The Legal 500

There are many situations where decisions are made by organisations such as local authorities (during the tendering process, the grant of contracts or planning decisions, for example) or professional or disciplinary bodies where a party may wish to challenge the outcome. A party with an interest in a decision may feel aggrieved by the outcome due to what appears to be a conflict of interest by those making the decision, or the appearance of bias. This may have serious consequences for in-house lawyers acting for organisations subject to such decisions, and therefore this briefing is intended to provide a general overview of the areas to consider. Challenging judicial or quasi-judicial decisions where there is a conflict of interest was considered by James Levy in a previous briefing (IHL146, p37-40).

In Le Temps, the daily newspaper of reference of Western Switzerland, Yves de Coulon analyses the latest developments in the field of planning and zoning: Weber Initiative, Landscape Initiative, recent modifications of the Federal Law on planning and zoning, what consequences on the cantons' autonomy in the area of planning and zoning?

Issuance of Licensed Importer Numbers

The head of our tax practice group, partner Dominique Christin, summarises the legal requirements to obtain a lump sum taxation status in Switzerland and in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud.

In Harrow LBC v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 (Admin) Sales J held that the word “or” in the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, art 3 Class N, had a disjunctive meaning, therefore it was sufficient for the non-British spouse of a foreign student to satisfy one or other of the two conditions, namely being prevented from taking paid employment or being prevented from claiming benefits, in order to qualify as a “relevant person” who was exempted from liability to pay council tax.

The banking sector is regulated by the Ministry of Finance and the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (the FSA). The FSA is responsible for the supervision of banks.

The Supreme Court of Norway has recently turned down the appeal against the judgement of Borgarting Court of Appeal in the case Pharmaq AS v Intervet International BV et al.

Discrimination - Equal Treatment Act From 1 June 2012 the number of deputy judges in the Danish Labour Court will increase. Following its ‎introduction in February, the Bill has now been adopted by the Danish Parliament.‎

“Image is everything” - Andre Agassi once famously declared in an advert for camera brand, Canon.

Basics of a Guernsey company

Following a period of turmoil in the financial markets, issuers have been viewing cash box structures as an attractive financing tool to facilitate share and convertible bond issues and to allow access to alternative sources of funding.