header-logo header-logo

18 November 2010 / Roderick Ramage
Issue: 7442 / Categories: Blogs
printer mail-detail

Law in 101 words

Snippets from The Reduced Law Dictionary by Roderick Ramage

Definitions—where the context admits

Some definition clauses include the words “unless the context otherwise admits” or “where the context admits”, which may be implied: Meux v Jacobs [1875]. The better course is to use defined terms, whenever practicable, in such a way that there are no circumstances where the defined meanings do not apply. The usual means of doing so is by using capital initial letters for the defined terms: this requires a scrupulous avoidance of the all too common secretarial “pepper pot” technique of applying capitals to initial letters more or less at random to important looking words, such as “this Agreement” or “Director”.

Data protection & the police

The Information Tribunal held that certain old convictions should be removed from the Police National Register on the ground that the only purpose for which the data could be retained was for core or operational police purposes. In Chief Constable for Humberside and others v Information Commissioner and another [2009] the CA disagreed. The grounds

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

Nikki Bowker, head of litigation and dispute resolution at Devonshires, on career resilience, diversity in law and channelling Elle Woods when the pressure is on

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Leasehold enfranchisement specialist joins residential property team

DWF—Chris Air

DWF—Chris Air

Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment

NEWS
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
The Supreme Court has restored ‘doctrinal coherence’ to unfair prejudice litigation, writes Natalie Quinlivan, partner at Fieldfisher LLP, in this week' NLJ
The High Court’s refusal to recognise a prolific sperm donor as a child’s legal parent has highlighted the risks of informal conception arrangements, according to Liam Hurren, associate at Kingsley Napley, in NLJ this week
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Mazur may have settled questions around litigation supervision, but the profession should not simply ‘move on’, argues Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, in this week's NLJ
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
back-to-top-scroll