Covid-19

Baroness Hallett, chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, has called for ‘fundamental reform’ of the way government prepares for civil emergencies, in the first of nine reports

The Cabinet Office failed to convince the High Court that Covid-19 Inquiry chair Dame Hallett’s request for WhatsApp messages and notebooks of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was ultra vires and irrational

The COVID inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, has been beset by ‘an esoteric dispute’ with the government over the withholding of documents and information, John Gould, senior partner, Russell-Cooke, writes in this week’s NLJ

Who gets to decide what information the COVID inquiry should see? John Gould suggests that the government, by objecting to handing over material, may have forgotten its proper role in supporting the work of a public inquiry

Businesses that suffered losses during the pandemic have won a landmark COVID-19 business interruption test case against insurers.

MPs have voted 354-7 to back the Privileges Committee’s final report that former prime minister Boris Johnson committed five contempts of parliament.

Heading off for the summer? In this month’s employment brief, Ian Smith (not pictured) rounds up holiday pay entitlement, redundancy law & check-off agreements

Home-working has created legal conundrums for property practitioners—what to do about covenants preventing business use? In this week’s NLJ, Michael Ranson and Taylor Briggs, barristers at Falcon Chambers, explore the recent case of Hodgson v Cook in which a home owner sought modification of a covenant prohibiting home-working.

The rise of home working has created an uncertain landscape for property practitioners: Michael Ranson & Taylor Briggs report on ‘business use’ &  the modification of restrictive covenants

The judicial review (JR) into whether the chair of the COVID inquiry, Lady Hallett, can view ministers’ unredacted WhatsApp files, notebooks and other documents has been expedited and is likely to hold its first hearing at the end of this month, the Cabinet Office minister told MPs this week.