This Practice Note considers the particular defences and exceptions that may apply in discrimination, victimisation and harassment and certain other claims, known as prohibited conduct claims under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010). It deals with: illegal contracts; actions required by legal enactments; national security; state immunity and diplomatic immunity; positive discrimination and positive action in employment; claims under equality of terms provisions; occupational requirements; selection of candidates by political parties; where there is an ethos based on religion or belief; organised religions; armed forces; competitive sports; communal accommodation; Sikhs wearing turbans on construction sites; seafarers; access to benefits due to marital status; benefits based on length of service; National Minimum Wage rates; childcare; redundancy payments; provision of certain benefits and age; and pension scheme exceptions. Which protected characteristics apply Except where stated, defences and exceptions outlined below apply in relation to all protected characteristics. This Practice Note also covers certain exceptions that are restricted to one or two specific types of discrimination: where this is the case, that restriction is made clear. What

This week's edition of Property Disputes weekly highlights includes: MHCLG announcements regarding the commencement of the second phase of Awaab’s Law coming into force on 30 November 2026 and the extension of the cladding safety scheme to sub-11 metre buildings, High Court decisions on forfeiture, boundary agreements, and notices to complete. It also includes an Upper Tribunal decision on invalid RTM claim notices and a County Court decision on damages for Japanese Knotweed spread.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. One of the difficulties for dispute resolution practitioners is keeping up to date with developments in case law that affect their practice area, or, which impact civil litigation procedure generally. This Practice Note summarises the key appeal cases (ie decisions of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and, where relevant, some judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)), which we have reported on, allowing users ease of access in finding those decisions, see below. This content can be browsed through the table of contents in the left margin. Alternatively, this tracker can be searched using [CTRL]+[F]. In addition, this Practice Note covers a selection of forthcoming appeals, where known, to assist in horizon scanning. This content is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of all appeals and/or key decisions relevant to dispute resolution practitioners. Key forthcoming appeal cases—2019 Topics Case name and date of appeal, where known Details of appeal Further information/reading Terminating contracts—frustration Canary Wharf (BP4) T1

This week's edition of Public Law weekly highlights includes a hand-picked summary of news analysis, legal updates and case law from the world of Public Law. These highlights include the latest updates on Brexit, constitutional and administrative law, public procurement, judicial review, equality and human rights, state security and intelligence, subsidy control and State aid, and information law. This edition features Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new ministerial team and substantial machinery-of-government reforms, new public procurement guidance on exclusion and debarment under the Procurement Act 2023, the IPCO report identifying serious individual and systemic MI5 failings in the Agent X litigation, and News Analysis of R (Bano) v London Borough of Waltham Forest on the automatic termination of the main housing duty and proposed reforms to judicial review procedures for major infrastructure projects, plus the latest case updates and analysis.

This week's edition of Public Law weekly highlights includes a hand-picked summary of news analysis, legal updates and case law from the world of Public Law. These highlights include the latest updates on Brexit, public procurement, constitutional and administrative law, state security and intelligence, state accountability and liability, judicial review, subsidy control and State aid, and information law. This edition features analysis of Brexit's constitutional and legal legacy, the Business and Trade Committee's review of UK-EU relations a decade after the Brexit referendum, new Cabinet Office guidance on the national security exemption under the Procurement Act 2023, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy's call for greater clarity on implementation of the UK's national security strategy, confirmation of the resignation of Information Commissioner John Edwards, expert analysis of Sintes v LB of Tower Hamlets on the limits of public authority liability for third-party criminal acts, plus the latest case updates and analysis.

This week's edition of Public Law Weekly highlights covers new practical guidance on preparing for the Procurement Act 2023, set to take effect on 24 February 2025. It also covers the UK government's decision not to activate the 'Stormont Brake' under the Windsor Framework. and the Commons Justice Committee’s session on 15 January with the Attorney General and Solicitor General. Cases covered include One Medicare v NHS Northamptonshire ICB, a public procurement case about lifting the automatic suspension; R (Cygnet Health Care Ltd) v CQC, about bias in CQC inspection reports; and R (O'Connor) v Panel Chair, about the reasoning in a Police Misconduct Panel decision. Additionally featured are selected Brexit highlights and Post-Brexit transition guidance. This edition further includes updates on Constitutional and administrative law, State accountability and liability, State security and intelligence, Subsidy control and State aid, Projects and infrastructure and Other Public law news.

This Practice Note addresses issues affecting professional photographers taking photographs of models or other individuals and the businesses that commission, produce, license and use photographs for commercial purposes. It provides information on how UK data protection and privacy law applies and should be navigated in the context of commercial use of photographs in the UK. Commercial use would be reproducing a photograph in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or financial compensation. This includes use in marketing on a business’s website or on its social media platforms. Although some of the same principles may apply, this Practice Note is not intended to cover editorial use of photographs. Press photographers may need to consider additional data protection and privacy issues, such as the ICO data protection and journalism code of practice or rules set out in the IPSO Editors’ Code of Practice, and different exemptions may apply to them. Nor does this note cover domestic use for purely personal or household activities. This

Rates that can be applied for extra works which are not otherwise priced in a contract. Daywork rates are generally used when work cannot be priced in a normal way, for example where a variation is instructed for which there is no comparable item in the bill of quantities or there are small items to finish off at the end of a project. There are two ways of pricing daywork rates—either the cost of the works plus an agreed percentage for overheads, profits and incidental costs (ie 'costs plus'), or all inclusive rates included in the contract which will contain an allowance for overheads and profit etc.

Equal pay (now called equality of terms) protection aims to achieve equality between men and women in pay and other terms of employment where the work of an employee and an opposite sex comparator is equal, by inserting a sex equality clause into the employee’s contract to ensure parity.

Ground conditions which may affect the works (in terms of cost or time) and which were not known or anticipated when the contract was entered into. May cause a change to the way in which the works have to be carried out, require remediation or otherwise cause delay/disruption to the completion of the works.

The section of the bills of quantities that summarises the terms of the construction contract and the general services to be provided by the contractor. Often referred to as ‘prelims’. Will include items such as office overheads, temporary works, telephone and electricity and removal of rubbish.

Meeting of the minds describes the point at which parties reach genuine agreement on the essential terms of a contract, so that their consent can be said to coincide. In legal practice across England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, it is a descriptive expression rather than a statutory term, and is closely linked to the requirement for offer and acceptance, certainty of terms and intention to create legal relations. Courts typically analyse “meeting of the minds” objectively, by asking what a reasonable person would understand from the parties’ words and conduct, rather than focussing on undisclosed subjective intentions. A lack of true agreement can lead to a finding that no contract was formed, or support arguments based on mistake, misrepresentation, uncertainty or sham transactions. In Scots law, the concept aligns with consensus in idem, but the underlying idea is essentially consistent across all four jurisdictions. The phrase is often used in contract drafting, negotiation and litigation to describe whether a binding agreement has been reached, particularly in disputes over oral contracts, pre-contractual negotiations, “subject to contract” communications and ambiguous or incomplete terms.