On 13 December 2005, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") found Marks and Spencer plc ("M&S") could claim group tax relief from UK tax authorities in relation to the losses incurred by its former European subsidiaries that had ceased trading in Belgium, France and Germany in 2001. M&S argued that just as UK resident companies in a group may set off their profits and losses among themselves, so the same should be possible for the losses of foreign subsidiaries ...
On 13 December 2005, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") found Marks and Spencer plc ("M&S") could claim group tax relief from UK tax authorities in relation to the losses incurred by its former European subsidiaries that had ceased trading in Belgium, France and Germany in 2001. M&S argued that just as UK resident companies in a group may set off their profits and losses among themselves, so the same should be possible for the losses of foreign subsidiaries ...
The establishment by the Scottish Government of a food security task force is a necessary and timely response to the war in Ukraine. In addition to the harrowing humanitarian crisis, the conflict has prompted significant concern among food producers. The UK food sector and consumers are currently facing a perfect storm just as we begin to emerge from the pandemic ...
There is concern the race to achieve carbon net-zero is leading to the loss of productive agricultural land to forestry. Investors recognise land with planting potential as an excellent investment, which has had a distorting effect on land values. To some extent, this is simply the operation of market forces. A landowner with an unprofitable farming business may well be tempted to sell land to a forestry investor and there are no restrictions on their ability to do so ...
Enforcement of competition law by means of private actions (particularly private damages actions) is a hot topic. The European Commission has a stated policy objective of encouraging private actions and, at the UK level, private actions are becoming more prevalent in both the courts and before the Competition Appeal Tribunal. In particular, the English High Court's decision in Provimi has led to England being seen as an attractive jurisdiction for damages claims ...
The news earlier this month that Jamie Spears has agreed to step down from his long-time role as conservator of his daughter Britney Spears’ estate “when the time is right” has once again shone a light on the singer’s 13-year-long conservatorship, leading many to consider capacity issues for the first time ...
In December last year, the House of Lords handed down its judgment in the case of R (on the application of Laporte) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire. The case considered the proper balance to be struck between an individual's Article 10 and 11 rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association under the European Convention on Human Rights ('ECHR'), and the Police's powers to prevent breaches of the peace ...
From Land’s End to John O’Groats, roving reporters, tabloid writers and broadsheet columnists, have been riding on the wave of the new freedom of information acts. As a result of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and its UK counterpart, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the public now has a statutory right to recorded information held by most public sector bodies. Although the new right only came into force on 1 January 2005, its effect is retrospective ...
Solicitor Chiara Pieri tells Scottish Legal News about her career journey – from working as a paralegal to qualifying as a solicitor and becoming president of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association. In 2014 Chiara Pieri graduated from Glasgow University with an LLB with Italian – and plans to go globetrotting before embarking on her legal career ...
On 8 September 2006, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘the CAT’) gave judgment in favour of London Metal Exchange (‘LME’) to recover costs in respect of its appeal against an interim measures direction (‘IMD’) issued (and then withdrawn) by the Office of Fair Trading (‘the OFT’). The OFT’s first IMD arose from a complaint against, inter alia, LME’s plan to extend its opening hours for its non-ferrous base metals trading platform, LME Select, to capture the Asian markets ...
On 8 September 2006, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (‘the CAT’) gave judgment in favour of London Metal Exchange (‘LME’) to recover costs in respect of its appeal against an interim measures direction (‘IMD’) issued (and then withdrawn) by the Office of Fair Trading (‘the OFT’). The OFT’s first IMD(FN1) arose from a complaint against, inter alia, LME’s plan to extend its opening hours for its non-ferrous base metals trading platform, LME Select, to capture the Asian markets ...
The funding of emerging oil & gas companies is less straightforward than other start-ups due to the inherent risks associated with drilling for oil and taking any successful drilling programmes from exploration stage through to the production of oil & gas. Debt finance, essentially borrowing from banks, is usually dependent upon a guaranteed revenue, so is normally only a funding option once production has commenced ...
The Court of Appeal has overturned existing rules in England and Wales about administrators’ liability to pay rents falling due before their appointment. The Court ruled that rent payable in advance will now be treated as an administration expense for the whole period of occupation of premises by administrators for the benefit of the administration. Game's administrators sold the assets of the group, including a number of the stores, which continued to trade ...
Gas Natural’s high profile courting of Endesa has had a choppy ride on the roller coaster ship of public takeovers. Not only is the desired companion resisting the marriage, but also is she summoning the high waves of competition law in her defence. Not much of the public debate of the competition law aspects is focussed on the merits of perhaps one of the last industry transforming mergers in the Spanish energy markets ...
Lawyers are often criticised for using overly complex legal and technical wording in contracts. The purpose of a contract is, amongst other things, to clearly set out the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, and to limit uncertainty during the particular project. To this end, it is important to use plain English in contract drafting and as a general rule, to use short sentences, defined terms and a clear and logical structure ...
One of the main talking points in the energy sector in recent months has been concerned with 'getting smart metering right'. But what is it about smart metering that businesses in particular have to 'get right'? To start, smart metering is not new – a number of countries have already been using it for different purposes. For example, in Italy, one of the motivating factors was to improve customer payment for energy ...
Negotiations are part of our daily lives from an early age. From haggling with teachers over homework to agreeing terms for a new job – we all negotiate regularly throughout our lives. So why then can it be difficult to get some parties to start negotiating when it matters? Parties are unlikely to negotiate if they believe that they can force a better result at a lower cost ...
The national minimum wage will increase from 1 October 2011 as follows: The adult rate (age 21 and over) will increase to £6.08 per hour. The development rate (for 18 to 20 year olds) will increase to £4.98 per hour. The rate for young workers (16 to 17 year olds) will increase to £3.68 per hour ...
The national minimum wage will increase from 1 October 2011 as follows: The adult rate (age 21 and over) will increase to £6.08 per hour. The development rate (for 18 to 20 year olds) will increase to £4.98 per hour. The rate for young workers (16 to 17 year olds) will increase to £3.68 per hour ...
The Government launched its consultation on modern workplaces on 16 May 2011. The consultation contains proposals for a system of shared flexible parental leave, the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees, changes to the Working Time Regulations to deal with the interaction of holiday and sickness absence and proposals to require employers to carry out equal pay audits if they lose an equal pay claim ...
The Government launched its consultation on modern workplaces on 16 May 2011. The consultation contains proposals for a system of shared flexible parental leave, the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees, changes to the Working Time Regulations to deal with the interaction of holiday and sickness absence and proposals to require employers to carry out equal pay audits if they lose an equal pay claim ...
Background Following a recent YouGov survey's finding that 85 per cent of SMEs in the UK have been affected by late payments over the past two years, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the UK government is to launch a consultation this year to examine ways of reducing this problem, and find solutions to ensure payments are made more timeously to SMEs by larger companies ...
Intellectual Property is important. Although never at the forefront of our thinking (IP Lawyers aside) the role of patents, trade marks and copyright in shaping the business and leisure aspects of our lives is immense ...
To the average internet user the few little letters at the end of the domain name they have just searched must seem rather trivial. Little do they know of the struggle of numerous corporations to obtain those little letters in an effort to try to stamp their individuality on the internet. Companies such as "donut.com" (who focus on registering as many as these generic top level domains or gTLDs as possible) insist that "the current Internet namespace, like ...
Guarantees are a common feature in commercial leases. A guarantor will guarantee a tenant’s obligations under a lease, for example the payment of rent. This provides security to the landlord and can help to maintain continuity of rental income regardless of the default or insolvency of the tenant. However, problems can arise with enforcement of guarantees where the obligations being guaranteed have been changed without the guarantor’s consent ...
