On 13 January 2021, the Independent Human Rights Act Review (the “IHRAR“) published a call for evidence. The IHRAR is a panel of experts appointed by the Government to consider whether there is a need to reform the Human Rights Act (“HRA“) “to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the society it serves”. … Read more

In R. (on the application of MP) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2020] EWCA Civ 1634, the Court of Appeal clarified the common law duty of consultation upon public bodies based on fairness, and the test for when a legitimate expectation will be established. Key points The common law duty of … Read more

The Supreme Court has overturned a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal, in finding that the Airports National Policy Statement (the “ANPS”) and its accompanying environmental report are lawful. The ANPS is the framework that governs the construction of a third runway at Heathrow Airport and under which an application by a developer would … Read more

The UK Government has published a Green Paper proposing fundamental reforms of the public procurement rules governing the purchase of goods, works and services by the public sector and certain utilities. Those rules are currently set out in a series of UK regulations that are based very closely on EU directives. Following Brexit, the Government wishes … Read more

The Government has announced that a panel of experts led by former Court of Appeal Judge, Sir Peter Gross, will conduct an Independent Human Rights Act Review (the “IHRAR”). The Human Rights Act 1998 (the “HRA”) incorporates the fundamental rights and freedoms set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (the “Convention”) into domestic … Read more

In JD Sports Fashion plc v Competition and Markets Authority [2020] CAT 24, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) quashed the Competition and Markets Authority’s (“CMA”) final report on the Phase 2 investigation into the completed acquisition by JD Sports Fashion plc (“JD Sports”) of Footasylum plc (“Footasylum”) on the basis that the CMA had not sought … Read more

The Court of Appeal today handed down its judgment in respect of the proceedings brought by Simon Dolan and others (“the Appellants”) seeking to challenge the lockdown measures introduced in England in March 2020 via the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/350) following the outbreak of COVID-19 (see our earlier post regarding … Read more

The Government continues to prepare the ground for the regulation of public procurement after the Brexit transition period expires on 31 December 2020. On 19 November it enacted the Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which amend the existing UK procurement regulations in order to reflect the fact that the UK will no … Read more