It is becoming increasingly common for a buyer to engage a third party service provider to supervise the construction of a new vessel on its behalf. However to date there has been no standard form contract upon which the buyer and supervisor could b...

Introduction It is always important to establish whether or not communications with the opposing party in a dispute are truly without prejudice (“WP”). If a communication is deemed not to be protected by WP privilege, a party exposes the...

On 12 August this year, the Insurance Act 2015 will introduce the most significant changes to insurance law in 110 years – how will it affect the shipping industry? The Act applies to all insurance policies taken out by businesses which are subject ...

The Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984 (the “Act”) sets out the procedure to be followed when a claim is proceeding in the courts of England and Wales and the laws of any other country apply. Given the international nature of the shipping industry,...

On 6 April 2016, BIMCO and the International Group of Liquified Natural Gas (“LNG”) Importers (“GIIGNL”) jointly issued a standard form voyage charterparty designed for use in the LNG trade. Its introduction is said to be spe...

Reviewing the law and the impact on it of both the arguments in the Anna Bo [2015] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 578 and the Congenbill 2016 form The issue Bills of lading often include wording which purports to incorporate charterparty terms. Attempts to inc...

Suez Fortune Investments Ltd and another v Talbot Underwriting Ltd [2016] EWHC 1085 (Comm) Introduction On the 15 January 2015, the English Commercial Court handed down a decision that highlights the importance of compliance with disclosure obligati...

Following a consultation on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the ‘Act’), the Government has confirmed that the way in which transport operators cap their liability to customers to compensate for delays or cancellations to services must be c...

Following a consultation on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the ‘Act’), the Government has confirmed the way in which train operators cap their liability to customers to compensate for delays or cancellations to services must be consistent...

Following the outcome of a Government consultation paper, the full force of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) will apply to the aviation sector as from the 1 October 2016. The result could lead to compensation being paid up to the price of the air ...

In our pre-referendum briefin...

What is the Digital Railway programme? The Digital Railway programme is a Network Rail led initiative to modernise train command, control and signalling systems used on the British railway network with the aim of substantially improving the capabili...

Background - The 2018 Periodic Review The Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) has recently published its conclusions (the “Conclusions”) following its initial consultation in relation to the creation of the 2018 Periodic Review ...

In this case, the Court of Appeal provided a long awaited decision answering whether a charterer’s failure to pay an instalment of hire punctually is a breach of condition under a time charterparty thus enabling the shipowner to terminate the ...

As is common practice now, ING Bank (“ING”) filed a number of cases asserting rights to amounts due and payable to O.W Bunker & Trading A/S (“O.W Bunker) for the provision of bunkers of fuel oil to vessels.  These cases in...

It has always been imperative that a claimant keeps at the forefront of its mind that time is ticking and that any claim it wishes to make must be brought in time. The respective time limit may be set out in statute, such as the Limitation Acts or o...

On 27 June 2017, the court ordered the lifting of the automatic suspension in the case of Alstom Transport UK Limited v London Underground Limited [2017] EWHC 1521 (TCC). The resulting judgment includes some interesting comments on the correct test ...

The Fourth Rail Package, which was introduced between June and December 2016, is a set of six items of EU legislation designed to increase the reliability and competitiveness of European railways in accordance with the EU’s liberalisation agen...

What is the purpose of the Consultation? The Office of Rail and Road (the “ORR”) is engaged in the 2018 regulatory review of Network Rail, known as the 2018 Periodic Review or “PR18”. PR18 will determine what Network Rail mus...

Background As part of the 2018 periodic review (“PR18”) of Network Rail, the Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) is reviewing the way in which the charges that operators pay to access the rail network are calculated. This review ...

Background The Office for Rail and Road (“ORR”) has opened a consultation on its proposals to introduce a voluntary binding Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) scheme for the resolution of consumer complaints in the rail s...

What is the Hansford Review and what is its purpose? Professor Peter Hansford was commissioned by the Board of Network Rail to chair an independent review of “contestability” in the UK Rail Market, with the intent of “encouraging t...

Executive Summary The European Commission has consulted on an implementing regulation which will provide additional detail for procedures and criteria to be followed by service facility operators in order to satisfy their obligations under Directive...

Background As part of the Government’s commitment to the “Northern Powerhouse” agenda, legislation to turn Transport for the North (“TfN”) into a statutory sub-national transport body with legal powers and duties has be...

Background The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has recently published draft guidance on its approach to assessing rail franchise awards under its merger control powers (the “Draft Guidance”)1. The guidance has been ...

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multi-trillion Chinese led initiative to strengthen trade routes and related infrastructure across over 150 countries worldwide. The initiative covers over 60% of the world’s population in terms of ...

Highways England are moving forward with the A303 Stonehenge project (A303) and the Lower Thames crossing (LTC) and will be starting their market and supply chain engagement in March 2018. These projects are two of the largest in Highway England's R...

Intro / Summary The Supreme Court has refused to grant Emirates permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision in the joint case of Gahan v Emirates and Buckley and ors v Emirates meaning the Court of Appeal’s decision to award comp...

Background Following the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the Department for Transport (“DfT”) ran a consultation seeking views on the introduction of a “public service obligation levy&r...

Background Periodic reviews are one of the principal mechanisms by which the Office of Rail and Road (“ORR”) holds Network Rail to account, and secures value for money for users and funders of the railway. The ORR’s periodic review...

Following close consultation with IFI's including the IFC, World Bank and EBRD, Tunisia has launched a review process to aid with the structuring and implementation of new PPP projects. Eversheds Sutherland was privileged to have been spec...

Background The Office of Rail and Road (the “ORR”) has issued its final determination (“Final Determination”) on the regulatory review of Network Rail (“NR”), known as the 2018 Periodic Review (“PR18”)...

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Background On 16 October 2019 the Department for Transport (“DfT”) issued its “Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline Update” for Autumn 2019 (the “Enhancements Pipeline Update”). A copy of the Enhancements Pipeline U...

On 2 December 2019, the European Council agreed to update Regulation 1371/2007 (the “Regulation”) on rail passengers’ rights and obligations. The proposed amendments to the Regulation aim to strengthen the rights of passengers wher...

A notice was published in the government gazette on 30 March 2020, in terms of which the minister of transport (the “Minister”) has, in terms of section 18(7) of the National Road Traffic Act (No. 93 of 1996), extended the licensing and ...

We report on Romania’s recently introduced data protection law, focussing on the provisions relating to the processing of national identification numbers and the rules on the use of CCTV and monitoring in an employment context. In July 2018, R...

On 16 April 2019, a controversial 16-minute video containing footage of a what is believed to be a taxi journey taken by two Hong Kong celebrities, Andy Hui Chi-on and Jacqueline Wong, was published on the website of a local newspaper. This publicat...

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published a set of guidelines (in draft) for public consultation. These will be absolutely key to providers of online services, such as social media, e-commerce, internet search engines, communication an...

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On 1 May 2019 the UK government, through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, launched a consultation on its proposals to regulate the security of consumer Internet of Things (“IoT”) or “smart” devices, whi...

Lorna Doggett examines what has and hasn’t been working since the GDPR’s introduction last May. To read the full article click here > This article was published in the April 2019 edition of Intellectual Property Magazine, and is repro...

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The passage of a year since GDPR came into force has been a marker for the ICO and others to pause, reflect, and (importantly) for the ICO to give some indications as to what lies ahead. The ICO has published a blog post. It is a useful snapshot of ...

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On 17 May 2019, the European Council established a framework and implemented a new sanctions regime which now allows the EU to impose targeted sanctions to “deter and respond to cyber-attacks which constitute an external threat to the EU and i...

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The DPC has published useful guidance on CCTV usage for controllers. The guidance is intended to assist owners and occupiers of premises to understand their responsibilities and obligations regarding data protection when using CCTV. This is particul...

The ICO has launched a public consultation on its new draft data sharing code of practice. The consultation period ends on 9 September 2019. It is an update of the previous code, to align it with GDPR so as to address transparency, lawful bases for ...

The operational resilience of retail banks operating in the United Kingdom has come under increased scrutiny following a number of high-profile IT failures and cyber-attacks. Regulators have shown a willingness to impose significant penalties for IT...