ARCHIVED: This Flowchart has been archived and is no longer maintained. This Flowchart shows the key steps in the process of an arbitration under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (CR(C)A 2022), including eligibility for arbitration, giving notice of intention to make a reference to arbitration, the appointment of an arbitrator and submission of formal proposals for relief from payment, the process whether or not an oral hearing is requested, the awards that the arbitrator may make, and the end of the moratorium on enforcement. It is drafted on the assumption that the tenant will make the reference to arbitration but applies equally if the parties are reversed. Some details have been omitted for clarity—for full guidance see Practice Note: Rent arrears recovery under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 [Archived]. Note that the deadline for beginning a new reference to arbitration has now passed. See Practice Note: Rent arrears recovery under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 [Archived]. Note 1—Is there a protected rent debt under

Law360: Parties can prepare for the coming storm of investor-state disputes arising from government measures to fight coronavirus (COVID-19) by reviewing international investment agreements for potential claims and the International Law Commission’s draft articles for state responsibility, say Ian Meredith, Matthew Weldon and Robert Houston, lawyers at K&L Gates.

The obligation on the parties under CPR 3.13 is to ‘file and exchange’ budgets by the stated time. The rules use ‘exchange’ here rather than serve. This tends to suggest that the usual rules relating to service found in Part 6 of the CPR do not apply to cost budgets. Some caution should be adopted in relation to this approach, however. For example, in CPR PD 3E, para 7.7, there is reference to ‘re-serving’ a costs budget after budgeted costs have been approved or agreed. In cases such as BMCE Bank International Plc v Phoenix Commodities Pvt Ltd the requirement to ‘exchange’ has been assumed to be a requirement to serve.

For information on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) generally, see Practice Notes: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (extended version 1 July to 31 October 2020) [Archived] and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (original version to 30 June 2020) [Archived]. The statutory basis of the CJRS is set out in a number of Treasury Directions. Treasury Direction No 1 and Treasury Direction No 2 state that the purpose of CJRS is to provide for payments to be made to employers on a claim made in respect of them incurring costs of employment in respect

Law360: As British authorities dial back their worst fears about the scale of fraud linked to coronavirus (COVID-19) relief loans, legal experts say the initial crackdown to prosecute rogue directors has faltered as the costs start to outweigh the benefits.

Life Sciences analysis: Ian Turner, senior associate, and Sarah Taylor, senior practice Development Lawyer at Pinsent Masons LLP offer insights into the mRNA coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine patent dispute initially brought by Moderna against Pfizer and BionTech. The Patents Court held one of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine patents (EP (UK) 3 718 565 (‘EP565’)) to be invalid on the grounds of obviousness and added matter, but held a second patent (EP (UK) 3 590 949 (‘EP949’)) to be valid and, by admission, Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine Comirnaty was held to be within the scope of the claims. The judge, Mr Justice Meade, also made some pertinent comments about case management where trials involve multiple patents and legal teams, and the instruction of experts. In a separate decision, the Patents Court held that Moderna’s pledge that it would not enforce its patents against those making coronavirus vaccines (the ‘Pledge’) amounted to an unusual partial defence to the infringement claim. The Pledge decision is not covered in this note.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: In this judgment, Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge (ICCJ) Agnello QC provided some helpful observations on the amended provisions in Schedule 10 to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020), and the application of the ‘coronavirus (COVID-19) test’ as set out in CIGA 2020, Sch 10, para 2 (4)(a)–(b), and CIGA 2020, Sch 10, para 5. The only other main reported decision dealing with the coronavirus test is that of ICCJ Barber in Re A Company (application to restrain advertisement of a winding up petition). In Newman, Deputy ICCJ Agnello QC approved of the approach taken by ICCJ Barber in Re A company and confirmed that the threshold requirement found at CIGA 2020, Sch 10, para 5(1)(c) in satisfying the coronavirus test is intended to be a low one. While the threshold test may be low, the judge differentiated this case from the case in Re A Company. ICCJ Barber not only had documents, but the evidence before her was certainly more detailed which entitled her to find that the company had satisfied the low threshold test. In contrast, in Newman, despite the low threshold, the company had failed to demonstrate even a prima facie case of showing that coronavirus had a financial effect on the company. Written by Maria Mulla, barrister, at No 5 Barristers’ Chambers who acted for the petitioner in this case.

While there has not yet, as far as we are aware, been clear and specific government guidance published about inheritance tax (IHT) exemption available for the estates of deceased key workers due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the existing IHT exemption for emergency personnel contained in section 153A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984) is likely to be available in certain cases. Similar to the IHT exemption for the estates of persons who die in the course of active military duty or police officers targeted due to their role (contained in IHTA 1984,

Where a person resident in the UK dies abroad, the British Consulate in the jurisdiction will usually liaise with the next of kin if they have been informed of the death by the local authorities. However, the next of kin may be informed beforehand, if they were with the deceased or if the deceased was part of a package holiday tour or similar and had provided details to the next of kin. In such circumstances, government guidance states that the next of kin should contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who will liaise with the Consulate in the relevant jurisdiction. The death needs to be registered abroad in accordance with local laws

Vaccination Current case law concerning the coronavirus vaccination relates only to the vaccination of the child themselves rather than the vaccination of a parent. In M v H (private law vaccination), the father applied initially for a specific issue order that the child should receive the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination. He subsequently widened his application to encompass all the normal childhood vaccinations, as well as the vaccination for coronavirus. At the time of the application, the coronavirus vaccination had not been rolled out to children. MacDonald J declined to consider the issue of the coronavirus vaccination due to the lack of guidance at that stage from the National Health Service (NHS). He did, however, observe (at para [4]) as follows: ‘…it is very difficult to foresee a situation in which a vaccination against COVID-19 approved for use

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: On 7 April 2020, the Singapore Government passed under a Certificate of Urgency the coronavirus (COVID-19) (Temporary Measures) Bill (Bill) in Parliament, in an effort to offer temporary relief to businesses and individuals who are unable to fulfil their contractual obligations due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The temporary relief granted is in five areas—(1) inability to perform contracts (2) financially distressed individuals, firms and businesses (3) conduct of meetings (4) court proceedings, and (5) remission of property tax. Written by Catherine Shen of the Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI).

According to the Government’s coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance on getting tested, as well as testing patients to confirm their clinical diagnosis, it is also testing: • all essential workers, including NHS and social care workers with symptoms • anyone aged over 65 with symptoms • anyone with symptoms whose work cannot be done from home (for example, construction workers, shop workers, emergency plumbers and delivery drivers) • anyone who has symptoms of coronavirus and lives with any of those identified above Additionally, it is testing: • social care workers and residents in care homes (with or without symptoms) both to investigate outbreaks and, following successful pilots, as part of a rolling programme to test all care homes • NHS