United Kingdom: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

Facing harassment allegations requires careful handling to avoid worsening your legal position. Understanding what constitutes harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, preserving crucial evidence, and knowing when to seek professional legal representation can significantly impact the outcome of your case.

HMRC has introduced anti-avoidance information notices (AAINs) under Part 6 of the Finance Act 2026, granting significantly broader powers to investigate tax avoidance promotion and facilitation. These notices can target a wide network of connected persons—including directors, advisers, and intermediaries—without requiring proof that tax was lost or that arrangements were ineffective. With substantial civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance, businesses and advisers must understand who ca

HMRC's new anti-avoidance information notice regime grants broad investigative powers to gather information from persons suspected of connection to tax avoidance arrangements. The guidance reveals an expansive "connected person" test that may extend beyond promoters and taxpayers to include advisers, accountants, insurers and other professional service providers involved in making arrangements available, organizing them, or deriving benefits from them.

An independent Premier League Commission has found Manchester City in breach of financial rules spanning nine seasons, with findings that the club artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs by over £900 million. The decision marks what the Premier League describes as the most significant case in its history, though Manchester City strongly disputes the findings and intends to appeal, setting the stage for further proceedings that could reshape English football's regulatory landscape.

Piers Morgan has threatened legal action against Earl Charles Spencer over claims in his memoir 'Swan Song: Diana, My Sister' that falsely attributed intrusive photographs of Princess Diana to Morgan's editorship. The Earl swiftly apologized for the factual error, raising questions about how early apologies and offers of amends might affect potential defamation proceedings and damage awards.

The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court has ruled that combining descriptive words like "flower" and "box" does not automatically create a descriptive trade mark, finding FLOWERBX valid and infringed by a competitor's similar branding. The decision demonstrates how strong evidence of brand recognition and actual consumer confusion can be decisive in trade mark enforcement cases, particularly in the context of online retail where visual similarity carries significant weight.

Piers Morgan has threatened legal action against Earl Charles Spencer over claims in his memoir 'Swan Song: Diana, My Sister' that falsely attributed intrusive photographs of Princess Diana to Morgan's editorship. The Earl swiftly apologized for the factual error, raising questions about how early apologies and offers of amends might affect potential defamation proceedings and damage awards.

A High Court judge examines whether adverse costs orders should be made following an unsuccessful Early Neutral Evaluation in an employment dispute, where the defendant advanced an unpleaded argument that caused the ENE to be adjourned part-heard. The decision explores the tension between encouraging ADR participation and maintaining proper litigation conduct standards.

The Supreme Court is poised to reconsider the legal framework surrounding unlawful means conspiracy, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for how businesses and individuals approach commercial disputes. This potential shift in legal interpretation raises critical questions about liability, corporate conduct, and the boundaries of actionable conspiracy claims in civil litigation.

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The UK Supreme Court's narrow 3-2 decision in The Kingdom of Bahrain v Shehabi denies state immunity to foreign governments accused of remotely hacking individuals within UK territory, establishing that cyber surveillance operations causing harm to UK residents fall outside traditional immunity protections. This landmark ruling clarifies the territorial tort exception under the State Immunity Act 1978 and may expose foreign states to liability for state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting UK-based individuals

The UK Supreme Court has ruled on whether sovereign states can invoke immunity to resist enforcement of adverse ICSID arbitration awards in English courts. Spain and Zimbabwe challenged the registration...