What is an appeal? An appeal in insolvency proceedings is no different to an appeal in normal litigation. An appeal will be allowed only if the appeal court is satisfied that the decision of the lower court was 'wrong' or 'unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings in the lower court'. Further, permission from either the lower or higher court will be needed to apply to appeal the decision. For further reading on this, see

A means of payment order may only be made in relation to a ‘qualifying maintenance order’, generally a periodical payments order (final or interim). A lump sum order payable by instalments also falls into the definition of a qualifying maintenance order. A list of all orders in relation to which a means of payment order may be made is set out in Schedule 8 to the Administration of Justice Act 1970. See also Practice Note: Periodical payments—means of payment order. Where an order does not fall within the definition of a qualifying maintenance order (for example

From 6 April 2017, the Finance Act 2017 introduced changes to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) which, subject to some transitional arrangements, provides that benefits provided under ‘optional remuneration arrangements’ (OpRAs) no longer benefit from the income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) advantages previously available under salary sacrifice arrangements. The term ‘salary sacrifice’ is not mentioned at all in the new legislation, which instead refers throughout to ‘optional remuneration’. This Q&A examines the differences between the two terms. This Q&A does not discuss the tax treatment associated with OpRAs. What is a salary sacrifice arrangement? A salary sacrifice happens when an employee gives up the right to part of the cash remuneration due under their contract of employment. Usually, the sacrifice is made in return for the employer’s agreement to provide the employee with some form of non-cash benefit. The sacrifice is achieved by varying the employee’s terms and conditions of employment relating to remuneration. To be a valid salary

What is bitcoin? Bitcoin is a digital token that lets you send money to any person in the world to pay for goods and services. It is a transparent, peer-to-peer payment network, and is now accepted by some real-life businesses as well as popular online services such as WordPress and Reddit. However, it is still very much in its early stages, and can be strongly affected by relatively small events. It’s a digital currency based on cryptic formulae and rules. It has been around for a few years, but is still pretty niche in the UK. The basis of it is that a bitcoin is created every time a computer solves a mathematical puzzle, so more and more are issued, but every time

In practical terms, the phrases ‘commencement of development’ and ‘implementation of a planning permission’ will often mean the same thing, however, there are some key differences to be aware of, which can be very important. Firstly, it is important to note that both terms when used in legal drafting will usually have their own definition in the individual document. It is common when drafting legal agreements for both the terms to expressly exclude works such as site investigations, and erecting signage or boundary fences, which would otherwise fall within the definitions of ‘commencement of development’ or ‘implementation of planning permission’ commonly used in planning law. Section 106 agreements are often drafted in this way so that the planning obligations are not triggered by minor works and are conditional upon 'implementation' as defined in the agreement itself. In these circumstances, the effect of 'non-implementation' is that the planning obligations may not be triggered even though there has been commencement of development by, for example, demolition,

We assume that this Q&A is referring to the payment of compensation or indemnity on termination of a commercial agency agreement under Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 SI 1993/3053. On termination or expiry of a commercial agency, an agent is normally entitled to a payment from the principal. This may be in the form of either: • an indemnity for commission lost in respect of business the agent introduced that benefits the principal, or • compensation for damage caused by the loss of the agent's relations with the principal Unless otherwise agreed, the default entitlement is to compensation rather than indemnity. The remedies are alternatives; the agent is not entitled to both. For more information, see below and Practice Note: Termination of commercial agency. Compensation Compensation

Timing of service of witness statements In some cases, the court orders that the parties serve witness statements at different times, so that one party’s evidence is in response to the other party’s evidence. This is more likely to be appropriate where there are no statements of case, because then one party may need to know the case to which it has to respond before it can determine what evidence is required from it. Cases involving sequential witness evidence need no further consideration for the purposes of this Q&A: each party is of course required to serve their own witness statement at the time provided for in the order. In other cases, the court orders that the same timing should apply to both parties’ witness statements so that their evidence is simultaneous. The court may either provide that witness statements be ‘exchanged’ at a specified time on a specified date, or use wording such as ‘the parties

Certain provisions of a company’s articles of association may refer to having an entitlement to shares, as opposed to being a holder of the shares. For example see article 29.3 of Articles of association—subsidiary—private limited company (which essentially replicates the wording of Article 27(3) of the Model articles—private limited company—after 28 April 2013). The wording distinguishes between the concept of entitlement to the shares of, typically, a deceased or

In financing and construction documentation for development projects it is usual to see requirements for parties to arrange insurance so that a lender, or other interested party, is joint insured, co-insured or composite insured—but what is the difference? Co-insured Referring to ‘co-insurance’ can mean either joint insurance, or composite insurance. Either way, being co-insured will offer the lender, or other interested party, greater protection than it would if it only has its interest ‘noted’ on the policy. Joint insured In a joint insurance policy, both

In this Q&A we refer to the concepts of negligence and gross negligence within a business-to-business contract, and not, gross negligence in relation to the crime of corporate manslaughter. Negligence vs gross negligence There is no English law concept of gross negligence (other than in criminal law) and so the courts will seek to give meaning to the term based on the terms of the contract in which it is used. In Camerata Property v Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, Justice Andrew Smith held: '…the relevant question is not whether generally gross negligence is a familiar concept in English civil law, but the meaning of the expression in [the contract]. I accept that the distinction between gross negligence and mere negligence is one of degree and not of kind as such, it is not easy to define or even to describe with any precision'. However, as Mance J recognised in Red Sea Tankers Ltd v Papachristidis (The 'Ardent') [1997] 2 Lloyd's Rep 547, 586 (not reported by LexisNexis®),

Search engine optimisation Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a marketing discipline that focuses on increasing visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results. It improves rankings, drives traffic and increases awareness of your website in search engines. While SEO is a way of making sure that your website is structured in a way that search engines can understand, it is also a means of making the web site better for users. Search engines 'crawl' websites to return better results to users, however, there is a limit to how effectively search

Historically, there was a distinction between felonies and misdemeanours, and it was necessary to distinguish, for felonies, between principals in the first degree, principals in the second (aiders and abettors) and accessories before the fact (counsellors and procurers). These distinctions have become unnecessary. The only distinction which continues to exist is as between a principal offender (D1) and an accessory (D2). D1 is the actual perpetrator of the offence. D2 is someone who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of the offence. The modern approach to the formula ‘aid, abet, counsel, or procure’ is to use, assist or encourage. Per the Supreme Court in R v Jogee; Ruddock v