Data centres are increasingly key to the transaction of business all over the world, with more and more companies relying on remote hosting for their IT systems.
Dealing with residential tenancies has taken on a new meaning in Scotland. On 1 December 2017, the private residential tenancy (PRT) became the new residential tenancy for Scotland and, from 31 January 2018, letting agents of residential dwellings have to comply with a new code of practice and apply to be registered in the mandatory …
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The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) (which implemented the 2014 Public Procurement Directive) created a new procedure known as competitive procedure with negotiation (CPN). For those bidding on complex infrastructure projects or other government contracts, the implications of CPN may not be immediately apparent. For a contracting authority, CPN provides an additional procurement option giving …
There is a fundamental tension between the desire for contractual certainty and for agreements to be future proof. Property lawyers know only too well the difficulties associated with the fact neither we or our clients have crystal balls or the ability to time travel. We are regularly asked to look at a contract in a …
Continue reading “Property transactions – the fertiliser for the development of contract law”
Our cities are designed around and defined by roads and vehicles. Autonomous technology will not only change the way we travel, it has the potential to change the face of real estate as we know it.
Real estate strategy and how a business occupies premises generate more emotion and irrational opinions than any other strategic or operational issue faced by corporate occupiers.
Equifax, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies is hacked. Personal information of individuals is accessed and many of these individuals have not consciously consented to Equifax holding their data, but have no choice in the modern world. No respectable media outlet, if offered this stolen personal data, would publish it.
It was reported on 23 January 2018 that the US is to impose tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. China, South Korea and India, among others, were quick to express outrage at these steps. But are investors, exporters and the companies reliant on these imports impotent in such circumstances? And will it lead …
Continue reading “US tariffs: where Trump rushes in, others may fear to tread”
English rules on disclosure (‘discovery’ in many jurisdictions) are set for a major overhaul. Draft rules were published in November 2017. Once approved by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee, the resulting draft is intended to be introduced as part of a pilot scheme lasting two years, potentially beginning in April 2018 and running in the …
Continue reading “Disclosure in English litigation: a sea change is coming”
In 1995, the European Union sought to improve the protection of personal data within the EU member states through introduction of the Data Protection Directive. In May 2018, the directive will be replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation will give individuals greater control over how their data is used, stored and …