The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), along with the global Green Building Council network, has published a briefing paper ahead of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The paper summarises key positions on sustainable building policies and details successful outcomes for negotiations from the perspective of the building sector.

MLex: Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency initiative from OpenAI chief executive, Sam Altman, has been blocked from processing some data in Portugal, weeks after receiving a similar sanction in Spain. Portugal’s data protection authority (DPA) said that it has ordered the Worldcoin Foundation to stop collecting biometric data. The decision targets a different entity to the recent Spanish enforcement and an ongoing probe in Bavaria.

Following the closure of the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility and the Crown Dependency Disclosure Facilities at the end of 2015 (see Practice Notes: Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility [Archived] and Crown Dependency Disclosure Facilities [Archived]), individuals were given a final opportunity to disclose offshore non-compliance to HMRC. This time-limited disclosure facility was first announced at Budget 2015 and is now known as the Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF). The timing of the WDF tied in with the implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) (see Practice Note: Automatic exchange of information—the Common Reporting Standard: a summary), which automatically provides HMRC with large amounts of offshore financial information. Until 30 September 2018, the WDF could be used to make a disclosure for the purposes of the requirement to correct (RTC). This Practice Note provides a brief introduction to the WDF. For the terms of the WDF and general HMRC guidance, see: • Offshore disclosure facilities • Worldwide Disclosure Facility: make a disclosure When was the WDF launched? The WDF was launched on 5 September 2016. After 30 September 2018, the more

This response is based on the approach of the courts of England and Wales and assumes that the contract was entered into after 17 December 2009. When determining the applicable law for a contract concluded after 17 December 2009, the courts will apply the provisions in Regulation (EC) 593/2007, Rome I. This EU regulation is not based on reciprocity and therefore applies regardless of the domicile of the parties to the contract. It would therefore be applied by

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE 2006), SI 2006/246 protect the rights of employees when transferring to a new employer. It will be a question of fact whether the transfer of business and assets to a buyer falls within the definition of a 'relevant transfer' under TUPE 2006, SI 2006/246, reg 3(1) to which TUPE 2006, SI 2006/246 applies. However, there is different treatment where, at the time of the transfer, the business is subject to insolvency proceedings, namely: • the business is subject to insolvency proceedings instituted with a view to the liquidation of the transferor's assets, which are exempt from TUPE 2006, SI 2006/246, reg 4 (transfer of

CPR 36 is a self-contained procedural code about offers to settle made pursuant to its terms (CPR 36.1(1)). It contains various rules as to the making of offers which have particular consequences if accepted or if bettered at trial. It does not apply to small claims (CPR 27.2(1)(g)), but otherwise applies to claims, counterclaims and additional claims (CPR 36.2(3)(a)). Separate provisions within CPR 36 apply to RTA Protocol and EL/PL Protocol claims. By CPR 36.3(a) the party who makes an offer is 'the offeror' and the party to whom an offer is made is the 'offeree'. A Part 36 offer may be made at any time, including before the commencement of proceedings (CPR 36.7(1)) and is made when it is served on the offeree (CPR 36.7(2)). Where a pre-action offer is made and accepted before proceedings are commenced, the consequences

A qualifying long term agreement is an agreement entered into by the landlord ‘for a term of more than 12 months (section 20ZA of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985, s 20ZA)). The courts have held that an agreement for 12 months and then to continue from year to year (subject to not being terminated)

Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) gives qualifying tenants of flats a right of first refusal enabling them to purchase the interest of their landlord if and when the landlord proposes to dispose of it. The right is framed in negative terms, prohibiting the landlord from making a relevant disposal without first serving a notice under LTA 1987, s 5 on the qualifying tenants and requiring that the disposal is made in accordance with the statutory requirements. Those statutory requirements are designed to ensure that the landlord, having established that the tenants do not wish to exercise their rights on the terms specified, cannot

What is a CFA? A conditional fee agreements (CFA) is a type of funding agreement which is more commonly referred to as a ‘no win no fee’ agreement. Section 58(2)(a) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (CLSA 1990) formally defines a CFA as: 'an agreement with a person providing advocacy or litigation services which provides for his fees and expenses, or any part of them, to be payable only in specified circumstances' What are the requirements for a CFA? In order to be an enforceable CFA, the requirements of CLSA 1990, s 58(3) must be met: • it must be in writing; • it must not relate to proceedings which cannot be the subject of an enforceable conditional fee agreement, and • it must comply with such requirements (if any) as may be prescribed by the Lord Chancellor The requirements prescribed by the Lord Chancellor are to be found in the Conditional

Usually where land is compulsorily purchased, section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (HPA 2016) would apply. This provides the power to override easements and restrictive covenants over land if the land is: • vested in or acquired by a specified authority • acquired or appropriated by a local authority for a planning purpose, and • developed in accordance with planning permission However, HPA 2016, s 203 cannot be used to override rights vested in or apparatus belonging to a statutory undertaker for the purpose of carrying on its statutory undertaking, or operators of an electronic communications code network. This is apparent through HPA 2016, s 203(9) which states that: ‘(9) Nothing in this section

The residence nil rate band (RNRB) is, from 6 April 2017, available as an enhancement to the existing nil rate band to reduce the inheritance tax (IHT) payable on death where a qualifying residential property interest is ‘closely inherited’. The relief applies where a residential property interest passes to a qualifying beneficiary. A residential property interest is defined in section 8H(2) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 as an interest

A small self-administered scheme (SSAS) is a type of occupational pension scheme which is also known as a relevant small scheme. A SSAS has fewer than 12 members and all of the members are trustees of the scheme. Either the scheme must provide that decisions of the trustees are taken by unanimous agreement of all of the trustees who are members or the scheme must have an independent trustee who is on the Pensions Regulator’s register of independent trustees. Section 150(5) of the Finance Act 2004 (FA 2004) defines an occupational pension scheme as: ‘…a