On 1 April 2008, the market for non-household water and sewerage services in Scotland 'went live'. For the first time, business customers were able to choose their water and sewerage retailer in much the same way as they are accustomed to doing for other utility services, such as telecommunications, electricity and gas ...
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 ...
Crypto assets are assets that exist on a blockchain and are represented through a token, where the keys to the token are held in a crypto wallet. The characteristics of different crypto assets vary, depending on the code of the blockchain they operate on ...
Shoosmiths’ legal experts outline the key legal changes set to impact the UK’s real estate industry in 2024 and beyond. Introduction of biodiversity net gain in England New biodiversity net gain requirements will be introduced for large development sites from 12 February 2024 and are set to also apply to smaller sites from 2 April 2024. Biodiversity net gain aims to create and improve natural habitats by measuring the impact of a development on biodiversity ...
Simonsen Vogt Wiig is ranked a top tier firm in the following categories: Dispute resolution EU and competition Fishing and aquaculture Insolvency and corporate recovery Maritime law Offshore construction and shipbuilding Energy: Oil and gas TMT We have more than 50 lawyers acknowledged in this year’s guide, and want to highlight the following new rankings: Espen Tøndel: Hall of Fame – TMT Thomas Talén: Leading Individuals – Employment Espen Ba
Over the past few years, the Ukrainian agromarket has been rapidly developing. The vast potential of our nation's agricultural sector together with the intensifying situation in the global foodstuffs market has furthered this process. Both international and domestic players have played an active role ...
There is an argument that in certain circumstances greater prudence is now required from members dividends following the Court of Appeal case It's a Wrap (UK) Ltd (In Liquidation) v (1) Barbara Gula and (2) Anthony Gula [2006] EWCA Civ 544, which reverses an earlier High Court decision. The case involved an insolvent company which had claimed repayment of dividends unlawfully paid to the defendants who were the only members and directors of the company ...
Our brief guide explains which sanctions should be applied by entities operating in Poland, how to set up a sanctions compliance system, and what effects sanctions may have on trade agreements. The guide has been prepared by Łukasz Lasek, Anna Olejniczak-Michalska, Stanisław Drozd, Stefan Feliniak i Joanna Krakowiak ...
The King's Speech 2023 unveiled an ambitious vision for the future of transportation - heralding a new era of self-driving vehicles in the UK. The speech introduced a comprehensive plan to integrate autonomous vehicles into daily lives, as part of the government's commitment to advancing transportation technology. The proposed Automated Vehicles Bill will provide the Department for Transport with the necessary authority to certify the safety of driverless vehicles ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 waste-related emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’ ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 transportation and distribution emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’ ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 investment-related emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’ ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 employee commuting and homeworking emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’. When setting science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), companies whose Scope 3 emissions account for more than 40% of their total emissions must set Scope 3 targets ...
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 ...
The IVAucher programme was set up to stimulate private consumption in the sectors worst affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (catering, accommodation and culture). With regard to these sectors, “catering” is used in the broad sense to cover restaurants, cafés, bars and catering companies providing food and beverage services, and “accommodation” refers to hotels and other short-stay accommodation for holidays and business travel ...
The Italian Government has approved the long-awaited annual bill on competition (“Draft Bill”).1 The Draft Bill covers a broad spectrum of controversial topics, including local public services, energy and transportation. In the next weeks, the Draft Bill will be submitted to the Italian Parliament for approval ...
Introduction Patented inventions are a large source of revenue in the pharmaceutical industry. Ireland's tax exemption in respect of certain patent royalties, has been one of the driving factors behind investment by pharmaceutical multinationals, principally from the US, in the Irish economy. Irish tax legislation provides an exemption from tax for income derived from "qualifying patents" when received by a person resident in Ireland and not resident in any other country ...
The Employment Agencies Regulations of 2023, which will come into force as from the 1st April 2024, introduce a new regime for regulating the services provided by employment agencies, which were, until now, largely unregulated. These Regulations target employment agencies that provide recruitment services, temporary work services and/or outsourcing services ...
On the 12th of July 2022, the Malta Financial Services Authority (the “MFSA”) issued a Consultation Document on the reporting of major ICT-related incidents with a consultation period expiring on the 5th of August 2022. The MFSA worked on introducing an updated major ICT-related incident reporting process that replaces the previous process that was communicated on the 25th of September 2019 entitled ‘Cybersecurity – Threat Mitigation’ ...
The Intellectual Property and Related Rights (Amendment) Law of 2022, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus on 7 October 2022, aims to harmonise the Cyprus copyright regime with various acts at the European Union (‘EU’) level and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. This Law amends and redefines already existing concepts and establishes new definitions and obligations ...
With office attendance down and face to face events less frequent, the ability to meet and network with industry peers has been somewhat stymied in recent years. This is particularly true for the in-house lawyer community who, having worked through a period of sustained legislative, societal, economic and regulatory change, have arguably been one of the groups to have suffered the most from the inability hear how other IHLs across the industry have managed these challenges ...
In its recent decision Xuereb v Weber Construction Limited Et (decided 18 March 2021) the Civil Court (Commercial Section) weighed in once more on the appropriate tests to be applied when assessing a company's inability to pay its debts under Maltese corporate insolvency law ...
A recent fine of €525,000 by the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), the Dutch Data Protection Authority, has focused attention on one of the least discussed provisions of the GDPR – Article 27. This provision requires those who are subject to the GDPR but who do not have a base in the EU to appoint an EU representative to act as a point of contact for supervisory authorities such as the AP and individuals (data subjects) within the EU ...
Preparing and maintaining statutory company registers can use up valuable resources of the finance department or directors of the company, however if a company is sold it is one of the first documents that the buyers’ solicitors will request. It can be costly, and time consuming to re-create registers and it can hold up any sale ...
The case of Re Arboretum Devon (RLH) Ltd (28 April 2021) concerned a challenge to the validity of the ranking of the parties to an intercreditor agreement, the outcome of which signified the importance of intercreditor agreements and their drafting. An intercreditor agreement (“ICA”) can be a very powerful tool and it can limit or prohibit unwary creditors from being able to take action and recover debt ...
