Irish High Court: full judicial consideration of arbitration agreement
On 12 January 2015 the Irish High Court (Cregan J) held that the court could consider whether there was an arbitration agreement on a “full judicial consideration” basis rather than on a prima facie basis. The case concerned an issue of contract formation and incorporation of an arbitration clause between the parties. The key question was whether such issue was for the London arbitration tribunal or whether it could be considered by the Irish courts.
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Iran sanctions: EU extends reimbursement exemption and amends listings
On 12 February 2015 the EU extended one of the exemptions from restrictive measures against Iran until 30 June 2015, by way of Council Regulation (EU) 2015/229. The exemption relates to the execution of obligations provided for in contracts concluded before 23 January 2012, or in ancillary contracts, where the supply of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products or petrochemical products, or the proceeds derived from their supply, are for the reimbursement to EU persons or entities of outstanding amounts.
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Employment claims and state immunity in the Court of Appeal
The case concerned two Moroccan nationals employed at the Sudanese and Libyan embassies respectively. They brought claims for unfair dismissal, non-payment of the minimum wage, unpaid wages, breach of the Working Time Regulations 1998, racial discrimination and harassment.
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New EU General Court sanctions decision: Case T‑579/11 Akhras
Akhras concerned a challenge to Mr Akhras' listing pursuant to the EU's restrictive measures against Syria. Mr Akhras was originally listed in 2011 and subsequently relisted in 2012 and 2013 for being a "[p]rominent businessman benefiting from and supporting the regime" in Syria.
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HMRC: VAT grouping rules and the Skandia judgment
On 10 February 2015 HMRC published a brief on the application of the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Case C-7/13 Skandia America Corp. (USA), filial Sverige v. Skatteverket of 17 September 2014 for VAT group rules in the UK.
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Lukoil v Sinopec: arbitration in the LCIA
It has been widely reported that Lukoil, Russia's second largest oil company, has commenced arbitration proceedings in the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) against China's Sinopec over an uncompleted $1.2 billion deal.
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Arbitration claim forms and state immunity in the Commercial Court
On 23 January 2015, in consideration of the State Immunity Act 1978 ("SIA") the Commercial Court (Hamblen J) set aside two without notice orders allowing service of an arbitration claim form on the defendant.
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New Ukraine/Russia sanctions under discussion by the EU
It has recently been reported that the EU is working on a list of new entities and Russian and pro-Moscow Ukrainian individuals who will be affected by sanctions. The names have not yet been made available.
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Prudential v HMRC (Portfolio Dividends): computing unlawful tax
On 26 January 2015 Henderson J handed down his judgment on various computation issues in the Prudential test case in the CFC & Dividend GLO. Following judgment on liability in October 2013, HMRC had raised a number of computation arguments seeking to reduce the value of Prudential’s claim which led to a further hearing in October 2014. Many of these defences were conceded by HMRC at the beginning of that hearing.
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Updated EU sanctions: Ukraine and Tunisia
On 29 and 30 January 2015 the EU published updates to its sanctions regimes for Ukraine and Tunisia respectively. In respect of Ukraine, the update consists of a clarification of the designation criteria for the asset-freezing measures aimed at individuals alleged to be responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian State funds. In respect of Tunisia, the asset-freezing measures currently in force have been extended until 31 January 2016, and the statements of reasons for three of the listed individuals have been amended.
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