Group M UK Ltd v Cabinet Office – Henderson Chambers

‘The Technology and Construction Court has reiterated that, in considering whether to lift the statutory suspension of the placing of a public contract following a challenge by an unsuccessful tenderer, it will apply the American Cyanamid principles, as those principles are consistent with the requirements of Directive 2007/66/EC on the award of public contracts.’

Full story (PDF)

Henderson Chambers, 17th March 2015

Source: www.hendersonchambers.co.uk

Getting to Grips with the Holiday Pay Conundrum – Littleton Chambers

Posted March 17th, 2015 in appeals, EC law, employment tribunals, holiday pay, news, working time by sally

‘The Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT’s) judgment in the Bear Scotland case is the latest in a series of cases considering what must be included in the calculation of holiday pay under the UK’s Working Time Regulations (WTR). The ruling sent shockwaves through the business community, with some commentators estimating that around five million workers in the UK could be entitled to more holiday pay at a potential cost to companies of billions of pounds. Business Secretary Vince Cable even set up a taskforce to assess the possible impact of the EAT’s decision. Adam Solomon and Sophia Berry throw the spotlight on the Bear Scotland litigation in the context of other decisions on holiday pay and consider its implications. This article first appeared in the March 2015 edition of Tolley’s Employment Law Newsletter.’

Full story

Littleton Chambers, 17th March 2015

Source: www.littleton.com

Delaney v Secretary of State for Transport – WLR Daily

Posted March 17th, 2015 in appeals, compensation, drug abuse, EC law, insurance, law reports, uninsured drivers by sally

Delaney v Secretary of State for Transport [2015] EWCA Civ 172; [2015] WLR (D) 112

‘Clause 6(1)(e)(iii) of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (Compensation of Victims of Uninsured Drivers) Agreement 1999, made between the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and the Secretary of State for Transport, which provided an exclusion from liability for compensation for the Motor Insurers’ Bureau where the vehicle involved was being used in the course or furtherance of a crime, was incompatible with Council Directive 72/166/EEC, Council Directive 84/5/EEC and Council Directive 90/232/EEC.’

WLR Daily, 9th March 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Juncker’s Utopia: a virtual Europe without borders – RPC IP Hub

Posted March 13th, 2015 in copyright, EC law, electronic commerce, internet, news by sally

‘It is 2015 and the relentless appetite for consumption of content has never been greater. Consumers demand access to content that is immediate and available anytime anywhere in Europe without restriction. Binge viewing is the new norm. The desire for a virtual Europe without borders is palpable. But how does all this sit with Europe’s copyright laws? ‘

Full story

RPC IP Hub, 6th March 2015

Source: www.rpc.co.uk

Branded drugs and over-stickering: when is 8.62% a substantial part? – Technology Law Update

‘A brand-owner generally wants to use the same brand across several countries, but there are industries where national branding is common. Pharmaceuticals is one. In a free trade bloc like the EU this leads to a tension between the free movement of goods and protection of IP rights. The interplay of the EU rules in this area has come under the spotlight in SEP v Doncaster.’

Full story

Technology Law Update, 6th March 2015

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

Integral Petroleum SA v SCU-Finanz AG – WLR Daily

Posted March 6th, 2015 in company law, conflict of laws, contracts, documents, EC law, law reports by sally

Integral Petroleum SA v SCU-Finanz AG [2015] EWCA Civ 144; [2015] WLR (D) 97

‘Where a contract had been signed by only one of a company’s two joint signatories, the question of whether the company was bound by the contract was properly characterised as a question of the company’s capacity, to be governed by the law of the company’s constitution, rather than a question of the formal validity of the contract, to be governed by the law which governed the contract, pursuant to article 11 of Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 593/2008.’

WLR Daily, 26th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Blakesley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – WLR Daily

Blakesley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] EWCA Civ 141; [2015] WLR (D) 96

‘The Government was not obliged to make lump sum payments to successful applicants for asylum representing the difference between the support they received while their application was being processed and mainstream benefits.’

WLR Daily, 26th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

AMT Futures Ltd v Marzillier, Dr Meier & Dr Guntner Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH – WLR Daily

Posted March 4th, 2015 in appeals, contracts, domicile, EC law, jurisdiction, law firms, law reports by sally

AMT Futures Ltd v Marzillier, Dr Meier & Dr Guntner Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH [2015] EWCA Civ 143; [2015] WLR (D) 95

‘A tortious claim for inducement of breach of a contractual term providing for exclusive jurisdiction of the English Court brought against a defendant domiciled in Germany where the harmful event did not occur in England could not be brought in the English court since article 5(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 did not apply.’

WLR Daily, 26th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

R (on the app. of Rotherham Borough Council & others) v Secretary of State for B.I.S. – Supreme Court

R (on the app. of Rotherham Borough Council & others) v Secretary of State for B.I.S. [2015] UKSC 6 (YouTube

Supreme Court, 25th February 2015

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Access all areas? – New Law Journal

‘Overriding lawyer-client & confidential communications is incompatible with the rule of law, as Nicholas Griffin QC, Robert O’Sullivan QC & Gordon Nardell QC explain.’

Full story

New Law Journal, 27th February 2015

Source: www.newlawjournal.co.uk

Facing justice: judgment against Facebook in privacy/data protection case – Panopticon

Posted February 26th, 2015 in data protection, EC law, internet, news, privacy by sally

‘The extent to which privacy and data protection rights can effectively resonate within the online environment is an acutely important issue for all information law practitioners. Moreover, it is an issue which seems to be gaining ever increasing traction in the litigation context, as is illustrated not least by the following developments.’

Full story

Panopticon, 25th February 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

Britain is leading the charge against basic human rights, Amnesty claims – The Independent

‘Increased surveillance in Britain, along with the reduction of access to justice, have contributed to one of the worst assaults on human rights in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, according to a damning assessment by Amnesty International.’

Full story

The Independent, 25th February 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Sanneh v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Scott and others v Croydon London Borough Council; Merali and others v Birmingham City Council; Regina (HC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others – WLR Daily

Posted February 19th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, carers, EC law, housing, law reports, regulations, social security by sally

Sanneh v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Scott and others v Croydon London Borough Council; Merali and others v Birmingham City Council; Regina (HC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others [2015] EWCA Civ 49; [2015] WLR (D) 61

‘European Union law gave a Zambrano carer, being a non-European Union citizen responsible for the care of an EU citizen child, the right to reside in the United Kingdom from the time when it became apparent that she qualified as a Zambrano carer. However, it did not give her an entitlement to social assistance on the same basis as an EU citizen lawfully resident in the UK. It was for national law to determine the level of benefits to which she was entitled.’

WLR Daily, 10th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Councillor wins procurement judicial review over £165m city centre scheme – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 17th, 2015 in appeals, EC law, judicial review, local government, news, planning, public procurement by sally

‘A councillor at Winchester City Council has won a High Court judicial review challenge over the local authority’s decision to adopt an updated scheme for a £165m city centre redevelopment without conducting a procurement exercise.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 13th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom Constitution – Lecture by Lady Hale

The Supreme Court in the United Kingdom Constitution (PDF)

Lecture by Lady Hale

The Bryce Lecture, 5th February 2015

Source: www.supremecourt.uk

Court of Appeal strikes down state immunity rules that prevent embassy employees seeking justice – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 16th, 2015 in appeals, EC law, embassies, employment, human rights, immunity, news by sally

‘This judgment concerned the conjoined appeals of Ms. Benkharbouche and Ms. Janah which arose from employment law claims brought against, respectively, the Sudanese and Libyan embassies. Certain of their claims, such as those for unfair dismissal, were founded on domestic law. Others, such as those under the Working Time Regulations 1998, fell within the scope of EU law. All were met with pleas of state immunity under the State Immunity Act 1978.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog,

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Zambrano carers and social assistance – NearlyLegal

Posted February 16th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, carers, citizenship, EC law, equality, homelessness, housing, human rights, news by sally

‘There must be times when Court of Appeal judges think that they have bit parts in an ongoing drama – they have a walk on role. And that must be how the Court felt in Sanneh v SSWP and others [2015] EWCA Civ 49, which concerns the eligibility rules for Zambrano carers of a raft of social assistance benefits. Leading QCs and junior barristers appeared on all sides in a right ding dong that is bound to end up at the Supreme Court, which almost certainly will refer the issues to the CJEU. It also provides a glimpse of how the recent, potentially contradictory, judgments of the CJEU in Brey and Dano are, or might be, treated (although it looks like the UKSC will have the next bite of those rather earlier, in the Mirga and Samin appeals in March) and the question of the ambit of “social assistance”, which in itself is not uninteresting, is also raised, but parked by the CA, in these appeals ([84] – note: this is an important point for the future).’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 12th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

UK restructuring laws already geared towards business rescue, says government – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 11th, 2015 in company law, debts, EC law, insolvency, news, small businesses by sally

‘UK procedures allowing businesses to restructure in order to avoid insolvency already meet EU plans for a more ‘rescue-orientated’ approach to business failure and insolvency, according to a discussion document published by the Insolvency Service.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 10th February 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

EU law targets foreign rogue drivers to curb offences – BBC News

Posted February 11th, 2015 in accidents, EC law, foreign jurisdictions, news, road traffic offences by sally

‘Drivers who commit traffic offences in another EU country will be pursued for fines at home, under a new EU draft law expected to be passed on Wednesday.’

Full story

BBC News, 10th February 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘Significant’ changes to public procurement rules to be introduced in weeks – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 9th, 2015 in consultations, EC law, news, public procurement, regulations by sally

‘A raft of major changes to the regulation of procurement in the public sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is set to be introduced later this month.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 9th February 2015

Source: www.out-law.com