Statistics relating to the employment tribunals for the quarter October to December 2025 have been published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The statistics provide a snapshot of the number and types of cases that have been dealt with in the employment tribunals during Q3 2025/26. The statistics show that the employment tribunal backlog continues to rise. It remains unclear how the government will tackle the backlog and respond to the even bigger anticipated caseload increase now that the Employment Rights Act 2025 has begun to come into effect.

The Ministry of Justice has published a summary of responses to its Call for Evidence on 'Open Justice: the way forward', which was issued on 11 May 2023. The document outlines feedback from 131 respondents across various stakeholder groups. Key themes include the reaffirmation of the open justice principle, calls for improved access to court listings and documents and discussions on the implications of remote observation and livestreaming of court proceedings. Respondents emphasised the need for greater transparency in the Single Justice Procedure and supported the centralisation of judgment publications. The summary also highlights the importance of enhancing public understanding of the justice system and making court information available in machine-readable formats.

The Lord Chancellor, Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, has announced a new personal injury discount rate of positive 0.5% for England and Wales, to be effective from 11 January 2025. This new rate will be applied when calculating lump sum compensation payments for future financial losses in personal injury cases. The Lord Chancellor concluded that it would be inappropriate to adopt a dual or multiple rate at this review and that the rate should be set at a single rate of positive 0.5%. This decision follows a comprehensive review process under the Damages Act 1996, which included two Calls for Evidence, consultation with statutory consultees and evidence from an independent expert panel. A Statutory Instrument will be laid in Parliament to implement this change. A full statement of reasons has been made available.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published a report examining the impact of whiplash reforms on insurance costs. The report, produced to meet statutory obligations under section 11(7) of the Civil Liability Act 2018, confirms that the reforms have reduced customer insurance costs. While based on insurer data collected through the FCA, the report does not represent the government’s view. The Ministry of Justice plans to conduct a separate post-implementation review of the whiplash reforms later in 2025. Sir Nicholas Dakin, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, said, ‘it is right and proper that, separately from the report, the Ministry of Justice will undertake a post-implementation review of the whiplash reforms later this year.’

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published its response to the 2023 consultation on amending the regulations that govern fee recovery for enforcement agents (EAs) and High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEO). The regulations in question include the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, SI 2013/1894, and the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1. The response proposes reforms that extend notice periods and allow for payment by instalments at the compliance stage. These measures aim to give debtors more time and affordable options to settle their debts early, while ensuring that enforcement practitioners receive fair remuneration and the sector remains sustainable—fees that may be charged are to be increased by 5% (the new charges are set out in Appendix B).

A person who is under the age of eighteen.

The Workers and Temporary Workers Sponsor Guidance document Part 2: Sponsor a worker – general information has been updated on 4 April 2024.

On 8 November 2024 the Home Office issued an updated version of the Student sponsor guidance document 1 (Applying for a Student sponsor licence). The updated guidance contains minor changes, including two new definitions. The changes are summarised below. Changes to the guidance include the addition of a definition for overseas higher education institution as ‘an institution which holds overseas accreditation confirmed by the Education Counseling and Credit Transfer Information Service (Ecctis) as offering degree programmes which are equivalent to UK degree level qualifications, and which teaches no more than half of a degree programme in the UK as a study abroad programme’.

Minority shareholders are usually members who hold less than 50% of the shares in a company that have voting rights attached, meaning that they cannot block ordinary resolutions or special resolutions or any other resolution that must be passed by a higher majority. Minority shareholders are therefore at risk of their views being unfairly disregarded.

In a majority/minority corporate joint venture, a shareholder with an interest of more than 50 per cent of the shareholding of the joint venture company (JVC) will be able to control the joint venture, both at board level (eg through the power to appoint the majority of the directors, appoint the chair, possibly appoint named board executives (such as the chief executive) and pass board resolutions) and also at shareholder level (eg through the power to pass majority votes on shareholder resolutions). There is no definition of a minority member (or shareholder) in the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). In practice, a member of a company with a share capital will normally be a minority shareholder if it holds less than 50% of the shares in a company that has voting rights attached, meaning that it cannot block ordinary resolutions that are proposed for approval. A minority shareholder who holds less than 25% of the shares in a company that has voting rights attached cannot additionally block special resolutions proposed for approval. It is therefore

The application by the pursuer for the decree of divorce. In England and Wales this is the application for decree absolute. There is no equivalent to decree nisi in Scotland.

A document setting out an agreed financial order registered in the Books of Council and Session. In England and Wales this would be termed a consent order, however a notable difference is that there will be no enquiry whatsoever from the court into what was agreed, in contrast with England and Wales where a financial consent order must be approved by the court.