With preliminary hearings now underway for Modules 1 and 2 of the COVID-19 Public Inquiry (‘the Inquiry’), its approach to expert evidence is emerging as an important issue for Core Participants (‘CPs’) ...
On 10 February 2022, Shoosmiths hosted a webinar exploring practicalities, possibilities and predictions ahead of the upcoming UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry, which is due to commence in the spring. The webinar was aimed at supporting any businesses affected by the pandemic, and who might wish or be required to take part in the Inquiry. Compered by Charles Arrand (Partner), the webinar included talks by Paul Eccles (Partner), Joanne Sear (Principal Associate) and Hannah Howard (Associate) ...
The extensive global COVID-19 pandemic determined the states to impose restrictive measures with impact over the free movement of people and usual course of business of the economic operators. Due to the recent development of the outbreak in Romania, the Presidential Decree no. 195/16.03 ...
On 21 July 2022, the Chair of the COVID-19 Inquiry ('the Inquiry'), Baroness Heather Hallett, issued an opening statement. As part of her commitment to streamlining the process, the Chair has invited applicants to group themselves together with others with a similar interest, wherever possible, to help manage the potentially large number of people and organisations seeking Core Participant status ...
With the COVID-19 Inquiry (“the Inquiry”) now open, and applications for Core Participant status for Modules 1 and 2 currently being assessed, potential applicants will need to consider how their participation in the Inquiry will be funded. Section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 provides that funding for legal representation can be awarded out of the Inquiry budget. As the Inquiry will be funded by the government this is, in effect, public funding ...
The COVID-19 global pandemic continues to rage and tenants in Cambodia are now looking carefully at whether this situation can be considered a force majeure event in order to seek a cessation or reduction of their rental payments. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) officially declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) a global pandemic ...
On 21 July 2022, Baroness Heather Hallett issued an opening statement in respect of the COVID-19 Inquiry ('the Inquiry'). As Chair, Baroness Hallett expressed her determination to “run the Inquiry as thoroughly and as efficiently as possible” and “to undertake and conclude the work of this Inquiry as speedily as possible so that lessons are learned before another pandemic strikes ...
In Canada, as elsewhere in the world, intellectual property owners have made numerous attempts to control their distribution channels through trademark law, copyright law, or exclusive contracts, without much success. However, in a recent decision ( Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. v. Simms Sigal & Co. Ltd ...
The Jersey Retail Price Index (“JRPI”), the main measure of inflation, was 7.9% higher in June 2022 than it was 12 months before - the highest rate of increase seen since 1992. 1 The next JRPI is due to be released in October 2022 and further significant increases are expected. Such a hefty rise in inflation is concerning – it is inevitable that people will suffer from a worrying financial squeeze ...
A just-passed piece of legislation crafted to bolster countercrime defenses and crack open beneficial ownership bastions, a historical haven for criminals of all stripes, has lesser-known tethers for certain segments of the investment sector – a critical pitfall that should not be lost on compliance teams. In May 2020, a leaked investigation bulletin prepared by the U.S ...
Bolivia has just culminated the step that will have the greatest impact in the process of creating a new constitution for Bolivia. On Sunday July 2, Bolivia elected the constituents to the assembly that will be in charge with providing structure and substance to the new constitutional norm ...
The federal agency now well-known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The CFPB is a uniquely independent agency, shielded from the executive branch in a way that other agencies are not. Doing away with that independence has the potential to significantly alter the CFPB and its regulatory work ...
West Virginia has seven "mechanic's and materialman’s lien" statutes to protect the interests of those performing or supplying construction-related work in the state.1 Although these statutes are interpreted by the courts to be inclusive in their application to protect a wide range of those performing services or supplying materials, they specifically provide protection to the following persons, firms or corporations:Contractor (W. Va. Code 38-2-1)Subcontractor (W. Va ...
In a previous article we emphasised the importance of ensuring compliance with the competition rules even during an economic crisis – there are inter alia strict rules on cooperation between competitors. The outbreak of Covid-19 has led to a shortage of certain healthcare products ...
Many companies are affected by the economic crisis resulting from the spread of Covid-19. We have previously reported that, under the EU state aid rules, there are certain opportunities for the state and other public entitiesto provide support to these companies or sectors. On 19 March 2020, the Commission adopted a temporary framework for state aid, which was amended and extended on 3 April 2020, with a view to limiting the economic and social impacts of Covid-19 ...
Renewable energy developers and contractors have been anticipating the Treasury Department and IRS’s initial guidance on what is required to satisfy the prevailing wage and apprentice requirements under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ...
A delay is “concurrent” is a delay to the critical path of the project caused by multiple events not exclusively controlled by one party. If you are impacted by a delay to the critical path that was not within your control but are responsible for another overlapping delay to the critical path, the delays are concurrent, and you may not be able to recover damages for the former delay ...
Charities need many things to make a difference, including good people and sufficient funding, but effective leadership underpins everything and the recently refreshed Charity Governance Code is a valuable tool in striving to practise good governance ...
As of August 7th, 2018, the amendments of the Consumer Protection Law (CPL), which includes for the first time, the consumer protection in the field of electronic commerce (e-commerce), taking that as the contracting process or the goods, services and commercial information trading through data communication webs ...
The pandemic has, if nothing else, demonstrated how much more needs to be done in the battle against climate change. Despite the worldwide economic slowdown and travel ban resulting from coronavirus, global carbon dioxide emissions reduced by just 6% (approximately 2.3bn tonnes) in 2020. But both governments and industry are responding to the challenge, however, with a renewed sense of urgency and collaborative spirit ...
In recent times, the financial market has been abuss with discussions about the potential benefits of real estate tokenisation. Several initiatives worldwide, such as Propchain in Dubai, Vave and Equisafe in France, Propellr, Inveniam Capital Partners, and Fluidity in the United States, as well as Elevated Returns in the United States and Thailand, have taken the bold step of launching tokenised real estate projects ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded the definition of close contact to now evaluate exposure cumulatively over a 24-hour period such that “15 cumulative minutes of exposure at a distance of 6 feet or less can be used as an operational definition for contact investigation,”[1] Because the newly expanded definition is not limited, it impacts many different industries (inclu
The current regime Under the current regime in the Cayman Islands, the only option for a company to obtain a moratorium on claims, and to benefit from what is often seen as necessary breathing room to explore a restructuring, is for a winding up petition to be issued against the company and for the company to be placed into provisional liquidation, with provisional liquidators (JPLs) appointed over the company on a light-touch basis with the mandate to explore a restructuring of the company&r
In an opinion written in under 1,000 words, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal put foreclosure cases across Florida in jeopardy in Desbrunes v. U.S. Bank National Association in February ...
Last week, President Trump signed two Legislative Acts – the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA") and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). Effective April 1, 2020, the FFCRA requires employers with more than 50 but fewer than 500 employees to provide emergency paid sick leave and expanded Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") leave to employees ...
