Informed consent describes a person’s voluntary agreement to a course of action-most commonly medical treatment-given with sufficient information about material risks, benefits and reasonable alternatives, by someone with capacity and free from coercion. In UK medical law, the duty to warn is set by case law: Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11 established a patient‑centred test requiring clinicians to take reasonable care to ensure patients are aware of material risks and reasonable alternatives. Failures are usually pleaded as clinical negligence; absence of any consent may constitute battery/trespass to the person. The approach applies across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Irish courts have likewise adopted a patient‑centred disclosure standard; lack of informed consent can ground medical negligence.Capacity is governed by statute (Mental Capacity Act 2005; Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000; Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016; Assisted Decision‑Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (Ireland)). Where capacity is lacking, decisions follow best‑interests or will‑and‑preferences frameworks.The term is also used in data protection and research. Under UK GDPR/EU GDPR, valid consent must be specific, informed and unambiguous; in clinical trials and research ethics, participant information and documented consent are required.

Protection of confidential information is fundamental to your relationship with clients, both as a matter of law and as a matter of conduct. This duty continues despite the end of the retainer and even after the death of the client. There are four key issues to consider when deciding whether you can act in a confidentiality situation: • what is material confidential information • what is an adverse interest • what does the common law say about effective safeguards, and • what is informed consent? This Practice Note deals with informed consent. For guidance on the other issues, see Practice Notes: Material confidential information and adverse interests and Safeguards and information barriers. The duty of confidentiality—SRA requirements You must keep the affairs of clients confidential unless: • disclosure is required or permitted by law, or • the client consents For more guidance on the general duty of confidentiality and the relationship between confidentiality and client conflict under the SRA Standards and Regulations, see Practice Note: Duties of confidentiality and disclosure. If you

Infrastructure is a broad term which can encompass a wide range of sectors and types of projects, ranging from schools, hospitals, roads and railway lines to wind, waste and water projects, oil and gas facilities, pipelines and processing plants. These may be domestic UK projects or international projects.

Planning analysis: The Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (IWA 2024) received Royal Assent on 3 June 2024. IWA 2024 reforms the law governing the consenting process for development of significant infrastructure in Wales and the Welsh marine area. It creates a new regime for ‘Significant Infrastructure Projects’, to be granted a ‘Welsh Infrastructure Consent’, which is similar in many ways to the development consent order (DCO) system under the Planning Act 2008 in England.

A suite of contracts which is the successor to the ICE Conditions of Contract, and is published by the Association for Consultancy & Engineering and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association.

This case was heard in the High Court on 27 January 2023. In this case, the European Commission had applied by an application dated 25 October 2022 to be joined as a party or to be permitted to intervene. It is a case in which the claimants seek to enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes award (€100m) against the Kingdom of Spain. The Kingdom of Spain has applied to set aside registration of the award based on CJEU authority regarding the effect in EU law of the relevant provisions of the underlying treaty. The Commission sought to intervene relying on arguments of inherent jurisdiction in addition to the statutory grounds for joinder and intervention provided by Civil Procedure Rule 19. Mrs Justice Cockerill declined the application, stating that there was no scope for a discretion pursuant to the court’s inherent jurisdiction where the conditions of the CPR have not been met.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note tracks recent developments relating to certain high-profile UK infrastructure and energy projects. Crossrail (the Elizabeth line) Railway between Reading/Heathrow and Shenfield/Abbey Wood (via central London). Date Development Find out more 28 September 2022 Elizabeth Line Bond Street station to open on 24 October 2022 See: LNB News 28/09/2022 77 24 May 2022 Elizabeth Line opens See: LNB News 24/05/2022 26 4 May 2022 TfL announces Elizabeth Line to open on 24 May 2022 See: LNB News 04/05/2022 60 24 August 2021 Whitechapel Elizabeth line station handed over to TfL See: LNB News 24/08/2021 26 12 May 2021 Trial running of trains commences and Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth line station handed over to TfL See: LNB News 12/05/2021 106 5 March 2021 Farringdon Elizabeth line station handed over to TfL See: LNB News 05/03/2021 27 22 February 2021 Paddington Elizabeth line station enters final commissioning phase See: LNB News 22/02/2021 88 12 February

Infrastructure as a Service is the most basic type of cloud service, with the customer subscribing for access only to underlying cloud infrastructure (ie storage capacity, processing power, networking and so). The customer must deploy its own platform and software on the infrastructure.

A cloud computing service under which a customer subscribes for access only to underlying infrastructure (such storage capacity, processing power and networking. The customer must deploy its own platform and software on the infrastructure. Abbreviated to ‘IaaS’.

This Agreement is made on [insert date] Parties 1 [insert supplier name] a company incorporated in England and Wales whose registered number is [insert company number] and whose registered office is at [insert registered office] (Supplier); and 2 [insert customer name] a company incorporated in England and Wales whose registered number is [insert company number] and whose registered office is at [insert registered office] (Customer), (each of the Supplier and the Customer being a party and together the Supplier and the Customer are the parties). Background (A) The Supplier hosts and manages various facilities and provides various services as more specifically described in this Agreement and which the Customer wishes to use for itself and its Authorised Users. (B) The Customer by its Authorised Users will be able to use these facilities and services by interacting with them remotely over the internet or by means of its own communications facilities. (C) The Supplier wishes to provide these facilities and services and the Customer wishes to pay for the same on the terms of this Agreement. The parties agree: 1 Definitions 1.1 In this Agreement: Affiliate • means any entity that

The Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 (I(W)A 2024) establishes a unified consenting process for the development of certain types of infrastructure in Wales and in Welsh waters. Developers must obtain infrastructure consent in the form of an infrastructure consent order (ICO) for the development of ‘significant infrastructure projects’ (SIPs) in Wales and Welsh waters, which are projects above certain thresholds in the fields of energy, transport, waste, water, and gas. ICOs are intended to contain the full range of authorisations required to enable development to be implemented. Before I(W)A 2024: Developments of National Significance The Planning (Wales) Act 2015 amended the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) to create a category of development projects in Wales, called ‘developments of national significance’ (DNSs), which established a streamlined route for obtaining planning permission for DNSs, with applications being made directly to the Welsh Ministers, bypassing consideration by local planning authorities. The DNS process is managed by the Planning Inspectorate Wales (PINS Wales) on behalf of the Welsh Ministers. See Practice Note: Permission for Developments of National Significance in

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note was archived and is not maintained. The government confirmed in a July 2024 consultation on changes to national planning policy that it would not be implementing the infrastructure levy. This Practice Note has therefore been archived and is no longer kept up to date. What is the infrastructure levy? The infrastructure levy (IL) seeks to reform the current system of developer contributions in England—via planning obligations under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) and the community infrastructure levy (CIL)—with a mandatory, more streamlined, and locally determined levy payable on new development. The detailed design of IL will be set out in regulations. The purpose of IL is to ensure that the costs incurred in supporting the development of an area are funded at least in part by owners or developers of land, but in a way that does not make development in the area economically unviable. Part 4 and Schedule 12 to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023) provide the overarching framework for IL. LURA 2023 received