Digital Service Launched for Subject Access Requests to Ministry of Justice & Legal Aid Agency
A new digital service allowing individuals to request personal information held by the Legal Aid Agency and other parts of the Ministry of Justice is now available. In a statement on the UK government website, the Legal Aid Agency said the new online service had been designed to “improve user experience” for individuals making Subject […]
No Fault Divorce Now Allowed in England & Wales
From today, separating couples in England and Wales will no longer need to apportion blame as part of the legal divorce process. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020) brings in the most far-reaching change in divorce laws in more than 50 years. Under the new no-fault divorce rules, either one or both of the […]
Increases to Statutory Employment Payments from April 2022
National minimum wage and other statutory rates of pay are set to change for the year April 2022-2023. Employers must ensure they adjust employee pay levels to comply with the new statutory rates. National minimum wage 2022-2023 From 1 April 2022, the following increases will apply: For workers aged 23 and over, the national living […]
UK Removes All COVID Travel Restrictions
From 4am Friday 18 March 2022, travel into the UK will no be longer subject to COVID-19 restrictions. The UK Government has removed the requirement on passengers arriving into the UK to take a COVID test or to complete a passenger locator form. In addition, unvaccinated passengers no longer need to take a pre-departure test […]
UK Launches Ukraine Visa Schemes
The UK Government has launched a number of visa schemes in response to the humanitarian crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ‘Homes for Ukraine’ local sponsorship scheme A new local sponsorship scheme has been launched for Ukrainians without any family ties to the UK. Under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sponsors such as communities, private […]
Divorce Portal to Close on 31 March as New System is Rolled Out
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) will be closing the MyHMCTS portal from 31 March 2022 as new no-fault divorce rules take effect in England and Wales. A new system for applications is expected to be available on 6 April. In practical terms, the closure means that from 31 March to 5 April, the digital […]
Journalist Wins in ‘Kleptocrat’ Book Libel Case
The High Court has dimissed a libel case brought by a post-Soviet mining company against a UK journalist. Kazakhstan-based Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), a mining company with interests around the world, brought the lawsuit against journalist Tom Burgis for his book ‘Kleptopia’. The book is about how dirty money and corruption are now “flooding […]
Home Office Announces Visa Extensions for Ukrainian Nationals in UK
The UK Home Office has announced temporary measures for Ukrainian nationals in the UK who need to need to extend their visa but who cannot return to Ukraine. Under the UK Immigration Rules, for most visa categories, visa holders are generally required to leave the country in order to apply to extend or switch their […]
UK Government Closes Tier 1 Investor Visa
The UK Government has permanently closed the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa route for foreign nationals. The closure took effect from 4pm 17 February 2022, and applies to all new investor visa applications from applicants of all nationalities. In its statement, the Home Office advised that the visa route had been “under constant review” and that […]
HMRC seizes NFTs for first time in fraud probe
HMRC, the UK tax authority, has reported its first ever seizure of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), following a probe into an alleged £1.4 million VAT fraud. The HMRC investigation involved over 250 sham companies, resulting in three NFTs being confiscated, along with £5,000 in other cryptoassets. Three people were also detained following allegations they used a […]
Private parking fines to be capped at £50
A new Code of Practice has been announced to bring the rules for private parking companies in line with those that apply to local councils and to give motorists better protection from confusing and unreasonable fees. Under the new government plans, private car parks in England and Wales will be required to display prices more […]
New Offences Introduced Under New Online Safety Bill
The government has made a number of additions to the Online Safety Bill that will see more online behaviour being made illegal. A press release issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport on 4 February 2022 details three additional criminal offences that will be introduced to the Bill, as proposed by the […]
New Heirarchy of Road Users from 29 January 2022
A number of changes to the Highway Code will take effect from 29 January 2022. Among the new rules, a hierarchy of road users is being introduced which places more responsibility on drivers of larger vehicles to look after vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians. The updated code states: “Those in charge of […]
Law Allowing Video-Witnessed Wills Extended to 2024
Vulnerable people across England and Wales will continue to be able to have their wills witnessed via video-link up until 2024, under legislation extending temporary pandemic measures. The change was announced yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab, who stated “this is a common-sense measure that will […]
Government Unveils Plans to Protect Leaseholders and Make Property Developers Pay for Cladding Crisis
Property developers will be forced to cover the cost of removing dangerous cladding from buildings taller than 11 metres, under new plans announced by the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove. In a letter to the residential property development industry on 10 January 2022, Mr Gove set out the government’s new approach to building safety aimed […]
Supreme Court Rules in favour of Google in iPhone “Secret Tracking” Case
The Supreme Court has rejected a claim against Google that the company misused web browsing data of iPhone users in the UK. The claim was brought by former director of consumer group Which?, Richard Lloyd. He claimed that the tech giant had “secretly” collected user web browsing data between 2011 and 2012 from the Safari […]
New Motoring Rules From November
This month sees the following changes in UK motoring laws. Driving licence COVID extensions ending Under coronavirus provisions, driving licences that were due to expire between 1 February 2020 and 31 December 2020 were given an automatic 11-month extension. This month sees the last of the automatic driving licence extensions granted under this temporary rule. […]
UK Removes Remainder of Countries from Travel Red List
In an announcement on 28 October, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that the remaining countries on the UK’s travel ‘red list’ were being removed from Monday 1 November 2021. Changes to the red list follow the recent relaxation of requirements for travellers arriving into the UK in a bid to boost the travel industry and […]
Teletext Holidays Faces Legal Action Over Customer Refunds
The owners of Teletext Holidays are facing legal action from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for failure to lawfully process customer refunds. As the competition regulator, the CMA is alleging that Truly Holdings, Teletext Holidays’ parent company, is acting illegally by making customers wait for payouts on refunds. This is the first time the […]
CMA Closes Investigation into Airline COVID Refund Policies
The UK’s competition watchdog has closed its investigation into British Airways and Ryanair’s COVID refund policies. In response to concerns that the two airlines may have broken the law by failing to offer refunds for flights that customers could not legally take during periods of lockdown, an investigation was launched by the Competition & Markets […]