bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mistake, Rectification, and Hastings-Bass
Authors: Taube Simon
Published: March 2021

For centuries the courts of equity have had a well-recognized jurisdiction to give relief against the consequences of mistakes in a variety of contexts. A defendant may, for example, rely on mistake as a defence to an action for specific performance if enforcement of the contract would cause hardship amounting to injustice because of that mistake. A claimant may seek to recover money or assets paid or transferred by mistake. However, the justification for the intervention of equity in some circumstances described in this chapter is not always mistake in the traditional equitable sense. The court also has jurisdiction to avoid or set aside actions of trust fiduciaries where the court’s reason for intervention is the fiduciary’s defective exercise of a power.
Variation and Compromise
Authors: Poulton Anthony , Richardson Luke , McKenzie Baker
Published: March 2021

It is a fundamental duty of trustees to act in good faith in the best interests of their beneficiaries. However, a trustee may identify a course of action that it wishes to take but which it is unable to achieve by the exercise of the powers available to the trustee in the trust deed. As a rule, a trustee must act in accordance with the terms of his trust instrument or face liability for breach of trust, and the courts have no broad, inherent power to vary a settlement because it is thought sensible or beneficial to do so. This general principle can be departed from in a limited number of circumstances, as set out in this chapter.
Bermuda
Authors: Bruce-Smith Anna , Adamson Ben
Published: March 2021

The UK Recognition of Trusts Act 1987 (‘RTA 1987’) was made applicable to Bermuda as of 1 June 1989 by an Order in Council from the UK government. The RTA 1987 incorporates the key provisions of The Hague Convention on the Recognition of Trusts (the ‘Hague Convention’). The Trusts (Special Provisions) Act 1989 (‘TSPA 1989’), one of Bermuda’s key trust statutes, adopted certain provisions of the Hague Convention verbatim and came into effect on 31 January 1990.
Jersey
Authors: Sanders Nigel
Published: March 2021

The key statutory provision in Jersey is the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984 (as amended) (the ‘Trusts Law 1984’). The Trusts Law 1984 does not codify the Jersey law of trusts, and accordingly decisions of the Royal Court and Court of Appeal continue to develop Jersey’s customary (common law) in this area. Unless otherwise stated, references in this chapter to ‘Articles’ are to Articles of the Trusts Law 1984.
Notice of Meetings of Members
Authors: Kosmin Leslie , Roberts Catherine
Published: March 2021

In order to convene a general meeting in a lawful manner a valid and regular notice of the general meeting must be issued to all of the members who are entitled to receive notice. There are a number of fundamental requirements of a valid notice. A valid notice of a general meeting must:
Meetings of Members Ordered by the Court
Authors: Kosmin Leslie , Roberts Catherine
Published: March 2021

The two key organs of a company are the board of directors and the members of the company exercising their constitutional rights in a general meeting. Company law attaches great significance to the due convening of general meetings of shareholders. The general meeting is the forum for considering many of the essential matters relating to the company’s affairs including increasing or reducing the share capital of the company, changes to the memorandum or articles of association, alterations to the composition of the board of directors, considering the content of the company’s financial statements and approving dividends.
Meetings for the Purposes of Schemes of Arrangement
Authors: Kosmin Leslie , Roberts Catherine
Published: March 2021

A scheme of compromise or arrangement may consist of a compromise or arrangement between a company and its creditors or any class of them, or between a company and its members, or any class of them. Schemes of arrangement are not a modern invention. The current legislative provisions are found in CA 2006, Part 26, ss 896–901 (inclusive), which is entitled ‘Arrangements and Reconstructions’, and which substantially reproduces the provisions in CA 1985, ss 425–427 with certain modifications to which reference will be made below. The statute applies the term ‘arrangement’ to include a reorganization of the company’s share capital by the consolidation of different classes of shares or by the division of shares into shares of different classes. CA 2006, Part 27, ss 902–941 (inclusive), deals separately with the provisions enabling the merger or division of a public company. The detailed practice and procedures governing applications for schemes of arrangement under Parts 26 and 27 are beyond the scope of this book and are referred to in this chapter only by way of summary.
Minutes of General Meetings and Decisions of Members
Authors: Kosmin Leslie , Roberts Catherine
Published: March 2021

An accurate and contemporaneous record of the decisions made by a duly constituted meeting is of fundamental importance for the good administration of any organization or institution. Minutes of meetings are a means by which all those who are concerned with the efficient management of an organization are kept informed of decisions that have been made at previous meetings. Ensuring that minutes of general meetings are prepared is one of the core functions of a company secretary working in conjunction with the chairman. Minutes must provide a balanced, impartial and accurate internal record of the business transacted at any company meeting.
The Company Communications Provisions, Including Electronic Communications
Authors: Kosmin Leslie , Roberts Catherine
Published: March 2021

Effective communication by a company with a wide range of persons including its members, employees, bond-holders, debenture-holders and other stakeholders is of fundamental importance to the efficient management of a company. Equally, the ability of shareholders and others to be able to send communications to a company in an orderly and timely manner is a matter of importance. Until recent times the companies legislation has always required documents, notices and other corporate literature such as reports and accounts to be sent by post or delivered to members in what in modern terminology is called ‘hard copy form’. A company’s articles of association, including the 1985 Table A, usually contain detailed provisions dealing with the service of such notices and documentation. However, electronic communication has become the preferred method for many shareholders to receive documents and communications from companies. In recent years, even before the enactment of CA 2006, a large number of public quoted companies with many thousands of members have taken active steps to encourage as many shareholders as possible to elect to receive their documentation in this way rather than in paper format through the postal system substantially for reasons of cost-saving.
Introduction to Directors’ Meetings, Written Resolutions and Directors’ Duties
Authors: Kosmin Leslie , Roberts Catherine
Published: March 2021

In Part 2 of this book consideration is given to the legal issues concerning meetings of directors. Companies that are registered and incorporated under the Companies Acts vary in size and complexity and as a consequence the regulation of board meetings of such companies will inevitably involve many different considerations and issues. What is required as a matter of practice in respect of the efficient management of large international companies, with many thousands of employees and multi-million pound turnover, will be different from the needs of private unquoted companies with only a few employees and a smaller sphere of operation. Although there will be variations in the procedures regulating directors’ meetings that are dependent on the particular nature of a company, there are certain matters that apply generally and constitute fundamental requirements of proper corporate governance in relation to holding valid and lawful meetings of directors. For example, all directors must be given due notice of a board meeting and receive the agenda and all relevant papers in good time prior to the meeting. The chairman of the board of directors must ensure that the conduct of the board meeting is orderly so that the members of the board may
Egypt
Authors: Schneider Marius , Ferguson Vanessa
Published: March 2021

Found in the north-eastern corner of Africa and south-western Asia, Egypt shares borders with the Gaza Strip, Israel, Libya, and Sudan. With a population of more than 95.6 million in 2016, it is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The population is expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 2 per cent and will surpass 100 million by 2025. More than 97 per cent of the population lives on both sides of the Nile River and the Delta, with smaller numbers along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. This is due to the geography of Egypt, where 95 per cent of the land is uninhabitable desert. The capital city is Cairo, a megalopolis of nearly 20 million inhabitants. The Egyptian government has started building a new administrative capital (NAC) between the Nile River and the Suez Canal, east of Cairo. The NAC is one of the biggest planned cities ever and aims to be Egypt’s new capital.
Madagascar
Authors: Schneider Marius , Ferguson Vanessa
Published: March 2021

Situated off the south-eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, the Republic of Madagascar is an island nation of 592,800 square kilometres (km) with a population of 24.8 million in 2016. The 2010 Constitution provides that Malagasy is the national language, while Malagasy and French are the official languages. The working week in the island is from Monday to Friday and the Malagasy ariary (MGA) is the currency which has been used since 2003.
Seychelles
Authors: Schneider Marius , Ferguson Vanessa
Published: March 2021

Seychelles is an archipelago located in the Indian Ocean whose islands lie between 480 and 1,600 kilometres (km) from the east coast of Africa. Despite this distance from the continent’s mainland, the nation is, politically, part of Africa. The Seychelles consists of 115 islands subdivided into so-called Inner Islands and the Outer Islands. The Seychelles is also divided into twenty-five separate administrative regions, all of which are located on the Inner Islands. The island of Mahé is the largest of the group and has a rocky landscape with a narrow coastal strip. The capital and largest city is Victoria, situated on Mahé Island. Other main islands include Praslin and La Digue. The Aldabra, Farquhar, and Desroches groups are included in the territory of the Republic. Seychelles has a total population of 95,731 people. Seychelles working hours are Monday to Friday 0800 to 1600. The official currency of Seychelles is the Seychellois rupee (Rs/SCR).
Uganda
Authors: Schneider Marius , Ferguson Vanessa
Published: March 2021

Uganda is a landlocked country situated in East Africa and is bordered by Congo, the Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Lake Victoria forms part of the southern border. The country’s land area is 241,037 square kilometre (km) with a population of approximately 42.27 million, according to 2019 estimates. Kampala is the capital and by far the largest city in Uganda, with a population around 1.66 million. Kira Town lies approximately 14 km north-east of Kampala. The town is the second largest urban centre of Uganda after Kampala. The Kampala Industrial Business Park is situated at the south-eastern end of Kira town. Nansana, located 13 km northwest of Kampala, serves as a dormitory town to the city of Kampala and there are plans to transform the town into a commercial hub although currently small informal markets dominate the economy. Mbarara in the western region is the capital and main administrative hub and commercial centre of the Mbarara District. It is also the largest industrial town second to Kampala and crucial transportation hub for goods in transit to Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other main cities include Gulu and Lira in the northern region, and Jinja in the eastern
Online Guidance
Authors: Susskind Richard
Published: March 2021

If online courts are to work effectively and at scale, self-represented court users will need tools to help them assess their legal entitlements and the options available to them. In this chapter, I introduce some of these tools and discuss how we might design and implement them. My main focus is on Tier 1 of the online court, but I close with a digression that looks more broadly.
Encouraging Litigiousness
Authors: Susskind Richard
Published: March 2021

Are there not risks in making litigation too accessible and affordable? In introducing online courts, are we not encouraging too much court activity and a culture that incites citizens to greater combat and acrimony? Could this lead to a society in which dispute resolution through online courts becomes a hobby for some, an obsession for others, and a new unsavoury business for yet others? This is an important challenge but it is not a novel line of attack. Over the years, similar criticisms have been levelled whenever there is the sense that people might be urged to contrive claims when no genuine loss or injury has been endured. Think of ‘ambulance-chasing’ litigators (who identify often-vulnerable people with inchoate grievances and work them into a frenzy of legal pursuit), third-party litigation providers (who fund legal actions and receive substantial payback in the event of success), claims consultants (who leave voice messages with me on a daily basis), and contingency fee arrangements (under which lawyers enjoy a percentage of any damages awarded to their clients).
Emerging Technologies
Authors: Susskind Richard
Published: March 2021

By 2030, and possibly much sooner, our courts around the world will have been transformed by technologies that have not yet been invented. I cannot of course prove this, but given the scale of the financial investment and human effort being directed at court technology and at artificial intelligence (AI), this seems to me a far more likely outcome than the moderate change that most lawyers and judges might project. Today, we are surely at the beginning of an inevitable technological transformation in our court and judicial services. In this fourth and final part of the book, I go much further and predict wider developments for online courts. First, in this and the next two chapters, I explore various emerging technologies and consider their likely impact on online courts. Second, whatever technologies may be involved, the most ambitious use of online courts will be their deployment in increasing access to justice across the globe. That is the subject matter of the final chapter of the book.
Setting the Scene
Authors: Sprack John , Engelhardt–Sprack Michael
Published: March 2021

Criminal trials in England and Wales take one of two forms. They are either trials on indictment or summary trials. Trial in the youth court, which might at first sight appear to be a third distinct form of trial, is in fact a special form of summary trial. Parts 2 and 3 of this book will deal in detail with, respectively, summary trial and trial on indictment. The following two Paragraphs will give an indication of the salient characteristics of the two methods of trial.
Trial of Juveniles
Authors: Sprack John , Engelhardt–Sprack Michael
Published: March 2021

A juvenile is normally tried by magistrates in a special form of magistrates’ court, known as the ‘youth court’. In the circumstances described below, it is either obligatory or possible for a juvenile to be tried on indictment (see 11.04 to 11.15) or in the adult magistrates’ court (see 11.17 to 11.18). In all other cases, he must stay in the youth court, even if the offence charged is one which, if he were an adult, either could or would have to be tried on indictment.
Ancillary Financial Matters
Authors: Sprack John , Engelhardt–Sprack Michael
Published: March 2021

This Chapter deals with two ancillary financial matters which are of relevance to criminal proceedings: public funding and costs. Public funding is now governed principally by the relevant provisions of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and the statutory instruments made under it, in particular the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013/435, although reference will be made to earlier enactments. Costs in criminal proceedings are governed by the Practice Direction: Costs in Criminal Proceedings [2015] EWCA Crim 1568.
Immigration Sanctions
Authors: Lodge Hugo D
Published: March 2021

Section 4 of the 2018 Act provides for travel bans post-Brexit. Individuals subject to travel bans are classified as ‘excluded persons’ within the meaning of section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971 (IA 1971). The banning mechanism is that section 8B IA 1971 provides that such an excluded person must be refused leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK. Any leave that this person already holds is cancelled, and any exemption from immigration control ceases to have effect.
Designated Persons and Designation Powers
Authors: Lodge Hugo D
Published: March 2021

At the heart of the 2018 Act, is the process by which UK Ministers can designate who is subject to targeted financial sanctions post-Brexit. OFSI at HM Treasury maintains two publicly available lists of those subject to financial sanctions. The first is a list of all the targets of asset-freezing sanctions. This is a list comprised of the names of designated persons. A second list sets out restrictions on access to capital markets, and is focused on Russian subjects, following actions to destabilize Ukraine.
The Court Of Auditors
Authors: Kennedy Tom
Published: March 2021

Since taking up its duties on the entry into force of the Treaty of Brussels in 1977, the role of the Court of Auditors (ECA) has been to act as an independent external auditor and to verify that EU revenue is correctly raised and accounted for in full and to check that expenditure has been incurred lawfully and, similarly, is correctly accounted for and has secured value for money. In its Ismeri judgment (1999), the Court of First Instance stated that the Court of Auditors’ task was, in particular, ‘to check how the Commission manages the resources of the [EU] funds. [It] establishes what the situation is and also formulates recommendations in order to optimize management of the financial resources’.
Judicial Review
Authors: Hinarejos Alicia
Published: March 2021

Since the Union is able to adopt legally binding acts, it must have a system in place that ensures the legality of these acts and the judicial protection of individuals. The principle of judicial review—be it considered a formal requirement of the legal system or a fundamental right of recourse to a court—is an integral element of the rule of law, one of the values upon which the Union is founded.
EU Liability Actions
Authors: Hanf Dominik
Published: March 2021

In one of the very first European Union liability cases brought before the Court under the ECSC Treaty, Advocate General Lagrange observed that the founding treaties’ liability provisions ought to be understood as a great mark of confidence in the Court’s ability to develop, by its case law, a liability system suited to the particular needs of the European Union.The Court’s considerable freedom in this field was also stressed by Advocate General Römer in the first non-contractual liability case decided under the EEC Treaty.
Origins: The Creation of the Takeover Code
Authors: Kershaw David
Published: March 2021

This Chapter explores the origins of the Takeover Code and Panel. It considers the historical drivers that led both to the Code’s predecessor - the Notes on the Amalgamation of British Business - in the late 1950s and to the Code and the Takeover Panel in the late 1960s, and the reasons why the self-regulation of the UK’s market for corporate control succeeded. The Chapter commences by providing regulatory context within which the actual takeover events which led to the Notes and the Code should be interpreted. The Chapter posits three key elements of this regulatory context: first, the prevalent British regulatory style in the mid-20th century which involved a conception of the state that contained a strong bias towards market solutions. A conception in relation to which terms such as laissez faire or deference do not do justice. The state deferred but was actively involved in facilitating market action through its channels of communication with market representatives, the threat and possibility of state action, and through the setting up of inquiries and Commissions. The second, connected, element was the self-understanding of the City of London, as almost a State within the State, like the Vatican with its capital market pope,the Governor of the Bank of England. A self-understanding that reinforced the British regulatory style and the City’s “right of self-regulation”. The third element is the evolution of corporate ownership from the middle of the 20th century involving the transformation from retail to institutional ownership. With this context, the Chapter analyses the key takeover events that created public, political, shareholder and corporate consternation in the mid- and late -1950s and the early and late 1960s. The Chapter interrogates the multifaceted reactions to these events and attempts to trace how these reactions are translated into regulatory action – the Notes, the Code and the Panel - and the substance of the Code rules. Through this analysis the Chapter shows how the merchant banking community took control of takeover regulation and argues that the formation and the substance of the Code, as well as its success, owes much to the realisation of the City’s merchant banking community that there was money to made in an active and open market for corporate control and hostile takeovers. In setting forth this account this Chapter challenges an important current view that the Code is the product of institutional shareholder co-ordination to protect their interests. The final part of the Chapter considers the success of the Code and Panel. It posits three key drivers of success: first, the fact that the merchant banking community is hard wired to both the substance and the practice of the Code; second that the Courts stayed clearly on the side-lines and took a highly deferential approach to judicial review of Panel decisions; and, third, that the substance of the Code itself demarcated the Panel’s regulatory success through two keystone rules: the non-frustration rule and the mandatory bid rule.
Austria (‘.at’)
Authors: Burgstaller Peter
Published: March 2021

Interlocutory proceedings can also be conducted at all levels, including before the Austrian Supreme Court. In practice, interlocutory proceedings, which do not concern an assessment of the merits but involve purely legal issues, are frequently not followed by a main proceeding on the same issue.
Singapore (‘.sg’)
Authors: Tan Tee Jim S C
Published: March 2021

Under Singapore law, protection for trade marks may be available both under the Trade Marks Act (Cap. 332, 2005 Rev Ed ‘TMA’) and at common law. These two systems function independently of each other. This section provides a brief summary of the two systems, with a more detailed analysis being provided under Section IV (Court Litigation and National Laws).
United Kingdom (‘.uk’)
Authors: Osborne Dawn , Palmer Steve
Published: March 2021

To date, domain name disputes in the United Kingdom have tended to revolve around trade marks. Most larger companies who are sufficiently motivated and financially equipped to take such disputes through to a conclusion, own registered trade marks and/or strong trading goodwill.
Rights Protection Against Applications for New gTLDs (Pre-Delegation Dispute Resolution)
Authors: Bettinger Torsten
Published: March 2021

The New gTLD Objection Procedures, defined in Module 3 of the Applicant Guidebook (AGB), allowed a third party to file a formal objection to a new gTLD application prior to delegation of an applied-for string. Four objection grounds were provided, each with particular standing requirements and tailored to address specific categories of harm. They were the String Confusion Objection, Legal Rights Objection (LRO), Limited Public Interest Objection, and Community Objection. Objections were administered by external Dispute Resolution Service Providers (DRSPs).
National Report for Tanzania
Authors: Masoud Benhajj Shaaban
Published: March 2021

The law relating to the treatment of contracts in insolvency in Tanzania—as is true for the general law on insolvency in Tanzania—is neither well developed in theory and practice nor quite explicit in a number of aspects. The lack of extensive application of the law is due to lack of material circumstances in which the law could apply and systematically evolve and develop. Recently, the law has tended to develop through other laws that address specific matters that have implications for insolvency. The statutory law as it exists to date has some general rules that govern the treatment of contracts in insolvency, although the case law is almost non-existent.
Distinctiveness of the Marks
Authors: Fhima Ilanah , Gangjee Dev S.
Published: March 2021

The role of distinctiveness is perhaps the least understood element of the likelihood of confusion analysis. Obscure in its origins, the idea that the more distinctive a mark is, the more likely confusion should be has been repeatedly accepted by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), but this is also strongly criticised by commentators and UK judges in particular. This chapter seeks to understand the role that distinctiveness plays in the assessment of confusion, explaining how it entered the European trade mark system and critically evaluating its role. On a practical level, this chapter seeks to understand the impact of distinctiveness through examples of levels of distinctiveness that have and have not been accepted to result in enhanced protection, and also to consider how tribunals have dealt with the overlap between distinctiveness for registrablity and likelihood of confusion purposes. However, the chapter ends with a note of warning: although it is possible to find a significant number of cases where distinctiveness is employed to enhance the scope of protection trade marks, in the vast majority of cases, this factor is either not mentioned or deemed irrelevant.
The Timing of Confusion
Authors: Fhima Ilanah , Gangjee Dev S.
Published: March 2021

The conventional assumption in trade mark law is that the potential for confusion is assessed at the moment when a transactional decision is required. In ‘trade mark infringement cases in order to establish liability, a plaintiff must establish that there is a likelihood of confusion between the junior user’s mark and the senior user’s mark. . . Most cases involve confusion at the point of sale’. However two other variants have also been recognised by courts. This chapter reviews the authorities which establish liability for confusion (1) that occurs prior to a purchase transaction and which may even be corrected before the transaction occurs, or (2) is generated by the use of a sign in relation to a product after its purchase. The former is referred to as initial interest confusion while the latter is known as post-sale confusion. While seemingly presented as a question of timing—when is the relevant consumer confused? —each variant more fundamentally relates to the presence or absence of meaningful harm to the trade mark owner.
Introduction And Modern Historical Outline
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Goldberg Richard
Published: March 2021

The expression ‘product liability’ is usually understood to refer to the civil liability of manufacturers and others where damage or loss is caused by products which fail to meet the standards claimed expressly or impliedly for them or which are dangerous or otherwise defective. Such liability may arise either in contract or in tort and both aspects are covered in some detail in the course of this work. A further aspect which is discussed in less detail involves the use of the criminal law. Relevant provisions may apply either to particular types of product or be of more general application. The former are referred to only in passing whilst examples of the latter include Pt II of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and other measures concerned with general product safety.
Express Warranties And Misrepresentations
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Goldberg Richard
Published: March 2021

Before or at the time of entering a contract a buyer’s attention will frequently be drawn to statements which relate to the quality and potential of the goods. Such statements may take any one of a number of forms and the way they are classified will have an important effect on the remedies available should they ultimately be found to be false or unsubstantiated. Thus a statement may be no more than a mere ‘puff ’ or a matter of opinion and, as such, it will usually give rise to no liability whatsoever. Alternatively it may constitute a misrepresentation of fact inducing the representee to enter into the contract. The traditional remedy would then be rescission of the contract and an indemnity in equity, damages in the tort of deceit if the statement was made fraudulently, and, later, damages under the Hedley Byrne doctrine if it was made negligently. Within English law the Misrepresentation Act 1967 is now of considerable importance in such cases. Such a statement may also give rise to an estoppel, thus precluding its maker from asserting its falsity as against a person who was intended to rely on it and did rely on it to his detriment. Finally, the statement may be classified as a contractual term. Where this is so the maker will be taken to have warranted or guaranteed the truth of the statement and a remedy will be available without the need to prove deceit or negligence. The precise nature of this remedy (whether repudiation or damages) will depend on the status or importance of the term to the contract. This classification and its legal consequences will now be examined in more detail insofar as it affects the relationship of seller and purchaser. Thereafter it is proposed to discuss the possible application of some of the principles to manufacturers. In this latter context particular reference will be made to the express warranty theory of American law and to the collateral contract doctrine of English and Commonwealth law.
Causation, Remoteness of Damage, and Defences
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Goldberg Richard
Published: March 2021

One of the most important and complex elements in many product liability actions is the establishment of a causative link between the allegedly defective product and the relevant damage. Indeed, the significance of causation cannot be overstated since, whether the claim is in negligence or under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, proof of causation will often lead to either a settlement or a successful claim.
Product Liability and the Conflict of Laws
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Goldberg Richard
Published: March 2021

The conflict of laws is one of the names given to the subject that deals with the resolution of private law disputes between private law parties where the facts have a connection to more than one legal system. Such situations arise frequently in product liability. For example, a product is assembled in State A using different components manufactured in States B, C, and D. Alternatively, a product is manufactured in State A, placed upon the market in State B, and consumed by the purchaser in State C, causing him injury which requires treatment in State D. In product liability litigation the fact that there are foreign issues means that a lawyer presented with such a case by the claimant must consider additionally three basic and interrelated questions. First, can the desired court hear the case the claimant would present to it? This is the jurisdiction question. If the answer is ‘No’, the claimant’s case will not proceed in that forum but may be able to be presented in another forum. If the answer is ‘Yes’, this means that the rules of jurisdiction may allow the claimant’s case to proceed as desired. The question of jurisdiction has a general and a specific aspect: the court must have the jurisdiction to hear the claim considered both in a general sense and in the specific sense involving the specific parties that the claimant would involve in the litigation he hopes to conduct before it.
What Can Be Patented
Authors: Grubb Philip W , Thomsen Peter R , Hoxie Tom , Wright Gordon
Published: March 2021

This chapter considers the kinds of inventions that are patentable. Specifically, it explains the requirements of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and European national laws, and US law. There are three simple requirements for a patentable invention, as set out in TRIPs, the EPC, and in the laws of EPC member states. These are that (a) the invention must be new; (b) it must involve an inventive step; and (c) it must be capable of industrial application. The same three basic requirements are also present in the US system,. The remainder of the chapter discusses the law on special categories of invention: chemical compounds, manufacturing processes, and uses; pharmaceuticals and new pharmaceutical uses; microbiological inventions; and computer-related and business method inventions.
Obtaining a Granted Patent
Authors: Grubb Philip W , Thomsen Peter R , Hoxie Tom , Wright Gordon
Published: March 2021

This chapter first describes the types of examination conducted on patent applications. Every country that grants patents has some type of examination, however rudimentary. At the bottom of the scale are countries in which the only examination is a purely formal one, to check that the papers are in order and the fee has been paid. Some countries, while having essentially a registration system, do at least check that the application describes an invention of a type that is legally patentable. Around half of the countries that grant patents also carry out some form of substantive novelty examination, in which the prior art, or part of it, is searched for anything that could be an anticipation of the invention. The remainder of the chapter details specific filing, examination, and publication procedures and rules in the UK and the US.
Privacy, Defamation, and False Facts
Authors: QC Richard Parkes
Published: March 2021

Many claims brought to protect privacy or confidentiality involve a publication which is also defamatory. There are a number of tests that have traditionally been used to define defamatory words. Most commonly, perhaps, words have been taken to be defamatory if they tend to lower the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally, or if they are likely to affect the claimant adversely in the estimation of reasonable people generally. Another common formulation has defined as defamatory any words which expose the claimant to hatred, ridicule, or contempt. Some definitions have created a higher threshold for what is defamatory than others.
Justifications and Defences
Authors: Warby Mark , Shore Victoria
Published: March 2021

This chapter identifies and considers the answers available to claims for breach of privacy brought against the media. The aim is to provide a systematic description of the defences and justifications available to defendants. Some are of general application, whatever cause of action is invoked. These are considered in Section B. Otherwise, the approach adopted is to group the various causes of action by which privacy may be protected, and the defences and justifications that may be invoked, according to the different aspects of privacy for which protection may be sought.
Planning, Environmental, Banking, and Professional Regulation
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Squires QC Dan
Published: March 2021

In the previous chapter, we examined the negligence liability of authorities engaged in health and safety regulation. This chapter deals with regulation in other areas. It examines the tortious liability of authorities involved in regulation in the fields of planning, the environment, and banking, and of those authorities regulating professions such as law, accountancy, and medicine. In each of these areas, regulatory authorities are empowered to oversee and control the activities of third parties. Planning authorities regulate those involved in land development to ensure that development occurs in a manner that is compatible with wider public interests. Environmental regulatory authorities aim to minimize environmental hazards such as pollution and emissions caused by those engaged in industrial and other activities. Banking authorities seek to regulate financial institutions to ensure that they are not run in a manner that is fraudulent or otherwise detrimental to their customers and the wider financial markets. Regulators of professions attempt to ensure that only those who are competent are able to practise in particular professions.
Highways
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Squires QC Dan
Published: March 2021

Damages claims brought against public authorities responsible for the maintenance of highways are common. It has been suggested that claims brought against local authorities in their capacity as ‘highway authorities’ represent the largest number of claims they receive. This is unsurprising given the total number of accidents that occur on the roads. While most accidents may be the fault of individual drivers, some could have been averted if the authority responsible for the highway had acted carefully in its maintenance of roads, its provision of signs, its removal of ice etc. Claims arising in such circumstances are considered in this chapter. As we shall see, claims brought against highway authorities are predominantly framed as breaches of the statutory duty contained in the Highways Act 1980 rather than as common law negligence claims. Common law claims tend to operate as a residual category, and they are brought when damages are not available under the 1980 Act.
Armed Forces
Authors: Fairgrieve Duncan , Squires QC Dan
Published: March 2021

This chapter considers claims brought against the Armed Forces where negligence of its members causes injuries to other members of the forces or to civilians. In order to understand the scope of liabilities where claimants are themselves members of the Armed Forces, it is necessary to consider the statutory immunity that was conferred upon the Forces. Section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 provided the Crown with a broad immunity in relation to tort claims brought by members of the Armed Forces. This immunity was removed by the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987. The 1987 Act abolished the immunity only prospectively, however, and for harm suffered prior to its coming into force, in May 1987, the immunity continues to apply. Since claims can be brought many years after an injury was suffered if the claimant was not aware of the injury the immunity continues to play a significant role.
Using Bayesian networks to identify musculoskeletal symptoms influencing the risk of developing psoriatic arthritis in people with psoriasis
Authors: Green Amelia , Tillett William , McHugh Neil , Smith Theresa ,   the PROMPT Study Group
Published: March 2021

Objectives

The aim of this study was to explore the use of Bayesian networks (BNs) to understand the relationships between musculoskeletal symptoms and the development of PsA in people with psoriasis.

Methods

Incident cases of psoriasis were identified for 1998 to 2015 from the UK Clinical Research Practice Datalink. Musculoskeletal symptoms (identified by Medcodes) were concatenated into primary groups, each made up of several subgroups. Baseline demographics for gender, age, BMI, psoriasis severity, alcohol use and smoking status were also extracted. Several BN structures were composed using a combination of expert knowledge and data-oriented modelling based on: (i) primary musculoskeletal symptom groups; (ii) musculoskeletal symptom subgroups and (iii) demographic variables. Predictive ability of the networks using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated.

Results

Over one million musculoskeletal symptoms were extracted for the 90 189 incident cases of psoriasis identified, of which 1409 developed PsA. The BN analysis yielded direct relationships between gender, BMI, arthralgia, finger pain, fatigue, hand pain, hip pain, knee pain, swelling, back pain, myalgia and PsA. The best BN, achieved by using the more site-specific musculoskeletal symptom subgroups, was 76% accurate in predicting the development of PsA in a test set and had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.70, 0.75).

Conclusion

The presented BN model may be a useful method to identify clusters of symptoms that predict the development of PsA with reasonable accuracy. Using a BN approach, we have shown that there are several symptoms which are predecessors of PsA, including fatigue, specific types of pain and swelling.
Factors associated with the intention to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of women in the USA
Authors: Allen Jennifer D , Abuelezam Nadia N , Rose Raviv , Fontenot Holly B
Published: March 2021

Widespread uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine is critical to halt the pandemic. At present, little is known about factors that will affect vaccine uptake, especially among diverse racial/ethnic communities that have experienced the highest burden of COVID. We administered an online survey to a Qualtrics respondent panel of women ages 27–45 years (N = 396) to assess vaccine intentions and attitudes, and trusted vaccine information sources. 56.8% intended to be vaccinated and 25.5% were unsure. In bivariate analyses, a greater percentage of non-Latina White (NLW) and Chinese women reported that they would be vaccinated, compared with Latina and non-Latina Black (NLB) women (p < 0.001). Those who were uninsured, unemployed and those with lower incomes were less likely to say that they would be vaccinated. In analyses stratified by race/ethnicity, NLB women remained significantly less likely to report that they would be vaccinated compared with NLW women (adjusted odds ratio: 0.47; 95% confidence interval: 0.23, 0.94), controlling for age, marital status, income, education, employment, and insurance status. When analyses were additionally controlled for beliefs in vaccine safety and efficacy, racial/ethnic differences were no longer significant (adjusted odds ratio: 0.64; 95% confidence interval: 0.31, 1.34). Given that NLB women were less likely to report the intention to be vaccinated, targeted efforts will be needed to promote vaccine uptake. It will be critical to emphasize that the vaccine is safe and effective; this message may be best delivered by trusted community members.
Physiologically Relevant Estrogen Receptor Alpha Pathway Reporters for Single-Cell Imaging-Based Carcinogenic Hazard Assessment of Estrogenic Compounds
Authors: Duijndam Britt , Goudriaan Annabel , van den Hoorn Tineke , van der Stel Wanda , Le Dévédec Sylvia , Bouwman Peter , van der Laan Jan Willem , van de Water Bob
Published: March 2021

Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) belongs to the nuclear hormone receptor family of ligand-inducible transcription factors and regulates gene networks in biological processes such as cell growth and proliferation. Disruption of these networks by chemical compounds with estrogenic activity can result in adverse outcomes such as unscheduled cell proliferation, ultimately culminating in tumor formation. To distinguish disruptive activation from normal physiological responses, it is essential to quantify relationships between different key events leading to a particular adverse outcome. For this purpose, we established fluorescent protein MCF7 reporter cell lines for ERα-induced proliferation by bacterial artificial chromosome-based tagging of 3 ERα target genes: GREB1, PGR, and TFF1. These target genes are inducible by the non-genotoxic carcinogen and ERα agonist 17β-estradiol in an ERα-dependent manner and are essential for ERα-dependent cell-cycle progression and proliferation. The 3 GFP reporter cell lines were characterized in detail and showed different activation dynamics upon exposure to 17β-estradiol. In addition, they demonstrated specific activation in response to other established reference estrogenic compounds of different potencies, with similar sensitivities as validated OECD test methods. This study shows that these fluorescent reporter cell lines can be used to monitor the spatial and temporal dynamics of ERα pathway activation at the single-cell level for more mechanistic insight, thereby allowing a detailed assessment of the potential carcinogenic activity of estrogenic compounds in humans.
High-Throughput Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Primary Hepatocyte Spheroids Exposed to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances as a Platform for Relative Potency Characterization
Authors: Rowan-Carroll Andrea , Reardon Anthony , Leingartner Karen , Gagné Remi , Williams Andrew , Meier Matthew J , Kuo Byron , Bourdon-Lacombe Julie , Moffat Ivy , Carrier Richard , Nong Andy , Lorusso Luigi , Ferguson Stephen S , Atlas Ella , Yauk Carole
Published: March 2021

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely found in the environment because of their extensive use and persistence. Although several PFAS are well studied, most lack toxicity data to inform human health hazard and risk assessment. This study focused on 4 model PFAS: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; 8 carbon), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS; 4 carbon), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS; 8 carbon), and perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDS; 10 carbon). Human primary liver cell spheroids (pooled from 10 donors) were exposed to 10 concentrations of each PFAS and analyzed at 4 time points. The approach aimed to: (1) identify gene expression changes mediated by the PFAS, (2) identify similarities in biological responses, (3) compare PFAS potency through benchmark concentration analysis, and (4) derive bioactivity exposure ratios (ratio of the concentration at which biological responses occur, relative to daily human exposure). All PFAS induced transcriptional changes in cholesterol biosynthesis and lipid metabolism pathways, and predicted PPARα activation. PFOS exhibited the most transcriptional activity and had a highly similar gene expression profile to PFDS. PFBS induced the least transcriptional changes and the highest benchmark concentration (ie, was the least potent). The data indicate that these PFAS may have common molecular targets and toxicities, but that PFOS and PFDS are the most similar. The transcriptomic bioactivity exposure ratios derived here for PFOA and PFOS were comparable to those derived using rodent apical endpoints in risk assessments. These data provide a baseline level of toxicity for comparison with other known PFAS using this testing strategy.