If a lease contains an absolute prohibition on assignment, the landlord is under no requirement to consider such request. Nonetheless, if the landlord wishes to agree to an assignment, the assignment may take effect as a variation of the lease. Where the terms of the original lease are varied by agreement it is necessary to decide whether the alteration amounts to the creation of a new tenancy upon the altered terms, and thus of necessity

We have assumed that the clause in question is included in a business to business contract. You may find the following materials useful: • Practice Note: Force majeure—consequences and contract discharge which has been updated to reflect the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The section ‘Force majeure clauses—interpretation’ considers how definitions of force majeure are interpreted by the courts • Q&As:

It is assumed that this Q&A is referring to the general costs management provisions in CPR 3 and CPR PD3E. See Practice Notes: Costs management and costs budgeting—general principles and Costs budgeting—courts' approach. The general rule contained in CPR 3.13 is that unless the court otherwise orders, all parties (except litigants in person) must file and exchange budgets: • where the stated value of the claim on the claim form is less than £50,000, with their directions questionnaires, or • in any other

This Q&A is only applicable where service took place under the Service Regulation, was commenced before 31 December 2020 at 11 pm and the transitional provisions for service, set out in Article 68 of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU, were met by that date. In such cases, service can be completed in the relevant EU Member State.. For guidance on whether the transitional provisions were met, see Practice Note: Serving outside the jurisdiction—serving in an EU Member State before 31 December 2020 [Archived]. The old Part 6 can be accessed here: Old rule 6.3 set out the rules that applied when dealing with service of the claim form in specified circumstances in the European Economic area (EEA) which includes the EU. CPR 6.14 sets out the provisions in relation to deemed service of the

The legal framework of diplomatic immunity is found in section 2 of the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 (DPA 1964) of which states that the Articles of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that are set out in Schedule 1 to the Act have the force of law in the UK. One of the Articles of the Convention set out in Schedule 1 is Article 31, which describes the nature and extent of the immunity granted to ‘diplomatic agents’. ‘Diplomatic agent’ is defined (in Article 1, which is also part of Schedule 1) as: • the head of the mission, or • any member of the staff of the mission who has diplomatic rank Article 31(1) states that a foreign diplomatic agent, as a general rule, enjoys immunity from the civil and administrative jurisdiction of the UK. It then carves out three exceptions from that general rule, only one of which is potentially relevant in the context of employment law. That exception, found at Article 31(1)(c), states that the civil immunity

All websites/digital platforms should be accessible, especially by people with disabilities. Accessibility is governed by the Equality Act 2010. See Practice Note: Website accessibility. The guiding principle is not simply avoiding discrimination, but anticipating the needs of potential (as well as actual) disabled users for reasonable adjustments. The assessment of what is reasonable varies depending on the particular circumstances including the nature of the service offered and the nature of the service provider. It will vary according to: • the type of service being provided • the nature of the service provider and its size and resources • the effect of the disability on the individual disabled person (Paragraph 7.29—Equality Act 2010 Code of Practice). Where the service provider does not fall within the scope of the Public Sector

Section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985) provides that where the interest of the landlord under a tenancy of premises which consist of or include a dwelling is assigned, the new landlord shall give notice in writing of the assignment, and of their name and address, to the tenant not later than the next day on which rent is payable under the tenancy, or, if that is within two months of the assignment, the end of that two month period. A person who is the new landlord and fails to give the notice without reasonable excuse commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4. LTA 1985, s 3(3A)

Highway authorities have responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of highways, which includes being granted significant powers to ensure that the highways are not obstructed or encroached upon save where there is specific statutory authority to allow for the same (for example the temporary placement under licence of builder’s skips). Section 143 of the Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980) provides that where a structure has been erected or set up on a highway otherwise than under a provision of HiA 1980 or some other

If you wish to amend a statement of case, CPR Part 17 states that the court’s permission for an amendment is not required when the amended document has not yet been served or when the parties have consented in writing to the amendment. Nevertheless, the court can still disallow the amendments. When deciding whether or not to allow the amendment, the court uses its discretion applying the overriding objectives in CPR Part 1 and exercising its case management powers in CPR Part 3. For more information on making amendments and how to make an application under CPR Part 17, see Practice

Dispute Resolution analysis: This case is of interest in relation to the upholding of settlements and the fact that fraud does not necessarily unravel all, here in the case of a claim subsequently assigned to one of the settling parties. The Claimants’ (the Rileys’) company (RHL) had facilities with Natwest. Subsequently, Natwest placed RHL into administration. A later report stated that the bank had sought to run down and exit from non-core assets. In 2014, the parties but not RHL entered into a wide-ranging settlement. RHL was dissolved and its misrepresentation and deceit claims against Natwest were assigned to Mr Riley, who commenced proceedings against Natwest. Natwest successfully applied for summary judgment in light of the 2014 deed (it also argued that the claim was time-barred, which is outside the scope of this analysis). The Rileys appealed, but this was dismissed notwithstanding the capacity in which Mr Riley was suing, including because of the width of the settlement. Written by Jon Felce, partner at CYK.

Where a landlord of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) seeks to repossess the property, depending on whether or not the fixed term has expired, they may do so under the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) under either: • the section 8 possession procedure and/or • the section 21 possession procedure (on either an accelerated or standard basis) A landlord seeking possession of a residential property let on an AST may choose to seek possession under the section 8 procedure, on the basis of one of the grounds set out in HA 1988, Sch 2. The landlord may follow the section 8 process or the section 21 procedure (the landlord can commence by serving notices under both procedures, but will have to elect which procedure to rely on when it comes to issuing court proceedings as they cannot rely on both). Which process is chosen

Surrender of a lease In relation to the effect of a new lease upon an old lease with a different tenant, see Surrender by operation of law (implied surrender) from Hill & Redman’s Law of Landlord & Tenant, which provides: The grant by the landlord of a new lease to a third person, with the consent of the tenant, operates as a surrender of the old lease, provided that the old tenant gives up possession to the new tenant at or about the time of the grant of the new lease. We refer you also to the following Practice Notes: • Lease surrenders, which sets out the different ways in which a surrender of a lease may be effected and HM Land Registry requirements in respect of each method of surrender • Surrender by operation of law (implied surrender). A