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22 March 2024
Issue: 8064 / Categories: Legal News , Employment , Disciplinary&grievance procedures
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NLJ this week: Can draft code tackle fire & rehire?

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Remember the P&O fire and rehire scandal? A final draft of the statutory code on dismissal and re-engagement has now been laid before Parliament, Charles Pigott writes in this week’s NLJ

Pigott, professional support lawyer, Mills & Reeve, reviews the contents of the draft code, which was prompted by P&O’s firing of 800 seafarers without consultation in 2022. It is due to take effect in the summer.

He sets the code in context, writing that it ‘sits in an area occupied by a large number of overlapping legal provisions’, and highlights some shortfalls. As for what the draft code achieves, Pigott writes: ‘The key change is that the revised draft presents the steps an employer is required to take in a more logical order.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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