This week's edition of Commercial weekly highlights includes: coverage of the UK 2024 General Election which includes discussions on Bills lost in wash-up and manifesto pledges from political parties, publication of the Court of Appeal decision in King Crude Carriers SA v Ridgebury November LLC which considered whether a party to a contract can rely on its non-fulfilment of a condition precedent to avoid paying a debt where the non-fulfilment was caused by that party’s breach of contract, and analysis of the impact of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 on competition law and consumer law enforcement in the UK.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has published a package of Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) business model documentation. The release includes the GGR Business Model Summary, which sets out the key design features of the model and the proposed contract terms for projects on the HyNet Track-1 expansion Project Negotiation List. It also contains the first published version of the full-form GGR Contract, comprising the draft Front End Agreement and Standard Terms and Conditions. In addition, the package includes GGR Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) documentation for HyNet Track-1 expansion projects, including the proposed GGR GFA Grant Offer Letter and GGR GFA Terms and Conditions.

[insert date of letter] This document summarises certain changes to the contractual terms and conditions of employment between [insert name of employee] (you) and [insert name of employing company] (the Company). On [insert date of original letter from company], the Company advised you of arrangements through which, in exchange for a reduction in salary, you could elect to receive [describe

Law360: The rapidly evolving fields of technology lend themselves to arbitration as a forum for dispute resolution. Technology companies and entrepreneurs generally prefer privacy in their commercial dealings, which are often international and complicated, and to have control and flexibility over their businesses. Arbitration offers these benefits and more—but not without its problems.

Ofcom has introduced new regulations requiring telecoms providers to clearly state any price rises in pounds and pence at the point of sale. The regulator has banned contract terms linking increases to future inflation rates, mandating transparency on when changes will occur. Providers offering unspecified price rises must give customers 30 days' notice and penalty-free exit options. Ofcom emphasises that social tariffs remain available for low-income households, offering stable pricing throughout the contract period. These measures aim to enhance consumer protection and facilitate informed decision-making in the UK's competitive telecoms market.

[Insert in para 6.1 of claim form ET3:] 1 It is [admitted OR denied] that the Claimant works as [insert details, eg a legal secretary] and it is [admitted OR denied] that the First Respondent is a temporary work agency. It is [admitted OR denied] that the Claimant has a contract with the First Respondent to provide [insert details, eg legal secretarial] services to clients of the First Respondent [and it is accepted OR but it is denied] that that contract is a contract of employment. It is [admitted OR denied] that there was an agreement between the Claimant and the First Respondent for the Claimant to provide [insert details, eg legal secretarial] services to the Second Respondent. 2 It is denied that the First Respondent acted in breach of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, as alleged or at all. [Insert the Respondent’s response to the Claimant’s account

This Practice Note provides an overview of the use of derivatives in the energy markets and looks at divergence in the regulation of energy derivatives in the EU and the UK. What are energy derivatives? Energy derivatives reference the underlying price of an energy source, such as oil, gas or electricity. They can be traded over-the-counter (OTC) or on an exchange (exchange traded derivatives or ETDs). Participants in the energy derivatives markets include: • brokers • financial institutions • investment funds • speculators, and • direct energy users Common types of energy derivatives Forwards/futures A forward contract in the energy markets is an OTC derivative contract that provides for the future delivery of an energy product, but with the price of that delivery agreed on the date of the contract. A futures contract is broadly similar but is traded on an exchange rather than privately negotiated with a market counterparty. See Practice Note: Types of derivatives for more information on these products. Swaps and contracts for differences A swap contract in the energy markets is usually

Employment status Work in today’s Irish society encompasses a diverse range of employment relationships, including the self-employed (those who work under contracts for service), employees (anyone who works under a contract of service), atypical workers (including part-time workers, agency workers, seasonal workers, gig economy/platform workers), apprentices, those who work for the State (eg members of An Garda Siochana, civil and public servants, officers in local government), office holders, and any person employed under statute. In Ireland, there is no ‘worker’ category of employment. Individuals will be classified as: • working either under a contract of service as an employee (also referred to as a ‘contract of employment’), or • a contract for services as a self-employed person or an independent contractor (also referred to as a ‘contract for employment’) Defining employment status is important because of the differing implications that this can have for the purposes of tax assessment, social welfare contributions and entitlement to state benefits. Moreover, classification as an employee confers legislative rights and protections on the individual employee and imposes

Supply agreements A supply agreement regulates the rights and obligations between the parties to buy and sell goods and materials over a specified period of time and usually provides certainty regarding a regular receipt of those goods. Supply agreements can be expressed to take a number of forms: • non-exclusive: the business appointing the supplier has the right to appoint any other supplier • exclusive: the business cannot appoint any other supplier, possibly within a certain territory • sole: one supplier is appointed and no third party can be appointed. The difference between this expression and ‘exclusive’ is that the business appointing the supplier may also be entitled to produce the products and supply them to itself • preferred: the supplier is an approved one but does not necessarily have complete preference over anyone else For more information generally, see: Sale and supply of goods—overview. Exclusive

Construction analysis: The court made declarations concerning the liability of the defendant surety to the claimant employer under the terms of a performance bond based on the ABI Model Form. The court held that the contractor’s insolvency was enough to trigger the bond (due to a bespoke amendment), and that in any event the contractor had been in breach of the construction contract (which incorporated the JCT conditions) by failing to pay the amount due to the employer following insolvency as ascertained under the contract.

An agreement to sell is an executory contract of sale.

Considering the general rules of construction and interpretation of insurance policies, the following Practice Note may be useful: General principles of insurance contract law. In addition, the guiding principles on insurance contract construction are set out in Lord Hoffman’s speech Investors Compensation Scheme v West Bromwich Building Society. Hoffman outlined the following: • the court is required to apply an objective test based on what a reasonable person, having all the background knowledge which would reasonably have been available to the parties in the situation they were in at the time of contracting, would have understood the contract to mean • the court may interpret the document with reference to its background but only where it is relevant • evidence of previous negotiations should be excluded from the relevant matrix of fact available to the court