News

Failure to Enforce Right Leads to its Loss
02 September 2010
An easement (such as a right of way) is a right over someone else’s land. A right of easement, once granted, is quite often forgotten about. However, a recent case shows how important it can be to make sure that an easement does not lapse through disuse... - Read

Pension Waiver Proves to be IHT Trap
31 August 2010
The executors of a woman who decided not to take her pension from her pension scheme when she was terminally ill have been ruled to be liable for Inheritance Tax (IHT) on the value of her pension fund. he woman was diagnosed with cancer five months before... - Read

Assessment of Repetitive Tasks Tool
30 August 2010
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common occupational illness in Britain. They include problems such as low back pain, joint injuries and repetitive strain injuries of various sorts, and affect more than 500,000 people every year. They are often linked... - Read

Foreign Divorces – Better Protection for Spouses
30 August 2010
The principle that British persons divorced abroad can look to the courts in England and Wales to ensure that their ‘reasonable needs’ are met in the divorce settlement has been firmly established following a recent case involving a divorced couple who both hold joint British... - Read

Driving: Mobile Phone, No – Dictaphone, Yes
27 August 2010
A loophole in the law allowed comedian Jimmy Carr to escape a fine when the acerbic funny man appeared before Harrow Magistrates’ Court after police spotted him using a mobile phone whilst driving. The successful argument was based on the fact that he was not using... - Read

Fines for Breaches of Environmental Law
27 August 2010
The Court of Appeal has ruled in a case which establishes an important precedent for the setting of fines for breaches of environmental law. Thames Water had appealed against a fine of £125,000 for a mistake which had led to pollution of the river Wandle. It claimed that... - Read

Copyright Case Highlights Need for Care
25 August 2010
Breach of copyright on the Internet is relatively common, but it is still a breach of the law and one for which there is no defence based on ignorance. Copyright is an absolute right, which arises automatically. Nothing has to be done to obtain it: it arises as soon as the... - Read

Boundary Dispute Over Strip of Driveway Ends Up in Court
25 August 2010
An argument over a narrow strip of land has left a mother and son facing massive costs after their case was heard in the Court of Appeal recently. The dispute arose because their neighbour wanted to put up a fence on what he considered to be the dividing line... - Read

ET1 Claim Forms and Illegibility
24 August 2010
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled (May v Greenwich Council) that the Employment Tribunal (ET) had no jurisdiction to refuse to accept a claimant’s ET1 claim form, on the ground that it found some of the handwriting illegible, because the form did contain the required information... - Read

Farming Family in Intestacy Challenge
24 August 2010
The problems which can arise when there is an intestate estate that involves business assets were made clear recently when the High Court had to rule on a complex claim relating back to a death that occurred many years ago. At stake was a share in a farm, claimed by the children of a woman who died in 1993 without leaving a will. Her estate... - Read

It’s Good to Talk
19 August 2010
Litigation can be expensive and there are good reasons in many cases for achieving a resolution by mediation when possible. The best course of action will depend on the individual circumstances of the case... - Read

Undocumented ‘Rights’ Given Short Shrift by Court
19 August 2010
It is often thought that there is little practical difference between being married or in a civil partnership and living together. Regrettably, this is very far from the case, as a lady barrister found out in the High Court recently. The barrister, who had lived with a wealthy dentist... - Read

Council That Refused Meeting With Homeless Man Failed to Meet Obligations
18 August 2010
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a man who knew that he and his daughter were about to become homeless, and who wrote to the council seeking its assistance in obtaining accommodation, had done enough to trigger the council’s obligation to provide him with... - Read

Businessmen Denied Profit for ‘Borrowed’ Business Plan
17 August 2010
When someone breaches a confidence and uses confidential information to make a profit, one of the legal remedies which may be sought is to require the person committing the breach to account for the profit made as a result... - Read

In Brief - Ash Cloud Relief for Non-Residents
16 August 2010
HM Revenue and Customs have announced that non-UK resident persons who remained in the UK due to disruption of their travel plans because of the volcanic ash cloud and who, as a result, spent more than 90 days in the UK at one time, will not be treated as becoming UK resident for income tax purposes as a result... - Read

Tax and Foreign Travel
16 August 2010
Recently, two issues relating to foreign travel have arisen which are relevant for taxpayers. Firstly, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have advised that taxpayers who expect to have problems paying tax on time as a result of the volcanic ash cloud should contact... - Read

Race Discrimination – Employer Not Liable for Agency Worker’s Remarks
13 August 2010
A recent case (May and Baker Ltd. t/a Sanofi-Aventis Pharma v Okerago) serves as a reminder to employers of the sort of problems that can arise during a major sporting event when members of their workforce support different national teams. Mrs Okerago claimed that... - Read

Widow Wins Right to Evict Daughter
12 August 2010
A 92-year-old widow has won the right to evict her daughter and son-in-law, following a bitter family dispute that has lasted, on and off, for 20 years. The Court of Appeal judges dismissed claims by the couple that they had been promised the house would be theirs and had acquired rights over it because they also made repairs to the property at their own expense... - Read

Correct Procedure Means No Human Rights Act Claim
11 August 2010
Social Housing providers will greet a recent decision of the Supreme Court with relief. The Court upheld a local council’s decision that it had discharged its duty to secure accommodation for persons who were homeless by sending each of them a letter offering accommodation... - Read

In Brief - HMRC to Name and Shame Tax Dodgers
10 August 2010
Taxpayers who evade more than £25,000 of tax will now be ‘named and shamed’ by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) where the evasion affects a period after 1 April 2010. It is expected to be 2011 before the first tax evaders will be publicly exposed on the HMRC website... - Read

Bribery Act Becomes Law
09 August 2010
Bribery and corruption are rife in many countries. For example, IKEA recently ceased its expansion in Russia because of difficulties in obtaining permissions to build stores without being willing to engage in corrupt practices. In some countries, ‘sweeteners’ for deals are a necessity or near-necessity... - Read

‘Toxic Sofa’ Victims Win Compensation
06 August 2010
In what is thought to be the largest consumer class action in English legal history, more than 1,500 customers who suffered chemical burns and allergic reactions after buying ‘toxic sofas’ are to share in a £20 million compensation settlement... - Read

HSE – ‘Do Your Bit’ Campaign
05 August 2010
In the light of research carried out by the Health and Safety Laboratory, which shows that worker participation in implementing occupational health and safety measures has a positive effect on health and safety performance, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched.... - Read

HMRC – A Case for a Disaster Recovery Plan?
04 August 2010
The powers of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are considerable, as a recent case makes clear. It involved a company that HMRC suspected of Excise Duty evasion. A raid on its premises was undertaken and HMRC officers found quantities of alcohol for which there.... - Read

Husband’s Covert Affair Means Wife Keeps House
04 August 2010
When a wife agrees to allow the family home to be used as security for her husband’s debts, the legal situation is normally clear and the creditor can rely on her consent in order to take possession. However, a recent case, in which a wife successfully resisted the bank’s claim... - Read