Knowledge

Derry City Council v The Information Commissioner
Appeal No. EA/2006/0014
This case concerned a request for information by a Belfast newspaper for details of Derry City Council’s agreement with Ryanair from 1999 regarding the use of Derry Airport. Specifically requested was information on how much Ryanair pay Derry City Council for use of the facility.

The repairing obligation is one of the most essential components of a full repairing and insuring commercial lease for both landlord and tenant.  For the landlord, it is the means by which the condition and value of his property may be preserved, and for the tenant, it is likely to involve one of its most significant liabilities under the lease, after payment of the rent. The precise terms of the wording of the obligation is therefore one of the most carefully negotiated elements of the lease, and also one which is a regular subject of litigation.

Irritancy in Scotland also under Scrutiny

The House of Lords decision in a recent case (Celtec v Astley) has important implications on the use of secondment arrangements in a potential TUPE transfer situation. In 1990 the Government outsourced their vocational training to a new organisation (C) and seconded a number of civil service employees to C. Three years later the seconded employees were given the option of resigning from the civil service and undertaking employment with C, or being reallocated to a different civil service department. The employees chose to take up employment with C.

The English High Court has awarded £852,000 in damages to an employee who brought a claim against her employer after suffering bullying and harassment from fellow employees (Green v DB Group Services Limited (“DB”)).
 

The Work and Families Act received Royal Assent in June 2006. Certain provisions came into effect on 1 October 2006 and apply to women with an expected week of childbirth on or after 1 April 2007:

Abdul Rasheed Majekodumni was fined £200 and ordered to approximately £1,200 in costs by a court for refusing to take Jane Vernon, a legal officer with the Royal National Institute for the Blind, and her guide dog in his private hire taxi.  Ms Vernon was on her way home from the BBC Television Studios when Mr Majekodumni, who works for a cab company contracted by the BBC, refused to take her. 

The Scottish Parliament was brought to life by the Scotland Act 1998 and met for the first time in 1999 marking the transfer of devolved powers from Westminster to the Scottish Ministers.  Devolved powers are the areas that The Scottish Parliament can legislate on and are as follows:-

The standard of proof applied by a disciplinary tribunal or panel can be a source of confusion and has been a cause of ongoing debate in the context of professional discipline and regulation.  This is particularly the case where the disciplinary scheme in question does not specifically state the standard of proof to be applied.  Even amongst those schemes (probably the majority) which do, there is no consensus as to the approach to be adopted.  Whereas some professional disciplinary regimes insist upon the application of the higher criminal standard, others would apparently regard the inter

Since the entry into force of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 on 1 January 2005, the general public and those in business seem, by and large, to be well aware of the potential benefits of the legislation.  Information covering a plethora of topics has been accessed and used for a huge variety of purposes.  Indeed, public authorities subject to freedom of information legislation have recorded a larger number of information requests than were expected prior to the entry into force of the legislation, and appeals to the UK and Scottish Inf

In the second of this regular slot, we explain the difference between Green and White paper. Should you wish any parliamentary procedure or terminology explained please speak to your usual Shepherd and Wedderburn contact.

In the world of information legislation in Scotland, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (“FOISA”) reigns supreme. But is this Act the most appropriate tool to use in all circumstances?
The answer is most definitely no. Lurking behind this headline Act are two pieces of other information-related legislation that, in many circumstances, are more powerful tools to access and use certain information.

Access rights

In Green v DB Group Services Limited, the High Court upheld an employee’s claim of bullying and harassment and awarded £800,000 in damages on the basis that the employer had breached its duty of care towards the employee. The largest part of the award was £640,000 awarded for future loss of earnings and pension and this marks the case out as being unusual.
The implications of this case will be discussed in our next publication.

In a recent decision, the UK Information Commissioner gave useful guidance on what constitutes a public authority for the purposes of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“the EIRs”). As the definition of a public authority is wider under the EIRs than under Freedom of Information legislation, it is important for bodies to be aware that, while they may not be subject to Freedom of Information obligations, they may nonetheless be under an obligation to disclose environmental information under the EIRs.

A recent decision of the UK Information Commissioner looked at the issue of when information is held by a public authority.  The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides that only information which is held by a public body, or held by a third party on behalf of a public body, can be disclosed.

The High Court’s recent decision in Cameron and Others v Network Rail Infrastructure Limited [2006] EWHC 1133 (QB) provides some comfort to regulated utilities as to their possible status as hybrid public authorities under the Human Rights Act.
Background

While the UK has seen the introduction of wide ranging freedom of information laws over the last two years, the EU remains veiled from its citizens behind its own rules for public access to documents.  The recent judgment of Franchet and Byk v the Commission highlights the ongoing disparities between domestic and EU law. Freedom of Information in the UK
The UK has opened its public bodies to increased public scrutiny in recent years in line with other countries across the world such as the USA, Canada and New Zealand. 

The Employment Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear breach of contract claims and can award damages of up to a maximum of £25,000.  A question which has arisen in case law in recent times is whether an individual whose breach of contract claim is assessed at more than £25,000 damages in an Employment Tribunal can recover the excess over £25,000 in a claim brought in the civil courts. 

Often, the first thing that springs to mind when a landlord is faced with a defaulting tenant is to irritate the lease, get the offending tenant out, and re-let the premises. While this may turn out to be the best course of action, the recent Court of Session case of Marcus Dean t/a Abbey Mill Business Centre v Tony Russell Freeman serves as a reminder to landlords to review the situation before serving a notice to irritate to the tenant, as otherwise they may well find that the effect of the notice is not what they had intended.

Much has been written in the press recently about the extent of the public’s entitlement to exercise rights of access over land owned by others, under the so-called “right to roam” legislation. Such rights can be exercised for recreational or educational purposes, or for commercial activities of a type which can also be carried on uncommercially.  But what about exercising rights of access to get to your own land over someone else’s property?

The Court of Appeal in Blockbuster Entertainment Ltd v James has held that it will be extremely unusual and only in exceptional circumstances that a claim that has reached the point of a full tribunal hearing will be struck out, even where the claimant has behaved unreasonably. Rule 18 of the employment tribunal rules provides that a claim may be struck out by a tribunal of its own motion or on the application of either party for one of the following grounds: 

The Employment Appeal Tribunal in Moyhing v Barts & London NHS Trust has held that an NHS Trust discriminated against a male nurse who was required to have a female colleague present when administering an ECG to a female patient.

Following the Stadt Halle, Commission v Austria and Parking Brixen cases last year the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) has provided further clarification on in-house awards in Carbotermo SpA v Comune di Busto Arsizio, AGESP SpA C-340/04.
The ruling discusses the tests (set down some years ago in the Teckal case) that must be met by a contracting authority before it can sidestep the public procurement rules and award an ‘in-house’ award, e.g., to its own services divisions.