HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has published a blog post, written by Mark Stewart, on how local court initiatives have made a difference to the courts recovery after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Stewart discusses how the HMCTS staff worked with others to increase court capacity, the modifications made to cases with multiple defendants, how fraud cases were dealt with throughout the pandemic, how access to justice was improved and the creative ways found to increase Crown Court work. Steward concluded with praising the commitment, creativity and determination of HMCTS staff.

This Practice Note provides a brief summary of the retail operating landscape and highlights some of the key legal and practical issues facing office-holders appointed over a retail business. It also reviews some considerations for different restructuring options, including ‘light touch’ administrations, company voluntary arrangements, and restructuring plans under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. In this Practice Note, the assumption is made that any meaningful retail insolvency will occur through an administration process. A liquidation will essentially result in a close down, with limited or no trading activity, although some of the points below will nonetheless be relevant to a liquidation and so should be considered when deliberating appropriate strategies. Overview of the retail insolvency landscape Analysis of Companies House accounts, conducted by FRP in December 2024, showed more than 13,000 retail businesses across the UK showing signs of financial distress. This reflects what has been a period of challenging operating conditions for retailers, exacerbated by, but long preceding, the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Recent years have seen

ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained. CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): Many arbitral organisations have responded to the coronavirus pandemic with practical guidance and/or changes to their usual procedures and ways of working. Registrar Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre 38/F, 2 Exchange Square 8 Connaught Place HKSAR China [Fax: +852 2524 2171] [Email: arbitration@hkiac.org] [date] Dear

The variety of conceivable contracts made by schools for school trips, in addition to the range of such trips, means that it is not possible to give a specific answer to this question. School trips include relatively simple arrangements for a trip to a local museum, day trips on a hired coach to a castle 100km away and more complex contracts associated with a week-long ski trip to a resort abroad. The contractual arrangements involved in these trips will be different depending on the nature of the trip. As a general matter, where a legal person contracts with a supplier of goods or services, it is not acting as a consumer. The definition of ‘consumer’ in section 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is ‘an individual acting for purposes that

Law360: A large portion of the highest level of funding surpluses recorded by pension plans in 2023 was caused by a decline in life expectancy in Britain, a consultancy said on 3 June 2024, as the sector continues to wrestle with the uncertain impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Law360, London: The owner of popular high-street pizzeria Franco Manca has agreed to settle its dispute with QIC Europe Ltd over losses the restaurant chain claimed to have suffered after it temporarily closed sites at the height of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Law360: An appellate court has dismissed a restaurant owner's attempt to broaden the scope of a business interruption policy lacking any 'nondamage' extensions to include losses sustained during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a unanimous decision, a Court of Appeal panel said that Italian restaurant Bellini's policy covered losses caused only by physical damage to the premises.

Law360, London: Hospitality businesses forced to close during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis said their insurers owe them £80m, arguing at the first day of trial on 20 May 2025 that they should be compensated for every time they were materially affected by pandemic measures.

Law360, London: QIC Europe Ltd has argued that it is not obliged to cover alleged losses sustained by the owner of a restaurant chain after it temporarily closed sites at the height of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic because there were no cases of the virus 'within the immediate vicinity' of the premises.

The Wills Act 1837 (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) Order 2022, SI 2022/18 was introduced to extend the remote witnessing of Wills, brought in during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in England and Wales, until 31 January 2024. Plans for a further extension to permit remote execution have not been implemented.

Workers in Great Britain (GB) have a statutory entitlement to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833. It is important to recognise at the outset that this comprises two elements: • a basic entitlement to four weeks’ paid annual leave (sometimes referred to as ‘Euro leave’) (WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 13), and • an additional entitlement to 1.6 weeks’ paid annual leave (WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 13A) Separate provisions apply for irregular hours and part-year workers for holiday years beginning on or after 1 April 2024. For more information, see Practice Note: Statutory paid holiday—irregular hours workers and part-year workers. For the position in Northern Ireland, which has its own Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, SI 2016/49, see Practice Note: Employment law in Northern Ireland—Working Time Regulations and holidays. The basic entitlement represents the UK’s implementation of the four week minimum amount of paid annual leave required under EU law, namely under Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC, the Working Time Directive (WTD). The additional

From 1 October 2021, the revised periods of notice required to determine various residential tenancies in England are suspended and revert (subject to some exceptions) to the periods which were required before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This is subject to the government retaining the right to