Law Updates

23/11/2005 - Employment Law Developments in 2006 and Beyond

To bring businesses up to date and to highlight some areas of your own policies and procedures that might need a review, here is a brief overview of some of the key changes planned for 2006 and beyond into 2007. Read Full Article

10/11/2005 - Update on the New Licensing Laws : Licensing act 2003

Last orders were called on 6 August 05 giving pubs, clubs, restaurants, hotels and hot food take-away shops three and a half months drinking up time to apply for Premises and Personal Licences before the closing time deadline of 24 November 2005. Read Full Article

02/11/2005 - Case Law Round Up

To bring you up to date, here is a brief overview of some recent, key cases from 2005. Read Full Article

02/11/2005 - Civil Partnerships and Changing Your Name

The Civil Partnership Act becomes UK law on 5th December 2005. From this date Civil Partners will acquire very similar rights as married couples. One such right is that Civil Partners will be able to share a common surname, like married couples, free from the usual change of name formalities. Read Full Article

29/09/2005 - Civil Partnership Act - Revocation of Wills

The Civil Partnership Act comes into force on 5th December 2004. Under this new act same sex couples will be able to register their relationships and acquire rights and responsibilities akin to a married heterosexual couple. Read Full Article

27/06/2005 - Agency Workers or End User Employee?

Temporary workers engaged through employment agencies have for a number of years been a popular choice for UK businesses. The benefits to businesses of engaging a flexible labour resource have been tangible. Read Full Article

13/06/2005 - Website Copyright: What's Protected and What's Not?

When easyJet set about commissioning a new website user interface for its ticket-less internet booking service, doubtless it did not expect to find itself defending hefty copyright infringement proceedings. The system that easyJet commissioned and subsequently implemented from BulletProof Technologies (eRes) bore considerable similarity to the OpenRes system that it had formerly operated under licence from Navitaire Inc, so much so that Navitaire brought proceedings for breach of copyright. Read Full Article

06/06/2005 - Blogging: The Obvious and Not so Obvious Consequences for Businesses

The internet age has brought with it a mind blowing increase in the rate at which information can be disseminated. When used legitimately the web is a fantastic marketing, advertising and communication tool for businesses of all sizes, however the ease, speed and cheapness of this medium together with the added anonymity that it can bring to a situation can also be a menace to business. Read Full Article

06/06/2005 - IT Implementation Disputes; Giving It Another Shot or Cutting Your Losses

Almost all businesses these days will, at some stage, enter into arrangements for computer hardware, software and support. The relationship between purchaser and supplier will be governed by the terms of the contract between them. Very many complicated contract disputes arise because of the lack of a written contract and a resulting uncertainty over the terms by which the parties agreed to be bound. Experience shows that given the relatively high cost of IT, its importance to the day to day running of businesses and the reality that for most it takes a relatively large chunk of the annual budget, written contracts do generally come into being. However, there is still plenty of room for dispute as to their application and interpretation. Read Full Article

01/06/2005 - Licensing Act 2003 - Deadline 6th August 2005

Whether you run a pub, off licence, restaurant, club, sports club, hotel or guest house you must take action now to apply to your local authority for a new Premises Licence and Personal Licences for yourself and other licensees. If you do not do so by 6th August your existing licence will come to an end, probably in November, when the second appointed day under the Licensing Act comes into force. Read Full Article

05/05/2005 - A Work Life Balance?

In recent years a consistent theme running throughout European and domestic employment legislation has been an attempt to improve the work life balance. The aim has been to help workers to balance work and family life commitments, leading to higher productivity and better performance. However, is it working in the UK, and where might we be going? Read Full Article

05/05/2005 - Pre-Owned Asset Income Tax Regime Applicable to Land - An Introduction

The new Pre-owned Asset Regime ("The Regime") was introduced by the Finance Act 2004. The Regime imposes an Income Tax charge on an individual taxpayer who occupies land after he has disposed of it. To be liable to tax under the Regime, the individual must occupy the land at any time after 5th April 2005 and must previously have disposed of the land at any time after 17th March 1986. Read Full Article

05/05/2005 - The Pre-Owned Asset Income Tax Regime and the Home-Loan Scheme

Various types of Home-Loans Schemes have been entered into over the last few years but typically they involve the following steps:- Read Full Article

28/04/2005 - Civil Partnerships and Prenuptial Agreements

From 5 December 2005, it will be possible for gay and lesbian couples to enter into registered Civil Partnerships. Read Full Article

27/04/2005 - Prenuptial Agreements

Although couples who are contemplating living together, without getting married, quite often enter into an agreement before purchasing a property together, so as to define what their contributions towards the mortgage and other outgoings will be and how they will divide their property and other assets in the event that their relationship breaks down, couples who are getting married are generally far more reluctant to contemplate this sort of prenuptial agreement. Read Full Article

27/04/2005 - Civil Partnership Act 2004

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 received Royal Assent on 18th November 2004 and comes into force on the 5th December 2005. Read Full Article

07/03/2005 - Employers Liability Insurance - New Rules

Employers liability insurance covers the liability of an employer to pay damages to employees (current or former) for personal injuries sustained or illnesses arising in the course of employment. Read Full Article

04/03/2005 - Remuneration or Dividends - Recent Developments

It is possible to extract cash or value from a company in several ways including remuneration, bonuses or dividends. Read Full Article