A request by one party to a contract (generally, the contractor) to another party (typically, a consultant) for information in relation to a matter arising in connection with the contract—generally to clarify a technical matter in a contract document or for information that was incomplete when the contract was executed.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This practical guidance relates to the pre-Procurement Act 2023 regime This Practice Note contains guidance relevant to public procurement exercises commenced before the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) came into force on 24 February 2025. It captures the law as it stood at that point in time. In-scope procurements begun on or after 24 February 2025 are governed by PA 2023. Under the transitional and savings provisions for PA 2023, the previous public procurement regimes continue to apply to the extent necessary to allow contracting authorities to complete and manage procurements commenced before PA 2023 came into force (ie ongoing procurements). This Practice Note should be read in that context. For background reading, see Practice Note: Introduction to the Procurement Act 2023—PA 2023. Further practical guidance on PA 2023 is set out in a separate subtopic, see: Procurement Act 2023—overview. Scope and application of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016—pre-PA 2023 The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (UCR 2016) implemented

This week’s edition of Construction weekly highlights includes a case in which the Technology and Construction Court gave a detailed judgment on whether it was ‘just and equitable’ to make building liability orders under section 130 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (Crest Nicholson v Ardmore), responses from the British Property Federation (BPF) to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)’s consultations on proportionality in building control and the proposed single construction regulator, a Building Safety Regulator (BSR) consultation on amendments to Approved Document B fire safety guidance, an MHCLG consultation on proportionality within the higher-risk building control regime, the launch of a new American Arbitration Association–International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) international arbitration hub in Ireland, new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and HM Treasury (HMT) guidance on Strategy and Delivery Plans (SDP) for Mega Projects alongside additional Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract management guidance and updated PFI and Private Finance 2 (PF2) data, HMRC updates to the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Reform Manual introducing new fraud measures, and the Construction Leadership Council’s biennial report on industry priorities.

This Practice Note considers the various cancellation and withdrawal rights that are available in relation to credit agreements and consumer hire agreements regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974). In both cases, it assumes the agreements are neither secured on land nor used to finance the purchase of land. This Practice Note should be read in conjunction with Practice Note: Right of withdrawal from a credit agreement. Three categories of agreements This Practice Note concerns three broad categories of agreements: • a regulated credit agreement where the amount of credit does not exceed £60,260 (a figure introduced as a result of the UK’s implementation of the Consumer Credit Directive (Directive 2008/48/EC) (CCD) in 2011) • a regulated credit agreement where the amount of credit exceeds £60,260, and • a regulated consumer hire agreement The various cancellation or withdrawal rights For the purposes of this Practice Note, an agreement falling within any of the three categories set out above may have a right to withdraw

In the law of contract, the term 'waiver' is most commonly used to denote the granting of a concession by one party to a contract by not insisting on the precise performance by the other party of a duty under the contract, whether before or after any breach of the term waived.

On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) ceased to be a member of the EU and EEA. This Practice Note introduces: • the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR) regime (applicable under UK law until the end of the Brexit implementation period (11 pm UK time on 31 December 2020) and remaining applicable in the EEA—any references to EEA or EU states in this Practice Note should therefore be read to also include the UK until the end of that implementation period), and • the UK General Data Protection Regulation, Retained Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR) regime (applicable under UK law from the end of the Brexit implementation period) Where there is no need to distinguish the two regimes, this Practice Note refers to both as the ‘GDPR’ for convenience. When considering the general processing of personal data, both the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), as

Where unforeseen circumstances prevent the performance of a contract so that it may be treated as discharged.

This Practice Note sets out what position limits are under Article 57 of the recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Directive 2014/65/EU) (MiFID II) and how these apply to commodity derivatives or derivatives with an underlying commodity, pursuant to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1302 of 20 April 2022 (RTS 21a). It also covers the amendments that were made to the regime by Directive 2021/338 (including with regards to widening the available exemptions to position limits under Article 57) and the amendments made by Directive (EU) 2024/790 (the MiFID II Review) to the requirements for position management controls—see Position management controls. The MiFID II Review, together with Regulation (EU) 2024/791 amending Regulation (EU) 600/2014 (the MiFIR Review) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 8 March 2024. Member States were required to transpose the provisions of Directive (EU) 2024/790 into national law by 29 September 2025. For information about position reporting under MiFID II, see Practice Note: Position reporting under EU MiFID II. For information about the UK’s regime, see Practice Note:

A warranty is a contractual promise or assurance made by one party to another regarding the existence of certain facts or conditions, often relating to the quality or functionality of the subject matter of the contract. Though commonly associated with promises made by sellers of goods, warranties can be made in any type of contract. A warranty is considered a term of the contract that is seen as less fundamental than a condition. Breach of warranty entitles the innocent party to claim damages but does not allow them to terminate the contract.

This Practice Note examines the definition of worker under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) and other employment legislation. Key concepts For employment law purposes, an individual who provides work or services for another person may be: • a worker, in which case they will have certain rights under employment law • an employee (see Practice Note: Employee status), in which case they will have additional rights under employment law (eg unfair dismissal, maternity leave and redundancy rights) • neither a worker nor an employee (ie the individual is self-employed, or an independent contractor), in which case they will have no rights under employment law All individuals who have employee status also fulfil the statutory definition of a 'worker' for the purpose of the statutory protections that are accorded to that wider category of working individuals. However, not all workers will meet the definition of 'employee'. It follows that, even if an individual does not qualify for employee status, they may still qualify as a 'worker'. For a quick-reference checklist of the sets of rights accorded to

Updated in April 2026 Introduction Italy is a parliamentary republic with a bicameral system. Presiding over the government is the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government. Parliament is composed of two houses: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister, who must obtain the confidence of Parliament. The President of the Republic holds office for seven years. General elections for Parliament are held every five years. Italy has a civil law system. Its sources of law include the Constitution, statutes, secondary legislation, EU regulations (which are directly applicable and do not require implementation) and EU directives (which must be implemented through national legislation). The country is divided into 20 regions. Under the Constitution, each region is granted legislative autonomy in certain areas, such as public health, education, agriculture and tourism. Italy is a founding member of the EU. Business environment Italy has one of the world’s largest economies, typically ranking among the top 10 globally

This week's edition of Life Sciences weekly highlights features news analysis by Addington Chambers of a breach of research contract case (Innovate Pharmaceuticals v University of Portsmouth). Also included is news that the MHRA seized more than 15.5 million doses of illegally traded medicines with a street value of more than £30m in 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 to consider whether Vifor Pharma engaged in anti-competitive conduct in the supply of intravenous iron deficiency treatments, the European Commission released its report to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the final evaluation of Horizon 2020, the Health Research Authority released its key focus for 2024 to boost transparency in research and clinical trials, the EMA announced that all ongoing clinical trials in the EU must be transitioned to the Clinical Trials Information System by 31 January 2025, the Medical Device Coordination Group released three Device Specific Vigilance Guidance documents regarding the vigilance system for CE-marked devices and that the UK government will ban disposable vapes to tackle the rise in youth vaping and to protect children’s health and will bring forward legislation to ban proxy sales in line with the change in age of sale legislation, alongside other actions, among other news.