Legal title to many valuable UK properties is held by overseas companies and it can be a tricky task to identify their beneficial owners. However, as one case concerning an alleged $5 million fraud revealed, English judges are well up to the challenge. A company
Judges can and do make mistakes, but their evaluation of factual evidence and the credibility of witnesses is usually final and is very rarely successfully challenged. The point could hardly have been more clearly made than by one case in which a man claimed that
Owners of bars, restaurants and clubs are required to obtain copyright licences from Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) before they can play recorded music to punters and a failure to do so can have extremely serious consequences. The point was underlined when the proprietors of two
The country where a contract is agreed is generally also the country where disputes arising will be tried. However, special rules apply to contracts relating to carriage by air and, in one High Court case, a cruise operator was consigned to fighting its case against
Staff pregnancies can be disruptive, particularly for small businesses, but it is vital that employers do not allow their decision-making to become infected by discrimination. In one case, a hair stylist who was dismissed after she took time off, suffering from morning sickness, won the
Covenants that restrict the use of land can be discharged or modified if they have ceased to serve a useful purpose and are of no real benefit to local people. In one case that proved this point, the Upper Tribunal (UT) opened the way for
One of the many drawbacks of oral agreements is that the status, and even the identity, of the contracting parties can be left in doubt. One High Court case involving a substantial waste removal contract underlined how very important it is to employ a professional
On the whole, we are not accustomed in the UK to long periods of hot weather, so when high temperatures do occur employers may not be prepared to deal with situations that arise as a result. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) has guidance
The definition of ‘disability’ has been the subject of much legal debate ever since the Equality Act 2010 came into force. However, an Employment Tribunal (ET) has shed some much-needed light on the issue in a case concerning a visually impaired office worker. The woman
Worldwide cooperation between states in the enforcement of arbitration awards is an essential part of modern international commerce. However, as one High Court case showed, it is vital to maintain consistency of judicial decision-making across national borders. An arbitration panel in Sweden had awarded damages
