The Civil Mediation Council (‘CMC’) held its annual conference yesterday (16 May 2017) in Birmingham. It was an inspiring and informative day. Dr Sue Prince of Exeter University gave the first presentation, about her research into use of mediation in the justice system. She has a wealth of data and knowledge from the UK and […]
The House of Lords EU Committee has published a report about the effect of Brexit on three EU Regulations which together ‘play an important role in facilitating the daily operation of the European legal system’. Jonathan Haydn-Williams looks at the Committee’s conclusions as to the Brussels I Regulation ‘recast’, relating to jurisdiction and judgments in civil […]
In most commercial negotiations, discussions about dispute resolution procedures are usually left until last. The parties don’t like to poison negotiations by talking about how they resolve disputes before they even reach agreement. But the future resolution of disputes in any eventual EU/UK agreement has exercised both sides already in the embryonic negotiations. This is […]
Happy New Year! As the celebrations have now passed and it is back to work, let’s look at some employment law developments coming up in 2017. Employment Tribunal Fees Fees were introduced back in 2013 for all Employment Tribunal claims. However, the lawfulness of this was questioned and the latest hearing in the long running […]
A great deal of the comment on this case, which is summarised in Jonathan Haydn Williams’ note, has not taken into account that it is a typical judicial review, in which the claimants maintain that certain “rights” are to be removed by government to their detriment. What has also not been commented on extensively, is […]
From screaming headlines to more sober assessments, much has been written about this decision of the High Court since it was delivered earlier this month. Early in December, an appeal by the government is to be heard by the Supreme Court. The judgment is 31 pages long and comprises 111 paragraphs. The aim of this […]
Attached r-v-secretary-of-state-for-exiting-the-eu is the Judgment approved by the Court (subject to editorial corrections) as delivered today. Decision: “the Secretary of State does not have power under the Crown’s prerogative to give notice pursuant to Article 50 of the TEU for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union”. This is subject to appeal, which is […]
The summer may now have gone but it was an active period for employment law news. Below we look back at some of the happenings to ensure you remain aware of developments that could impact on your business going forward. Employment status It was reported in July 2016 that the food delivery firm, Deliveroo, had […]
The question of whether software constitutes goods or services has always been problematic. The answer can determine if and when certain terms are implied into a commercial contract, which in turn may have significant financial consequences for the losing party in a dispute. This was illustrated most recently in the High Court case of The […]
This week’s announcement that Ofcom is closing its investigation into Virgin Media’s complaint that the Premier League is restricting the supply of live TV rights to its matches, in return for the Premier League increasing their number from 168 to 190 and agreeing that no single buyer will scoop the pool next time the rights […]
Theresa May, the new Prime Minister, stated “Brexit means Brexit”, but it is not yet known what Brexit means for the UK. There is much speculation as to whether the UK will adopt a Norwegian, Swiss or Canadian model for trading with EU, or something else entirely. In reality, it is impossible to know what […]
Executive summary: The EU Referendum was advisory, not binding; no UK decision on ‘Brexit’ has yet been taken; although EU law has primacy, the UK has never given up sovereignty to the EU; the issue of whether Parliament has to legislate for a decision to leave the EU, before ‘Article 50’ notification is given, is […]
It is just over 3 weeks since the UK voted for BREXIT and matters have been moving quickly, at least in the world of politics. This article is written as part of a collection of articles in the GD Online special edition on BREXIT and examines the key issues in construction in the UK and […]
Timescale If Article 50 is invoked, the UK will have a 2 year window to negotiate terms of its departure from the EU. This can only be extended with the unanimous consent of all Member States. There are various schools of thought on whether Article 50 notification can be withdrawn unilaterally. One school of thought […]
A large proportion of the employment law which subsists in the UK derives from EU law. To name a few aspects, discrimination, collective consultation on redundancy, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE), family leave entitlements, the Working Time Regulations 1998 and The Agency Worker Regulations 2010. However, much of the employment […]
We already reported a marked cooling in the volume of residential property transactions prior to the referendum. In the immediate aftermath of the shock result whilst the dust attempts to settle, many commentators appear to agree that it is still too early to say what the effect of Brexit will have on the property sector, […]
Much of the speculative commentary on Brexit and its implications for competition law has adopted “a business as usual” analysis. It is said that we are bound to follow EU law while we are members and that it is likely that competition law based on the EU/EEA model will kick in once we leave – […]
Suffice it to say it is not yet known what the precise mechanics for leaving will be or what model will then be adopted to govern the UK-EU relationship post-Brexit. Neither the UK nor the EU has indicated what might be proposed in negotiations. However it is clear that whichever model is chosen, the UK […]
The contra proferentem rule broadly states that where there is doubt about the meaning of a contract, the words will be construed against the party who put them forward. This is because a party who imposes terms on another must make those terms clear and should suffer the consequences if it fails to do so. […]