‘The death of a railway worker who was spat at by a man claiming to have coronavirus was not linked to the attack, police have concluded.’
BBC News, 29th May 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘ “Mob justice” could increase in England and Walesunless more money is made available to clear the backlog of court cases swollen by coronavirus, the government has been warned.’
BBC News, 29th May 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Privacy campaigners are preparing a legal challenge to the NHS’s coronavirus test-and-trace programme as concerns grow about the amount of contact data that will be collected and retained by government.’
The Guardian, 31st May 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The world-wide lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic will have an unprecedented financial impact, not only on businesses in all areas of the economy but also on consumers. Public gatherings are banned or strictly limited and events have been cancelled or postponed. Future travel plans remain uncertain, with the borders of many other countries remaining closed to travellers from the UK and strict 14-day quarantine measures set to be imposed on those entering the UK from the end of May. Many companies are refusing or delaying offering refunds to affected consumers, who may have to resort to litigation to protect their rights. This alerter provides a broad overview of several affected areas, including package holidays, travel, holiday accommodation and events.’
Henderson Chambers, 19th May 2020
Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk
‘The lockdown has posed inordinate challenges for education – with schools and universities adjusting to remote learning on extremely short notice. For private schools and universities, there have been tough choices between furloughing staff, deciding which lessons and courses to continue and justifying the level of fees, when many parents are in financial difficulty themselves. Boarding schools and universities have additional problems as they have a high level of sunk costs in infrastructure for overseas students that, at present, are not allowed to travel.’
Monckton Chambers, 19th May 2020
Source: www.monckton.com
‘Personal injury and clinical negligence practices, as with much of life, are undergoing sudden and profound changes during this Covid-19 pandemic and the current ‘lockdown’. There are obvious effects, such as the adjournment of trials ‘en masse’ and the embracing of digital platforms. Implementation of the governments’ whiplash reforms has been put back until April 2021 and the much-awaited appeal in Swift v Carpenter was delayed once again. But the economic consequences of the pandemic will also influence PI and CN litigation, in some subtle but important ways.’
No. 5 Chambers, 26th May 2020
Source: www.no5.com
‘Employers and workers are facing unprecedented challenges in responding to the current pandemic and the measures put in place by the UK governments to tackle it. One area of increasing concern is the impact of the crisis on mental health and wellbeing.’
Old Square Chambers, 26th May 2020
Source: www.oldsquare.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal have released the judgment in the case of Arkin v Marshall which raised the issue as to whether or not the Covid 19 stay could be lifted.’
Park Square Barristers, 13th May 2020
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
‘With its publication on Friday 22 May 2020, immediately before the bank holiday weekend, you can be forgiven for having missed HMRC’s revised Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) Direction, dated 20 May 2020 (“the Direction”). All claims for payment under the CJRS, made after 22 May 2020, must comply with the Direction. The Direction modifies the previous version dated 15 April 2020 and clarifies many, but not all, of the questions that arose therein.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 27th May 2020
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘With many businesses large and small struggling to survive or collapsing into administration or liquidation landlords are particularly vulnerable to rent arrears and the difficulty of finding a suitable tenant to replace the existing. The following is an overview of what steps a landlord can take in this uncertain world.’
Pump Court Chambers, 26th May 2020
Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com
‘In view of the potential new financial risks posed by the Corona Virus pandemic, Cameron Brown QC and Sam Smart (Pupil Barrister) from Red Lion Chambers review the work of the FCA in tackling financial crime and the new challenges it may face.’
Red Lion Chambers, 26th May 2020
Source: www.redlionchambers.co.uk
‘In the context of an employer’s duty to provide PPE to protect against exposure to the novel coronavirus, the focus is likely to be on two sets of domestic health and safety regulations: The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPE Regulations), and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH). The application of the latter should disapply the former, but the two will be considered together.’
Ropewalk Chambers, 6th May 2020
Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk
‘Employers owe a personal or non-delegable duty of care to their employees at common law, which extends to the provision of PPE. Neill LJ in Crouch -v- British Rail Engineering Ltd [1988] I.R.L.R. 404 said that the extent of the duty in respect of PPE would depend on:
“the risk of injury, the gravity of any injury which may result, the difficulty of providing equipment … the availability of that protective equipment … and the distance which any individual workman might have to go to fetch it, the frequency on which the [claimant] was likely to need that protective clothing or equipment and, last but not least, the experience and degree of skill to be expected of the [claimant].”’
Ropewalk Chambers, 5th May 2020
Source: www.ropewalk.co.uk
‘A review of the number ways Covid-19 can effect the progression and outcome of housing cases and how practitioners can continue to engage in effective case management during this challenging period.’
St Ives Chambers, 19th May 2020
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
‘The country is going to start to try and emerge from the lockdown, which was imposed to try and slow the spread of coronavirus. Guidance provided on 10.05.2020 was that some employees, who cannot work from home, should go to work. Coronavirus is still with us, so the Government has produced guidance on how employers can implement social distancing measures so as to make the workplace safe for its workers. For instance, employers are told that they might consider staggering start times; providing handwashing facilities or hand sanitiser at entrances; reducing congestion by opening multiple entrances, having one-way flow, discouraging non-essential trips; or rearranging workstations. The list goes on, but there are perhaps infinite ways in which employees can be protected in any particular workplace.’
St John's Buildings, 18th May 2020
Source: stjohnsbuildings.com
‘Last week saw the first reading in the House of Commons of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill [“CIGB”], which is the Government’s attempt to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on businesses which should otherwise have been viable. From a parliamentary point of view, it is still at an early stage but, given the importance and urgency of this piece of legislation, it is worth considering some of the key points which arise from a high-level overview, so that you and your clients can try to plan accordingly. Not all of the provisions will survive into the finalised Act, but early Bills are often a good indicator of the overall aims of the legislation. This article does not deal with each and every point to arise from the CIGB, which currently runs to 238 pages including 14 Schedules, but signposts the crucial areas.’
St Philips Barristers, 25th May 2020
Source: st-philips.com
‘The “COVID-19 Guidance Tracker” is a new resource set up by the Regulatory team at Six Pump Court which is designed to enable businesses and legal professionals to more easily navigate to the applicable COVID-19 guidance that is most relevant to their area of work.’
Six Pump Court, May 2020
Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk
‘The variety of criminal offences created as part of HM Government’s response to the current Covid-19 pandemic has caused a discomforting amount of confusion for individuals, police, criminal practitioners, and courts. This brief article makes the small suggestion that, in the very short term, criminal defence practitioners may wish to seek adjournments for any prosecutions under the Public Health (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (“the Lockdown Regulations”) pending a judicial review of the lawfulness of the Regulations.’
Thomas More Chambers, 18th May 2020
Source: www.thomasmore.co.uk
‘The automatic stay on possession proceedings during the coronavirus crisis applies to appeals that were underway when the stay took effect, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Litigation Futures, 28th May 2020
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘How should individuals conduct themselves during a public health emergency, and more specifically how much reliance should we have on “instinct” and “rules”? Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s chief adviser, has been accused of breaking the social distancing rules. The allegations revolve around travelling from London to Durham to isolate himself and his family, as well as taking additional trips whilst in that isolation. The specific law he is alleged to have breached is regulation 6 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020. Regulation 6(1) provides that “During the emergency period, no person may leave or be outside of the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.” In the course of defending his adviser, the Prime Minister argued that “he followed the instincts of every father” in seeking to protect his family. In response, Independent journalist Tom Peck stated that; “There is no guidance in place anymore, none at all. Just do what Dominic Cummings did and ‘follow your instincts’ and you’ll end up in the right place”.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 28th May 2020
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
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