The Home Office has updated its ‘Online immigration status (eVisa)’ guidance to confirm that from 15 July 2025 applicants for entry clearance in study and work routes may not be issued with an entry clearance vignette in their passport, and instead will need to create a UKVI account and get access to it before they travel to the UK. Applicants will still get a vignette ‘as a dependant for any other visa or as a main applicant for visas other than study or work’. The new wording just says that applicants will be told what to do when they apply, so there are no details about whether application processes will change, whether this will apply to only certain work/study routes initially, or otherwise why the guidance is framed in ‘may’ terms. The practical benefit of the change, which was mentioned in the Immigration White Paper, is that persons to whom it applies will not need to return to a visa application centre to pick up their passport (or have it returned by courier) once the visa has been granted.

The Home Office has confirmed that it has stopped issuing visa vignettes completely on 1 July 2026. These have been phased out by route over recent months. Separately, it has also published an image of its new ‘Form for Accompanying an eVisa’ (FAV), which is a new physical document which will be issued to some successful applicants in order to travel to the UK, notwithstanding that they have been issued with an eVisa. Where a person is issued with a FAV, they will have to return to the UK. There is no explanation for when this may happen, but this may relate to where the applicant has certain types of identity document.

The Home Office has provided an update on its ongoing move to a fully digital system of immigration status by confirming that from 30 October 2025 successful applicants for entry clearance in ‘certain work, study and family visa routes’, or for settlement on any route, may not be issued with an entry clearance vignette in their passport, and instead will need to create a UKVI account and get access to it before they travel to the UK. At this stage there are no further details as to exactly which types of applicant this will apply to. From 15 July 2025 it has applied to main applicants (only) in the Student (including short-term up to 11 months), Global Business Mobility, Global Talent, International Sportsperson, Skilled Worker (including Health and Care), Temporary Workers, and Youth Mobility Scheme routes.

Vinted, an online marketplace for the second-hand sale of goods, has improved its pricing information and consumer transparency to align its practices with EU consumer law following dialogue with the European Commission and the national consumer authorities of Member States. The Network of Consumer Protection Cooperation Authorities (CPC) will monitor Vinted's website and app to ensure the implemented modifications are in line with EU consumer law. If Vinted does not implement its commitments properly or fails to address concerns raised by the CPC Network, national consumer authorities may enforce sanctions.

Employment analysis: The right to respect for private life and correspondence under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, of an employee dismissed for breach of a computer usage policy following monitoring of his communications at work, had been violated because the courts in Romania had failed to determine whether he had received prior notice from his employer of the possibility that his communications might be monitored and had not had regard either to the fact that he had not been informed of the nature or the extent of the monitoring, or the degree of intrusion into his private life and correspondence. In addition, the Romanian courts had failed to determine the specific reasons justifying the introduction of the monitoring measures, whether the employer could have used measures entailing less intrusion into his private life and correspondence, and whether the communications might have been accessed without his knowledge.

The offence of violent disorder Violent disorder can be tried in the magistrates' court or the Crown Court. This offence will normally be dealt with in the Crown Court. However, there may be cases involving minor violence or threats of violence leading to no or minor injury, with few people involved and no weapon or missiles, where the magistrates’ court can accept jurisdiction because its sentencing powers are sufficient. Elements of the offence of violent disorder The prosecution must prove that: • three or more persons present together • use or threaten unlawful violence • intending to do so or being aware that their conduct may be violent or threaten violence, and • the conduct of them taken together is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for their personal safety Three or more persons using or threatening unlawful violence The Public Order Act 1986 (POA 1986) stipulates that it is immaterial whether or not the three or more people present together use or threaten unlawful violence simultaneously.

Violent disorder refers to group violence in a public or private place that causes or risks causing serious disturbance, beyond ordinary public order offending. In England and Wales it is a statutory offence under section 2 of the Public Order Act 1986: three or more persons present together who use or threaten unlawful violence, with conduct taken together being such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for their safety. No such person need actually be present.In Northern Ireland, a similar offence is created by the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. In Scotland, “violent disorder” is not a distinct statutory offence; equivalent conduct is prosecuted under common law breach of the peace, mobbing and rioting, or statutory public order offences. In Ireland, violent disorder is codified in section 15 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 on similar “three or more persons” principles.The offence is indictable, often charged in connection with riots, gang violence, football disorder and large-scale fights, and is distinguished from affray by the requirement for group participation.

IP & IT analysis: How will the court approach applying the principles of res judicata and cause of action estoppel? The implications of the recent Supreme Court decision in Virgin Atlantic Airways v Zodiac Seats UK are considered by Gordon Harris, head of intellectual property at Wragge & Co, who acted for Zodiac Seats Limited.

The Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has launched a groundbreaking anti-fraud measure in the form of an AI called "Daisy", designed to engage scammers in lengthy conversations to waste their time and protect potential victims. This initiative is part of VMO2's broader "Swerve the Scammers" campaign, which also encourages customers to report suspicious calls and texts to 7726. Concurrently, Virgin Media O2 is advocating for enhanced governmental action against fraud, including the appointment of a dedicated fraud minister and the establishment of a centralised national policing body for fraud investigations. The company has also implemented AI-powered spam detection tools and caller identification services for its customers, having blocked £250 million in suspected fraudulent transactions in the past year alone. These measures underscore the growing concern over the UK's fraud epidemic and the need for both technological and policy-driven solutions.

Law360, London: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has rebuked Virgin Media, the Ministry of Defence and five other government organisations for failing to promptly respond to requests from individuals to access their personal information.

This Flowchart outlines the decision-making process for trustees of former DB contracted-out schemes when considering whether to use the remediation framework introduced by the Pension

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced plans to introduce legislation in response to the implications of the Virgin Media Ltd v NTL Pension Trustees II Ltd and others [2024] EWCA Civ 843 Court of Appeal judgment. The proposed legislation will enable defined benefit (DB) pension schemes to retrospectively obtain written actuarial confirmation that historic benefit changes met the required standards in a move designed to address the industry uncertainty that followed the handing down of the judgment. Notably, the DWP emphasises that existing scheme obligations and the established funding framework for DB pension schemes will remain unchanged, thereby safeguarding members' accrued pensions.