I have recently been advising a farmer in relation to an appeal against a department penalty imposed for an alleged breach of GAEC (Good Agricultural Environmental Conditions). These are the conditions farmers claiming agricultural support payments must comply with, and which are designed to safeguard soils, habitats and landscape features on agricultural land. A breach of GAEC can lead to financial penalties being imposed on the farmer ...
The Court of Session has considered whether court proceedings can be raised to interrupt time bar, despite a contractual provision requiring adjudication before litigation. The issue Construction contracts often provide a hierarchy of dispute resolution processes. Before a party is permitted to litigate (or arbitrate), it is often required to attempt to resolve the dispute through another method (or methods) of dispute resolution ...
The recent case of John Doyle Construction (JDC) v Erith Contractors Limited provides two lessons for the construction sector concerning the enforcement of adjudicators’ decisions by companies in liquidation. First, “clear, evidenced, and unequivocal security” is necessary before enforcement is possible. Second, where a solvent and paying party asserts set-off and counter-claims, enforcement is prohibited in most circumstances ...
Certain claims in contentious executry matters, such as challenging a will, must be made within a specific time period. Where a dispute arises, seeking legal advice about the relevant time period at the earliest opportunity is of fundamental importance. In Scots law, the loss of a claim due to the passage of time is known as prescription and is presently governed by the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 ...
The Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Act 2021 received Royal Assent on 15 December 2021. The Act implements changes to the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (the CDDA). Importantly, it will allow the Insolvency Service to investigate the conduct of directors of dissolved companies. What is the current position? The CDDA allows the Insolvency Service to investigate the conduct of directors of insolvent companies ...
How will the UK become a Net Zero-aligned Financial Centre? Last month, the UK Government announced that the UK was to be the world’s first Net Zero-aligned Financial Centre. The Institute for Government defines “net zero” as “a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere” ...
It makes for great entertainment if a competition comes down to the last few minutes. So a dramatic final race in Abu Dhabi should have been the finishing flourish for a Formula One season that has been one of the closest in years, with Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fighting it out for the championship. Instead, the last lap generated huge controversy after a decision by the Race Director to allow some cars to unlap themselves, and order the safety car in immediately ...
The unquantifiable part of subjecting a dispute to the arbitration of a court is the litigation risk. We explore what those risks are and why it is essential that they should never be ignored. The cornerstones of any case should be clear, solid and documented evidence, a series of strong witnesses and in the ideal world and a juicy piece of case law (precedent) that ties it all together and gives the judge/panel a map to direct them to their decision ...
In the second part of this article, we look at the problems that can arise through the interpretation of evidence by the tribunal and look at ways to mitigate litigation risk by ensuring that the story of the case is presented as clearly as possible ...
Law 9/2022 was published in Diário da República, the Portuguese official gazette, on 11 January 2022. This new law establishes measures to support and speed up corporate restructuring processes and payment agreements. It is the result of the incorporation into Portuguese law of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 (“Directive (EU) 2019/1023”) ...
Employment Law An examination of the case ofTelekom Research andDevelopment Sdn Bhd v Ahmad Farid Bin Abdul Rahman by the Court of Appeal Introduction The Industrial Court had ruled that the company, Telekom Research and Development Sdn Bhd (“Telekom”), had proven the misconduct against a former employee, the claimant Ahmad Farid Bin Abdul Rahman (“Ahmad”), and that the dismissal was justified ...
A question that is often asked about the parental status of female same-sex parents is: do they both have the same legal rights in relation to their child? The law changed on 6 April 2009 by virtue of sections 42 and 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, so that both the birth mother and her partner (referred to here for ease as the ‘non-birth mother’) can be recognised as legal parents for conceptions that took place after that date ...
This is a reminder that as of January 6, 2022, the Small Business Administration is requiring all small businesses to use a five-year period of measurement in determining their size under a revenue-based size standard. On January 6, 2020, the SBA published its final rule providing for a five-year period of measurement for determining a small business’s size under revenue-based size standards ...
This is a reminder that as of January 6, 2022, the Small Business Administration is requiring all small businesses to use a five-year period of measurement in determining their size under a revenue-based size standard. On January 6, 2020, the SBA published its final rule providing for a five-year period of measurement for determining a small business’s size under revenue-based size standards ...
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation v. Accord Healthcare, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-1070 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 3, 2022) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s bench trial finding that claims of a pharmaceutical patent were supported by adequate written description under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) ...
The Oregon Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Oregon Court of Appeals and determined that the lease of a vested hydroelectric water right to the state for instream uses did not qualify as the “use of water under a hydroelectric water right” under Oregon Revised Statute 543A.305(3). WaterWatch v. Oregon Water Resources Department, 369 Or. 71 (2021) (hereafter referred to as Warm Springs Hydro, after intervenor respondent Warm Springs Hydro LLC) ...
The Oregon Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Oregon Court of Appeals and determined that the lease of a vested hydroelectric water right to the state for instream uses did not qualify as the “use of water under a hydroelectric water right” under Oregon Revised Statute 543A.305(3). WaterWatch v. Oregon Water Resources Department, 369 Or. 71 (2021) (hereafter referred to as Warm Springs Hydro, after intervenor respondent Warm Springs Hydro LLC) ...
The Oregon Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Oregon Court of Appeals and determined that the lease of a vested hydroelectric water right to the state for instream uses did not qualify as the “use of water under a hydroelectric water right” under Oregon Revised Statute 543A.305(3). WaterWatch v. Oregon Water Resources Department, 369 Or. 71 (2021) (hereafter referred to as Warm Springs Hydro, after intervenor respondent Warm Springs Hydro LLC) ...
No fault divorce is due to come into effect in England and Wales on 6 April 2022. From this date couples will be able to get divorced without one person needing to blame the other. This change will also apply to civil partnership dissolution. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 will be the biggest reform of divorce law in fifty years and means that you’ll no longer have to make allegations about your partner’s conduct to obtain a divorce ...
INTRODUCTION The new Framework Law on the Climate (Law 98/2021 of 31 December) was published on 31 December 2021. This new Law repeals Law 93/2001 of 20 August and establishes the guiding principles of climate policy and governance. It also introduces targets and provides for mechanisms to combat climate change, to decarbonise the economy and to achieve sustainable development ...
The Fit for 55-package To achieve EU’s Paris climate goals, the EU Commission presented in December 2019 the European Green Deal, including a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) and become carbon neutral by 2050 ...
Although the deadline for “incurring” CARES Act funds has passed, Alaska Native Corporations can still use CARES Act funds to pay for administrative and compliance related expenditures in 2022, including staff time spent administrating programs and CARES Act expenses incurred by December 31, 2022. According to U.S ...
Intel Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc., Appeal Nos. 2020-1828, -1867 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 28, 2021) The Federal Circuit issued two precedential decisions this week—both arising from IPRs filed by Intel against patents owned by Qualcomm. In our Case of the Week, we focus on the first of those cases. In our Also This Week section below, we cover the second case ...
Although the deadline for “incurring” CARES Act funds has passed, Alaska Native Corporations can still use CARES Act funds to pay for administrative and compliance related expenditures in 2022, including staff time spent administrating programs and CARES Act expenses incurred by December 31, 2022. According to U.S ...
