A v A and another (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted September 11th, 2013 in appeals, children, custody, EC law, jurisdiction, law reports by tracey

A v A and another (Children: Habitual Residence) (Reunite International Child Abduction Centre and others intervening): [2013] UKSC 60;   [2013] WLR (D)  345

“The High Court of England and Wales had jurisdiction to order the ‘return’ to this country of a small child who had never lived or even been here, on the basis that he had British nationality.”

WLR Daily, 9th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

General Medical Council to test EU doctors’ proficiency in English – The Guardian

Posted September 9th, 2013 in doctors, EC law, examinations, licensing, news by tracey

“Medical regulators are to be given new powers to prevent European doctors treating patients in Britain before they have proved their ability to speak English as a four-year battle to ensure tougher language checks on all overseas medics enters its final stages.”

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The Guardian, 7th September 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

New flood insurance tax ‘could breach EU law’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 27th, 2013 in competition, EC law, insurance, news, taxation by tracey

“Plans to charge every household in the country £10.50 to cover the cost of insuring properties in flood risk areas amount to a ‘tax’ and represent poor value for money for the economy, government analysts have concluded. The new system, intended to help up to 500,000 housholders afford home insurance despite living in fear of floods, is also likely to breach European laws, officials have said.”

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Daily Telegraph, 26th August 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Unified Patent Court Comes One Step Closer – NIPC Law

Posted August 19th, 2013 in EC law, news, patents by tracey

“When I was called to the Bar in 1977 I spent a lot of time studying the Community Patent Convention which of 1975 because I really thought I would need to know about it. Hélas le temps perdu!. I would have spent the time no less profitably in the Seven Stars. Forty years on, as they sing at Harrow, there are signs that something close to the original concept of the Community patent is about to become a reality.”

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NIPC Law, 17th August 2013

Source: www.nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

Iranian bank sues over sanctions – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 19th, 2013 in banking, compensation, costs, EC law, Iran, news, nuclear weapons, sanctions, Supreme Court by tracey

“The taxpayer faces a bill for up to £1 billion after the Government was sued by an Iranian bank that claimed it had been wrongly placed on a sanctions blacklist.”

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Daily Telegraph, 19th August 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Gibraltar row: UK considering ‘unprecedented’ legal action – BBC News

“The UK government is considering legal action against Spain over the imposition of additional border checks in Gibraltar, Downing Street has said.”

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BBC News, 12th August 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Sir Cliff Richard’s victory: an extra 20 years of copyright protection for sound recordings is only weeks away – Technology Law Update

Posted August 9th, 2013 in artistic works, copyright, EC law, news by sally

“It’s been dubbed by the media as ‘Cliff Richard’s Law’, and now he and his fellow musicians are about to see the change to copyright duration in sound recordings that they pushed for finally coming into force.”

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Technology Law Update, 8th August 2013

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

The Curious Case of Bank Mellat – Dyers Chambers

“On 19 June 2013, the Supreme Court gave judgment in the case of Bank Mellat v HM Treasury (No. 1) and (No. 2). Gavin Irwin reviews the latest developments in the deployment of sanctions against Iran and the tensions that can arise between international organisations, nation states and commercial entities.”

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Dyers Chambers, 11th July 2013

Source: www.dyerschambers.com

Will the recast Cosmetics Regulation provide greater protection for consumers in relation to cosmetics and personal care products? – Doughty Street Chambers

Posted July 31st, 2013 in advertising, consumer protection, EC law, health & safety, news by sally

“Eloise Power writes about EC Cosmetics Regulation (Regulation EC No 1223/2009) and Commission Regulation (Regulation EU No 655/2013) now in force.”

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Doughty Street Chambers, 24th July 2013

Source: www.doughtystreet.co.uk

Media influence on law reform – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted July 31st, 2013 in constitutional reform, EC law, media, news, public interest by sally

“It is clear that public opinion affects law reform. MPs are democratically elected and thus to become elected MPs are naturally influenced by the will of the public. As legislation is put forward and created by those influenced by public opinion, there is no doubt that this has a significant influence on the development of legislation.”

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 30th July 2013

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Woman jailed for child cruelty overturns deportation bid – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 31st, 2013 in appeals, child cruelty, deportation, EC law, news, tribunals by sally

“A German woman who was jailed for locking up her three children in squalid conditions has won a legal challenge against the Home Office’s bid to deport her, The Telegraph can disclose.”

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Daily Telegraph, 30th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina (Buckinghamshire County Council and others) v Secretary of State for Transport; Regina (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Same; Regina (Heathrow Hub Ltd and another) v Same – WLR Daily

Regina (Buckinghamshire County Council and others) v Secretary of State for Transport; Regina (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd) v Same; Regina (Heathrow Hub Ltd and another) v Same [2013] EWCA Civ 920; [2013] WLR (D) 308

“The Government’s proposed strategy for the promotion, construction and operation of a new high speed rail network, as set out in a command paper and followed after consultation by an announcement of decisions and next steps, was not a plan or programme which set the framework for future development consent by the decision-maker (ie Parliament) so as to necessitate an environmental assessment within the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42/EC).”

WLR Daily, 24th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

HS2 challenges fail but powerful dissent – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 26th, 2013 in appeals, EC law, environmental protection, news, planning, railways by sally

“HS2 is the proposed high speed rail link to Birmingham and beyond. Its opponents sought to challenge the decision to promote it by way of a hybrid Bill in Parliament, saying that the process as a whole breached the various EU rules, including the need for Strategic Environmental Assessment under the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive 2001/42/EC and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive 2011/92/EU.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 26th July 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV v Federal Republic of Germany – WLR Daily

Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV v Federal Republic of Germany: (Case C-515/11); [2013] WLR (D) 291

“Pursuant to the first sentence of the second subparagraph of article 2(2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2003/4/EC of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information, the option given to member states by that provision of not regarding ‘bodies or institutions acting in a … legislative capacity’ as public authorities, required to allow access to the environmental information which they held, could not be applied to ministries when they prepared and adopted normative regulations which were of a lower rank than a law.”

WLR Daily 18th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Green—Swan Pharmaceuticals CR, as v Státni zemědělská a potravinářská inspekce, ústředni inspektorát (Case C-299/12) – WLR Daily

Posted July 23rd, 2013 in advertising, consumer protection, EC law, food, law reports by tracey

Green—Swan Pharmaceuticals CR, as v Státni zemědělská a potravinářská inspekce, ústředni inspektorát: (Case C-299/12) ;  [2013] WLR (D)  292

“In order to be considered a prohibited ‘reduction in disease’ claim within the meaning of article 2(2)(6) of Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (OJ 2006 L404, p 9) as amended, there was no requirement that the claim expressly state that the consumption of a category of food, a food or one of its constituents “significantly” reduced a risk factor in the development of a human disease. Moreover, pursuant to the transitional measures in article 28(2) of the Regulation, a commercial communication appearing on the packaging of a food could constitute a trade mark or brand name thereby attracting the protection afforded by the transitional provisions, provided that it was protected, as a mark or name, by the applicable legislation, that question being for the national court to determine. The benefit of article 28(2) applied only to foods bearing a trade mark or brand name which fell to be considered a nutrition or health claim within the meaning of the Regulation and which, in that form, existed before 1 January 2005.”

WLR Daily, 18th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Alemo-Herron v Parkwood Leisure Ltd – WLR Daily

Alemo-Herron v Parkwood Leisure Ltd (Case C-426/11); [2013] WLR (D) 288

“Article 3 of Council Directive 2001/23/EC precluded a member state from providing, in the event of a transfer of an undertaking, that dynamic clauses referring to collective agreements negotiated and adopted after the date of transfer were enforceable against the transferee, where that transferee did not have the possibility of participating in the negotiation process of such collective agreements concluded after the date of the transfer.”

WLR Daily, 18th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Specsavers International Healthcare Ltd and others v Asda Stores Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted July 22nd, 2013 in appeals, EC law, law reports, trade marks by sally

Specsavers International Healthcare Ltd and others v Asda Stores Ltd (Case C-252/12); [2013] WLR (D) 287

“‘Genuine use’ within the meaning of article 15(1) and article 51(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 could be fulfilled where a Community figurative mark was used only in conjunction with a Community word mark which was superimposed over it, and the combination of those two marks was, furthermore, itself registered as a Community trade mark, to the extent that the differences between the form in which that trade mark was used and that in which it was registered did not change the distinctive character of that trade mark as registered. Where a Community trade mark was not registered in colour, but the proprietor had used it extensively in a particular colour or combination of colours with the result that it had become associated in the mind of a significant portion of the public with that colour or combination of colours, the colour or colours which a third party used in order to represent a sign alleged to infringe that trade mark were relevant in the global assessment of the likelihood of confusion or unfair advantage pursuant to article 9(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation No 207/2009. The fact that the third party making use of a sign which allegedly infringed the registered trade mark was itself associated, in the mind of a significant portion of the public, with the colour or particular combination of colours which it used for the representation of that sign was relevant to the global assessment of the likelihood of confusion and unfair advantage for the purposes of article 9(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation No 207/2009.”

WLR Daily, 18th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Commission of the European Union v Stichting Administratiekantoor Portielje and another – WLR Daily

Posted July 18th, 2013 in competition, EC law, law reports, subsidiary companies, undertakings by tracey

Commission of the European Union v Stichting Administratiekantoor Portielje and another: (Case C-440/11P);   [2013] WLR (D)  284

“The presumption of actual influence by a parent entity holding a controlling shareholding in its subsidiary arose even where that entity was constituted in the legal form of an economically inactive foundation for the purposes of imputing liability to the parent for a subsidiary’s infringing behaviour under article 101FEU of the FEU Treaty.”

WLR Daily, 11th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Fédération des maisons de repos privées de Belgique (Femarbel) ASBL v Commission communautaire commune de Bruxelles-Capitale – WLR Daily

Posted July 16th, 2013 in EC law, freedom of movement, health, law reports, social services by sally

Fédération des maisons de repos privées de Belgique (Femarbel) ASBL v Commission communautaire commune de Bruxelles-Capitale (Case C-57/12); [2013] WLR (D) 278

“On the proper interpretation of article 2(2)(f) of Parliament and Council Directive 2006/123/EC of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, the exclusion of healthcare services from the scope of the Directive covered any activity intended to assess, maintain or restore the state of health of patients, where that activity was carried out by healthcare professionals recognised as such by the member state concerned, regardless of the ways in which the facilities in which that care was provided were organised and financed or whether they were public or private. On the proper interpretation of article 2(2)(j) the exclusion of social services from the scope of that Directive included any activity relating, inter alia, to the care and assistance of elderly persons, where that activity was carried out by a private service provider which has been mandated by the state by means of an act conferring, in a clear and transparent manner, a genuine obligation to provide such services under specific conditions.”

WLR Daily, 11th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Bar Council: Parliament must have chance to scrutinise EU justice opt out – The Bar Council

Posted July 16th, 2013 in criminal justice, EC law, news, parliament, treaties by sally

“The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has called on the Government to allow Parliament to scrutinise its intention to opt-out of more than 130 EU criminal justice measures properly. This comes as a Motion to Approve the opt-out has been scheduled for Monday 15 July, rather than full parliamentary scrutiny.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 12th July 2013

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk