As Lord Sumption’s leading judgment of the Supreme Court inRock Advertising Limited v MWB Business Exchange Centres Limited[2018] UKSC 24 states, it is rare that modern litigation raises truly fundamental issues in the law of contract. This case, however, raisedtwosuch issues, although as a result of the Court’s decision on the first issue, it was not necessary to decide the “difficult” second issue ...
The lack of detail in the Budget speech on investment in renewable energy (nothing on hydrogen for example) was disappointing, and surprising to many given the timing of the Autumn Budget with COP26. However, the Comprehensive Spending Review did give a bit more detail. Whether it goes far enough or fast enough to meet ambitious targets is still up for debate ...
Judgement of the European Court of Justice in case C-231/03 – Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) v. Commune di Cingia de’Botti, dated 21 July 2005 The case developed out of a dispute between Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) and the Comune di Cingia de’ Botti (municipality of Cingia de’ Botti) concerning the award by the latter to Padania Acque SpA, of a concession for provision of service covering management, distribution and maintenance of methane gas distribution installations ...
At a recently held Roundtable on the topic of the economic and environmental challenges that are surrounding the process of building the second block of the thermal power plant in Pljevlja, the Montenegrin Network for the Affirmation of the NGO sector (MANS), has scrutinised the whole idea behind this state-owned National Power Company of Montenegro's (EPCG) project ...
On December 21st, 2023, the Chilean Congress approved the bill that modifies Law No. 21,420, which amended the Mining Code as of January 1st, 2024; the Mining Code; the Constitutional Organic Law on Mining Concessions; and the law that creates the National Geology and Mining Service (the “Bill”). Main amendments introduced by the Bill 1 ...
On January 1, 2013, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the "Act") to avert the "fiscal cliff." The Act includes a number of extensions and modifications relating to energy tax provisions ...
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The $2 trillion bipartisan legislation serves as a third round of federal government support in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Among other things, the Act provides significant relief to air carriers and aviation employees. We outline some of the key provisions below ...
By means of Circular No. 4007 of 25 March 2020, the Ministry of Mines and Energy set out some considerations on the understanding of paragraphs 13 and 25 of Article 3 of Decree 457 of 2020, by which the National Government ordered the preventive isolation of all inhabitants of Colombia for a period of 19 days. Paragraphs 13 and 25 refer to exceptions to the restrictions on freedom of movement ...
Everyone likes pie of some sort, especially around the holidays. For those working in the construction industry, the rapidly developing energy sector appears to be an ever-expanding “Job Pie” for contractors designing, managing, supplying, engineering, clearing and erecting projects for participants in the energy sector. For clues on how to follow the pie crumbs to real construction jobs, I turned to Melvin Stroble of Black & Veatch. Here is a slice of the information Mr ...
The Supreme Court on 10 May 2023 considered whether damage caused by an oil spill in 2011 could constitute a “continuing nuisance” – and so extend the limitation period for a claim ...
I. Introduction The development of projects and business opportunities, particularly in the natural resource industries, requires government decision making, from the issuance of resource tenures, through environmental assessment of proposed works and activities, and through licences, permits and authorizations ...
It’s not impossible for nations in conflict to put aside their differences to coordinate the delivery of natural resources, but it’s unusual. For the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, cooperation is transforming the shared Ruzizi River into a valuable source of hydro power for three peoples ...
On June 11, 2020, Resolution No. 29/2020 (“RES 29”) of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (“CORFO”), which approved the regulations that will govern the “Green Credit” program, was published in the Official Gazette. The RES 29 aims to endorse the investment in renewable energy projects during the economic contingency arising post Covid-19. (https://www.corfo.cl/sites/cpp/sala_de_prensa/nacional/10_06_2020_corfo_crea_credito_verde) ...
In connection with the coronavirus, prices for transport services have increased, in some cases very considerably, such as when a reduction in freight space necessitates rebooking and rescheduling. Not everyone, and not even all commercial customers, may be aware of these price increases. It is also questionable whether corona-related additional costs may always be deemed usual remuneration (Section 632 German Civil Code) ...
A range of legislative and legal initiatives have been taken in recent days to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic. How will temporary closing of borders and mandatory hospitalisation impact carriers’ liability in international transport of goods by road? Legal solutions adopted Faced with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic, the Polish government has decided to take drastic legal measures ...
A global public health emergency was declared by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020 as a result of the spread of the new virus COVID-19. The virus was later classified as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As a result, it is important guard against any negative impact of the events relating to COVID-19 on ongoing energy licensing processes and on the energy market as a whole, particularly in the light of Decree-Law 172/2006 of23 August (“DL 172/2006”) ...
That’s the question Shoosmiths and Cornwall Insight’s recent report sought to answer, investigating the role the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model could play as part of the UK’s electric vehicle charging network. In a new video, Jonathan Smart, partner and head of mobility at Shoosmiths, discusses the BaaS model, which enables electric vehicle owners and business fleets to swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a service station via a subscription service ...
The year 2023 was marked by the further strengthening of control over transactions involving the sale of Russian assets owned by “unfriendly” foreign entities, as well as over Russian strategic companies. As for antimonopoly regulation, after several years of discussions and revisions, the fifth antimonopoly package was adopted, and a number of precedent-setting cases were considered. Please see below for more details about the key developments and highlights of 2023. 1 ...
(Antelope Valley Groundwater Cases, JCCP No. 4408 (3/16/21))[1] After twenty-two years, the protracted proceedings in the Antelope Valley groundwater adjudication resulted in a settlement and court-approved "physical solution." A physical solution equitably allocates available water under California's laws governing water rights. The physical solution in Antelope Valley limited pumping to balance the overdrafted aquifer with the available native safe yield ...
Earlier this year the Borgarting Court of Appeal rendered its judgment in Gassled, a case of major importance for the upstream Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) industry, natural gas buyers in Europe; and the Norwegian government, as resource owner and NCS regulator. If the judgment becomes final and binding, it will benefit the European gas supply. However, it may be a rude awakening for institutional investors in NCS infrastructure ...
On December 2, 2014, the Yukon Supreme Court struck down the Yukon government’s Peel watershed regional land use plan because of the government’s failure to follow the process for developing that plan under final agreements (modern treaties) with the Na-Cho Nyak Dun, Tr’ondek Hwech’in and Vuntut Gwichin First Nations ...
International trade and shipping play a key role in the transportation of essential supplies, foods and other necessities, a role which becomes even more significant during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the lockdowns and restrictions on entry imposed by many countries are causing a severe disruption to the industry while reduced manufacturing activity greatly affects shipment volumes and traffic ...
In their March 3, 2020 Law 360 article, our colleagues, Rob Patterson and Shu-Shu Wong, commented on the trend of certain buyers evaluating the feasibility of invoking force majeure as an excuse for not performing their purchase obligations under their liquefied natural gas long-term sale and purchase agreements (LNG SPAs) due to the COVID-19 outbreak ...
