Dispute Resolution analysis: The Court of Appeal confirmed that a bill of costs is not rendered invalid merely because it omits an express statement confirming compliance with the indemnity principle. While the CPR require such certification, its absence constitutes a procedural defect rather than rendering the bill a nullity. The decision clarifies that a solicitor’s signature on a bill itself implicitly confirms compliance with the indemnity principle and that a paying party wishing to challenge defects in a bill should do so through the detailed assessment process. Written by Shilpa Shah, practising barrister of Ropewalk Chambers.

The value of future pension benefits discounted to a present value using actuarial assumptions.

Commercial analysis: On 3 December 2024, the government launched the Fair Payment Code (FPC). It was announced along with several other measures to tackle the late payment of invoices for smaller businesses and to reward businesses for adopting fair payment practices. Fiona Boswell, partner at Knights plc, looks at the new code and its implications for commercial businesses.

This Practice Note examines the scope, creation, and functions of the Fair Work Agency (FWA). Those functions include enforcement of national minimum wage legislation, the regime of labour market enforcement undertakings and orders, offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015), the licensing regime for gangmasters and investigation of labour market exploitation, plus enforcement of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 (EAA 1973) and unpaid employment tribunal awards. It is also intended to extend the functions of the FWA to include the enforcement of statutory sick pay and holiday pay. Scope of the FWA The FWA is an Executive Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, created administratively. It does not have its own distinct legal identity, so the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), which established it, gives the Secretary of State a series of functions to enforce certain employment legislation. Those functions are in practice discharged through the FWA, including by enforcement officers appointed by the Secretary of State. The statutory underpinning of the FWA is contained in ERA 2025, ss 90–151, and Sch

Law360: The new Fair Work Agency is 'here to listen' to employers as well as workers, its chief executive said ahead of its official launch on 7 April 2026.

The Fair Work Agency (FWA) has published an enforcement policy statement setting out:

The Fair Work Agency and the Department for Business and Trade have published a collection of guidance documents and rules for labour providers on obtaining and maintaining a gangmaster's licence. The collection is structured into three sections covering who requires a licence, how to apply for or renew a licence and how licensing decisions are made and maintained, with links to the relevant guidance documents.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. On 10 June 2015, the Fair and Effective Markets Review (FEMR) published its final report. Running to 106 pages, the report covers a wide range of topics and issues relating to fixed income, commodities and currencies markets (FICC) and sets out 21 recommendations for improvements. The FEMR report is likely to be the first step on a long road of changes to for the way in which the FICC markets operate and the regulations to which they are subject. Deficiencies in the FICC markets The need for the FEMR arose from a concern that public trust in the wholesale markets had been diminished following a series of high-profile enforcement actions involving FICC markets. In June 2014, the review was launched. The Bank of England (BoE), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) worked together to consider whether there had been deficiencies in terms of fairness and efficiency of the FICC markets and what should be done to

A traditional name for one of the defences to claims in defamation. See now honest opinion. The statement which is claimed to be 'fair comment' must be a matter of comment rather than fact and its fairness is judged by applying the test of whether any honest (ie non-malicious) man, however prejudiced he might be or however exaggerated or obstinate his views, could have made it.

The limited acts which the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 permits in relation to copyright works that do not require any permission from their owner or licensee, including research or private study for non-commercial purposes, criticism or review and reporting current events.

The limited acts which the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 permits in relation to copyright works that do not require any permission from their owner or licensee, including research or private study for non-commercial purposes, criticism or review and reporting current events. To fall under 'fair dealing', each use of the work must bear a 'sufficient acknowledgement' identifying the original work’s author and title, must usually already have been published, must not compete with the commercial exploitation of the work, and must not make use of an excessive amount of the original (regular use of smaller extracts may fall outside the defence).

The standard of disclosure agreed between the buyer and the seller will be included in the SPA/APA or, occasionally, the disclosure letter. The agreed standard of disclosure will vary from transaction to transaction, with some common agreed standards being ‘full and accurate’, ‘full, accurate and specific’, ‘fair’ or simply that the matters are ‘disclosed’ against the warranties. The scope of the definition of ‘fair’ has been considered in a number of recent cases and will depend on the circumstances of the transaction.