Herbert Smith Freehills

This Practice Note provides a snapshot on the 1960 Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. It outlines the international liability regime for nuclear damage, include who is liable, what damage is covered, limits on liability, the 1988 Joint Protocol and the future of the Paris Convention.

This Practice Note provides a snapshot on the 1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage. It outlines the international liability regime for nuclear damage, including who is liable, what damage is covered, limits on liability and the 1988 Joint Protocol.

The concept of collective dominance resulting from oligopolistic market conditions has been developed through case law relating to Article 102 and the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR). This Practice Note explores the concept and its application outside Article 101 TFEU. The Practice Note considers the collective dominance criteria set out in the Airtours decision and contrasts its application under Article 102 and the EUMR.

This Practice Note provides guidance on the UK protection of databases and database rights. It examines what a database is, copyright in databases and the sui generis database right. Exercising rights that protect databases may lead to competition issues. The Practice Note covers issues of abuse of dominant position, anti-competitive agreements, the effects of breaches under competition law and using euro-defences under Articles 101 and 102. The Practice Notes also deals with other ways of protecting databases such as using the law of confidential information, database application software and provides practical tips for protecting databases.

A conversation with Jean Meijer, partner, and Sandhya Foster, associate at international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa LLP, on key issues on merger control in Malawi. This is part of our collection of over 120 maintained national merger control guides.

This Practice Note provides an outline the fuel cycle of nuclear energy, a high level look at the risks associated with nuclear energy and an overview of the current and future nuclear power sector in the UK. It was produced in partnership with Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.

This Practice Note sets out the key legal issues pertaining to the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and Ofgem’s regulation of the electricity and down-stream onshore gas industries in Great Britain. It also summarises Ofgem’s key powers.

This Practice Note looks at the different categories of radioactive waste and the legislation, policy and regulation of the same. It also consider who has responsibility for waste management and regulation of spent nuclear fuel.

This Practice Note considers the general principles of state immunity (also called sovereign immunity), the scope of state immunity, state immunity from jurisdiction and state immunity from execution and gives practical steps that should be considered when dealing with state immunity in the context of international arbitration. It also considers transactions with foreign states. This Practice Note is written in partnership with Herbert Smith Freehills.

This Practice Note provides a snapshot on the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC). It outlines the current status and aims of the CSC, including a look at who is liable and the definition of ‘damage’, as well as what compensation is available and CSC’s exclusive jurisdiction over nuclear incidents covered by it.

This Practice Note summarises the legislative basis for the Great Britain Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime, the OFTO competitive tender process and the OFTO licence. It also provides an overview of the OFTO tender revenue stream (TRS), the transfer of offshore transmission assets (in the context of generator build), the OFTO of Last Resort regime, and a brief summary of existing and future OFTO projects. It was produced in partnership with Herbert Smith Freehills.

This Practice Note looks at how the regulatory justification process applies to proposed new nuclear power stations in the UK. This international framework, on which the Euratom and therefore UK approach is based, was developed through the collaboration of the International Commission for Radiation Protection (ICRP) and the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (the ICRU), and was most recently updated in 2007 with the publication of the ICRP 103. It forms the core European Nuclear Regulation, and is also used as a basis for other regimes throughout the world. Although this Practice Note looks specifically at nuclear power in the UK, the Framework itself is applicable to any practices that may result in human exposure to ionising radiation, and it seeks to ensure that the benefit of the risk outweighs any potentially detrimental effects. In addition, this Practice Note considers the Nuclear Sector Deal, published in 2008 by the UK government in conjunction with the Nuclear Industry Council.

This Practice Note provides a summary of the UK's nuclear liabilities regime as implemented in accordance with its international obligations. It was produced in partnership with Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.

This Practice Note provides a summary of the key regulatory bodies and their functions in the UK Civil Nuclear sector. It was produced in partnership with Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.