bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
10. Structural regulation
Authors: Chiu Iris H-Y , Wilson Joanna
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines structural regulation and reform in the UK. Structural reforms refer to direct regulatory intervention into a bank’s business structure. This applies particularly to large banking groups in the UK. In brief, large banking groups in the UK may be compelled by regulation to restructure themselves for the purposes of preserving key economic functions that are socially important while maintaining their competitive edge. Although structural reforms are aimed first and foremost at containing systemic risk and improving the resolvability of banks, these reforms may also go some way towards changing the culture of banks, especially retail banks, so that the conduct of retail banks may be more aligned with the public interest in their social utility functions. The chapter then considers other options in structural reforms, which include the Volcker Rule implemented in the US as well as the superseded Glass–Steagall Act.
12. Regulating the governance, structures, and incentives at banks
Authors: Chiu Iris H-Y , Wilson Joanna
Published: August 2019

This chapter assesses how regulation addresses sub-optimal internal organisation and governance at banks in order to change behaviour. The Basel Committee defines the role of internal control at banks to be for three purposes: to assist in achieving profitability and performance, to ensure the reliability and integrity of financial information relating to the bank, and to assist in external compliance with regulations. Meanwhile, corporate governance may be defined as ‘a system by which companies are directed or controlled’. As a framework for determining exercise of power, decision-making, and accountability, corporate governance is important in the shaping of an overall organisational culture. The chapter also considers the regulation of bankersʼ remuneration. Although such regulation affects bankers individually, there are aspects of ‘collective’ policy in remuneration regulation that seek to control organisational freedom in giving rewards, as well as aspects that affect individual incentives.
4. Corporate personality
Authors: Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter looks at one of, if not the, defining characteristic of the company, namely its corporate personality. At its most basic level, the doctrine of corporate personality simply provides that the company is a person. As such, it is able to do many things that humans are able to do, including own property, enter into contracts, and be subject to legal rights, duties, and obligations. However, the artificial nature of corporate personality, and the fact that it can be abused, means that a significant body of law has developed in this area. The law provides for a number of ways in which a company's corporate personality can be set aside. These include statutory provisions and the common law. Moreover, individuals may contract away the protection of corporate personality and render themselves personally liable.
5. The constitution of the company
Authors: Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter explores the various sources of a company's constitution, how the constitution is amended and interpreted, and how the constitution can be enforced. A company's constitution includes its articles, all resolutions and agreements affecting the company's constitution, and other constitutional documents. All companies must have a memorandum of association, but its importance is now much reduced. As such, the articles of association form the principal constitutional document and set out the internal rules by which the company is to be run. The articles can be amended by passing a special resolution, but both statute and the common law impose limits on a company's ability to amend its articles. Meanwhile, section 33 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) provides that the company's constitution forms a contract between the company and its members, and between the members themselves.
8. Board appointment, structure, and composition
Authors: Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter addresses the process by which directors are appointed and remunerated, the various board structures, and the importance of board diversity. All companies are required to appoint a director, with the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) providing that a private company must have at least one director, and a public company at least two directors. Every public company must also appoint a company secretary. Before a person is appointed as a director, that person and the company will usually negotiate to determine the new director's remuneration package. Remuneration practices tend to differ markedly depending on company size. The two most common board structures in the world are the unitary board and the two-tier board. Meanwhile, in recent years, board diversity has become a major governance topic. The focus to date has been on increasing gender diversity in the boardroom, but recent attention has also focused on ethnic diversity.
16. Share capital
Authors: Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter assesses what share capital is. A share is an item of property that confers upon its holder rights as set out in the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) and the constitution. A public company must have an allotted share capital of at least £50,000, while private companies are not subject to a minimum share capital requirement. Who has the power to allot shares depends upon the type of company, the class of share being allotted, and how many other classes of shares the company has. However, shareholders generally have a right of pre-emption meaning that, when a company issues new shares, they have to first be offered to the existing shareholders. Meanwhile, a transfer of shares occurs where a shareholder sells or gifts his shares to another, while a transmission of shares usually occurs where shares pass from one person to another due to the operation of law.
22. Corporate reconstructions and takeovers
Authors: Roach Lee
Published: August 2019

This chapter looks at the legal framework that regulated takeovers, as well as discussing corporate reconstruction via a scheme of arrangement and a scheme of reconstruction. A reconstruction under s 110 of the Insolvency Act 1986 involves all or part of a company's business or property being transferred or sold to one or more new companies, and the original company is then voluntarily wound up. A s 110 reconstruction binds all members and creditors who are affected by it, even those who did not vote for it. Meanwhile, a scheme of arrangement, under Pt 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006), is a compromise or arrangement between a company and its creditors, or any class of them; or its members, or any class of them. Takeovers are regulated by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, who are responsible for drafting and updating the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.
4. Constructive trusts
Authors: Penner JE
Published: August 2019

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter focuses on constructive trusts, which are trusts that arise by operation of law. It identifies and discusses three broad categories of constructive trust: firstly, those in which the law anticipates the result of legal title passing at law, with the result that the legal owner is regarded as holding his title on trust for the transferee until the transfer of the legal title is effective; secondly, the ‘trust’ under which a non-bona fide third party recipient of property transferred in breach of trust holds the title to the property he receives; and, finally, those in which individuals acquire for the first time an interest in another’s property because of their past dealings or relationship with the legal owner. Each of these is discussed in turn.
6. Formalities and secret trusts
Authors: Penner JE
Published: August 2019

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. The law sometimes imposes a requirement on the form of legal transactions before it will regard those transactions as valid, provable, or enforceable in court, typically a requirement that the transaction be made or recorded in writing. This chapter first discusses the formality that applies when creating a trust, that is, bringing into existence equitable rights. It then turns to the formality for the transfer, assignment, or disposition of already existing equitable interests, that is, the existing rights of beneficiaries under a trust. It considers the specific provisions of the Wills Act 1837 that apply to trusts. In particular, it looks at secret and half-secret trusts—testamentary trusts that fail to comply with the Wills Act.
5. Criminal law
Authors: Finch Emily , Fafinski Stefan
Published: August 2019

This chapter explains the two main sources of criminal law in the UK: legislation, that is, Acts of Parliament (or statutes), and case law. It discusses the process by which Acts of Parliament come into existence; European Union legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights; criminal courts in which cases are heard and the systems of law reporting; how to find legislation and case law using various online resources; and how to find the criminal law of overseas jurisdictions.
6. Study skills
Authors: Finch Emily , Fafinski Stefan
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses study skills for criminology students. It includes practical advice on different approaches to note-taking and organizing notes, time-management and planning, working with others, and getting the most out of seminars and lectures. It also includes an introduction to personal development planning (PDP) as a means of reflecting, planning, and taking action in respect of personal, educational, and career development.
9. Essay writing
Authors: Finch Emily , Fafinski Stefan
Published: August 2019

This chapter, which focuses on essay writing, explores the ways source material can be used in coursework. It offers practical advice on interpreting the question, together with guidance on planning, researching, and constructing an essay. It explains how to conduct effective research to find relevant information and to use that information to produce a focused and well-supported essay. It also gives practical advice on producing a well-structured response with a strong introduction and conclusion that demonstrates the required skills and knowledge.
4. From Reading to Writing
Authors: Holland James , Webb Julian
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the techniques involved in basic academic legal writing—an important aspect of one of the key skills required by employers, namely written communication. It covers writing legal essays—conveying information, constructing an argument, and applying the information and arguments to the essay title; answering legal problems and considering questions of legal liability; how to present your answers by use of the IRAC system; planning your answers and checking your work; the significance of referencing and the various methods used to reference work; and marking standards used by various quality assurance bodies and how law essays are marked.
7. How Precedent Operates: Ratio Decidendi and Obiter Dictum
Authors: Holland James , Webb Julian
Published: August 2019

The aim of this chapter is to emphasise that legal analysis is not just a question of comparing facts or using a set of balancing scales to see if the facts weigh about the same. The situation is often much more complicated than that. This chapter discusses the following: the development of case law and why cases may be distinguished as well as applied on the material facts; defining ratio decidendi; perception and ratio; ratio and interpretation; obiter dictum; how precedents develop; answering legal questions on precedent; material facts; what can happen to a case; the postal rule cases; and the ‘uncertainty principle’ of cases.
Equity & Trusts Law Directions
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This book explains the key topics covered on equity and trusts courses. The content of the text is designed to emphasise the relationship between equity, trusts, property, contract, and restitution to enable students to map out conceptual connections between related legal ideas. There is also a focus on modern cases in the commercial sphere to reflect the constantly changing and socially significant role of trusts and equity. The book starts by introducing equity and trusts. It then includes a chapter on understanding trusts, and moves on to consider capacity and formality requirements, certainty requirements, and the constitution of trusts. Various types of trusts are then examined such as purpose, charitable, and variation trusts. The book then describes issues related to trusteeship. Breach of trust is explained, as is informal trusts of land. There is a chapter on tracing, and then the book concludes by looking at equitable liability of strangers to trust and equitable doctrines and remedies. This new edition includes coverage of significant recent cases, including Patel v Mirza [2016], Supreme Court on the right to recover wealth transferred between parties to an illegal scheme; Burnden Holdings (UK) Ltd v Fielding [2018] UKSC 14; [2018] 2 WLR 885, Supreme Court on limitation of actions; Barnett v Creggy [2016], Court of Appeal on breach of trust and limitation of actions; Singha v Heer [2016], Court of Appeal on facts giving rise to declaration of trust; Clydesdale Bank plc v John Workman [2016], Court of Appeal on dishonest assistance in a breach of trust; Bathurst v Bathurst [2016], on variation of trusts; Newman v Clarke [2016], on fiduciary conflict of interest; RBC Trustees (CI) Ltd v Stubbs [2017], on rectification of a trust deed on the ground of mistake; Erlam v Rahman [2016] EWHC 111 and JSC Mezhdunarodniy Promyshlenniy Bank v Pugachev [2017] EWHC 2426, on ‘sham” trusts’. It also provides coverage of the 2017 Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations (SI 2017/692 as well as the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive ((EU) 2015/849), as amended by the The EU Fifth Money Laundering Directive ((EU) 2018/843)
2. Understanding trusts
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. Expressly created trusts are a special form of gift that do not require any formality. However, formality is extremely important with regard to the subsequent transfer of beneficial interests after the creation of a trust and with regard to trusts made by will (so-called testamentary trusts). Not everybody has the capacity to create a binding trust; where there is no capacity it is mainly due to poor mental health and minority (infancy). This chapter deals with capacity and formality requirements in relation to the creation of trusts and considers inter vivos transactions, the relevant provisions of the Law of Property Act 1925, lack of formality as a defence to disguise a fraud and testamentary trusts. It also examines whether a would-be settlor is legally capable of setting up a trust and discusses the equitable interest under a trust in compliance with the proper formalities, trusts for which there are no formality requirements and valid ‘mutual wills’ and ‘secret trusts’.
7. Purpose trusts
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. The object of a trust can be a legal person (human or corporate), a public (charitable) purpose or a private purpose. This chapter shows that trusts for private purposes are generally void, although there are a number of important exceptions to this general rule, that is, where trusts for private purposes are valid. A trust for private purposes usually takes the form of a permanent endowment, which potentially renders the capital inalienable in perpetuity. The chapter explains why trusts for private purposes are generally void and discusses the anomalous exceptions to the general rule, trusts of imperfect obligation, purpose trusts with indirect human beneficiaries and distribution of surplus donations. It also looks at various devices for avoiding the prohibition against trusts for private purposes, outlines the special problems raised by gifts to unincorporated nonprofit associations and considers how a donor can achieve their intentions in making a gift to an unincorporated association.
8. Charitable trusts
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. Charitable trusts are not subject to the objections against private purpose trusts and enjoy certain privileges. Charities are not public institutions, but are nevertheless subject to judicial control, to the constitutional protection of the Crown as parens patriae (acting through the Attorney-General) and to the supervision of the Charity Commission. Moreover, they are not subject to the beneficiary principle and to the rule against inalienability of capital. This chapter deals with charitable trusts and discusses the distinction between legal and ‘everyday’ notions of charity. It also examines a charitable purpose, the advantages and disadvantages of charitable status, limits on the recognition of charitable trusts, what happens when a charitable purpose fails, whether the purpose of a charitable status is sufficiently beneficial to the public and the administration of charitable trusts. The chapter furthermore considers trust law and tax law privileges; the roles of charities, such as the prevention or relief of poverty and the advancement of education and religion; the public benefit requirement in educational trusts; recreational charities; the exclusivity requirement; the doctrine of cy près; and the disposal of surplus donations.
9. Variation of trusts
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. The courts’ jurisdiction to vary trusts is a tax avoidance facility that reduces the amount of revenue available to the Treasury. The question is whether the jurisdiction to vary trusts is advantageous to the average taxpayer. Not every variation is intended to achieve tax advantages. There are variations involving a variation of the beneficial interests under the trust, as well as variations involving a variation in the way in which the trust is administered. This chapter deals with variation of trusts and looks at the possible reasons for varying the terms of a trust. It also examines the numerous modes of varying trusts, the distinction between administrative variations and variations in beneficial interests, variation under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958, when a variation will be for the benefit of the beneficiaries and the extent to which courts take the settlor’s intentions into account when considering a variation. In addition, the chapter discusses the rule on variation of trusts in Saunders v Vautier and variation under the courts’ inherent jurisdiction.
12. Trustees’ duties
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. In general, trustees have all the duties and burdens whereas the beneficiaries have all the rights and benefits. A breach of duties can result in personal liability for the trustee. The Trustee Act 2000 has made trusteeship more attractive to trust corporations and professional trustees by granting them improved powers of delegation and raising a presumption in favour of their remuneration without prejudicing the potential of trust instruments to make even more generous provision by express terms. This chapter analyses some specific duties of trustees and the consequences of accepting office, the extent of the duty to act gratuitously and to provide personal service, the rule against fiduciary profits, and a breach of duty to act impartially, as well as the duty to keep trust accounts. It also discusses the Trustee Act 2000, the trust instrument and quantum meruit.
15. Breach of trust: defences and relief
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. A trust must be duly administered in accordance with the provisions of the trust instrument, if any, and the general law. Similarly, a trustee should be liable for a dishonest breach of trust. Not every breach of trust is deliberate or dishonest. Liability may arise due to lack of care and other inadvertent breaches of trust, and even due to an essentially ‘technical’ or ‘formal’ breach of fiduciary duty. This chapter examines the extent of trustees’ civil liability for breach of trust, whether there might be a valid defence to a breach of trust and whether a trustee’s liability should be reduced by some form of relief. It looks at the remedies available against trustees for a breach of trust, a claimant’s election between inconsistent remedies, comparison with common law remedies, capital repayment, interest on the judgment, the Limitation Act 1980, the doctrine of laches, the beneficiary’s instigation of or consent to the breach and the beneficiary’s acquiescence in breach.
19. The equitable liability of strangers to the trust
Authors: Watt Gary
Published: August 2019

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. This chapter shows how a stranger to the trust may be threatened with personal equitable liability. It explains the rationale behind equitable liability for ‘knowing receipt’ of trust property, considers the distinction between ‘knowing receipt’ and ‘inconsistent dealing’, examines the nature of a stranger’s liability for dishonest assistance in (or procurement of) a breach of trust and looks at possible reforms of the law in this area. The chapter also discusses how liability of strangers differs from tracing, trusteeship de son tort, the four requirements for ‘dishonest assistance’ (existence of a trust, breach of the trust, assistance and dishonesty), the relationship between knowledge and dishonesty in cases of dishonest assistance and whether accessory liability should be a common law tort.
Information Technology Law
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

Information Technology Law: The Law and Society is the ideal companion for a course of study on information technology law and the ways in which it is evolving in response to rapid technological and social change. The fourth edition of this groundbreaking textbook develops its unique examination of the legal processes and their relationship to the modern ‘information society’. Charting the development of the rapid digitization of society and its impact on established legal principles, Murray examines the challenges faced with enthusiasm and clarity. Following a clearly defined part structure, the text begins by defining the information society and discussing how it may be regulated, before moving on to explore issues of internet governance, privacy and surveillance, intellectual property and rights, and commerce within the digital sphere. The author’s highly original and thought-provoking approach to the subject also makes it essential reading for researchers, IT professionals, and policymakers. This fourth edition includes expanded coverage of net neutrality, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology as well as being significantly explained to cover developments in data retention and protection in light of significant developments in the area.
3. Net neutrality
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines the nature of network neutrality or net neutrality. This is a highly prized design feature of the network that all data packets shall be treated equally. It was the nature of the early network that this design feature was protected and established by visionaries such as Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. Tim Berners-Lee the creator of the World Wide Web has written at length as to how net neutrality allowed him to create the web without asking permission from anyone. However, modern network design challenges this ‘first amendment of the internet’ and recent developments, in particular in the United States, have led to debate on whether net neutrality should be legally enshrined.
4. Regulating the information society
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines whether the actions of individuals in the digital environment could be regulated. It first considers John Perry Barlow’s 1996 publication of his Declaration of Independence for Cyberspace, in which he asserts that cyberspace was a separate sovereign space where real-world laws and real-world governments were of little or no effect. Barlow’s forceful challenge to lawmakers and law enforcement bodies gave rise to a school of thought known as cyberlibertarianism. The chapter compares cyberlibertarianism with another school of thought called cyberpaternalism, which rejected the notion that cyberspace was immune from regulatory intervention by real-world regulators. It also explains Lawrence Lessig’s modalities of internet regulation, network communitarianism, private regulators of cyberspace, and states’ supranational regulation of cyberspace. The chapter goes on to examine contemporary theories of internet governance and regulation including libertarian paternalism, platform and intermediary regulation, and algorithmic regulation.
5. Cyber-speech
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines cyber-speech and its implications for free expression. It first provides an overview of the technologies involved, from simple systems such as web pages and internet forums to social media platforms (SMPs) such as blogs, social media platforms, and media-sharing sites. The chapter then highlights the social implications of the shift in power from centralized media organizations to decentralized ‘citizen journalism’. It also considers the responsibilities that citizens owe to each other in this environment and how regulators may balance freedom of expression with social responsibility. To determine whose values predominate when regulating a global media tool which does not recognize traditional borders, the chapter presents three particular case studies: political speech, hate speech, and commercial speech.
6. Social networking and antisocial conduct
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines antisocial conduct in social media platforms (SMPs), such as Facebook and Twitter, and how it has spawned cases of defamation, blasphemy, and incitement to violence. It first considers how social networking breeds gossip and speculation leading to invasion of privacy, citing the Ryan Giggs case in 2011 and its legal implications of postings on SMPs. After discussing the Neuberger report and the joint committee on privacy and injunctions, the chapter looks at use of SMPs to make criminal threats and organize criminal activity, focusing on the Paul Chambers case and the Facebook riot cases in England. It then analyses cyberbullying, trolling, and harassment on SMPs, concluding with an assessment of the controversial movie that appeared on YouTube entitled ‘Innocence of Muslims’.
7. Defamation
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines defamation cases arising from traditional media sites and user-generated media entries. It first provides an overview of the tort of defamation, and the issue of who is responsible and potentially liable for an online defamatory statement. It then looks at the Defamation Act 2013, considering when defences may be raised to a claim in defamation, and how online publication and republication may result in defamation. Four cases are analysed: Dow Jones v Gutnick, Loutchansky v Times Newspapers, King v Lewis, and Jameel v Dow Jones. The chapter explores intermediary liability, particularly the liability of UK internet service providers, by citing recent decisions on intermediary liability such as Tamiz v Google, Delfi v Estonia, and MTE v Hungary, as well as specific intermediary defences found in the Defamation Act 2013. The chapter concludes by discussing key social media cases such as McAlpine v Bercow and Monroe v Hopkins.
8. Intellectual property rights and the information society
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines intellectual property rights (IPRs) in relation to the information society. The discussion begins with an overview of IPRs involving copyright, patents, trademarks, and the database right, and then considers IPRs and the process of digitization within the framework of cyberlaw. It mentions the criticism received for overprotecting content or systems in the information society and discusses the idea of an over-reliance on models developed for a previous age and for different challenges in dealing with the information economy and society. It concludes by highlighting the tension between the information society and the intellectual property industry in terms of what each wants and expects: liberty, free use of content, and unfettered free expression for the former; and protection, control over use, and abuse and reward for the latter.
9. Software
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines whether software should be protected by patent law or by the law of copyright, or through a sui generis form of protection. It first provides a historical background on software and copyright protection, before discussing the scope of software copyright protection and copyright infringement. The chapter then looks at several forms of copyright infringement such as offline, online, and employee piracy, and also explains the look and feel infringement by citing three cases: Navitaire v easyJet, Nova Productions v Mazooma Games, and SAS Institute v World Programming Ltd. In addition, it considers permissible acts under the UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 without infringing the rights of the copyright holder, including software licences, end-user licence agreements (EULAs),. Finally, the chapter analyses cases relating to patent protection for computer software, including software patents under the European Patent Convention and the decision in Aerotel v Telco and Macrossan.
10. Digital creatives and copyright law
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This new chapter examines the sometimes fraught relationship between authors, publishers and distributors, and fans. While copyright law protects authors and creators, and while publishers and distributors benefit from either assigned copyright or specific copyright protection of distribution and transmission of content, fans are sometimes ‘shut out’. A flourishing online community of fan creators who produce written fanfiction, remixed music, and fan videos sometimes feel copyright law is designed to keep them at a distance from the creators and characters they love. This chapter examines where the balance should be drawn between copyright protection for original content and the interests of fans and other users in creating non-commercial derivative works. It concludes with a short discussion of computer-generated works as a form of original creation.
11. Copyright in the digital environment
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines copyright issues from copying and distributing information from the internet. It considers the discussion focuses on how the internet has challenged the application and development of copyright law, considering web-copyright concerns such as linking, caching, and aggregating, citing Google Inc. v Copiepresse SCRL. It spends considerable time discussing the operation of the temporary eproduction right though key cases Infopaq International, and Public Relations Consultants Association v Newspaper Licensing Agency. The analysis then moves on to examine the communication to the public right created by the Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society Directive, examining the application of the right through key cases such as Nils Svensson v Retriever Sverige, GS Media v Sanoma Media, and Stichting Brein v Ziggo BV.
15. Brand identities, search engines, and secondary markets
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines brand identities, search engines, and secondary markets and their operation in the information society. It considers jurisdiction and online trademark disputes, as well as search engine optimization and the role of Google and the impact of its search engine services on brand profile and market presence. The chapter goes on to examine secondary markets and the liability of sellers of counterfeit products for the abuse of trademarks. The chapter concludes with a summary of the changing nature of online branding and the diminishing impact of domain names to cement brand identity, as well as the growing influence of developments to web browser functionality on consumer behaviour.
16. Electronic contracts
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines contracts in electronic commerce and their implications for the traditional contract law and the law relating to payment and payment methods. It first looks at the rules for the formation of informal electronic contracts and the regulation of offer and acceptance, focusing on Articles 9–11 of the European Union’s Electronic Commerce Directive. The chapter then considers the question of when acceptance is effectively communicated to the offeror, the terms of the contract, and their enforcement as well as evaluating formal contracts and discussing their formation and terms. A focus for this chapter is the evolving laws on electronic signatures, the role of qualified trust service providers and how electronic signatures are formalized. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the evolving area of smart contracts: their design, formation, and what the role of the law is in relation to these self-enforcing agreements.
22. Data protection: the legal framework
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines data protection, digitization of data, its implications for personal privacy, and the regulation of data industries. It begins by discussing the current law found in the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. It examines the key concepts of data controllers, data processors, and data subjects, and discusses the conditions for the processing of personal data. This includes an examination of key cases such as Nowak v Data Protection Commissioner and Bodil Lindqvist. It looks at the geographical scope of the GDPR and the extraterritorial effect of the Regulation, and examines the domestic purposes exemption after Ryneš.
24. The international trade in personal data
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines how data flows are managed by the General Data Protection Regulation. Strict rules of equivalency manage transfers for non-EEA states and recent challenges to agreed data equivalency rulings, in particular, in the case of Maximillian Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner decision have proven challenging for regulators. This chapter will examine these challenges and what GDPR says is permissible and what is not in relation to transfers to third countries. In addition to the Schrems decision, the chapter also examines the more recent Digital Rights Ireland Ltd v European Commission and Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Ltd and Maximillian Schrems cases.
25. State surveillance and data retention
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: August 2019

This chapter examines the purpose and impacts of state surveillance in the digital environment. It considers the effects of the revelations brought to light by Edward Snowden and outlines the current legal framework for the interception of communications in the UK. The programmes of state surveillance, including by the NSA, GCHQ, and Prism are outlined. The retention and use of personal digital data is also discussed and its relation to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 examined in detail. The chapter discusses the challenges to data interception in Liberty and Privacy International v GCHQ and against data retention in Tele2 Sverige.
5. The Internationalization of Public Law and its Impact on the UK
Authors: Feldman David
Published: August 2019

Municipal public law (by which is meant the public law of national or sub-national polities, including but not limited to local government) is always influenced by events taking place elsewhere in the world and the activities and norms of other polities. For example, the existence of a state depends at least partly on its recognition by other states, and political theories and legal ideas have always flowed across and between regions of the world even if they provoked opposition rather than adoption or adaptation. Yet despite, or perhaps because of, this, any state has good reasons for controlling the introduction of foreign legal and constitutional norms to its own legal order. It is important to check that the norms are compatible with one’s own national values and interests before allowing them to operate within one’s own system. A state which values a commitment to the rule of law, human rights, or democratic accountability is entitled to place national controls over potentially disruptive foreign influences. This chapter considers the nature and legitimacy of those national controls, particularly as they apply in the UK, in the light of general public law standards, bearing in mind that influences operate in both directions, not only between states but also between municipal legal standards and public international law.
8. The Foundations of Justice
Authors: Le Sueur Andrew
Published: August 2019

Everybody agrees there is broad consensus that the constitutional principle of judicial independence is important. In relation to the core judicial functions of hearing cases and writing judgments, the central meaning and application of the principle is fairly straightforward: people holding public office (politicians, parliamentarians, and officials) must refrain from interfering with judicial decision-making in individual cases; and judges should be protected from illegitimate pressure from the news media and other organizations. But hearings and judgments do not ‘just happen’; they have to be facilitated by a wide array of institutions and processes (the justice infrastructure), covering matters as diverse as court buildings, litigation procedures, judicial careers, and legal aid. In the absence of a codified constitution, in the United Kingdom the justice infrastructure is set out in Acts of Parliament, delegated legislation and ‘soft law’ (including the 2003 ‘Concordat’). The day-to-day running of the justice infrastructure can be understood in terms of who carries out functions related to the administration of justice—the judges, government (in particular, the Lord Chancellor), functions shared between judges and government, and functions given to arm’s length bodies. Periodically, the justice infrastructure is reshaped. This is a constitutionally significant activity that may take place in different settings—the political environment, expert environments, and blended environments. The day-to-day running of this infrastructure, along with its periodic reshaping, presents numerous and complex challenges for a legal system intent on respecting judicial independence and facilitating access to justice.
14. Federalism
Authors: McEldowney John
Published: August 2019

Federalism, to date, has proved unattractive to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is commonly described as a unitary state, whereby governmental power is primarily exercised through a sovereign Parliament at Westminster. The UK may be distinguished from Federal countries, notably the United States or Germany. In federal systems, sovereign power is shared between the federal government and the states. However, the description of the United Kingdom as a unitary state is an oversimplification as there are many instances of devolved, shared and autonomous powers that do not easily fit under a centralized view of the state. These ‘quasi-federal’ elements of the constitution arise through the UK Parliament delegating to regional and local communities a variety of powers and responsibilities through elected local and municipal authorities as well as devolved ‘deals’. Since 1989, powers have been distributed to the four nations of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through extensive, and increasing, devolved powers (devolution) including a variety of tax-raising powers. There is also a London Assembly with devolved powers. The future of the UK after Brexit is uncertain and there are deep divisions of opinion. England and Wales voted for Brexit while London, Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain within the EU. Different constitutional configurations were suggested for the four nations, during the nineteenth century, including federalism, Irish home rule and independence as well as strengthening local government. No exact definition of federalism emerged from the different variations supported at one time or another during this period. Consequently supporters of federalism have struggled to have a single configuration to make their case. Overall federalism was rejected as inconsistent with the orthodoxy of a unitary state formed from an incorporating union centred around a sovereign Parliament. Has the extent of substantial devolved and delegated powers reached a tipping point that places a form of divisible federalism as a way of addressing current concerns and controversies including Brexit? Any formal adoption of federalism would alter the role of the UK Supreme Court as well as future relations with the EU after Brexit. Federalism might provide a mechanism for a changing unitary state to address 21st-century challenges amidst a perceptible shift to a ‘quasi-federal’ state with devolved governments and many shared or delegated powers.
2. Sources of employment law and institutions
Authors: Taylor Stephen , Emir Astra
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses the sources of UK employment law and relevant institutions, and looks at court structure. The main source is statutes—Acts of Parliament, regulations and EU law. The common law is judge-made and has evolved over centuries as cases are brought to court and appealed up through the court hierarchy. The laws of contract, trust and tort all play a part in employment regulation. Most cases relating to common law matters are brought to the County Court or the High Court. Employment tribunal cases can be appealed to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) and then the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and, if concerning an EU matter, to the European Court of Justice. Other important institutions in the employment law include the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
6. Redundancy
Authors: Taylor Stephen , Emir Astra
Published: August 2019

This chapter discusses redundancy law in the UK. Redundancy, which generally occurs when an employer reduces its workforce for economic reasons, is a common form of ‘potentially fair’ dismissal. There are three lawful ways in which selection for redundancy can be achieved: last-in-first-out, points-based approaches and employee selection processes. Redundancy payments must be equal to the statutory minimum and are often higher due to additional contractual arrangements which are more generous. Notice periods must also be honoured. UK redundancy law is often criticised because it is less procedurally cumbersome and requires employers to compensate less than is the case in other larger EU countries. This suggests that multi-national corporations dismiss their UK employees before counterparts elsewhere in Europe.
9. Wrongful and constructive dismissal
Authors: Taylor Stephen , Emir Astra
Published: August 2019

This chapter begins with an exploration of wrongful dismissal law, which has for many decades provided employees who are dismissed in breach of their contracts with the opportunity to apply to a court for damages. In recent decades wrongful dismissal has been superseded to an extent by unfair dismissal law, which provides a more satisfactory remedy for most who are unlawfully dismissed. But there are circumstances in which the longer-established law continues to play a role, and this is the focus of the first part of the chapter. It then moves on to look at constructive dismissal law, which appears to become more significant each year as precedents are set and more people become aware of the possibilities it offers when they resign from their jobs as a direct result of suffering unacceptable treatment from their employers.
16. Sex discrimination
Authors: Taylor Stephen , Emir Astra
Published: August 2019

This chapter deals with sex discrimination law under the Equality Act. It discusses the historical and legal background of sex discrimination law, protected characteristics and prohibited conduct on grounds of sex discrimination. Sex discrimination is symmetrical in that it can be claimed by both men and women. Direct sex discrimination cannot be justified unless there is an occupational requirement while indirect sex discrimination can be objectively justified. A person who has been treated less favourably for claiming sex discrimination or giving evidence in such a matter can claim victimisation. A person can claim harassment, and sexual harassment is also specifically outlawed in the Equality Act. The chapter also discusses dress codes.
23. TUPE
Authors: Taylor Stephen , Emir Astra
Published: August 2019

The Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations aim to protect the interests of employees when the business they work for changes hands, or when their part of an operation is acquired or transferred to another business. They also apply in merger situations, when in-house processes are outsourced, when a contract to provide a service transfers from one provider to another, and when a public sector body such as a local authority ‘contracts out’ services, or indeed, brings formerly contracted out services back in house. They form a specialised corner of employment law, but one which can be very important for large numbers of people. This chapter discusses core TUPE rights, when TUPE applies, consultation requirements, contractual rights, unfair dismissal rights, sharing of information between transferors and transferees, and TUPE Regulations in respect of the takeover of insolvent businesses.