November 2014

A hostile environment for illegal immigrants: 
the Immigration Bill 2015 | Magrath Sheldrick LLP

Immigration has become one of the largest public policy issues in the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, net migration reached an all time high of 330,000 in the year to March 2015. Given the long-term demographic impacts and the effect on public services, the UK government has set ambitious targets to reduce …

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the Immigration Bill 2015”

Constitutional debate rumbles on after ‘no’ vote | Brodies

On 18 September 2014, Scotland voted ‘no’ to the question ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’. That has not meant an end to constitutional discussions and wranglings, however, with attention turning immediately to the further devolution of powers to the Scottish parliament. The Scottish parliament will in any event be receiving new powers, with the …

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Compulsory acquisition of land for in-house lawyers | Falcon Chambers

This article outlines the law and procedure for the compulsory acquisition of land. It also gives some practical tips for in-house lawyers. THE THREE PRINCIPAL 
STAGES OF ACQUISITION There are three basic stages in compulsory acquisition. First, the conferment of statutory powers of compulsory acquisition upon an acquiring authority or other promoter. Second, the steps …

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When diamonds aren’t forever… mishandling termination of contracts | Pinsent Masons

Terminating a commercial contract can be fraught with pitfalls and too often a decision is taken to terminate without a full appreciation of the legal and financial consequences. The High Court underlined those risks in the recent case ofComau UK Ltd v Lotus Lightweight Structures Ltd [2014], and took the opportunity to lay down guidance …

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Current crisis in US illegal immigration | Magrath Sheldrick LLP

Violence in central america drives child migrants to the US border. Child migrants fleeing to the United States has led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The vast majority of these migrants come from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala – all struggling with levels of violence tantamount to a political insurgency. Street gangs have turned Honduras …

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Carbon capture and storage: next steps for the UK | Burges Salmon

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has great potential as a means of achieving dramatic reductions in the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by combustion. The real questions about CCS remain over the technical viability of CCS and storage at scale, and the commercial and other barriers to its wider deployment. CCS involves: capturing CO2 from power …

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Penalty clauses: no one is immune | Cooley

All too often parties amending a term of a contract will give insufficient consideration to how the amended term will interact with the remainder of the contract. Where the contract contains a liquidated damages clause, parties must be alive to the fact that the amendments may lead to a change in the value of the …

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