Protection for a philosophical belief: why some beliefs but not others? – The 36 Group
‘Fergus McCombie employment law expert at 36 Commercial comments on recent tribunal decision.’
The 36 Group, 9th January 2020
Source: 36group.co.uk
Category: interpretation
Sikhs, beards and “hygiene”: Sethi – Law & Religion UK
‘In Mr R Sethi v Elements Personnel Services Ltd [2019] ET 2300234/2018, the Claimant, a practising but unbaptised Sikh, applied for a job with the Respondent: a specialist agency providing temporary staff for the hospitality industry, mainly at five-star hotels. He attended an induction course at which he was asked to sign various documents including the Respondent’s standard Contract for Agency Workers, which included the Respondent’s Code of Conduct. The Code provided, înter alia, that “No beards or goatees are allowed”. He explained that he would not be able to shave off his beard for religious reasons.’
Law & Religion UK, 15th January 2020
Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com
Judge makes preliminary ruling in Carole Cadwalladr libel case – The Guardian
‘A judge has issued a preliminary ruling in a libel action against the investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr and warned that broadcasts and public speeches should not be interpreted as though they were formal written texts.’
The Guardian, 12th December 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Dispute over empty properties and £10m+ in business rates to go to Supreme Court – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a dispute over empty commercial properties and whether councils are owed more than £10m in business rates arrears.’
Local Government Lawyer, 6th December 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Interpreting property contracts: Some “special” principles – Wilberforce Chambers
‘When interpreting a property contract the applicable principles are essentially the same as those applied to any other contract. However, it is easy to overlook the fact that there remain some distinct principles of particular relevance or application to property contracts. This short paper identifies two examples.’
Wilberforce Chambers, 13th November 2019
Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk
Crypto statement a ‘watershed’ for English law – Law Society’s Gazette
‘In its first substantive output since being announced a year ago, the LawTech Delivery Panel last week posted good news for anyone developing, or working with, products based on blockchain encryption technology.’
Law Society's Gazette, 25th November 2019
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
What is coercive control and why is it so difficult to recognize? – OUP Blog
‘Engaging in controlling and/or coercive behaviour in intimate or familial relationships became a new criminal offence in England and Wales in December 2015. Coercive Control involves a pattern of abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten the victim. Example behaviours included in this legislation are isolation from friends and family, deprivation of basic needs, monitoring behaviour and time, controlling a victim’s life and/or finances, and may include physical violence. The introduction of this offence was welcomed for recognising the cumulative impact of various forms of domestic abuse and for encouraging police and other criminal justice agencies to move beyond an incident-led and physical violence-based understanding of domestic abuse. However, four years on since the legislation was enacted and with no compulsory national level training or support, what has actually changed?’
OUP Blog, 25th November 2019
Source: blog.oup.com
Supreme Court: community benefits not planning ‘material consideration’ – OUT-LAW.com
‘Proposed donations to a community benefit fund from the proceeds of a new wind turbine could not be taken into account by a local authority when deciding whether to grant planning permission for the development, the Supreme Court has confirmed.’
OUT-LAW.com, 20th November 2019
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
New Balance fails to equalise in sponsorship dispute – Practical Law: Construction Blog
‘In a step change from the days of Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust v Compass Group UK and Ireland Ltd (trading as Medirest) in which the Court of Appeal rejected the notion of a general doctrine of good faith, many construction contracts now include an express requirement to act in “good faith”.’
Practical Law: Construction Blog, 13th November 2019
Bailing Out Lehman Brothers? – Littleton Chambers
‘Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (In Administration) v Exotix Partners LLP [2019] EWHC 2380 (Ch) is another reminder of the flexibility of contractual construction as an alternative to rectification for subjective mistakes.’
Littleton Chambers, 1st October 2019
Source: www.littletonchambers.com
Richard Paige discusses: The impact of a counterclaim on QOCS – Park Square Barristers
‘In Ketchion v McEwan HHJ Freedman, sitting in Newcastle, held that the term “proceedings” in CPR 44.13 included both the claim and the counterclaim. The result of this decision was that the successful claimant was debarred from enforcing any of his costs (for bringing the claim or defending the counterclaim) against the unsuccessful defendant, because the defendant had brought a counterclaim which included personal injury.’
Park Square Barristers, 14th October 2019
Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk
More on “vulnerability” – Nearly Legal
‘In Guiste v Lambeth LBC (2019) EWCA Civ 1758, the Court of Appeal returned again to the meaning of Lord Neuberger’s eliptical phrase in Hotak v Southwark LBC that, for the purposes of the homelessness provisions in the Housing Act 1996, vulnerability meant being significantly more vulnerable than ordinarily vulnerable as a result of being made homeless. The decision in Guiste (I’m told that it is pronounced “Geest” as opposed to “Gwist”) in some respects is one on its facts, but the Court of Appeal make a number of observations of significance in these cases and leave one point open (albeit give their penniworth on it). As an academic interested in the field, I wonder at the amount of effort,time, and money spent in arguing the toss about vulnerability, and whether there might be better uses of that effort/time/cash, but there we go; that’s why we have our tower.’
Nearly Legal, 29th October 2019
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Liverpool win High Court case against New Balance paving way for new Nike kit deal – The Independent
‘Liverpool FC have won a High Court battle over a multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with American sportswear giant New Balance.’
The Independent, 25th October 2019
Source: www.independent.co.uk
The House of Lords on marriages and sharia law – Law & Religion UK
‘The issue of unregistered religious marriages has come up once again in the House of Lords. On 23 October, Baroness Cox asked the Government:
“what progress they have made in implementing the first recommendation of The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales, published in February 2018, in order to protect Muslim women in Islamic marriages which are not civilly registered.”’
Law & Religion UK, 24th October 2019
Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com
In-house lawyer cannot rely on leaked email for discrimination claim – Legal Futures
‘A former senior in-house lawyer at Shell cannot rely on a leaked internal email or an overheard pub conversation in his discrimination claim against the company, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
Legal Futures, 23rd October 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Whistleblowing judges: protected by human rights? – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The UK Supreme Court has unanimously granted an appeal by a district judge against the Court of Appeal’s decision that she did not qualify as a “worker” under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (the “1996 Act”), and therefore could not benefit from the whistleblowing protections it conferred.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 18th October 2019
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
Vaginal surgery and piercings are not FGM, says CPS guideline – The Guardian
‘Increasingly popular vaginal cosmetic surgery and genital piercing should in most cases not be prosecuted as female genital mutilation (FGM), according to fresh guidance issued by the Crown Prosecution Service.’
The Guardian, 17th October 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
