For an article that discusses the risks of indemnity insurance as a solution to a breach of covenant issue, see Property/Insurance: Double Jeopardy? (160 NLJ 828). There is useful commentary on insurance cover in respect of restrictive covenants for both existing breaches and proposed breaches in Encyclopaedia

Where there is an obligation to withhold tax on interest, that obligation arises when interest is paid. Generally, interest is paid when there is an act which discharges the obligation to pay interest, most commonly by the transfer of money (the transfer being the ‘payment’). HMRC refers to less obvious forms of payment, for example by book entry, in their Corporate

Detailed information on Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks can be found in Practice Note: Criminal records—asking questions and DBS checks. The level of checks that an employer may apply for depends on the nature of the role in question. Offences Under section 3 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVGA 2006), a person who is included on the children’s barred list is barred from regulated activity relating to children. It is an offence (among other things) for a person (A) to permit an individual (B) to engage in regulated activity from which B is barred, in circumstances where: • A knows or has reason to believe B is barred, and • B engages in the activity ‘Regulated activity’ relating to children is defined in SVGA 2006, Sch 4 Pt 1 (SVGA 2006, s 5). For

When an application is made to the Court of Protection under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to appoint a Deputy in respect the Patient’s (P’s) property and affairs, disclosure of any existing Will or codicil should be made (see sections 3.2–3.4 of Form COP1A). However, it is not always possible to obtain a copy of the Will until after a deputyship order has been granted. Law Society Guidance provides that a solicitor may not disclose the contents of P’s Will without sufficient evidence that they lack mental capacity to give their consent, which may need to be determined by an order of the Court of Protection. Moreover, if P made express instructions to their solicitors before losing capacity that their Will was not to be disclosed

Linking and copyright protection Website owners and those using the Internet commonly now link either to another website's home page or to a page situated away from the home page, deeper into the website. Website pages will usually benefit from copyright protection and may be protected by other intellectual property rights. Linking, which creates a copy of a website page on the receiving user's computer when the link is opened, may result in copyright, database right and/or trade mark infringement, passing off and breach of terms and conditions of use of websites. This Q&A deals with legal issues regarding linking to and from websites. There are technical measures such as specialist software available to companies seeking to limit or monitor linking, the details of which are beyond the scope of this note. Potential pitfalls The Internet is all about linking and most website owners want you to link to their content. However certain content rich business sectors want to prevent other websites from linking freely to their content. When dealing with

Linking and copyright protection Website owners and those using the internet commonly link either to another website's home page or to a page situated away from the home page, deeper into the website. Website pages usually benefit from copyright protection and may be protected by other intellectual property rights. Linking, which creates a copy of a website page on the receiving user's computer when the link is opened, may result in copyright, database right and/or trade mark infringement, passing off and breach of terms and conditions of use of websites. This Q&A deals with legal issues regarding linking to and from websites. There are technical measures such as specialist software available to companies seeking to limit or monitor linking, the details of which are beyond the scope of this note. Potential pitfalls The internet is all about linking and most website owners want you to link to their content. However, certain content-rich business sectors want to prevent other websites from linking freely to their content. When dealing with these businesses

A requirement that a person possesses a particular protected characteristic in order to do a particular kind of work will only be lawful: • provided certain conditions are satisfied, and • in relation to certain types of action The person imposing the requirement must satisfy three conditions, by showing that, having regard to the nature or context of the work in relation to which the requirement is being applied: • the requirement is an 'occupational requirement' (this phrase is not defined, so it should be interpreted according to its natural English meaning), and • the application of the requirement is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, and • the person to whom the requirement is applied does not meet it (or the person imposing it has reasonable grounds for not being satisfied that the person to whom it is being applied meets it) Where the requirement is to be of a particular gender, the third condition is modified:

A search for insolvency or bankruptcy (in the respective cases of a corporate and individual vendor) is good practice in all cases to determine whether that vendor has been made insolvent or bankrupt, or whether a petition has been presented against them. The reason for this is that a purported transfer of an asset such as a property will be voided by, respectively, sections 127 and 284 of the Insolvency Act 1986. These provisions provide protection to creditors for reasons of public policy that means any such sale will not take effect. This can result in the purchaser being placed in a difficult situation

The approach to modifications/variations of contracts (and when such amounts to a new award of a contract) changed when Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102 came in to force, as the rules in relation to this area were codified in PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 72. A voluntary transparency notice (also known as a voluntary ex-ante transparency notice or VEAT notice) is used in limited circumstances arising under PCR 2015, SI 2015/102 in order to resist challenge on grounds of ineffectiveness under PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 99. It is important to note that a VEAT notice will only be valid if the contracting authority believes the decision being made does not fall foul of PCR 2015, SI 2015/102,

Property Disputes analysis: This case concerned an application for consent for alterations by a tenant of a long lease of a mixed-use building. The tenant sought consent for alterations to carry out significant redevelopment works, including building additional floors. The landlord did not give consent, and the tenant applied to the court for declaratory relief. The application was dismissed. The court held that two out of four of the reasons given by the landlord in withholding consent were reasonable, and therefore overall it was reasonable to withhold consent. In coming to this decision the judge considered the formal requirements for applications under leases, whether an application is fixed or ambulatory in character, and whether the landlord can take into account the method of the proposed works in coming to its decision. Written by Robert Boucher (legal director) and Felicia Persis (solicitor) at Howard Kennedy LLP who acted for Lanark Square Ltd.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: In a reserved judgment, His Honour Judge Hodge KC (sitting as a judge of the High Court) refused the liquidators permission to amend their points of claim in insolvency proceedings. The effect of the proposed amendments would have increased the value of the claim from an estimated £202.9m (valuation of assets alone) to an estimated £632.1m (valuation of the business and assets). In refusing permission, it was acknowledged that the outcome may seem harsh to the liquidators and the company’s creditors; however, it was remarked that the liquidators only had themselves (and, potentially, their advisers) to blame. The decision provides a salutary reminder to practitioners that there are no special rules for amendments in insolvency proceedings and therefore the importance of properly pleading a case from the outset, or amending it as soon as possible, should not be overlooked. Written by Dale Timson, barrister at Enterprise Chambers.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note considers the types of construction dispute that mediation is most suited to (and those to which it is less likely to be suited). It also highlights the advantages of mediation in resolving construction disputes. Type of dispute Mediation can be an excellent way of providing a forum for a negotiated, compromise solution in the event of a construction dispute where: • the answer to a dispute is not clearly one outcome or another • there is room for compromise • both parties are able to take into account the risk that their arguments might not succeed in court Sometimes in a dispute, the solution appears to be obvious but one party may not accept it without giving any explanation. Even in this situation, mediation can be helpful. At mediation, the party which is unwilling to accept the solution has the opportunity to explain its difficulty in confidence to the mediator and this often enables a mediator to