DLA Piper has been instructed to act on a number of cases for a non-EU carrier that test the scope of EC Regulation 261/2004 in respect of missed flight connections outside of the EU. The first of these cases has now been decided at county court level, resulting in a successful win for the carrier. […]
In this article, Walker Morris considers six of the most important developments in English commercial law to have occurred in 2013. Probably the most significant case in the perennially troublesome area of exclusion clauses was Kudos Catering (UK) Ltd v Manchester Central Convention Complex Ltd, in which a party sought to rely upon an exclusion […]
The Pensions Regulator has issued guidance on asset-backed contributions arrangements (ABCs). This comes three years after some brief commentary on such arrangements contained in the Regulator’s statement on employer-related investments, which referred to a need to underpin an ABC arrangement. ABCs are on the rise, with press reports confirming that these arrangements are being used […]
The Court of Appeal has had to consider the amount of damages payable in relation to air conditioning equipment placed, without permission, on a roof. If the parties had negotiated a licence, what would have been the duration of the hypothetical permission? And could aggravated damages be awarded to the aggrieved owner in respect of […]
The Supreme Court has strongly indicated to the home secretary in its judgment in AA (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] UKSC 81 that she should amend the immigration rules concerning family reunion of children with refugees in the UK. The court held that it could not itself rewrite the rules […]
By Simon Barnes On 12 December 2013, the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) announced that a £380,000 settlement had been agreed in relation to a market sharing cartel involving two pharmaceutical suppliers. The settlement follows an investigation by the OFT into agreements between Quantum Pharmaceutical and Lloyds Pharmacy under which medicines were supplied to care homes between May […]
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) was first put into operation in the UK on 1 April 2010. It is a mandatory scheme, aimed at large public and private sector organisations. It is designed to incentivise such organisations, through the application of a tailored combination of drivers, to take up cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. As a […]
The spectre of lengthy lines of salaried partners going cap in hand to the banks early next year was raised last week by changes to the partnership tax regime. The changes are aimed at dealing with the so-called ‘disguised salary’ of LLP members. The background to this lies in one of the incidental benefits of […]
Reading-based Boyes Turner has pulled out of the tripartite merger talks with Blake Lapthorn and Morgan Cole. In a statement issued this afternoon, Boyes Turner said: ”After careful consideration we have decided to withdraw from the preliminary discussions that have been taking place with Blake Lapthorn and Morgan Cole. “We understand that the talks between […]
We began the year with the final chapter in the long-running series of cases on manifestation of religious belief. In the combined appeals of Ladele and McFarlane v the United Kingdom and Eweida and Chaplin v the United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) considered whether UK law adequately protected the right to […]
This year brought changes to the legislative provisions governing collective redundancy consultation. Since 6 April, where an employer proposes making 100 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period, consultation must begin at least 45 days (previously 90 days) before the first redundancy takes effect. In contrast, the 90-day maximum ‘protective award’, where an employer […]
There has for some years now been a campaign to include protection against caste discrimination in equality legislation. The ERRA 2013 includes a power to specify caste as an aspect of race. While the government is now committed to bringing this into force, how quickly this will happen is another question. Campaigners are angry at […]