Radcliffe Chambers

This Practice Note, produced in partnership with Christopher Buckley of Radcliffe Chambers, looks at the obligation of the official receiver and, where appointed, an insolvency practitioner to pay monies received by them in the course of their administration of all bankruptcies and compulsory liquidations into the Insolvency Services Account.

This Practice Note explains the circumstances in which a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) that is indirectly discriminatory can be objectively justified. In particular, this Practice Note looks at the legislative framework for objective justification, statutory guidance produced by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights and the approach adopted by courts in cases such as MacCulloch v Imperial Chemical Industries, Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes, R (Age UK) v Secretary of State for BIS, Homer v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, Oxer-Patey v Metropolitan Police Commissioner, McCloud v Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and Sargeant v London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

This Practice Note considers some of the key cases on the principle of objective justification for direct and indirect discrimination. The relevant cases include Bilka-Kaufhaus GmbH v Weber von Hartz, Trustees of Uppingham School v Shillcock, Cross v British Airways, Woodcock v Cumbria Primary Care Trust, MacCulloch v Imperial Chemical Industries, the Heydey case, Seldon v Clarkson Wright & Jakes, Homer v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police and Ministry of Justice v O’Brien.

This Practice Note discusses the key cases in which the courts have been concerned with claims based on the legal framework for part-time workers (including the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000), ie with issues as between part-time and full-time workers, whatever the gender of the workers concerned. This Practice Note also discusses the key cases in which the courts have been concerned with claims based on the legal framework for fixed-time workers (including the Fixed-term Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002), ie with issues as between fixed-term and permanent workers.

This Practice Note considers pension discrimination issues relating to part-time workers, including in terms of establishing indirect discrimination, retrospective membership issues and applicable time limits. This Practice Note also looks at the impact of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, SI 2000/1551.

This Practice Note considers the issues relevant when pension scheme trustees make professional negligence claims against their advisers, including duty of care issues, limitation periods, Beddoe applications and cost considerations. This Practice Note also looks at common claims made by trustees against their advisers, including in relation to payment errors, failed equalisation and drafting mistakes in scheme documentation.

This Practice Note, written by Katherine McQuail of Radcliffe Chambers, examines the key issues in respect of privacy, confidentiality and publicity in the Court of Protection. It sets out the background to the current position, including the transparency pilot scheme and then explains the current position, looking at private hearings, public hearings, the rules regarding publication of information about proceedings, notification of the respondent in respect of reporting restrictions and the communication of information regarding proceedings held in private or subject to reporting restrictions. This Practice Note then examines some recent case law dealing with privacy issues and looks at future developments in the area.

This Practice Note focuses on privilege, ie the ability to withhold documents from someone’s inspection, in the context of pensions. It distinguishes between legal advice privilege and litigation privilege and sets out the requirements for each and when privilege is lost. Finally, this Practice Note considers the scope of privilege vis-à-vis the courts, the Pensions Ombudsman and the Pensions Regulator.

This Practice Note looks at the making of representation orders in pensions litigation. In particular, it covers what a representative party is, when and why representation orders are made, jurisdiction to appoint a representative party, types of representation orders, who may be appointed a representative party, consent and notification of the represented class, duty, role and costs of the representative party, compromise involving a representative party, and the effect of a representation order.

This Practice Note looks at the legal framework for protection against sex discrimination in the context of pension schemes as developed by the EU, the UK and caselaw (eg Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange, Ten Oever, Bilka-Kaufhaus v Weber, Preston v Wolverhampton, Safeway v Newton). This Practice Note also looks at the pension areas affected by equal treatment requirements and the distinction between direct and indirect discrimination.