On May 20, 2005, the Supreme Court issued its judgment in the Smith & Nephew Inc. v. Louise Glegg and Christopher Carter and Gilles Dextradeur v. Louise Glegg cases1 ...
The Irish Law Reform Commission has published two consultation papers recommending legislative changes to clarify the role, duties, powers and responsibilities of trustees, including charitable trustees, so that general trust law keeps up with the ever changing economic and social climate ...
The new Arbitration Rules of the International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) came into force on 1 May 2005. The following are the major changes: Specialist Arbitration Rules The new Rules provide for the possibility of using rules tailored made for specific industries. Todate, only rules for financial disputes have been published. Specialist panels of arbitrators have also been set up according to the nature of dispute ...
The decision to terminate an employee carries with it the risk of a possible legal challenge. Depending upon an employer’s policies or whether an employee has an employment contract, an employee may, for example, have a breach of contract or “wrongful discharge” claim. An “at-will” employer - that is, an employer who reserves the right to terminate employees without cause - generally does not need to worry about such claims ...
Inheritance tax is often assumed to be a rich man's concern, but the recent housing boom means that this is no longer the case. The sharp rise in house prices has completely outpaced tax thresholds, meaning that there has been a huge increase in the number of families who could face large bills for Inheritance Tax (IHT) when the homeowner dies ...
MAJOR INDUSTRY USE AND CLASSIFICATION ISSUES I.Introduction A.General Principles of Classification Under s. 19(14) of the B.C. Assessment Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 20 (the “Assessment Act”) and the Prescribed Classes of Property Regulation (B.C. Reg. 438/81) (the “Classification Regulation”), real property in B.C ...
EQUITY AND CONSISTENCY IN ASSESSMENTS I. General Principles of Equity A hallmark of the assessment and taxation of property in B.C. is the principle of equity: taxing authorities must deal even-handedly with all taxpayers in a municipality or rural area, and all taxpayers with a class must be treated in the same way. Equity in the context of the property assessment in B.C ...
On May 10, 2005 an “Accord Establishing Additional Benefits for Certified Companies With a Maquila or PITEX Program” came into effect. This new accord provides additional benefits for certified companies which have a maquila or PITEX program ...
The Benefits of Using a an Unlimited Liability Company (1) Introduction Unlimited Liability Companies (“ULC”) have become useful vehicles for the acquisition of a Canadian business by a U.S. investor. This paper summarizes the advantages of using a ULC, the treatment of a ULC in Canada and in the U.S. and the use of a ULC in a factual setting involving the acquisition of a Canadian business. Until recently, only Nova Scotia offered the possibility of incorporating a ULC ...
Preamble In Quebec, most collective agreements contain a “loss of seniority and employment” clause according to which the signatories agree to terminate the employment of an employee in various circumstances, in particular after an absence of a specific period of time due to disability or illness. Collective agreements usually also provide for a benefit plan for an employee who is absent due to disability or illness, or the protection of his or her employment during this period ...
Introduction: A Second Union is a “Marriage” of Competing Interests As a general rule, individuals who enter into a second marriage or a second union are more than 40 years of age, have accumulated their own property and have enjoyed a standard of living that they want to maintain or even improve upon ...
With more than 13 million working days a year lost to stress at an estimated cost of £3.8 billion to the economy, managing employees’ anxiety levels has never been more important Although the figure of half a million workers in the UK experiencing work-related stress at intolerable levels appears manageable, this is really only the tip of the iceberg with up to five million people feeling 'very' or 'extremely' stressed by work ...
Introduction Advocate General Jacobs, in delivering his Opinion in Syfait and others v Glaxosmithkline (Case C-53/03, 28 October 2004), has found in favour of Glaxosmithkline (GSK) by stating that the refusal by a dominant pharmaceutical company to fulfil all orders from wholesalers does not automatically constitute an abuse of a dominant position, despite such refusal clearly limiting parallel trade of the products in question ...
By Eduardo A Trueba C. January 2005 Corporate subsistence, in an economy that each day becomes more competitive, dynamic and integrated to the global world in which we live, has exponentially increased corporate mergers and alliances, together with similar transactions, such as stock acquisitions from one company for another’s capital, company, know how, and royalties transfers, among others ...
In November the UK government bowed to pressure from unions and bereaved relatives and announced its intention to produce a draft bill on corporate killing for England and Wales. This bill, if successful, would have enabled companies to be prosecuted for management failures that resulted in a person's death. No such government bill has however, been forthcoming. Nor is it likely that any such government bill will appear before the 2005 general election ...
The first legal issue to consider is whether your company has the power to carry out non-commercial dealings such as making political or charitable donations. The company's constitution should be reviewed to ensure the company is expressly empowered to make such donations. If no express power exists you could consider putting a relevant amendment of the constitution to a shareholders' vote ...
On 26 October 2004, Lithuanian Parliament adopted the Law on Works Councils which came into effect from 11 November 2004. In this memorandum please find short comments regarding the procedure for formation of national works councils, their role in the enterprise, obligations and additional legal possibilities of employers related to works councils ...
Employers often find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place when trying to manage employees who are pregnant. If the employer gets it wrong, he faces the potential for claims of sex discrimination and the possibility of a finding of automatic unfair dismissal. This can not only tarnish his reputation but hit him hard in the pocket too ...
Ukrainian tax authorities are notorious for their practice of failing to return VAT advance payments on time. This problem appears to be of an economic rather than legal nature and persists due to the constant shortage of budget funds, which are most commonly spent for purposes other than proper VAT rebates. Ultimately, the state is unwilling and often unable to refund VAT in the proper way, and so is continuously credited at the expense of local taxpayers ...
In this article, we have summarised several recent employment cases that address the issues of maternity protection, summary dismissal, notice of termination of employment, payable wages and vicarious liability. Some of these cases ascertain the established position of the law whilst others shed new lights on some areas of uncertainties. The case of Sun Min v. Hong Kong Ming Wah Shipping Co. Ltd ...
The State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice on Several Issues in the Implementation of Tax Agreements and the Individual Income Tax Law on Individuals With No Domicile in China on 23 July 2004. The Notice, which entered into effect on 1 July 2004, clarifies a number of issues related to the levy of PRC individual income tax ("IIT") on expatriate employees ...
In late October, the IRS released a revised version of its 1023 Form. The new Form requires extensive new disclosures by organizations that seek recognition of tax-exempt status as charities under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Many of the questions added to the exemption application are likely to be included in revised Form 990 information returns scheduled to be released later this year ...
Even if an idea for a new invention only exists in the mind of an employee, that idea belongs to the company…unless the contract of employment clearly states otherwise! The importance of ensuring that contracts of employment cover this area has been brought into sharp focus by a recent case in Texas, where the rules are very similar to those in the UK ...
All companies must manage their excessive absenteeism files. Repeated absences, even when they only involve a small percentage of employees, have a substantial negative impact on all employees. An employer should therefore intervene immediately to prevent its employees from thinking that they can be absent whenever they wish. Also, many employees use the example of other employees to justify their own absences, causing the problem to grow out of proportion ...
