ESG—environmental, social, and [corporate] governance—is the focus of socially responsible investing, reflecting the notion that corporations should serve the interests of not only their shareholders, but of all their stakeholders. This paper suggests NEPA’s EIS process provides a possible go-by for corporate decision-makers to use in ensuring that their ESG policies consider the big picture--the cons as well as the pros of their ESG policies ...
Decree-Law 30-A/2022was published on 18 April to approve the exceptional measures intended to ensure the simplification of the procedures for producing energy from renewable sources. These measures came into force on 19 April and will be in force for a period of 2 years.These exceptional measures have been published by the Government in the current macroeconomic and geopolitical situation ...
The demise of Kids Company and its aftermath has unfortunately overshadowed the pioneering work that charity did for nearly twenty years with some of the most damaged children and young people in our society. In the words of its founder “making a commitment to help maltreated children heal through unrelenting love by being resolute and kind, and over the years understanding how to help children acquire mastery over their traumas ...
Dramatic changes to energy supply security driven by geopolitical upheaval The EU energy transition is aimed at weaning Europe of its fossil fuel dependence and to enable Europe to reach climate emissions reduction targets. For the last 100 years, energy consumption other than transportation has been supplied almost entirely by hydropower. Norway in later years has been actively reducing its dependence on fossil fuel for road transport, costal shipping and the offshore supply fleet ...
The headlines of the just announced energy strategy were already well known and the comments of ‘missed opportunities’ by various interested parties were equally predictable. Green targets to reduce demand such as energy efficiency measures and improving home insulation have fallen by the wayside, as have those for businesses and organisations on the demand side, with no mention of measures such as plant and equipment switching, on-site renewables or fuel switching ...
A recent judgement of the Court of Appeal brings welcome clarification of the principles regarding the recovery of wasted expenditure claims in IT disputes. Summary Whist wasted costs arising from failed IT implementations often form part of a subsequent loss of profit claim, the two forms of loss are separate and distinct. Consequently, in order to be effective, exclusions must specifically refer to wasted costs ...
Changes to the rules relating to the use of red diesel will come into effect from April 1 2022 as a result of amendments to the Hydro Carbon Oil Duties Act 1979. The new rules set out a list of “excepted machines” which are allowed to use red diesel. A vehicle that is used for a purpose related to agriculture, aquatic farming, horticulture and forestry is allowed to use red diesel and can be used on the public road if the use is for one of those purposes ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 business travel emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’. On 29 March 2022, our Chairperson, Peter Duff, joined a panel to discuss the challenges associated with, and steps that can be taken to assist, a reduction in business travel emissions ...
Kudun and Partners represented S Global Limited, a subsidiary of Sermsang Power Corporation PLC ...
Genuine Enabling Technology LLC v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., Appeal No. 2020-2167 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 1, 2022) The Federal Circuit’s only precedential patent opinion this week turned on issues of claim construction. In particular, the issue was the effect of statements made by the applicant during the patent’s prosecution. The Court held that the district court erred in applying too narrow a construction, and reversed with a modified construction ...
The new Law on amending and supplementing a number of laws No. 03/2022/QH15 (the “New Law”) was passed by the National Assembly of Vietnam on 11 January 2022 and took effect from 1 March 2022. The New Law provides changes to nine current laws, which includes the Law on Electricity 28/2004/QH11, as amended from time to time (the “Law on Electricity 2004”) ...
The proposal for a directive on the recovery and resolution of insurance and reinsurance companies enshrines the no creditor worse off principle as provided for in the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (“BRRD”). This opens the door for the Portuguese legislature to repeat the mistakes it made when incorporating the BRRD into Portuguese law ...
As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, many issues which have been on the back-burner over the past few years are starting to resurface. In this article we take a look at some hot topics and legal developments we are expecting to take place this year. Flexible working As those of us who have worked from home for the past two years start returning in earnest to the office, flexible working is on everyone’s lips ...
By Glenn Kangisser Shu Shu Wong March 11, 2022 Earlier this month, the English Commercial Court upheld an appeal from an arbitration in MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWHC 467 (Comm) that a “reasonable endeavours” requirement in a force majeure clause, invoked due to the impact of US sanctions on Russia, did not require the party claiming force majeure to accept non-contractual performance ...
The UK's competition authority (CMA) unusually cleared a merger (Sony Music / AWAL) after nine months of investigation. Could a Phase 2 investigation have been avoided? On 16 March 2022 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued its final report into the completed acquisition by Sony Music Entertainment (Sony Music) of AWAL and Kobalt Neighbouring rights businesses from Kobalt Music Group Limited ...
March 24, 2022 By: Karen N. George and Andrew H. Selesnick The DMHC issued its final guidance on the No Surprises Act, confirming that the Knox-Keene Act constitutes a “specified state law” under the Act. The out-of-network reimbursement requirements for emergency services and the dispute resolution process in the NSA will therefore not apply to DMHC claims ...
BASF Plant Sci., LP v. Commonw. Scientific and Indus. Research Org., Appeal Nos. 2020-1415, -1416, -1919, -1920 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 15, 2022) Our Case of the Week, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, has something for everyone: questions of venue and statutory interpretation, invalidity and written descriptions, contracts and co-ownership of patents, and willfulness, injunctions, and royalty rates ...
Parents of children with special educational needs who are moving to further education should consider all options and make sure their local authority sticks to its deadlines, says Shoosmiths’ Guv Samra. The advice from the education law specialist comes as an important deadline looms for young people with Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs)who are transitioning to post 16/19 placements ...
In a defendant-friendly opinion, a split panel held that conduct based on an “objectively reasonable” reading of an ambiguous statute, absent contrary circuit court precedent or agency guidance, cannot constitute “knowing” misconduct under the False Claims Act. In United States ex rel. Sheldon v ...
March 16, 2022 By Braeden Mansouri and Alicia Guerra On February 15, California’s preeminent institution of higher education, UC Berkeley (“UCB”), began emailing student applicants that UCB may be forced to withdraw admissions offers as a result of a recent California Court of Appeal decision ...
