The Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 (the “Regulations”) implement certain basic informational requirements that bus operators of local services need to implement in their vehicles in order to improve the accessibility of information for passengers on local bus services ...
On June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) went into effect. This new law requires covered employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for the known limitations of a worker relating to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation would cause the employer “undue hardship ...
After months of predictions of a possible Democratic wave,Tuesday’s election delivered mixed results. Joe Biden appears poised to narrowly defeat President Trump after one of the most contentious election cycles in recent memory. Republicans are favored to retain their Senate majority despite having to defend twice as many seats as their Democratic counterparts ...
Understanding the Employer's Entitlement to Liquidated Damages When there is Sectional Completion - ǼLEX Legal .avada-select-parent .select-arrow{background-color:#ffffff}.select-arrow{background-color:#ffffff} It is common for parties in commercial construction projects to include sectional completion provisions in their contracts where they have agreed to complete works in sections or phases ...
Many employers have been considering workforce changes to address the economic downturn and cash flow issues caused by COVID-19. Yesterday's announcement by the Federal Government about wage subsidies (known as 'JobKeeper Payments') has been welcomed by employers and unions, and should be closely considered by employers before implementing any changes. It has been reported that 8,000 businesses lodged an application for the subsidy in the 50 minutes that followed the announcement ...
At the same time, the effective rate of tax on dividends for high earners will rise from 25% to 36%. No changes are currently proposed to the rate of capital gains tax which means it will remain at 18%. However, both main parties have now admitted that further tax increases are likely. With the gap between income tax and capital gains being a massive 32%, it seems unlikely that the current generous rate of capital gains tax will remain in place ...
By way of -providing guidelines for implementing the Tax Law No.106/2016/QH13 (Law 106) effective from 1 July 2016, the government has issued Decree 100/2016/ND-CP (Decree 100) on 1 July 2016 and the Ministry of Finance has issued Official Letter 10315/BTC-TCT dated 25 July 2016 (OL 10315) and Circular 130/2016/TT-BTC dated 12 August 2016 (Circular 130) ...
A summary of the visa concessions open to Ukrainian nationals and their family members. The UK’s initial response to help Ukrainian citizens affected by the Russian military invasion was somewhat underwhelming, limiting the aid offered to immediate family members of British citizens and offering concessions for Ukrainian citizens already in the UK. Now the Home Secretary has announced a second phase of support measures available to those fleeing the conflict ...
On 30 March 2020, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Aimed to Ensure Additional Social and Economic Guarantees Due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) Spread" (the Law), which introduces to the Ukrainian legislative environment new complex rules aimed at minimizing the negative impact of the spread of the COVID-19 in Ukraine. The below summary focuses on key changes introduced by the Law ...
The government have introduced various visa concessions for Ukrainian citizens affected by the conflict. Legal director of immigration, Rachel Harvey and Pavan Sumal, associate specialising in immigration law discuss the routes available and what you can do to assist. In country options Concessions are available for those who were in the UK at the start of the conflict ...
Ukraine is an EU candidate: Can we soon file patent applications for Ukraine at the European Patent Office? The European Council granted Ukraine EU candidate status on 23 June 2022. Will patents granted by the European Patent Office soon also apply in Ukraine? Not immediately, because on the one hand the candidate status legally creates neither rights nor obligations ...
This year will mark four years since the UK Jurisdictional Taskforce (UKJT) published its legal statement on crypto assets and smart contracts. This statement was subsequently cited with approval by the English courts holding that cryptoassets can constitute property and can therefore be the subject of proprietary legal remedies and was referred to in the seminal case of AA v Persons Unknown & Ors, Re Bitcoin [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm) (13 December 2019) ...
The UK's recent advancements in AI governance have included the publication of an initial review by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding AI foundation models. The country’s antitrust watchdog has taken the lead in shaping certain principles, recognising the need to harness AI’s potential while avoiding the pitfalls of unchecked power in the hands of a few tech companies, at the expense of broader competition ...
‘We want to take back control’ was a common refrain during the Brexit debates prior to the vote, and since remains a mantra of the UK government. Recent views expressed by the UK government raise the question of what is meant by ‘we’. Across the Atlantic, the United States has a clear expression in its constitution – ‘We the People’ ...
On 14 December 2022, following a campaign by the Royal Yachting Association, the UK Government confirmed that it would not be implementing changes to HMRC policy to enable UK residents that purchased (EU) VAT paid UK vessels located in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period (31 December 2020) to bring these vessels back into the UK without incurring a second (UK) VAT charge ...
On 3 October 2022 the Environment Secretary (‘ES’), Ranil Jayawardena, announced proposals to raise the maximum civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment by 1,000-fold, from £250,000 to a proposed £250 million. The proposals are subject to consultation, but if they are implemented, it is hoped they would help to prevent water companies from causing serious polluting incidents and preserve public and environmental health for future generations ...
We take a look at the options open for Ukrainian nationals fleeing to come to the UK and what you can do to help. The requirements for each are summarised below: 1. Ukraine Family Scheme This allows the family members of British citizens, people who are settled in the UK, people who hold pre-settled status in the UK under Appendix EU or people with refugee status or humanitarian protection to join their family members in the UK ...
The UK now has one publicly accessible charge point for every 11.2 Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) on the road, having seen a remarkable 70% jump in charge points over the past year. The figures, utilised in the calculation of the Electric Vehicle Country Attractiveness (EVCA) Index developed by Cornwall Insight and law firm Shoosmiths, demonstrate the substantial impact of the government's ongoing efforts to expand the charging infrastructure network ...
On November 20, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published “Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice” (the “Code”). The purpose of the Code is to provide organizations with a framework for assessing the risks of anonymization ...
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) recently published a questionnaire to gather feedback on how privacy seals might be used to improve data protection compliance and customer privacy awareness. The questionnaire is available online until November 30, 2012 ...
On November 28, 2012, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) issued monetary penalties totaling £440,000 to two owners of a marketing company that sent millions of unlawful spam SMS text messages over a period of three years.Following an 18 month investigation, Christopher Niebal and Gary McNeish, the owners of Tetrus Telecoms (“Tetrus”), have been ordered to pay £300,000 and £140,000, respectively ...
The parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) have agreed to formally commence an accession process with the UK. Ahead of the start of formal negotiations, the UK Government has set out its strategic approach to accession ...
As global regulators continue to grapple with the challenges of developing and implementing effective Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation, and with AI sitting high on the agenda for Rishi Sunak’s meeting this week with President Biden, the UK Government has announced that it will be hosting a global AI Summit later this year ...
HM Treasury has recently published the outcome of its UK Prospectus Regime Review. The Review Outcome sets out important reforms to the UK prospectus regime for the public issuance of securities and admission to trading on capital markets, outlining the policy approach the UK Government will take following last year's Prospectus Regime Review consultation. This briefing note sets out the key measures confirmed by the UK Government in the Review Outcome ...
