(Governance) Regulations 2015 were laid before Parliament on 28 January 2015.  Issued under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, these...

Another year, another budget. So what have we learnt from the contents of the infamous red brief case? Here are some of the highlights for the local government community.             George...

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...

Although the "Mystery Shopper" has been around since February 2011, with the release of the Public Procurement Note 09/15 ("PPN 09/15") on 1 June 2015, we can expect to see a rise in the number of procurement investigations. PPN 09/15 explains the n...

Remember to Comply with the Health & Safety Executive Guidance Introduction The High Court (Queen's Bench Division) recently handed down judgment in the case of X v Northampton BC. The judgment is a reminder that a failure to comply with guidanc...

In R (on the application of Diocese of Menevia and others) v Swansea City and County Council1 (“the Council”), the Administrative Court was required to consider whether a change in policy made by the Council in respect of school transpor...

The Government has reported to have saved some £26 million by "curbing" the activities of union representatives in the civil service. As part of the Government's proposed package of measures to take this further the draft Trade Union Bill (int...

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...

Brand protection is a key issue for retailers. As brands continue to increase their presence online a key aspect is the protection of brands in domain names. Until fairly recently, the number of generic top level domains (“gTLDs&rdqu...

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...

Competition Law E-Briefing: Fashion sector competition probe On Tuesday 24 March 2015, the UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”), opened an investigation into suspected anti-competitive arrangements in the UK ...

The Preparatory Committee for the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) has published a consultation document providing the proposed fee structure of the UPC, a table of court fees, and details of the ceilings for recoverable costs. The consultat...

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...

  Introduction On 6 May the European Commission (“the Commission”) announced the launch of a competition law inquiry into the e-commerce sector, where it is believed that companies who engage in selling via the internet may be employing methods...

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...

It has been reported that the European Commission (the “Commission”) is asking retailers to detail the difficulties they face while trying to sell their products online, as part of the lengthy questionnaires sent to the retailers followi...

We are delighted to be sponsoring this year’s World Retail Congress taking place on 8 – 10 September in Rome. The theme to this year’s Congress is ‘Transformation today, tomorrow and beyond’, key to which for many retailers is international expansio...

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...

Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) publishes his opinion (the “Opinion”) questioning the validity of Safe Harbor The Opinion in summary On 23 September 2015 Advocate General (“AG&rdq...

The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) publishes its ruling (the “Ruling”) on Maximillian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner (the “Case”)   The Ruling in summary This morning (6 October 2015)...

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 “...

On 29 September 2016, the French Competition Authority (l’Autorité de la concurrence - the “Autorité”) imposed a fine of EUR 2.4 million on 37 model agencies and their main trade association, the SYNAM, in relation to...

The European Commission has launched three investigations into suspected breach of the competition rules by companies in the consumer electronics, videogames and hotel sectors.  The consumer electronics and videogames probes come out of the Com...

Introduction The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the authority responsible for operating and enforcing the UK merger control regime, has published its updated Retail Mergers Commentary (“New Commentary”).1 The CMA ...

In July 2017, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published a detailed guidance paper (the “Guidance Paper”) on resale price maintenance (“RPM”) in the retail food sector. The purpose of the paper is to expl...

Aysha Fernandes, legal director in Eversheds Sutherland’s Competition, EU & Trade group comments on the ramifications of UK CMA’s Ping fine appeal. This article was written by PaRR, the leading provider of inside track on comp...

The UK's Treasury Select Committee released a report into crypto-assets on 19 September.  The Committee’s key conclusion is that regulation of crypto-assets is necessary. Striking a negative tone, it identifies the problems of volatile pr...

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...

The EU single aviation market is the ...

A new set of rules, the York Antwerp Rules 2016 (the “YAR 2016”) has been adopted by the Comité Maritime International.  They are based on the previous versions of the York Antwerp Rules (the “YAR”) with some nota...

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,...

Reviewing the law and the impact on it of both the arguments in the Anna Bo [2015] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 578 and the Congenbill 2016 form The issue Bills of lading often include wording which purports to incorporate charterparty terms. Attempts to inc...

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...

Following a consultation on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the ‘Act’), the Government has confirmed the way in which train operators cap their liability to customers to compensate for delays or cancellations to services must be consistent...

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...

Background - The 2018 Periodic Review The Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) has recently published its conclusions (the “Conclusions”) following its initial consultation in relation to the creation of the 2018 Periodic Review ...

On 27 June 2017, the court ordered the lifting of the automatic suspension in the case of Alstom Transport UK Limited v London Underground Limited [2017] EWHC 1521 (TCC). The resulting judgment includes some interesting comments on the correct test ...

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...

Background As part of the 2018 periodic review (“PR18”) of Network Rail, the Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) is reviewing the way in which the charges that operators pay to access the rail network are calculated. This review ...