The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, has launched the Judicial Strategy for International Engagement 2025–2029 at the Royal Courts of Justice.The strategy sets out plans for ongoing cooperation between the judiciary of England and Wales and their international counterparts. It aims to strengthen global court capacity, foster innovation in business law, and improve understanding of cross-border family law.The framework also highlights the importance of court technology and environmental law. It builds on existing international engagement, in which judicial office holders take part in training, mentoring, and collaborative activities.

The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales has published her annual report covering October 2024 to September 2025, highlighting criminal justice system reforms including two independent reviews by David Gauke and Sir Brian Leveson, and a Crown Court caseload crisis with outstanding cases reaching 78,329 by June 2025. The report details increased magistrates' sentencing powers from 6-12 months, a consultation on abolishing Local Justice Areas receiving over 1,400 responses and expansion of Pathfinder family courts to Wales and West Yorkshire.

The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales has responded to the Bar Council’s Independent Review of Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination at the Bar—which was published on 8 September 2025 and conducted by Baroness Harriet Harman KC. The review revealed multiple instances of judicial bullying and put forward several recommendations aimed at the Bar Council, the judiciary, and other relevant bodies to tackle and mitigate bullying within the legal profession. In her response, The Rt Hon the Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill reaffirmed her commitment to a modern, diverse, and inclusive judiciary. She strongly condemned judicial bullying as unacceptable and outlined ongoing measures, including the review of complaint procedures, the expansion of inclusion training, and enhanced support for judges—particularly those in leadership roles—to ensure that all judicial office holders maintain the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and respect in the justice system.

This is a mechanism for calculating compounded SONIA for use in bond or loan markets. It is intended to provide a little visibility to borrowers or issuers by starting the reference period for calculations five days before the beginning of the interest period and finishing five days before the end.

Leganside Magistrates’ Court ordered a Lurgan trader, Mr Damien McCaughley, to pay a compensation of £10,000 for failing to complete external construction work to the victim’s home to a satisfactory standard. McCaughley was given a conditional discharge and was suspended for two years after pleading guilty to five charges under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR 2008).

MLex: Germany’s top civil court is poised to send a copyright dispute between a photographer and AI dataset provider Laion to the EU's top court, raising questions over text and data mining, machine-readable opt-outs and research exemptions. The move comes as EU policymakers review whether the EU's AI-era copyright framework needs reform.

Dispute Resolution analysis: A long-standing judgment creditor has failed in largely undefended claims for unlawful means conspiracy and the Marex tort in a judgment which shines significant light on the approach of the court to claims which are not actively defended. Written by Phillip Patterson, barrister, Gatehouse Chambers.

The Lamfalussy Procedure is a process used by the Union to develop secondary legislation on financial services and strengthen the sector supervision framework.

Lancashire County Council has announced that Cabinet has authorised proportionate legal steps to preserve the council’s position following the UK Government’s decision to pause and review the Lancashire Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme. The council states that it has not received confirmation that the Secretary of State’s 16 July 2026 decision will be withdrawn or replaced by a fresh decision after the review.

The Insolvency Service publishes the prosecution of Jordan Allen, a Lancashire plasterer, for fraudulently obtaining a £50,000 Covid bounce back loan (BBL) by significantly overstating his business turnover and utilised the funds for his personal benefit. Allen received a suspended 16-month prison sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work, and must pay £3,600 in compensation for his misappropriation and exploitation of the pandemic support financial aid.

Historically almost all disputes relating to agricultural tenancy matters were referred to arbitration in the first instance. The thinking was that many issues relating to agricultural holdings have a large practical element, and arbitration was likely to be a better way of resolving matters than reference to a court. As time went on however, many issues involving legal complexity were dealt with before arbitrators. When the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 (AH(S)A 2003) was passed, there was a change in policy, and the primary means of dealing with disputes relating to agricultural tenant matters is now by reference to the Scottish Land Court. At the same time, arbitration procedure was simplified, and other resolution methods eg mediation, were made possible. Although the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991 (AH(S)A 1991) still contains separate provisions for dispute resolution, these have been greatly modified by AH(S)A 2003, with the result that the dispute resolution provisions relating to 1991 Act Tenancies are largely similar to those for 2003 Act Tenancies. Primary Jurisdiction of the

Title Land Drainage Act 1991 Entry into Force 1 December 1991 Transposition Deadline N/A Amendments Environment (Wales) Act 2016Deregulation Act 2015Water Act 2014Transfer of Tribunal Functions Order 2013, SI 2013/1036Natural Resources Body for Wales (Functions) Order 2013, SI 2013/755Local Government Byelaws (Wales) Act 2012Flood and Water Management Act 2010Transfer of Tribunal Functions (Lands Tribunal and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2009, SI 2009/1307Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006Constitutional Reform Act 2005Communications Act 2003Water Act 2003Enterprise Act 2002 (Disqualification from Office: General) Order 2006, SI 2006/1722Transfer of Functions (Transport, Local Government and the Regions) Order 2002, SI 2002/2626Local Government and the Regions and for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Order 2001, SI 2001/2568Postal Services Act 2000 (Consequential Modifications No. 1) Order 2001, SI 2001/1149Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000Transport Act 2000National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999, SI 1999/672Development