There have recently been announcements of new approaches in different aspects of Mental Health. The Mental Health Act Commission have announced that they are to carry out hospital visits more frequently. These visits will often be unannounced or at short notice and will concentrate on issues such as how long a patient is detained and the treatment being received.

The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 received Royal Assent in May 2002. Since that date, various Commencement Orders have brought its provisions into force in four stages. This month the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced that the next phase of the provisions in the 2002 Act will come into force on 28 February 2005 with the result that long leaseholders will have further improved protection and rights.

The major change which will affect every employer in the country is the need to introduce new procedures on retirement.

A recurrent theme when considering the financing of care for the elderly is their ability to obtain public funding when they have assets which have recently been transferred, often to a member of the family.

Recent changes to insolvency legislation will substantially alter the rights of landlords against defaulting tenants.

The acquisition of land by adverse possession is a way in which a party who is not the legal owner of land can acquire legal title by virtue of possessing the land for a certain period of time pursuant to the provisions of the Limitation Act 1980 and the Land Registration Act 1925, or more recently, the Land Registration Act 2002.

Many non-married couples may decide to purchase a property together and register both their names as legal owners on the title deeds.

It is now unlawful to discriminate against workers because of sexual orientation or religion or belief as a result of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations and Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations which came into force at the beginning of December 2003.

With share prices on the increase, there appears to be renewed interest in shares as a means of remuneration and incentive. Our experience at RadcliffesLeBrasseur is that there was massive interest during the dotcom boom of 1999 and 2000 but, with falling share prices in the following three years, shares as an incentive have definitely been out of favour.

The Mental Health Review Tribunals have a duty to give adequate reasons for their decisions. The scope of this duty has recently been considered by the Court.

In Chester v Afsharthe House of Lords has effectively swept aside the requirement of causation (establishing a causal link between a breach and a patient’s injury) where a medical professional has failed to obtain a patient's fully informed consent. This judgment is of huge significance where there is failure to warn of a risk which subsequently materialises.

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal has determined that, under certain circumstances, proceedings may be amended to change the identity of parties following the expiry of a statutory limitation period.

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal has determined that, under certain circumstances, proceedings may be amended to change the identity of parties following the expiry of a statutory limitation period.

Pursuant to section 30(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, a tenant is entitled to compensation where a landlord opposes the grant a new tenancy in a section 25 notice or a counter-notice to a tenant’s section 26 request on grounds which do not relate to a default on the part of a tenant.

A recent decision of the High Court illustrates the circumstances in which exemplary or punitive damages for breach of statutory duty may be awarded to a tenant where a landlord is deemed to have unreasonably withheld consent to assignment of a lease

The Court of Appeal has recently passed judgement in R (MH) v Health Secretary [2004] All ER (D) 64, and declared Section 2 and Section 29(4) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA 1983) to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

In January 2021, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), under which the ICO sits, signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)...

Can the suspension of an employee amount to a repudiatory breach of contract? This was considered in the High Court case of Agoreyo v London Borough of Lambeth.