Neighbouring rights are rights related to copyright law. For example, there are performers' rights, which provide, eg musicians and actors the right to give or refuse consent to the exploitation of their performances. Another example is rights in sound recordings, which gives producers the right to give or refuse consent to the reproduction of their films or recordings. Finally, broadcasters or cable programme makers may give or refuse consent to their programmes being used.

This Q&A raises the need to protect certain interests by registration at HM Land Registry under the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). Certain interests have to be the subject of registration if they are to bind purchasers of land affected by them. As this Q&A suggests, leases for more than seven years are an example of this. Others are given protection by taking effect as overriding interests. A lease granted for a term exceeding seven years must be registered if it is to take effect as a legal interest (LRA 2002, s 4(1)(c)). In many cases, where there is no requirement for the registration of an estate or interest, it is still possible to do so on a voluntary basis (LRA 2002, s 3). A lease granted for a term where fewer than seven years

Public Law analysis: Ecotricity, a green energy company, made two Freedom of Information Act requests to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for information about the killing of pigs on a farm in June/July 2022. APHA responded that it could neither confirm nor deny (NCND) that it held the information requested. The Information Commissioner found that APHA were entitled to respond in this way as there was otherwise a risk to the Farm’s commercial interests and the health and safety of its owners/employees. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) upheld the IC’s decision. Ecotricity’s appeal to the Upper Tribunal failed. The Upper Tribunal found that whether information is already in the public domain is a factor to consider in weighing the commercial interests affected under section 43(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA 2000), but it was not the test itself. The information requested by Ecotricity was not sufficiently in the public domain as there had never been an official response from APHA on the information requested. There was a real risk to the commercial interests of the Farm if APHA did disclose the information. Written by Kyran Kanda, barrister at St Philips Chambers.

It has been assumed that there are currently no directions in place for the management of the proceedings. It has also been assumed that the claim is not in the shorter trials scheme. The first case management conference (CMC) in the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) is generally set as early as possible to allow the court to take early control of the proceedings. The general approach of these proceedings is to give directions at the outset for the conduct of the case up to trial and throughout the proceedings. The aim of the court is to serve the overriding objective of dealing with cases justly and proportionately. The judge to whom the case has been assigned has wide case management powers, which will be exercised to ensure that:

No person may confer a better title to land or goods than that person in fact has.

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The existing enhanced protection from redundancy that is available to employees during pregnancy, maternity leave and other types of statutory leave (and for an additional period after the leave has ended) is to be extended to cover other forms of dismissal. The powers to make regulations under sections 49D, 74, 75C, 75J, 80D and 80EH of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) were extended by sections 26 and 27 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), in force 6 January 2026 and 6 April 2026 respectively, and regulations are expected to come into effect in 2027 (probably on either of the common commencement dates of 1 April or 1 October). The Department of Business and Trade has published a Factsheet on enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers and a consultation on the proposed new measures ran between 23 October 2025 and 15 January 2026. For more information, see Practice Note: Employment Rights Act 2025—tracker. This Practice Note considers the position in relation to statutory neonatal care

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in Nepal and throughout the world are met, see further: Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Nepalese merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Nepal? The Competition Promotion and Market Protection Act, 2007 (2063) (Competition Act) governs the protection of markets from monopoly, the regulation of controlled market practices, and the promotion of competition in Nepal. The Competition Promotion and Market Protection Board (Competition Board) is the competent authority under the Competition Act, responsible for protecting the market from monopolistic conduct and regulating controlled market practices. There have been no amendments to the merger control provisions under the Competition Act, and no changes are anticipated in the near future. 2. Under the Nepalese merger control law, is the control test the same as the EU concept of ‘decisive influence’? If not, how does it differ and what is the position in relation to 'minority shareholdings'? No. The control test

Psychiatric damage inflicted by the intentional or negligent acts or omissions of another.

The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), has completed its first UK investments under its partnership with IFM Investors. This coincides with the UK’s first Regional Investment Summit and forms part of Nest’s strategy to invest approximately £5bn through IFM by 2030.

The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) has announced the launch of its first-ever member assembly, an initiative designed to place members at the centre of decisions shaping the scheme’s investment approach.

The National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) has announced that it has successfully connected to the government's pensions dashboard ecosystem. This connection marks a significant milestone in enhancing services for its over 13 million members by enabling integration with the forthcoming centralised system designed to allow users to view all their pension pots in one location. The government-backed initiative aims to consolidate pension information, thereby reducing lost pension pots and improving retirement planning. Although the technical connection has been completed, the dashboard remains unavailable to the public pending consumer testing, which is scheduled to commence this summer and will be led by the Money and Pensions Service, with Nest fully supporting this phase.

Nest, the UK’s largest pension scheme by membership, has made its first major investment since becoming a strategic partner and international owner of IFM Investors, a global infrastructure investment manager. On 20 May 2025, Nest announced it had committed €530m (approximately £450m) to seed a new infrastructure debt fund managed by IFM, joining 15 Australian superannuation funds. The launch of the infrastructure debt fund is expected to boost investments in UK private market assets, including fibre networks, wind energy, waste-to-energy facilities, as well as bus and rail infrastructure.