Under the SRA Standards and Regulations: • solicitors, registered European lawyers (RELs) and registered foreign lawyers (RFLs) must maintain their competence to carry out their role and keep their professional knowledge and skills up to date • SRA-regulated firms must ensure their managers and employees are competent to carry out their role and keep their professional knowledge and skills, as well as understanding of their legal, ethical and regulatory obligations, up to date • solicitors, RELs, RFLs and firms must all ensure the service they provide to clients is competent The SRA’s continuing competence regime operates alongside the requirements of the Codes of Conduct and applies to a more limited group of people—see: Who must comply with the continuing competence requirements? It does, however, provide a framework for all lawyers and their employers to assess, maintain and monitor competence. This Practice Note looks at the SRA’s continuing competence regime, focusing on the statement of solicitor competence, statement of legal knowledge and how to demonstrate compliance with the requirements. Practice Note: How to assess, maintain

When dealing with a discretionary or non-contractual bonus, it is necessary to consider: • to which aspects of the bonus the discretion properly applies • constraints on the employer's exercise of discretion which apply as a result of case law • the effect of any oral (or indeed written) representations made to employees about bonus • any expectations or contractual rights that may have been created by custom and practice For more detailed guidance on each of these aspects, see the section of Practice Note: Bonus schemes entitled Discretionary or non-contractual bonuses. In Dresdner Kleinwort Ltd v Attrill, the employees’ contracts

This Practice Note considers the status of the programme in a construction contract, what difference it makes if the programme is a contract document and the approach of standard form contracts to the programme. The programme is an important document in any construction project. It assists the contractor to organise the project and plan the execution of the works. It also helps the employer and contract administrator to monitor progress, measure the contractor’s performance and assess delay. What are the parties’ obligations in relation to the programme? In general, unless the construction contract states otherwise, the contractor can programme the works and carry them out in such order as it sees fit and the employer has little influence over the sequencing and activities. In GLC v Cleveland Bridge and Engineering (1984) 34 BLR 50 (not available in LexisNexis®) the court stated that the contractor is usually entitled to 'plan and perform the work as he pleases, provided always that he finishes it by the time fixed in the contract'. Without specific provision in the contract, an employer

Pursuant to section 23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) a tenant who is in occupation of the holding for the purposes of a business, has the right to seek a new tenancy of that holding. Therefore, if the original tenant company is no longer in occupation (whether itself or through a company in which it has a controlling interest pursuant to LTA 1954, s 23(1)(1A) then

A surrender of a lease granted to two or more joint tenants is only effective if all joint tenants are parties to the surrender. This applies to both tenancies during the fixed term and periodic tenancies. (See Leek and Moorlands Building Society v Clark). If the tenancy has the protection of the security of tenure provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) and the tenants satisfy the requirements of LTA 1954, s 23 (ie the tenants

This Q&A considers whether a landlord can recover possession, or increase the rent payable upon expiry of a commercial lease. It also considers whether the tenant is able to serve any notice to determine the tenancy. The first consideration is whether the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) applies to the tenancy. The original lease was within LTA 1954 In the event that the original lease was within LTA 1954, if the tenant then remained in occupation for the purposes of their business (LTA 1954, s 23 provides that a tenancy is within LTA 1954 if the whole or a part of the demised premises is occupied by

Corporate Crime analysis: Niall Hearty assesses the possible effectiveness of recently-announced measures to target those involved in coronavirus fraud.

Corporate Crime analysis: John Binns, partner at BCL Solicitors LLP, discusses the key aspects of Corruption Watch’s report, ‘The Corporate Crime Gap: How the UK lags behind the US in policing corporate financial crime’. Binns also considers the potential changes to the law and if it will be enough to fix the problem.

The UK has a well-developed corporate governance regime. Among other things, this is because a business that has effective corporate governance policies in place is considered likely to build an environment of trust, transparency and accountability and contribute to a more inclusive society by ensuring the interests of all its stakeholders are balanced. Good corporate governance is also believed to contribute to successful company performance and help businesses foster growth, long-term investments, financial stability and business integrity. What is corporate governance? Corporate governance is the system of rules, practices and processes that are put in place to manage and control a company. Following a number of high profile corporate scandals, the Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance was established in May 1991 to review the aspects of UK corporate governance relating to financial reporting and accountability. The committee was chaired by Sir Adrian Cadbury and its final report, The financial aspects of corporate governance (usually known as the Cadbury Report), set out what has become the generally accepted definition of corporate governance: 'Corporate

This Practice Note summarises the requirements for a company subject to DTR 7.2 of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR) to include a corporate governance statement in its annual financial report. It also looks at requirements under the UK Listing Rules (UKLR) and the UK Corporate governance Code (UKCG Code) to make corporate governance disclosures in the annual financial report. A company subject to DTR 7.2 must include a corporate governance statement in its directors’ report (which forms part of the annual financial report). The corporate governance statement should refer, where applicable, to the corporate governance code to which the company is subject or may have voluntarily decided to apply. Under the UKLR, companies with equity shares listed in the equity shares (commercial companies) category (also referred to as the commercial companies category) and those with equity shares listed in the closed-ended investment funds category of the Official List are required to make certain disclosures relating to the UKCG Code in their annual financial report. In addition, the provisions of the UKCG Code require certain

Family analysis: The appeal in Re A followed a fact-finding hearing in care proceedings, regarding a child who had suffered a number of serious injuries, including a life-threatening partial asphyxiation. The trial judge found the mother responsible for the asphyxiation and both parents potentially responsible for the other injuries. Findings were also made against the parents regarding collusion and failure to protect the child. The father appealed. In allowing the appeal, the Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had erred in his application of the uncertain perpetrator test. Giving the leading judgment, Lady Justice King held that the test in these cases requires a judge to consider whether, after considering of all the available evidence and applying the simple balance of probabilities, they either can or cannot identify a perpetrator and if they cannot do so then they should consider whether there is a real possibility that each individual on the list inflicted the injury in question. Mavis Amonoo-Acquah, barrister at Harcourt Chambers, examines the issues.

Property Disputes analysis: It was held in the County Court case of Jalili v Bury Council that in housing disrepair claims, the correct approach to valuing the works which would be the subject of the claimed order for specific performance is to ascertain the actual cost of those works to the landlord. It is not appropriate to apply an ‘open market’ valuation. Where a claim settles before being allocated to a track, if the value of the remedial works and the value of damages does not exceed £1,000, costs should be assessed on a small claims track basis. While the county court case is not binding precedent, it is a useful indication of the approach the courts may take. Written by Alex Bagnall, technical manager at Total Legal Solutions.