High Court rejects legal challenge to urban extension – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 22nd, 2017 in EC law, judicial review, local government, news, planning, pollution by sally

‘Two campaigners have failed to win permission from the High Court for judicial review of a planned urban extension to Canterbury on air quality grounds.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st September 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Series, Part 3 – GDPR consent and fair processing – Technology Law Update

Posted September 20th, 2017 in consent, data protection, EC law, news, regulations by sally

‘Every data processing activity requires a lawful basis. Such lawful basis may be provided directly by law, or by consent granted by the data subject, both according to the statutory requirements set out in the Directive 95/46/EC and, importantly, national data protection laws. This general principle remains unchanged under the GDPR, however, the new Regulation provides for new or additional requirements for such consent to be a lawful basis for processing and transfer of personal data.’

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Technology Law Update, 14th September 2017

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Series, Part 2 – the importance of self-assessment – Technology Law Update

Posted September 20th, 2017 in data protection, EC law, news, regulations by sally

‘In any major project there is an analysis phase – involving a careful examination of your organisation’s current set-up and what needs to be done to deliver the project successfully. Preparing for the GDPR is no exception. Depending on the structures and practices of your organisation, compliance could require a significant allocation of resources to ensure that you are ready by the implementation date: 25 May 2018.’

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Technology Law Update, 15th June 2017

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

FCA moves to clarify scope of regulation of account information services under PSD2 – OUT-LAW.com

‘Service providers that help other businesses to pool information from different payment accounts on behalf of customers will not be subject to regulation under new UK payment services laws if they do not deliver the aggregated data to the customer themselves, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th September 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Software tools can benefit from VAT exemption, rules UK Tribunal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 19th, 2017 in computer programs, EC law, news, tribunals, VAT by sally

‘A software tool can qualify for a VAT exemption, the UK’s First Tier Tribunal has ruled, rejecting arguments from HMRC that the provision of IT tools cannot benefit from an exemption in the EU VAT Directive.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 18th September 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

The Data Protection Bill: some initial observations – Panopticon

Posted September 18th, 2017 in bills, brexit, consent, data protection, EC law, internet, legal language, news, penalties by sally

‘Parliament on Thursday 14 September. But to digest it in full, one needs time, commitment, and coffee. It is not a straightforward read. It seeks to implement the GDPR in full and in Brexit-proof fashion, to plug the gaps that the GDPR requires member states to fill, and also to apply a GDPR-like regime to areas of data processing that are not covered by the GDPR itself. The Bill is of course liable to change in the coming months, but here are some observations and highlights in the meantime.’

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Panopitcon, 18th September 2017

Source: panopticonblog.com

Why Isn’t Fat Shaming Officially Discrimination in Law? – Rightsinfo

Posted September 18th, 2017 in disability discrimination, EC law, equality, human rights, legislation, news by sally

‘When people complain about mistreatment at work or school based on their weight, many of us feel great sympathy, so why isn’t weight discrimination unlawful in the same way as racism, for example, or gender discrimination?’

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Rightsinfo, 18th September 2017

Source: rightsinfo.org

Aarhus costs cap challenge succeeds – UK Human Rights Blog

‘RSPB, Friends of the Earth & Client Earth v. Secretary of State for Justice [2017] EWHC 2309 (Admin), 15 September 2017, Dove J. In my March 2017 post here, I explained that amendments to the costs rules for public law environmental claims threatened to undo much of the certainty that those rules had achieved since 2013. Between 2013 and February 2017, if you, an individual, had an environmental judicial review, then you could pretty much guarantee that your liability to the other side’s costs would be capped at £5,000 (£10,000 for companies) if you lost, and your recovery of your own costs would be limited to £35,000 if you won. In this way, the rules sought to avoid the cost of such claims becoming prohibitively expensive and thus in breach of Art.9(4) of the Aarhus Convention.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 16th September 2017

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Law firm faces £68,000 VAT bill after tribunal rules electronic property search fees are not disbursements – Legal Futures

‘A leading north-west law firm has been ordered to pay £68,000 in VAT for electronic local authority property searches it procured from an agency, after a tribunal ruled that they should not have been treated as disbursements.’

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Legal Futures, 18th September 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

The landscape for child disputes post-Brexit – Family Law

Posted September 15th, 2017 in brexit, children, EC law, families, jurisdiction, news by sally

‘Resolving the complexities of family life across international borders is notoriously complex. However, with Britain’s impending withdrawal from the EU casting an unexpected shadow over the certainty of established legislation, children and their families face an additional layer of difficulty as Britain attempts to untangle itself from existing EU regulations. To manage increasing anxiety, the Government has recently published its vision of the UK’s future partnership with the EU on this key issue entitled “Providing a cross-border civil judicial cooperation framework”. What does this tell us about how international children law disputes will be decided post-Brexit? Are we any clearer as to what impact this will have on the children caught up in these disputes?’

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Family Law, 14th September 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Database rights can subsist in PDFs, rules High Court – OUT-LAW.com

‘A PDF version of a document can constitute a database and information contained in it can be protected by database rights, the High Court in London has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 8th September 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

UK citizens set for “second class status” – EU (Withdrawal) Bill – The Bar Council

Posted September 8th, 2017 in bills, devolution, EC law, environmental protection, jurisdiction, news, treaties by sally

‘”This Bill will leave UK citizens and businesses with less protection against the power of the state. Rights are not being brought home, they are being abolished.”
Andrew Langdon QC, Chair of the Bar.’

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The Bar Council, 7th September 2017

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

New duty to notify data breaches will provide general benefits to data privacy and security, says UK watchdog – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 7th, 2017 in data protection, EC law, news, notification, privacy, regulations by sally

‘Data security and privacy will be bolstered by the introduction of new data breach reporting requirements, the UK’s information commissioner has said..’

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OUT-LAW.com, 6th September 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Home Office leak shows unpicking of EU nationals’ family reunion rights – The Guardian

Posted September 6th, 2017 in brexit, EC law, families, immigration, jurisdiction, news by sally

‘The leaked Home Office document on Britain’s post-Brexit immigration policy spells out for the first time how ending the jurisdiction of the European court of justice will weaken family reunion rights for EU nationals in Britain.’

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The Guardian, 6th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Database Rights and Copyright: Technomed v Bluecrest Health Screening – NIPC Law

‘This was an action for infringement of database right and copyright in an electrocardiogram (“ECG”) analysis and reporting system known as ECG Cloud.’

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NIPC Law, 2nd September 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Your employment rights could be put at risk through Brexit. Here’s why – The Guardian

Posted September 4th, 2017 in bills, brexit, EC law, employment, holiday pay, news by sally

‘Part-time and agency workers and those facing redundancy are already targeted by bosses – and the EU withdrawal bill could make them more vulnerable.’

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The Guardian, 3rd September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Clearing houses to be subject to formal cybersecurity reporting duties in the UK – OUT-LAW.com

‘Clearing houses in the UK will be subject to new formal cybersecurity incident reporting duties under changes likely to be implemented by 9 May next year.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 24th August 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Brexit and Data Protection – Panopticon

‘Data protection lawyers and specialists have long been used to their area of expertise being treated as a rather mould-infested and irritating area of the law, like champerty but with more Schedules. Amongst other things, Brexit seems to have caused a bit of an upsurge in interest in how cross-border data flows are going to be managed in the brave new world. (Panopticon has seen articles in the last few months mentioning the GDPR and data protection after Brexit in the LRB and Private Eye, which is a bit like unexpectedly finding your girlfriend on page 3 of the Sun and the New Left Review on the same day.) HM Government have also recognised the importance of the issue, and have today published their position paper entitled ‘The exchange and protection of personal data’.It is fair to say that the 15 pages that you print off are not ram-packed (to use Mr Corbyn’s famed train-based term) with unexpected surprises, or indeed a huge amount of detail. There will doubtless be complaints about this, but to be fair, what the UK would like from the EU in the data protection is hardly rocket science. It spends a good deal of space explaining the importance of ensuring good levels of data protection, and enabling cross-border data flows, whilst also making quite an effort to emphasise how keen the UK has been, and still is, on being at the forefront of data protection. It even suggests that the DPA 1998 implemented the Directive beyond the minimum required; perfectly fairly it points out that the DPA didn’t have to cover law enforcement data processing but chose to do so, and surely our European friends will not be so impolite as to note, for example, the need for the Court of Appeal to strike down bits of the DPA as not properly implementing the Directive in Vidal-Hall…’

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Panopticon, 24th August 2017

Source: panopticonblog.com

The UK and the CJEU after Brexit – Law & Religion UK

Posted August 24th, 2017 in brexit, courts, dispute resolution, EC law, jurisdiction, news, treaties by sally

‘Amid much media speculation, the Government has published its position paper on post-Brexit relations between the UK and the Court of Justice of the European Union.’

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Law & Religion UK, 23rd August 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Abducted UK children at greater risk if legal ties cut, Brexit officials say – The Guardian

Posted August 23rd, 2017 in brexit, child abduction, EC law, jurisdiction, news, treaties by sally

‘Parents in the UK would find it “much more difficult” to recover abducted children if Britain fails to persuade the EU to continue legal cooperation after Brexit, according to government officials detailing their latest plans.’

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The Guardian, 22nd August 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com