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Recent Legal News

Legal News Covered in this Blog:

  • Heathrow Airport’s Third Runway Plans
  • ⁠Recent Shifts in Saudi Arabia’s Legal Market
  • ⁠Honda-Nissan Merger Talks Terminate
  • ⁠Apple Removes Data Security Tool From the UK

Heathrow Airport’s Third Runway Plans 

The CEO of London Heathrow Airport has confirmed that plans are being developed for a third runway at Heathrow Airport,  “we will submit our plans for a third runway to the Government this summer”. This comes alongside the airport’s other proposals, such as the improvement of existing Heathrow terminals, which the government states is all part of its efforts to improve the UK economy. The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said that a Heathrow expansion would create 100,000 jobs. Additionally, the UK Steel Charter was signed which commits Heathrow to “using UK-made steel for its construction projects wherever possible, giving a major boost to the sector”. Furthermore, Heathrow’s current infrastructure is straining to accommodate the number of landings and take-offs that take place every day, with the Chancellor saying that a Heathrow expansion is “badly needed”. A third runway would give Heathrow Airport the potential to increase their maximum number of flights permitted to 720,000. 

However, some argue that the potential for these plans to grow the UK economy is over exaggerated. Think tanks like New Economics Foundation (NEF) claim that expanding UK airports won’t deliver economic growth. Recent data from NEF demonstrates that although the total air passenger departures has grown by 26 million in the past 2 decades, incoming foreign tourists were outnumbered three‑to‑one by UK residents travelling abroad on their holidays, and spending money overseas. Subsequently, the think tank has asked the Treasury to publish examinable evidence of the expansion’s growth benefits. 

The plans do also face heated opposition from local authorities and residents. For example, the leader of Hillingdon Council has said that “as a borough we have fought the spectre of these proposals for more than 25 years and we’ll continue fighting for as long as it takes to put our residents first.” As well as this, many concerns are being raised by environmental organisations. This is because as a result houses would be demolished and rivers and the M25 would have to be diverted. Heathrow’s boss has countered that the airport’s expansion plans will be carried out with “strict environmental safeguards”. Their planning applications will need to prove that they will meet the government’s net-zero by 2050 targets, with the proceedings of R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Ltd and others) (Respondents) v Heathrow Airport Ltd (Appellant) demonstrating that their policy statements are likely to be subject to rigorous scrutiny on lawfulness grounds. 

Importantly, it has been declared that public funding will not be needed and that the costs of expansion would be met by charging airlines for use of the larger airport.

With the Chancellor expressing a desire to see the runway in use by 2035, this demonstrates a strong commitment to following through with the Heathrow expansion plans. It sends a clear message to foreign investors that the UK government is backing its economic growth priorities with real action. 

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Recent Shifts in Saudi Arabia’s Legal Market

In 2016 Saudi Arabia’s Vision 30 strategy was launched. One of the program’s aims is to diversify their oil-dependent economy by increasing foreign investment. As part of this vision, in 2023, Saudi Arabia’s government reformed the Code of Law Practice to allow foreign firms to set up their own practices without the constraints of a local partner. This change came with conditions such as that 70% of a firm’s lawyers must be Saudi nationals and licences must be renewed every 5 years. Additionally, the government has attractively offered tax breaks for foreign firms setting up regional headquarters (RHQs) in the country. Hence, many law firms want to capitalise on these opportunities with many already establishing and expanding their presence in the Saudi legal market. 

Recently, Reed Smith secured a license to set up an office from the Saudi Ministry of Justice and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) announced on February 6th that they have plans to open offices in the country. BCLP plans to open bases in Riyadh and Al-Khobar in order to be “strategically positioned to support multi-billion-dollar projects and attract new clients across both private and public sectors, including opportunities linked to the Vision 2030 plan”. The Head of Strategic Growth Team at BCLP commented “We are thrilled to open our doors in Saudi Arabia, and this launch further establishes our commitment to working in the country and maintaining and developing relationships with our Saudi Arabian client base. This is a huge opportunity for BCLP to gain a distinct, competitive advantage internationally given its strong track record in leading real estate, construction, and infrastructure projects across the full spectrum of legal services.”

Other law firms are reinforcing their presence. For example, Eversheds Sutherland relocated its co-chief executive, Lee Ranson, from London to Dubai and King & Spalding recently merged with Al Fahad & Partners which was a Riyadh law firm. 

Hence, the Kingdom’s new developments are influencing the strategy of many law firms. With the New Investment Law taking effect this month,which features the possibility of granting investment incentives and the elimination of foreign investment licences, the country will likely become even more attractive for foreign investors. 

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Honda-Nissan Merger Talks Terminate 

In December 2024 Honda and Nissan, both Japanese automotive manufacturers, announced ambitions to combine their businesses to compete against Chinese rival brands. This is amidst the electric car market being dominated by Chinese manufacturers resulting in many automotive companies struggling to compete.  Such a merger would have created an automaker worth $60 billion (£48 billion). However, this month, in a joint statement they announced the termination of merger talks as their boards had “agreed to terminate the MOU (memorandum of understanding) signed on December 23 last year for consideration of a business integration between the two companies”. 

To recap, Honda entered negotiations in a leading position since they are doing better economically. Last year, Nissan even implemented cost-cutting measures such as cutting 9,000 jobs. Eventually, the companies had disagreement on whether it would be setting up a joint holding company or if Nissan would play the role of a subsidiary through a share exchange. Some sources blame Nissan’s pride – as the older automotive company – for hindering the talks. Julie Boote, analyst at research firm Pelham Smithers Associates said Nissan were “completely overestimating their position and their brand value, and their ability to turn around the business.” But others blame Honda for not considering Nissan an equal, as Honda’s decision to alter the terms and propose to make Nissan a subsidiary reportedly caused tensions. Renault, Nissan’s top shareholder, said that a “takeover of Nissan by Honda without a control premium for Nissan shareholders” was “not acceptable”. 

The disagreements ultimately led to the cessation of merger talks. Despite this, Honda and Nissan have pledged to continue to “collaborate within the framework of a strategic partnership aimed at the era of intelligence and electrified vehicles, striving to create new value and maximise the corporate value of both companies”. 

Subsidiary = according to the British Business Bank, a subsidiary is a company that is owned and controlled by another company

Joint holding company = a company owned by two or more clients jointly

Control Premium = an amount that a buyer is willing to pay in excess of the fair market value of shares in order to gain a controlling ownership interest in a publicly traded company.

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Apple removes data security tool from the UK   

The security tool Advanced Data Protection (ADP) allows only account holders to be able to view items they’ve stored online through end-to-end encryption. This is Apple’s highest level of data protection, which experts call “true end-to-end encryption”. The ADP service was opt-in which meant that people had to sign up to the tool. 

The UK government issued a Technical Capability Notice, using the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, for Apple to make a backdoor to give the police and security services easier access to fully encrypted files from Apple users when needed. They have argued that end-to-end encryption is limiting efforts to catch criminals who use it to hide their activities online. 

Apple has consistently opposed the creation of a “backdoor” to its encryption services, asserting that it could be exploited for malicious purposes. After the government requested the right to have access to the end-to-end encrypted data, Apple maintained, “we have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products, and we never will”. Instead, in response, Apple has unprecedentedly removed ADP from new UK users and current UK users will in due time be unable to access this tool. What this means is that those in the UK that attempt to turn on the feature will be met with an error message. And for those who had signed up before this decision, their access will be disabled in due course. So, Apple iCloud backups will no longer be end-to-end encrypted in the UK. 

Apple’s decision to remove ADP in the UK has had varying reactions. Some like Professor Alan Woodward (cyber-security expert at Surrey University) say that this has weakened “online security and privacy for UK based users”. Professor Oli Buckley, a Professor in Cyber Security at Loughborough University, said it is “a significant move because it takes away the strongest form of security on iCloud, which offered true end-to-end encryption.” Two senior US politicians said that it posed a threat to American national security and that the USA should re-evaluate its intelligence-sharing agreements with the UK. However, the UK children’s charity NSPCC view this as an opportunity for Apple to consider “other measures they can put in place to better protect children” since “end-to-end encryption allows offenders to groom and manipulate children and build communities where they can share vile child sexual abuse material without detection”. 

Ultimately, Apple’s response to the UK government’s demands has set a strong precedent. 

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By Aaisha Faizal

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