THE START OF THE “RED TAPE” UNWIND
The Planning and Environment Court (P&E Court) now has the general discretion to award costs. This fundamental shift from the previous general default position that each party to an appeal bear their own costs was passed on 13 November 2012 and brings the P&E Court more in line with the costs regime in the Supreme and District Courts.
A non-exhaustive list of matters the P&E Court may have regard to when exercising its discretion in awarding costs has been incorporated into the Sustainable Planning Act (SPA), including “the relative success of the parties to the proceeding”, “the commercial interests of the parties to the proceeding” and whether the proceedings were commenced “without reasonable prospects of success”.
It is expected that the amendment will: Continue Reading
PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE
As the trend towards online trading continues to grow at a rapid rate, it is becoming increasingly necessary for many businesses to offer their products and services online to remain competitive. Equally important is having in place an appropriate system to ensure the terms which regulate your trading activities protects your business.
Generally you should set up your website so that customers can accept your terms and conditions of sale or use in a way that is legally binding on the customers. The two most commons ways that a customer may accept online terms is by “click-wrap” or “browse-wrap” agreements. Continue Reading