The omniscient draftsman – the answer to Virgin Media? – Pensions Barrister

Posted July 13th, 2023 in news, pensions, regulations, statutory interpretation by sally

‘Paul Newman KC has written an article on the principles of statutory construction, which might be relevant to the interpretation of a term of art used in a statutory instrument – such as “accrued rights” in the contracting-out legislation recently considered by the court in Virgin Media Ltd v NTL Pension Trustees II Ltd.’

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Pensions Barrister, 13th July 2023

Source: www.pensionsbarrister.com

New Judgment: Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v SSE Generation Ltd [2023] UKSC 17 – UKSC Blog

Posted June 27th, 2023 in corporation tax, energy, news, statutory interpretation, Supreme Court, water by sally

‘In this post, Jack Prytherch, Of Counsel in the Tax Disputes & Investigations team at CMS, comments on the Supreme Court’s decision in HMRC v SSE Generation Ltd [2023] UKSC 17, which was handed down on 17 May 2023. The issue before the Supreme Court was the extent to which SSE Generation Ltd (“SSE”) was entitled to claim capital allowances on expenditure incurred when constructing the hydro-electric power station at Glendoe, Fort Augustus in Scotland (the “Glendoe Scheme”). The CMS Tax Disputes & Investigations team was pleased to have advised SSE on this case. Counsel for SSE were Jonathan Peacock KC and Michael Ripley.’

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UKSC Blog, 27th June 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

R (on the application of Wang and another) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 21 – EIN Blog

‘This appeal relates to the interpretation of the Immigration Rules, in particular the Tier 1 (Investor) Migrant regime (as in force in December 2017 – it has since been closed). This regime was designed to grant leave to remain to high-net-worth individuals making a substantial financial contribution to the UK. To qualify individuals were required to have £1 million (of either their own money or money borrowed from a UK-regulated financial institution) under their control in the UK. They must also have invested at least £750,000 of such sum in the UK through UK Government bonds or in shares in or loans to active and trading UK-registered companies (subject to certain further restrictions and exclusions).’

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EIN Blog, 21st June 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

New Judgment: JTI POLSKA Sp. Z o.o. and others v Jakubowski and others [2023] UKSC 19 – UKSC Blog

‘The appellants are road hauliers based in Poland. The respondents are part of a group of companies that buy and sell tobacco products internationally. The respondents contracted the appellants to transport a consignment of cigarettes from Poland to England. The road carriage was undertaken subject to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road 1956 (the “CMR”), an international treaty which widely governs international transport by road and has the force of law in the UK under domestic legislation. Under a European excise duty suspension arrangement, excise duty on the cigarettes was suspended until such time as the consignment was released for commercial consumption, or was deemed to have been released for commercial consumption, as in the case of non-delivery or partial delivery due to theft.’

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UKSC Blog, 14th June 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Lord Sales, The Developing Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on Convention Rights – Supreme Court

‘Lord Sales: The Developing Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on Convention Rights’

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Supreme Court, 5th June 2023

Source: www.supremecourt.uk

Humanism and religious instruction in schools: the landmark case of Bowen – Law & Religion UK

‘The High Court decision in R (on the Application of Bowen) v Kent County Council [2023] EWHC 1261 (Admin) makes it clear that local authorities cannot exclude humanist representatives from their Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs). Although many SACREs already include humanists and this interpretation has been articulated in soft law, the judgment of Constable J is unambiguous on that point and presents a significant step forward. However, the judgment also highlights how the protection of non-religious beliefs continues to be controversial and lacking in clarity. This post will explore this welcome decision while highlighting the unresolved matters concerning freedom of non-religious beliefs.’

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Law & Religion UK, 30th May 2023

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

The UK Bill of Rights: Changes to Human Rights Protection may Impact Climate Litigation – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘Across the world, human rights-based arguments are increasingly deployed in climate litigation against public bodies. However, in the UK, potential reforms to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) – an Act which allows claimants in domestic courts to rely on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – could seriously impact the ability of these cases to succeed in the future.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 22nd May 2023

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

New Judgment: Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v SSE Generation Ltd [2023] UKSC 17 – UKSC Blog

‘SSE Generation Ltd, the respondent, claimed capital allowances on expenditure incurred when constructing a hydro-electric power station at Glendoe, Fort Augustus in Scotland. Such allowances may be deducted from income for the purpose of calculating a company’s trading profits subject to corporation tax. Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) disputed certain allowances claimed by SSE for tax years 31 March 2006 to 31 March 2012 on the basis that in their view certain relevant assets did not give rise to allowable expenditure under the Capital Allowances Act 2001 (the “Act”).’

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UKSC Blog, 17th May 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

High Court Considers Cart JR Ouster Clause – EIN Blog

‘Oceana, R (On the Application Of) v Upper Tribunal (Immigration And Asylum Chamber) [2023] EWHC 791 (Admin) is a High Court judgment on a preliminary issue as to jurisdiction in a claim for judicial review; essentially a ‘Cart JR’ following the partial ouster of the High Court’s ‘Cart’ jurisdiction by the coming into force of section 2 of the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 on 14 July 2022.’

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EIN Blog, 9th May 2023

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Can an adult child seek maintenance from their parents? – Family Law

‘There have recently been two cases in which adult children have begun court proceedings seeking a formal court order to force their parents into providing ongoing financial support to them.’

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Family Law, 12th April 2023

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Dartmoor and the Right to Wild Camp: Whigs and Hunters for the 21st Century? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 30th, 2023 in commons, consent, news, parks, statutory interpretation by sally

‘This is the beguilingly simple opening to the judgment of Sir Julian Flaux C. in the case of Darwall and Darwall v. Dartmoor National Park Authority [2023] EWHC 35 (Ch), which was handed down on Friday, 13 of January 2023.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 30th March 2023

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Highways: only a touch of frost – Local Government Lawyer

‘In his fourth and final article in a short series which focuses on case law which may assist in the defence of claims against Highways Authorities under s.41 of the Highways Act 1980, and inspired at least in part by the wintery weather sweeping across the country, Jack Harding focuses on snow and ice on the highway.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

New Judgment: R (on the application of VIP Communications Ltd (In Liquidation)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 10 – UKSC Blog

‘This appeal raised an issue of statutory construction. It arises in the context of a type of equipment known as commercial multi-user GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications) gateway apparatus (“COMUGs”). GSM gateways are telecommunications equipment containing one or more SIM cards, as used in mobile phones. They enable phone calls and text messages from landlines to be routed directly on to mobile networks. When a call is routed through a GSM gateway, the only data transmitted over the network is the number and location of the SIM card in the GSM gateway. It does not transmit information such as the identity of the calling party and (in the case of a mobile phone) the user’s location, as would ordinarily be the case without a GSM gateway.’

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UKSC Blog, 8th March 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

New judgment: Rakusen v Jepsen and others [2023] UKSC 9 – UKSC Blog

‘This appeal is about Rent Repayment Orders. These are orders that can be made against landlords that have committed certain housing-related offences. They require a landlord to repay an amount of rent paid by a tenant (or pay to a local housing authority an amount of universal credit paid in respect of rent). The question which arises is whether they can only be made against a tenant’s immediate landlord, or whether they can be made against a landlord higher up in a chain of tenancies (e.g. the landlord of the tenant’s immediate landlord) – referred to as a “superior landlord”.’

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UKSC Blog, 1st March 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Rent Repayment Orders – just the immediate landlord – Nearly Legal

‘The issue for the Supreme Court was whether the wording of section 40 and 41 Housing and Planning Act 2016 meant that a rent repayment order could be made against only a tenant’s immediate landlord, or also against a superior landlord (where the occupying tenant’s landlord themselves had a tenancy of the property) where that landlord had also committed a relevant offence.’

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Nearly Legal, 5th March 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

NewsCorp Supreme Court VAT ruling has wide implications – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 28th, 2023 in media, news, statutory interpretation, Supreme Court, VAT by sally

‘A ruling by the UK Supreme Court provides guidance on when UK legislation should be interpreted in a way that accounts for technological, scientific or societal changes that occur after the legislation has been enacted.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 27th February 2023

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

New Judgment: DCM (Optical Holdings) Ltd v Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Scotland) [2023] UKSC 7 – UKSC Blog

‘Under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (the “VAT Act“), “newspapers” are “zero-rated”, meaning Value Added Tax (“VAT“) is not charged on them. The question in this case is whether, between 30 August 2010 – 4 December 2016 (the “relevant period“), zero-rating extended beyond print newspapers to digital editions of newspapers, such as editions for e-readers, tablets, smartphones and websites.’

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UKSC Blog, 22nd February 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Mohamed Moussa: The ‘Absent Word’ Canon and Asymmetrical Sovereignty – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The UK Supreme Court (UKSC) recently issued its unanimous judgment which found the draft Scottish Independence Referendum Bill to be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. While the facts of this case are distinctively different from previous Scottish cases, a common theme remains in the Court’s insistence on ‘ordinary meaning of words’ as its ‘general approach to the interpretation of the Scotland Act’. According to such an approach, the Court prioritises ‘the language carefully chosen by the Parliamentary drafter and enacted by Parliament’ as ‘[t]he best way of ensuring a coherent, stable and workable outcome’. The purpose of this blog post is not to explore the facts of this particular case. Rather, it focuses on the UKSC’s repeated stress of textualism. A similarity is found in the Court’s textual interpretation of Section 28(7), which was understood to affirm the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and served as the crux of its previous cases on devolution. The aim of the post is to show the questionable nature of the Court’s textual fidelity and highlight that it runs counter to foundational canons of interpretation. For space constraints, my argument focuses mainly on Section 21 from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill Reference (UNCRC Incorporation Bill case) after briefly discussing section 17 of the Scottish Legal Continuity Bill.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 20th December 2022

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Court of Appeal rules on power to prosecute consumer offences outside local authority area – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 2nd, 2022 in appeals, local government, news, prosecutions, statutory interpretation by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has handed down a key ruling in conjoined appeals on the power of a local authority to prosecute consumer offences outside its area.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st November 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Case Preview: Unger and Anor (in substitution for Hasan) v Ul-Hasan (deceased) and Anor – UKSC Blog

‘In this post, Grant Arnold, a paralegal in the litigation team at CMS, previews the decision awaited from the Supreme Court in Unger and Anor (in substitution for Hasan) v Ul-Hasan (deceased) and Anor.’

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UKSC Blog, 17th October 2022

Source: ukscblog.com