Under proposals put to the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, data protection law looks set to be reformed such that the use of ‘pre-ticked’ boxes will no longer be permitted as a way of showing…
A High Court case has provided another reminder that the purpose of a deposit is to secure the buyer's performance. The court ordered the buyer of a ship to pay to the seller the full amount of an unpaid deposit…
A patent can only be granted when there is novelty in the thing for which the patent is sought. This is why it is critical that one’s novel designs do not become public knowledge: once they do, a patent application…
Who can challenge a company’s decision that has been improperly made? This question was the subject of a court hearing recently, when the owners of the ‘ultimate economic interest’ in shares in a company sought to overturn a decision the…
When a businessman voiced his opinion on planning matters by joining a planning action group which opposed the construction of two biomass power plants, he did not expect his past business record to become the subject of debate. However, a…
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 [1] came into force on 6 April 2012. These made some adjustments to the existing Regulations, in order to take account of the European Commission’s view that the UK had not fully implemented the…
An EAT decision provides a reminder to all employers that any departure from the conventional approach to selection criteria during a redundancy exercise must be treated with caution. The EAT found that an employer had acted unreasonably when it used…
Employers will welcome an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision that provides further guidance on how the tribunal will apply the procedural requirements of the Acas Code in unfair dismissal cases. The EAT held that an employer's decision to dismiss was…
A firm of surveyors which carried out valuations that overstated the value of three properties found itself defending an action for negligence recently. The surveyors had issued valuations on which a mortgage lender had relied when approving loans. The High…
The High Court has clarified that where a consumer has a business purpose as well as a private purpose, the consumer can only fall within the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (SI 1999/2083) (UTCCRs) if those business purposes are…
