News for September, 2024

The 2024 update to Tax Planning for Farm and Land Diversification is now live for subscribers.

The first episode of our new podcast, Bloomsbury Professional’s In Company with Courtney, is now live and you can listen here. Hosted by Dr Tom Courtney, author of The Law of Companies, each episode features fascinating discussion between Tom and other notable experts in Irish company law and corporate governance. You can find out more at the Courtney Governance website.

Download the first episode to hear Brian Hutchinson reveal all about his sixth edition of Keane on Company Law which publishes in a few weeks. 

To purchase a subscription, organise a free trial or request a remote demonstration of Irish Company and Commercial Law or any of our online services, please email bpireland@bloomsbury.com

The September issue of our Irish Employment Law Update is now live for subscribers of Irish Employment Law.

This month, Paul Kilraine BL, analyses the case of Adnan Ahmad Siddiqi where the judgment helpfully sets out the correct approach to take in relation to determining if a payment may be exempt for tax under s 192A of the TCA 1997. The appellant claimed that an ex gratia payment was consideration for the settlement of his pending claim he had brought to the Equality Tribunal for racial discrimination by his former employer, along with any potential claim for personal injuries suffered as a result of the discrimination.

Keywords:

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ‒ appeal by way of case stated against a determination of the Tax Appeals Commissioner ‒ ex gratia payment by a ‘compromise agreement’; settlement of pending claim

September's 5 from 5 Essex Court Employment Law Bulletin is now available for subscribers. 

In September's bulletin: 

Disability in the context of a business restructure

English nationalism is not a protected belief

Constructive Dismissal - Must the employee exhaust internal appeal processes before resigning?

Tesco restrained from ‘firing and rehiring’ employees in order to remove a contractual entitlement to enhanced pay.

The latest edition of the Equal Treatment Bench Book gives guidance on the appropriate use of terminology

The September update is now live for our Irish Civil Litigation subscribers. Written by Andrew Clarke BL, this month considers the case of Bridget O’Reilly & Dinny O’Neill v Atlantic Troy Limited.

The matter concerned the quashing of a Circuit Court order by the High Court on the basis that it was unfair owing to the excessive intervention of the Circuit Court Judge. It was remitted to the Circuit Court for a fresh hearing before a different judge. This raised questions regarding alternative remedies, ie where both judicial review and a statutory appeal are open to a party subject to a decision and both remedies are pursued. Read on for the principles involved in the concept of objective bias. 

The latest set of Tax Case Summaries are now live for subscribers.

Nugent v The Property Services Regulatory Authority [2021] IECA 250 (Court of Appeal, Ní Raifeartaigh J, 5 October 2021)

Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from the High Court, and affirmed decision, refusing an auctioneer an order of prohibition against his prosecution in the District Court for trading without a licence, as required by statute. The auctioneer's appeal, which sought to challenge the Property Services Regulation Authority's decision to prosecute him personally following the liquidation of the company he directed, was dismissed on the grounds that the judicial review application was out of time and that the issues raised were more appropriately dealt with by the trial judge. The original decision to prosecute was based on evidence that the auctioneer had conducted business without a licence, a matter which the Court of Appeal agreed should be addressed in the District Court.

Property Services Regulation Act 2011 – auctioneer – Property Services Regulation Authority – license – prosecution – judicial review – High Court – Court of Appeal – prohibition – declaratory reliefs – District Court – extension of time – investigation report – statutory precondition – admissibility of evidence – fair trial - European Convention on Human Rights – Rules of the Superior Courts (RSC) – Order 84 Rule 21(3) – company liquidation – individual prosecution – inspectors' notes – destruction of evidence – trial judge jurisdiction

The Second Edition of Fraud and Breach of Warranty: Buyers' Claims and Sellers' Defences is now available for subscribers. 

What happens when the acquisition of a business goes wrong? What can an injured buyer do to seek redress? How can sellers defend such claims?

Fraud and Breach of Warranty: Buyers’ Claims and Sellers’ Defences brings together a combination of commercial insight and deep industry expertise, providing expert guidance on how to make and defend claims relating to the sale of businesses.

Completely revised and updated in line with voluminous recent case law, the Second Edition contains new and revised material covering:

• Material adverse change provisions, including in the context of Covid-19
• Notification clauses
• Exclusions of goodwill claims
• Earnout payment claims
• Misrepresentation through due diligence responses
• Fraud of an agent
• Quantum of loss in breach of warranty and fraud
• Rescission of an SPA

Written by leading commercial barristers, this book offers in-depth and practical answers to frequently asked questions and is essential reading for anyone involved in buying or selling a business, with particular appeal to commercial law practitioners, litigators, arbitrators, in-house counsel and contract drafters.

The September issue of the Bloomsbury Cyber Law Briefing is now available for subscribers. 

The expert team at William Fry have written Are Colour Marks Distinctive for Trade Mark Purposes? INTA and MARQUES Weigh In for subscribers of our Intellectual Property and IT Law Update. 

The update looks at the response of the International Trademark Association and MARQUES to the European Union Intellectual Property Office's decision to refuse to register a colour combination trade mark due to its lack of distinctive character. The team look in depth at the issues raised by the Associations and the complications that arise when attempting to define what exactly is being registered.

To read more, you can request a subscription to our Intellectual Property and IT service, or to request a free trial, email bpireland@bloomsbury.com