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On 1 May 2012, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 received Royal Assent. Section 144 creates a new offence of squatting in a residential building and will come into force on a date to be appointed. The new offence will be committed where a person does all of the following: is in a residential building as a trespasser, having entered it as a trespasse...

A 300 year old Act of Parliament has been brought into the 21st century with a ruling by the Court of Appeal on how it applies to email communication, in a judgment that sounds a warning bell for companies negotiating contract guarantees or indeed any contract. The judgment opens the way to email exchanges being used instead of a hard copy signed document for the purposes of the 1677...

Following our successful seminar for rural land and estate owners in March, we are happy to share with you some of the answers to questions received during and after the event. Question How can you acquire a right of way to property that is 'landlocked'? Answer This question related to land that had become 'landlocked' following the sale of part of land where the parties ha...

Employment law changes designed to stimulate economic activity and the employment market appear to have caused confusion amongst employers, leaving them at risk of claims. The qualifying period of continuous employment needed before an unfair dismissal claim can be made by an employee has been increased to two years, with effect from 6April 2012. However, many businesses are overlooki...

Issue of Claims From 19th March 2012 anyone wishing to make a county court money claim now has to send the Claim Form to the County Court Money Claims Centre (CCMCC) in Salford instead of a county court. Where matters become defended and are ready to be allocated to a track (e.g the small claims track) they will be transferred to an appropriate county court. A new Claim Fo...

Landlords in England and Wales should be prepared for the changes to the rules on tenancy deposit protection that apply from April 2012. Landlords will have 30 days (as opposed to the current 14) in which to protect any deposit and provide the required information to the tenant. The courts have found the current 14 day time limit and the associated rules about penalties too stric...

Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes The Supreme Court has, in a long awaited judgment, clarified the test for justifying direct age discrimination. The case is important as it is no longer possible to have a fixed retirement age, unless employers can justify it. The Court set out the tests which employers will need to be able to meet in order to do this. Facts: Seldon was a Pa...

A recent judgment of The Technology and Construction Court handed down by Mr Justice Akenhead on 15th March 2012 could have a major impact on the provision of legal advice to the construction and engineering sector - Walter Lilly & Co Ltd v Giles Patrick Cyril Mackay and DMW Developments Ltd. Briefly, the issues turned on the appointment of claims consultants to give "contractua...

On 12 March 2012, the government launched the NewBuy scheme. The scheme is intended to boost housing supply and provide access to mortgages for those who can afford mortgage repayments but do not have large savings. A potential buyer can apply to participate in the scheme if the following apply: The buyer has a deposit of between 5 and 10% of the sale price. The buyer is aUK ci...

In this note we examine some of the issues relating to the duty of Architects to award extension of time ("EOT") where prior notification by the Contractor is, or is possibly, a Condition Precedent ("CP") to the Architect being obliged to issue the appropriate EOT award. If a CP could be found by the Court whereby the effect was that the Contractor's failure to serve a contractual noti...