This Q&A assumes that the trade union is providing advice and acting in a representative capacity to a trade union member. Summary A trade union is not a body corporate but is capable of making contracts and suing or being sued. It may therefore, in most if not all cases be a trader. The Status of a Trade Union Under Section 10 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1982 it is provided under the heading ‘Quasi-Corporate Status of Trade Unions’: ‘(1) a trade union is not a body corporate but – (a) is capable of making contracts; (b) is capable of suing and being sued in its own name, whether in proceedings related to property or founded on contract or

Crozier v Crozier is authority that while the parties can achieve a clean break between themselves, they cannot do so in respect of their child, see Q&A: Where parties agree a clean break upon divorce, what is the position with regard to child maintenance, and will that continue to be paid?. In addition, it is not possible to contract out of the right to seek financial provision for the benefit of a child, whether from the court, or from the child maintenance service (CMS), as any agreement or term of an agreement which purports to restrict the right of any person to apply to the CMS for a maintenance calculation is void under

Service of a notice claiming the right to acquire the freehold of a house under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (LRA 1967) creates a statutory contract between the tenant and landlord. The landlord is required to give notice in reply within two months, stating whether or not the landlord admits the tenant's right to enfranchise, and if not, the grounds for not admitting. However, there are few consequences for a landlord who fails to do so. See: • Practice Note: Guide to the right to enfranchisement and lease extensions of houses under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (LRA 1967) • Q&A: Where a tenant serves a notice of claim to acquire the freehold of a

‘Wrotham Park’ damages Derived from the case of Wrotham Park Estate Co v Parkside Homes Ltd, ‘negotiating damages’ (or ‘licence fee’ damages as they are also referred to) are recoverable to represent such a sum that the defendant would have reasonably paid had they, prior to breaching their obligations, negotiated a release from those obligations. For further information on negotiated damages and the related case law, see Practice Note: Negotiating damages for contractual breach. Assessing damages in such cases and considering what price would have been negotiated is usually based on a hypothetical scenario. Marathon v Seddon In Marathon Asset Management LLP v James Seddon, proceedings were brought against former employees, one of whom admitted to having copied confidential information in breach of his contract of employment. Although the information was never actually used and, therefore, Marathon suffered no financial loss (and nor had the former employees gained financially), Marathon

The leading statement on interpretation of contracts is to be found in Investors Compensation Scheme v West Bromwich Building Society, where Lord Hoffmann sets out five principles. These were later summarised by Lord Bingham in BCCI SA (in liquidation) v Ali as follows: ‘To ascertain the intention of the parties, the court reads the terms of the contract as a whole, giving the words used their natural and ordinary meaning in the context of the agreement, the parties’ relationship and all the relevant facts surrounding the transaction so far as known to the parties. To ascertain the parties’ intentions, the court does not of course inquire into the parties’ subjective states of mind but makes an objective judgment based on the materials already identified.’ In the (assumed) absence of an interpretation clause within the document which confers the right in question,

See the following information from Agency—overview. Commercial agency definition and regulations The regulations therefore apply to many business agencies where the agent performs its duties in Great Britain although equivalent provisions apply in Northern Ireland and similar provisions apply in each of the European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Local legal advice should be obtained in cases where the agent performs their duties in these countries. (our emphasis) The Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (Commercial Agents Regulations 1993), SI 1993/3053 have substantially modified previous agency law in relation to those agents defined as commercial agents, one of the most substantial changes being that the agent may be entitled to a payment on termination of the agency. The Commercial Agents Regulations 1993 set out in detail the obligations of principal and commercial agent, many of which cannot be excluded by contract. The Commercial Agents Regulations 1993 do not apply to agents who: • deal solely in services • deal in goods that are only

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) covers consumer rights and remedies for the sale of goods and supply of digital goods and services, and reform of the law on unfair terms in consumer contracts. Section 1 of the CRA 2015 provides: ‘This Part applies where there is an agreement between a trader and a consumer for the trader to supply goods, digital content or services, if the agreement is a contract.’ Parties Section 2 of the CRA 2015 provides definitions for key terms. ‘Consumer’ means an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual’s trade, business, craft or profession. The trader bears the burden of showing that an individual is not a consumer. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on the CRA 2015 which says that it considers that the words ‘wholly or mainly’ clearly invite consideration of transactions that are entered into for a mixture of personal

The question alludes to the fact that the Land Registration Act 2002 (the Act) requires a lease for more than seven years to be registered. If that does not happen, s 7(1) provides that the lease 'becomes void as regards the ... grant .. of a legal estate' and s 7(2)(b) provides that 'the grant … takes effect as a contract made for valuable consideration to grant … the legal estate concerned.' Accordingly, it takes effect in equity only. A failure to register the lease therefore affects the rights as between the parties to it as well as the extent to which a third party might be bound by it. An option on the other hand does not need to be registered for it to take effect as between the

A director’s right to inspect company books Statutory rights There are no provisions under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) which give the directors a general right to receive information, and it is unlikely (although possible) that such rights may be set out in the company’s articles, the directors’ service contract or any other relevant documents. However, all companies are required to keep adequate accounting records to ensure that they record transactions to enable them to show the company's financial position and to prepare accounts which comply with the CA 2006 and, where relevant, with International Accounting Standards. Note that ‘Accounting records’ is a deliberately broad term that is not specifically defined as the records of a company may differ depending on the nature and complexity of its business. CA 2006, s 388 provides that a company’s accounting records must be kept (for three years from the date they are made for private companies) at the registered office or such other place that

Part of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) gives qualifying tenants of flats a right of first refusal enabling them to purchase the interest of their landlord if and when the landlord proposes to dispose of it. If LTA 1987 applies, the landlord shall not make a relevant disposal affecting the premises unless they have followed the procedures set out in LTA 1987, ss 1–20. Failure to do so (without reasonable excuse) constitutes a criminal offence. The procedure begins with service of a notice under LTA 1987, s 5 on the qualifying tenants. Where the disposal is by way of contract, the notice must set out an offer by the landlord which must

In relation to the first part of this question, under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), an employer cannot make any deductions from the wages of a worker unless: • the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of • a statutory provision, eg the requirement to make deductions for income tax or National Insurance contributions via Pay As You Earn (PAYE), or • a relevant provision of the worker's contract, eg where the employer provides a loan to the worker and has a contractual right to take money out of the worker's wages in repayment, or • the worker has previously signified in writing their agreement or consent to the deduction In relation to a deduction to which the worker has previously signified in writing their agreement or consent, the requirement will be strictly construed. For example, if a loan agreement

The UK public procurement regulations apply to public contracts in-scope, where the estimated value of the contract is no less than the financial thresholds set out in the relevant legislation, including: • Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102 • Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (UCR 2016), SI 2016/274 • Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (CCR 2016), SI 2016/273 Prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, public procurement in the UK was subject to financial thresholds set by the EU. These thresholds are set by the European Commission for and reviewed every two years. See: EU threshold levels for public contracts set for 2020—LNB News 11/11/2019 24. Details of the EU thresholds can be found on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) under 'Useful links'. For background reading, see Practice Note: The EU public procurement thresholds. Although the EU public procurement directives are not within the scope of retained EU law, the implementing domestic regulations including those