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...

Background The Government’s latest proposal in reforming the English schooling system was laid before Parliament last week in the form of the Education and Adoption Bill 2015-16 (“the Bill”). The Bill sets out provisions to conver...

Key Principles The public law duty to consult is one aspect of the principle that public authorities should exercise fairness in the exercise of their functions. Where the duty to consult is imposed by statute, then the procedure to be adopted is al...

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...

Supreme Court reinforces the need to interpret clauses by the words used and their "natural meaning" On 10 June 2015, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in the case of Arnold v Britton and others [2015] UKSC 36, which concerned the interpretatio...

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...

The Prime Minister announced on 18 April that a General Election will be held on Thursday 8 June. Parliament will be dissolved on 3 May and we wait with interest to see what planned legislation will survive the trauma of the current Parliament&rsqu...

A recent decision concerning ownership of copyright has served as a stark reminder to businesses to ensure they consider and clearly capture ownership of intellectual property at the outset when commissioning works. The case concerned rights in the ...

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...

The UK is changing the way in which it taxes share options and share awards held by employees who move between countries. Some employees will gain and some employees will lose. As an employer, if you have employees on assignment from overseas or you...

  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...

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 11 May 2016 the Commission blocked an acquisition of Teléfonica UK’s O2 by Hutchison 3G UK’s Three, casting doubt on the acceptability of ‘four to three’ mergers in the mobile sector. The Commission expressed concer...

The last two years have brought challenging times for ratepayers and there is little respite on the horizon. With the 2017 Revaluation looming, rateable values are likely to increase substantially throughout large swathes of the country. Together wi...

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...

Background Since coming into force in 2013, the EU Timber Regulation 995/2010 (“Timber Regulation”) has placed a due diligence obligation on businesses, requiring systems to be put in place to minimise the possibility that illegally harv...

The Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal decision and found in favour of the ratepayer in this much-anticipated business rates case involving the rateability of a property which was undergoing substantial renovation. The ratepayer submit...

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 ...

On 26 July 2017, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) published an opinion issued by Advocate General Nils Wahl (the “AG’s Opinion”) indicating that luxury brands may prevent retailers from selling via online marketpla...

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 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 ...

Anzen Limited & Another v Hermes One Limited In the case of Anzen Limited v Hermes One Limited [2016] UKPC 1, the Privy Council considered the use of permissive language in an arbitration clause.  Specifically, the Council considered what o...

It is becoming increasingly common for a buyer to engage a third party service provider to supervise the construction of a new vessel on its behalf. However to date there has been no standard form contract upon which the buyer and supervisor could b...

On 6 April 2016, BIMCO and the International Group of Liquified Natural Gas (“LNG”) Importers (“GIIGNL”) jointly issued a standard form voyage charterparty designed for use in the LNG trade. Its introduction is said to be spe...

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...

In our pre-referendum briefin...

As is common practice now, ING Bank (“ING”) filed a number of cases asserting rights to amounts due and payable to O.W Bunker & Trading A/S (“O.W Bunker) for the provision of bunkers of fuel oil to vessels.  These cases in...

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...

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multi-trillion Chinese led initiative to strengthen trade routes and related infrastructure across over 150 countries worldwide. The initiative covers over 60% of the world’s population in terms of ...

Intro / Summary The Supreme Court has refused to grant Emirates permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision in the joint case of Gahan v Emirates and Buckley and ors v Emirates meaning the Court of Appeal’s decision to award comp...

Background Following the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the Department for Transport (“DfT”) ran a consultation seeking views on the introduction of a “public service obligation levy&r...

Background Periodic reviews are one of the principal mechanisms by which the Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) holds Network Rail to account, and secures value for money for users and funders of the railway. The ORR’s periodic review...

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”)...

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Lorna Doggett examines what has and hasn’t been working since the GDPR’s introduction last May. To read the full article click here > This article was published in the April 2019 edition of Intellectual Property Magazine, and is repro...

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On 17 May 2019, the European Council established a framework and implemented a new sanctions regime which now allows the EU to impose targeted sanctions to “deter and respond to cyber-attacks which constitute an external threat to the EU and i...

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The Facebook “Like” button and similar social media plugin technologies (Plugin) are now so commonplace that we perhaps don’t give them a second thought. Plugins provide an easy way for consumers to connect instantly with a preferr...