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Legal
Eye Issue 4 2009
Rachel’s Devotion To Golden Service
Dickinson Manser is proud of its responsibility for enforcing High Court Judgments was transferred
staff's long service track record, with away from the Sheriff’s office. During this time, Lewis Parkyn and then
most Christmas parties involving 25 Gary Cox succeeded John Wallace as both Senior Partner of
years service awards. This year Dickinson Manser and Under Sheriff of Dorset.
marks a special celebration for one The duties of the High Sheriff are now principally ceremonial. This
important member of staff. She is has allowed Rachel the time to re-commence work as a Legal
Rachel Miller who has now worked at Secretary, working for Sarah Richards, a senior Legal Executive in the
Dickinson Manser for a full half Wills and Probate department. She still, however, continues to assist
century! Gary Cox with Sheriff duties, which now include organising an annual
Leaving school at the age of 16, Rachel declaration ceremony when the High
joined the firm in August 1959, initially as Sheriff is sworn in and an annual Court Christmas 2009
Rachel Miller
an office junior in reception. She soon Ceremonial in Dorchester. In an attempt to reduce
progressed to be appointed secretary to the Senior Partner, John Rachel has watched the firm change, waste and its adverse
Wallace, who was also the Under Sheriff of Poole and it was in this develop and grow over the last 50 years. impact on the environment,
role that she began learning the administrative duties which she has One thing she says has not changed is the the firm has decided no
longer to send Christmas
since for many years undertaken as Shrievalty Clerk. value placed on the clients of the firm. As cards.The monies normally
In the 1970s, the legal duties of the Sheriff of Poole were a result she has seen generations of many spent in this exercise will
transferred to the High Sheriff of Dorset. John Wallace became families returning to Dickinson Manser. be donated to Julia's House,
Under Sheriff for the whole of Dorset and due to the volume of work The partners and staff at Dickinson a local charity which
involved, Rachel soon became responsible for running the Sheriff’s Manser would like to congratulate supports terminally ill
department full time. She worked with three Sheriff’s officers (bailiffs) Rachel on this outstanding children, with which the
firm has a professional
and her role included sending in the bailiffs to recover debts. She achievement and thank her for her
involvement.
carried out this duty for over 20 years until 2004 when nationally the loyalty and hard work over the years.
Buying or Renting a Home
Whether the bottom of the property a house in which they live to a lodger will
market has already been reached is remain.
unclear but it is certainly the case that Also major changes to planning law were
many solicitors have had an increase in proposed this summer with the aim of
enquiries from those buying a house. reducing the need to obtain planning
If you need any advice in this area do get in permission for minor works. Businesses,
touch. In addition we can advise on the offices, shops, schools and other institutions
proposed new scheme whereby landlords will benefit from not having to pay planning
would have to register. John Denham, the and all their properties, will allow councils to application fees and administration costs for
Communities Secretary, plans to fast-track intervene where tenants complain, and ban minor alterations and extensions which can
the proposals this autumn to crack down on landlords from letting property if they fail to cost up to £2,000 or wait weeks to start
rogue landlords who fail to repair property address problems. building.
or who improperly retain their tenants’ Perhaps its primary purpose however is to Other small developments such as the
deposits. ensure HMRC know who is letting property replacement of shop fronts and installing
Landlords will register on line and pay a so they can levy income tax on rents cashpoints will also be subject to a simpler
£40 fee and agree to a set of standards received by landlords. However the rent-a- and cheaper process.
before they can let property.The register will room scheme where landlords can earn Contact us for further information on
include the names and addresses of landlords, £4250 a year tax free from renting a room in any of these changes.
5 Parkstone Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 2NL Tel: 01202 673071 Fax: 01202 680470
221 The Broadway, Lower Blandford Road, Broadstone, Dorset BH18 8DN
Address panel
Tel: 01202 692308 Fax: 01202 601353
Email: enquiries@dickinsonmanser.co.uk www.dickinsonmanser.co.uk
Data protection notification to cost 2010
Organisations with a turnover of £25.9 an unencrypted floppy disk in the post,
million or more and 250 or more staff containing the personal information of 1,917
are required to pay the Information pension scheme members, then in February
Commissioner's Office an annual fee of 2008 HSBC Life lost an unencrypted CD
£500 with effect from 1st October.The containing the details of 180,000 policy
current fee is just £35. Have you holders in the post.The FSA found that large
notified the ICO’s office under the Data amounts of unencrypted customer details had
Protection Act 1998? been sent via post or courier to third parties.
This year the FSA fined three Confidential information about customers was
HSBC firms more than £3m for also left on open shelves or in unlocked
security breaches in not cabinets and could have been lost or stolen. In
having suitable systems in addition, staff were not given sufficient training
place to protect against loss on how to identify and manage risks like
of customers’ confidential identity theft.This summer the ICO’s annual
details.The FSA fined HSBC Life report was published setting out their aims
£1,610,000, HSBC Actuaries for 2010.
£875,000 and HSBC Insurance Brokers You may need advice on data protection law. If
£700,000. so get in touch. It is a criminal offence to
In April 2007, HSBC Actuaries lost breach data protection legislation.
Swine Flu - The Law What is “Copying”?
Winter usually heralds worse levels of staff sickness and Most individuals and businesses have some knowledge
recently the fear has been over swine flu. Lawyers are about copyright law. At home and at work they realise
finding an increase in requests for legal advice about the they may not copy large chunks from other publications
implications of the swine flu pandemic. even if they credit the source and even if the information
Do you know your is “publicly available” such as published on line or in a
legal position? The newspaper or book.
number one question However one question often asked of lawyers is how much can
has been whether be copied before there is a breach of copyright.There is no set
swine flu is “force limit for this. If it is
majeure”. Most worth copying it is
commercial contracts worth protecting, said
include a clause called the courts in the UK.
force majeure. If an Act In a decision this
of God, war, trade summer the European
embargo, possibly a Court of Justice
strike and other circumstances beyond the control of a party to a (“ECJ”) looked at this
contract prevents their complying with the contract , they are area and held that
excused such non-performance. Usually the contract provides that copying and
they do not need to perform their obligations for a period set out reproducing eleven
in the clause. However the devil is in the detail. If the clause words of a news article
specifically mentions disease it is going to be much easier to say this however could be a
is a circumstance beyond the party’s reasonable control. However if breach of copyright
there is no such clause and it is the employer’s own staff which are under EU law.A Danish
off sick then it may be reasonable to expect that employer at high newspaper clippings
cost to buy in contracted labour. service Infopaq was
Another issue is staff sickness. Some employees are using this as sued by the Danish
an excuse to take time off, and employers have perennial problems newspaper industry
over when they can sack employees for faking sickness.Although body.The agency
absence levels have plummeted in the private sector, in the scanned newspaper pages and turned that image into text. Clients
recession, as people worry about losing their jobs, some are still were then sent any material which used keywords in which they
seeking to milk the system with faked swine flu and other illnesses. were interested. Infopaq said that any copying came under an
However others again may be coming into work when they are too exception for “transient copying”, but the ECJ said that as soon as
ill and may infect their work mates.The employment law issues the words were printed that was too permanent to come within
need to be sensitively handled and legal advice sought where the exception.
necessary. Taking ideas but not their expression will not breach the law
Call us to draft or check your force majeure clauses or for advice however but you would have to start writing the piece from
on employment law issues relating to the pandemic. scratch.
Legal
Eye
Export, Import, Internet Selling & EU Law
Do you export or import goods? If so the new draft EU block
exemption regulations and guidance may be of interest.
Most distribution agreements in the EU are drafted with an eye to
the EU regulation in this area known as the vertical agreements block
exemption and the guidance notes which go with it.The EU has
proposed a replacement for this legislation. If you are engaged in
selling over the internet or export or import of goods or services the
new rules may affect you.The vertical agreements regulation relates to
restrictions in these areas which might breach the EU competition
rules in article 81 of the Treaty of Rome.
The draft new regulation can only now be used if the parties’ joint
market shares are under 30% and the other major change from the
current regime will be new rules on internet selling.There is also a
proposal for a new regulation in the area of motor vehicle distribution
agreements.
The current general distribution rules are fairly straight-forward. It
is illegal to stop a distributor making sales outside their exclusive
territory in the EU, but it is acceptable to prevent them from actively
selling outside their area, a subtle but important distinction which is
reflected in most well drafted distribution agreements. Internet selling sales can be the same for all buyers, or determined individually for
has muddied the waters.The section on internet selling in the current each buyer on the basis of objective criteria, such as the buyer's size in
EU guidelines has been modified in the new draft. the network or its geographic location.)
The new draft will ban the following:- - requiring a distributor to pay a higher price for products intended
- requiring an exclusive distributor to prevent customers located in to be resold by the distributor online than for products intended to
another exclusive territory from viewing its website or requiring the be resold off-line.
distributor to put on its website automatic re-routing of customers to Generally a website is not considered a form of active selling to
the manufacturer's or other exclusive distributors' websites; certain customers unless it is specifically targeted at these customers.
- requiring an exclusive distributor to terminate consumers' An online advertisement specifically addressed to certain customers is
transactions over the internet once their credit card data reveal an a form of active selling to these customers. The supplier cannot
address that is not within the distributor's exclusive territory; reserve to itself sales and/or advertising over the Internet.
- requiring a distributor to limit the proportion of overall sales These are interesting rules and are often raised by our clients who
made over the internet (this does not exclude the supplier requiring, sell on line. In addition the UK Office of Fair Trading has just issued its
without limiting the online sales of the distributor, that the buyer sells Annual Report and an important Opinion in the EU has been issued in
at least a certain absolute amount (in value or volume) of the July in a case GSK which clarified the law and said that the
products off-line to ensure an efficient operation of its brick and competition rules could be breached whether or not customers
mortar shop, nor does it preclude the supplier from making sure that suffered any detriment.
the online activity of the distributor remains consistent with the If you need any further advice on this area contact us for
supplier's distribution model.This absolute amount of required off-line further information.
Assisted Suicide
Many of our local private clients might be prosecuted if they provide We can draft a
wrestle with legal issues over elderly assistance to those who might wish to lasting power of
relatives and their desires.We can commit suicide. attorney for you
advise on writing a “living will” Assisted suicide is a crime punishable and advise in this
setting out how someone might with up to 14 years in jail in the UK area.
prefer to be treated as they become although no one has ever been prosecuted
less competent and we can draw up a so far for aiding a suicide abroad. If you
lasting power of attorney to deal with have any legal issues about your own right
other legal matters. to die, care in old age, power to manage
The House of Lords’ final decision your affairs or those of a relative contact
before it became the Supreme Court in us for advice and information. Many
autumn 2009, was an appropriately historic elderly relatives now live longer than was
decision in the case brought by Debbie previously the case and issues such as
Purdy.The court decided that the Crown lasting powers of attorney and their care
Prosecution Service must produce must be sensitively handled in accordance
guidelines on when relatives and friends with their wishes.
Legal
Eye
Trade Secrets
There is nothing like a recession to induce area with which the employee was involved. In Vestergaard Frandsen a consultant and
employees illegally to take from their ex Well drafted such clauses will set out in two ex-employees were found to have
employer trade secrets and confidential detail their extent so there is no doubt about breached confidence.The information was
information. the reach of the clause. contained in a database and concerned
Many employees made redundant are chemical recipes which were used to develop
setting up on their own. Do your a polyethylene long-lasting mosquito net,
employment contracts include a named Netprotect, containing slow release
confidentiality clause and a valid restrictive insecticide for killing mosquitoes.The court
covenant? It may pay now to have those held that the new company had illegally
contracts checked in advance before a misused information from the Vestergaard
dispute arises. Ensure employees are told Frandsen database to identify which recipes
exactly what they may and may not do with worked best when deciding what variations
your confidential information, both before should be tested in the development of their
and after they cease to work for you. If you product NetProtect and damages were
are an employee take legal advice before recovered in addition to an injunction and
using any information from your employer costs. Its costs bill was £4.5m. Losing your
after you leave. It is a myth that all restrictive customer base, secret product information
covenant clauses are void. Many are fair, or trade secrets can cause a business to
reasonable and valid.The law on restraint of suffer financial losses.
trade requires courts to look at factors such Contact us to check your contracts or to
as the geographical reach of the restriction threaten legal action against those taking
and whether it extends beyond the business your confidential information unlawfully.
April 2010 Changes - Personal Tax and Wills
Now, before the end of the 2009/2010 tax year, may be a increases to the trust rate and dividend
good time to get your tax affairs in order well in advance. trust rate to match those for income
® Income tax. From 6th April 2010 the new tax.Also pension tax relief is reduced
50% higher rate tax band starts. Dividends for those on high incomes.
from shares within that tax band will be Given the 18% capital gains tax rate,
taxed at 42.5%. The 50% band the fact many individuals do not use their
applies to taxable income over annual CGT tax free allowance, and the 50%
£150,000. From 2010-11 highest income tax rate, it is not surprising there
the basic allowance for has been enthusiasm for converting income to
income tax will be capital and in capital gain producing assets rather
gradually reduced than income generating assets.
to nil for individuals ® Car tax. More likely to affect most readers
with “adjusted net are the changes to vehicle tax rates from April
incomes” above 2010.Vehicle tax rates for cars registered on or
£100,000 and from after 1 March 2001 are split into 13 bands
2010-11 there will depending on CO2 emissions.The amount you will
be pay depends on which band your car comes under.
From April 2010 there will be different Vehicle Tax rates
for new cars when they are first registered.These are
known as ‘first-year rates’. Standard rates of Vehicle Tax will also
change in April 2010.
® VAT. VAT returns to 17.5% on 1 January 2010 from its
temporary lower rate of 15% which has annoyed some retailers as
it coincides with the busy time of the January sales. If you are in
business you need to remember when this change occurs and have
stationery and invoices altered in time.
It may also be sensible to look again at your will. Have you done all
you can to avoid 40% inheritance tax?
This newsletter has been prepared for general interest and it is important to obtain professional advice on specific issues.We believe the information contained in it to be correct at time of print.While all possible care is taken in the
preparation of this newsletter, no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the material contained herein can be accepted by the firm, the authors or the publishers.
