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Refusal to provide cake supporting gay marriage was not direct sexual orientation discrimination
11 October 2018The Supreme Court (“SC”) has ruled that a bakery did not discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation when it refused to provide a cake for a customer bearing the words “support gay marriage”. The bakery’s refusal was based on the owner’s Christian beliefs that the only form of marriage acceptable to God was between one man and one woman.
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Promoting mental health awareness in the workplace
10 October 2018Today is World Mental Health Day, an appropriate time for employers to reflect on how this issue impacts the workplace and consider measures they can adopt to promote mental health and support their employees.
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SFO v ENRC landmark privilege case: no appeal but the story continues…
10 October 2018The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it will not appeal the Court of Appeal’s landmark ruling that documents created during an internal investigation by Eurasion Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) were protected by litigation privilege and do not have to be disclosed to the SFO. However, the story does not end there because in a new twist, ENRC has applied for a judicial review of the SFO’s investigation into criminal allegations of corruption and financial wrongdoing by ENRC.
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Heathrow fined over data breach
09 October 2018The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) has made a civil monetary penalty order for the sum of £120,000 against Heathrow Airport Ltd (“HAL”) after a lost data stick containing the sensitive personal information of a number of staff members was found by a member of the public.
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Launch event for Lewis Silkin's Ireland office shines light on Brexit opportunities for the country
04 October 2018In an article, Irish Legal News has covered the upcoming Lewis Silkin Ireland office opening and discussed the post-Brexit opportunities for Ireland.
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Sports Q&A - Are clubs allowed to ban their players from using social media?
27 September 2018This month’s question was inspired by comments from Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, about his first choice left back, Benjamin Mendy. During a press conference over the summer, Guardiola suggested that Mendy should, “forget a little bit the social media and improve a few things”. Mendy, who has a huge following on both Instagram and Twitter, vowed to “listen to the manager”...though he remains incredibly active online.
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Permission to issue a warrant for possession is no longer required in rent arrears cases
27 September 2018The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2018 (SI 2018/975) come into force from 1 October 2018 so that a writ or warrant for possession may be issued without the court’s permission where there has been non-compliance with an order suspending possession on payment of money.
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The Hong Kong Government announced that from Wednesday, 19 September 2018, their Immigration Department will for the first time recognise the nature of same-sex civil partnerships
27 September 2018This new policy means that the other party to a same-sex partnership will be able to apply to join their same-sex partner, who has been admitted into Hong Kong, for residence in Hong Kong as a dependant.
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The importance of gas safety
19 September 2018On 6 April 2018, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 were amended with the new regulations allowing ‘flexibility’ for landlords when carrying out annual gas safety inspections. It’s important to note that these amendments do not change or relax a landlord’s obligations to carry out an annual gas safety inspection. They simply allow for the annual inspection to be carried out within a two month period prior to the expiry of the existing certificate, whilst retaining the existing expiry date.
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The MAC report: EU nationals will need work permits if they want to get jobs in the UK post Brexit
18 September 2018The Migration Advisory Committee has released today its long awaited report into the impact of EEA migration in the UK. The report is a key indicator of what the Government may do when they reveal their plans for the new immigration system which will govern how EU nationals are able to live and work in the UK after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020.
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MAC proposals will switch it up for Tier 4 students wanting to work in the UK
17 September 2018September marks the start of what is likely to be a busy few months in the world of immigration law, with the eagerly awaited Migration Advisory Committee’s report into the impact of EU workers on the UK economy likely to be released in the next few weeks and the long overdue immigration white paper following in October.
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Parental bereavement bill receives royal assent
14 September 2018The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill received royal assent yesterday to become the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018. It entitles employed parents who have lost a child to take statutory paid leave to allow them time to grieve. It is expected that the new rights will come into force in 2020.
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Data breaches under the GDPR - will the sky come crashing down on British Airways?
11 September 2018Between 21 August and 5 September, British Airways (“BA”) suffered a data breach - in essence, its systems were “hacked”. This has affected the personal data of around 380,000 individuals. Following an announcement through BA’s Twitter account, the story was quickly picked up by mainstream media outlets, demonstrating the significant publicity that such events can generate in a short space of time.
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SFO V ENRC: Landmark privilege decision by Court of Appeal
10 September 2018The Court of Appeal has handed down its much anticipated decision in the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (“ENRC”) appeal. In a judgment that will leave many lawyers breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the Court of Appeal overturned large parts of Mrs Justice Andrews’ first instance decision.
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Fragmentation of activity may preclude service provision change
06 September 2018The Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that when considering whether or not there has been a TUPE service provision change (“SPC”), it is critical to identify the relevant activity. The analysis must be done in the right order and any fragmentation should be considered when considering if activities carried on by the subsequent service provider are fundamentally the same as those carried on by the outgoing service provider.
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TUPE and the transfer of public administrative functions
06 September 2018In a case about whether TUPE applied to the transfer of a public health team commissioning services, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has considered points of appeal in relation to two seldom litigated provisions of TUPE.
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Five-month cessation of activities does not prevent transfer of undertaking under EU law
04 September 2018In a Spanish case, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has ruled that a five-month break in activities between outsourcing contracts did not prevent the transfer of an undertaking under the 2001 EU Acquired Rights Directive (“ARD”).
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UK immigration system “almost impossible to navigate”
04 September 2018Last week The Guardian published an article about the volume of UK immigration laws and the frequency of changes and amendments to them. This was sparked by some damning remarks from Lord Justice Irwin who said that the system is “something of a disgrace” and almost impossible to navigate.
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Sports Q&A - EU trade marks post-Brexit
03 September 2018We hold registered EU trade marks to protect our tournament name and logos. Post-Brexit will we still have protection in the UK?
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‘Loophole’, or lobbying for change?
31 August 2018Migration Watch UK has recently published a paper drawing attention to a perceived abuse by certain employers of part of the UK’s immigration system. Distortion of the ICT visa system suggests that the Tier 2 (Intracompany Transfer) (‘ICT’) visa route is currently being exploited by employers who are ‘undercutting the domestic labour market’. The ‘law that is’ and the ‘law that ought to be’ by nature pull in opposite directions. Taking UK immigration law as a ‘closed circuit’, the use of the word ‘loophole’ might better be categorised by some as simply ‘poor regulation’.