Tughans Solicitors

UK to leave Energy Charter Treaty

The UK has announced its plan to leave the Energy Charter Treaty. The treaty contains a controversial, and often opaque Investor Dispute Settlement Provision, which allowed fossil fuel investors to sue states for lost profit expectations. One such example is a claim brought by a UK Fossil Fuel company against Slovenia following a request for... Read More

Pay when? Clarity on ‘final date for payment’ in the case of Lidl Great Britain Limited v Closed Circuit Cooling Limited t/a 3CL

Anyone within the construction industry will know that it pays to ensure that your contracts comply with the payment provisions specified within the Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (the “Order”) (or the similarly worded English law equivalent Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the “Act”)). However, it is an often glossed over fact... Read More

Stormont returns: 11 potential employment law changes

Employment law in Northern Ireland has remained largely static in recent years due to successive suspensions of the Assembly in 2017-2020 and 2022-2024. This has increasingly left Northern Ireland trailing behind the rest of the UK, where the pace of change hasn’t slowed, and indeed a number of important developments are due this year. Catching... Read More

Is the feeling really mutual? Examining the impact of Winter v Winter on mutual wills

A recent decision in the High Court in England has highlighted the difficulty in challenging a Will on the basis of the principle of mutual Wills. In the case of Winter & Anor v Winter , two brothers sought to challenge their father’s Will on the basis of this legal principle, which is an agreement... Read More

Decoding the Law of Low-Code and No-Code Platforms

Considering diving into the world of low-code and no-code platforms? Smart move! In today’s dynamic digital world, businesses across a wide range of sectors are increasingly embracing low-code / no-code platforms to simplify software development, such as app-building or automated workflows. These platforms enable users to create applications without extensive coding knowledge and have revolutionised... Read More

Government confirms day one flexible working requests and increased protection from redundancy for employees during pregnancy or returning from maternity leave

Two sets of regulations were laid before Parliament which confirm the government’s proposed changes in two areas of employment law. The first changes the current rules on flexible working, while the second increases the special protections from redundancy afforded to employees who are pregnant or returning from statutory family leave.   Flexible working • The... Read More

SARs: “Subject Access Request” or “Subtracting from Annual Revenue”

The right for a data subject to have access to their personal data is a key principle of data protection law, and one which generally entitles individuals to submit a data subject access request (“SAR”) in order to receive copies of the personal data held about them, usually within one month and usually without being... Read More

Supreme Court dismisses appeal in Agnew

This morning, the UK Supreme Court handed down its long awaited decision in Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and another v Agnew and others, dismissing each ground of appeal. This case concerned police officers and civilian staff who brought claims for underpayment of holiday pay, having historically received only basic pay... Read More

New EU Rules banning misleading Environmental Claims – Is the net closing on “Greenwashing”?

The EU Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement on new rules to ban misleading advertisements and provide consumers with better product information. The deal requires final approval from both the EU Parliament and the Council. The vote by MEPs is expected to take place in November. When the directive comes into force, member... Read More

The Curious Case of ClientEarth, Shell and the Companies Act 2006: Is this the beginning of a new era of ESG related claims?

The recent case of ClientEarth v Shell plc , in which environmental charity ClientEarth attempted to bring a challenge against the British multinational oil and gas company Shell plc within the remit of the Companies Act 2006, serves to highlight a number of developing trends in national and global environmental litigation. In ClientEarth v Shell... Read More