The Department of Justice has launched a 12 week consultation on increasing the jurisdiction of the County Court in Northern Ireland. The County Court currently hears cases which have a value of up to £30,000 with District Judges dealing with those with a value up to £10,000 (including small claims matters). The consultation makes proposals...
We’ve finally made it through January, the gloomiest month of the year, and probably the worst in a long time thanks to the ongoing lockdown. One thing the pandemic has encouraged many of us to do is review our personal affairs, but this time I’m not here to tell you about the importance of making...
Let’s acknowledge Covid-19 and Brexit in this opening paragraph and then try not to mention them again. The immediate future is undoubtedly tough for many businesses. However, as we gladly move out of 2020 and into the new year, let’s look at the commentary in the commercial property sector to see where opportunities may arise...
In late Spring 2018, inboxes across Europe were being clogged up with emails from businesses, eager to explain how their privacy notices had been updated to cater for a new EU law: GDPR. Roughly 18 months later, Northern Irish businesses ought now to be considering how they may continue to be subject to the requirements...
The UK has commenced its ground-breaking roll out of vaccinations for Covid-19 today marking the “beginning of the end” of the global pandemic. Despite this hugely positive development, the full tremors of the pandemic have yet to be felt by our economy. Businesses are operating in extremely precarious and difficult times and unfortunately the economic...
The Chancellor has announced a further extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS or “furlough scheme”) until 31 March 2021, less than one week after its previous extension through November. While this decision will ultimately be welcomed by employers, it will undoubtedly frustrate those who have already made difficult workforce changes on the basis...
On Saturday evening, the Prime Minister unexpectedly announced the extension of the furlough scheme for another month, as England prepares to enter a national lockdown. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme had been expected to end on 31 October 2020. While this announcement was made alongside details of lockdown measures for England only, the extended furlough...
Amidst growing criticism from businesses entering localised lockdowns across the UK, the Chancellor announced further changes to the Job Support Scheme which dramatically increase the financial support available from the Government. The Job Support Scheme will now be split into two schemes which provide different levels of support to employers according to their situation: Employers...
The Department of Justice in Northern Ireland recently concluded a consultation process on the Personal Injury Discount Rate following an announcement in February 2020 that consideration was being given to adjusting the Rate to –1.75%. A discount rate of 2.5% has been in place since 2001 so this would have represented a very significant shift...
The wait is over for those of you who have been expecting the outcome of the case by Professor Paul Ewart against Oxford University (see my previous article). Sometimes it is easy to forget that amongst Covid related matters, Tribunals are trying to deal with other employment related issues and the Reading Tribunal has...