One of the animals encountered by Dr Dolittle on his travels was the ‘pushmi-pullyu’, a cross between a unicorn and a gazelle. It had two heads, at opposite ends of its body and when it moved it tried to go in two different directions at once. Several recent decisions suggest that there is an element of pushmi-pullyu in the courts’ approach to Article 1 Protocol 1 (A1P1) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). Continue reading “Dr Dolittle and the ECHR”

It is often in the interests of businesses to resolve disputes at an early stage in a commercial way, without involving lawyers. This can help to reduce legal costs, avoid disruption to the businesses involved and help to preserve commercial relationships. However, parties involved in the early stages of a dispute should be aware that it will not always be possible to reach a satisfactory commercial settlement. It is essential, therefore, that parties do not do anything that will prejudice their position should the dispute escalate into full-blown litigation. Errors made at the outset of a case can have a serious, and sometimes fatal, effect on a party’s case at a later stage. Continue reading “Before you call your lawyer…”

The UK government has long been pilloried for its poor efforts in tackling bribery and corruption. Its response to this is the enactment of the Bribery Act 2010 (the 2010 Act), in force from 1 July 2011. Pushing legislation through Parliament is all well and good, but the acid test of the 2010 Act, as with all pieces of legislation, will be in the enforcement of it. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has encouraged companies to self-report wrongdoing discovered in their ranks, with the incentive that the offences committed may be dealt with by civil means. Continue reading “Bribes, business and bounty hunters”

Since its introduction in 1995, the Spanish holding companies’ regime, Entidades de Tenencia de Valores Extranjeros (ETVEs), has proven to be an attractive and competitive international tax planning scheme for multinational groups from the EU, US and, more recently, Asia (China and India), particularly with respect to investing in Latin America. Continue reading “Spanish holding companies: a suitable vehicle for investing in Latin America”

An agreement will not be considered a legally binding contract unless the agreement is ‘complete’. However, an agreement will not always be deemed ‘incomplete’ simply because it is missing certain terms. In the recent decision of Karim Frederick Dhahani v Serge Crasnianski[2011], the High Court was asked to consider whether the parties had entered into a legally enforceable contract or an unenforceable ‘agreement to agree’. Continue reading “Do we have an agreement?”

This article discusses a trade mark infringement case to illustrate several practical issues that are likely to be of interest to anyone involved in, or contemplating, trade mark action in Saudi Arabia. Although the case raises interesting issues of substantive law, these are better left for discussion when the final outcome of the case is known – the appeal decision is yet to be given. Continue reading “Practice issues taken from an ongoing civil trade mark infringement action in Saudi Arabia”

The number and severity of natural disasters so far in 2011 is unprecedented: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South and North America have all been hugely affected. This article looks at how the Australian insurance market has responded to losses as a result of the Queensland flooding and also look at how the London market is responding. Continue reading “Severe weather events present significant challenges for insurance market”

Perhaps the most surprising thing about waking up on a Sunday morning in May to be faced with a Sunday paper featuring a close-up photograph of a well-known footballer’s face was that its publication seemed to take everyone by surprise. Continue reading “Don’t know much about geography: interdicts across the border”

In April the High Court handed down a landmark judgment on the interaction between the environmental permitting regime and private nuisance. In Barr & ors v Biffa Waste Services Ltd (No 3) [2011] (also known as the Westmill Landfill Group Litigation), the court held that compliance with an environmental permit may be a defence to an action in nuisance. Continue reading “Barr v Biffa [2011]: is permit compliance a defence to private nuisance?”