The UK officially left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020 at 11pm, ending 47 years of membership.

The “transition period”, provided for by the Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020, applies from 1 February 2020 with a deadline for the transition to complete by 31 December 2020. During this time, the UK will continue to be subject to EU law while seeking to secure a permanent trading agreement. Although the status quo is maintained in the interim, so that the short term impact to business is limited, there are immediate changes.

Francovich damages are damages against an EU member state for failure to implement or breach EU law, as first defined in Francovich and Bonifaci v Italy. In the Court of Appeal case of Secretary of State for Transport v Arriva Rail East Midlands Ltd and others [2019] EWCA Civ 2259, the Court had to decide the applicable limitation period for the bringing of a Francovich claim: in this case, arising in respect of a public procurement process.

A common cause for dispute in commercial contracts is the termination, or threatened termination of the contract. Often, the party seeking to terminate the contract asserts the right to do so based on the counter-party’s breach of their obligations. There can be grave consequences for the terminating party if their view of the legal position is mistaken. This update covers the fundamentals of termination rights and how to navigate a safe exit from commercial contracts.