Newsletter
Information for members
December 2005

Previous issue: November 2005 | Next issue: January 2006

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Programme

Unless marked otherwise, the following meetings are free to members and guests. Location maps are now always available on the website.

All are welcome but for those meetings where the organiser’s telephone or email is given, it would be helpful if you could please let them know of your intention to attend.

Monday 5th December, 6.15pm
“Determination of the Contractor's Employment under Construction Contracts”
Speaker: John Lyden
Chairman: Eamonn McCarthy
Venue: Rochestown Park Hotel, Douglas, Cork
Organiser: johnlyden@scl.org.uk

Tuesday 6 December, 6.15pm
Joint SCL /TECBAR meeting
“Liability of local authorities”
Speaker: Lord Justice Dyson
Venue and chairman to be announced
This meeting will be followed by drinks and canapés

Thursday 8th December, 6pm
“Delay: Penalty and Claims: Lawyers dance to the music of time”
Speaker: Colin Reese QC
Chairman: Adrian Kearney
Venue: Law Society House, 98 Victoria Street , Belfast BT1 6.00pm
Organiser: patriciawhite@scl.org.uk

Two social dates for your 2006 diary

The Society's annual Brewery Lunch ( Chiswell Street, London ) will be on Friday, 17 th February. The 2006 Brewery lunch will be a special event, details of which will be announced shortly. All members will receive a copy of the booking form; please note that demand is likely to be unusually heavy for what will be a landmark event.

The AGM and Annual Dinner, will be on Wednesday, 17 th May 2006 at Middle Temple Hall, Middle Temple Lane, London. Members are reminded that the Society's annual dinner is the one event of the year reserved for members only, ie, members may not invite non-member guests. Further details and a booking form will be issued nearer the date.

Renewal of membership 2006

We are pleased to announce that for the third year running there will be no increase in the £100 annual subscription. All full members of the Society will receive their renewal of membership invoices by post very shortly and there will be the usual discount of £5 for those members who pay their 2006 subscription before the end of January!

The e-membership subscription rate of £15 will also remain unchanged. All e-members will receive by email an invitation to renew, with instructions on how to make their online payment. Payment online is the only payment method available to e-members.

Two new Regional Coordinators

We welcome Patricia White who has taken over as the new Co-ordinator for the Belfast region. The first SCL meeting organised by Patricia will take place on Thursday, 8th December at Law Society House in Belfast . Colin Reese QC will speak on “Delay: Penalty and Claims: Lawyers dance to the music of time”. Further details are listed in the programme above and a location map can be found on the website. All members and their guests are welcome to attend and join us for a glass of wine.

We also welcome Denis Wiles who has taken over as the new Co-ordinator for the Newcastle region. Denis is currently organising his first SCL meeting, the details of which will be announced shortly.

SCL Junior Members

If you are under 40 or new to the world of construction law, then you can register as a junior member.  The junior committee arranges site visits, conferences with King's College London and social events such as the summer Boat Trip on the Thames .

To register as a Junior Member, log in to the SCL website (www.scl.org.uk) in the usual way, choose the 'Members' link at the top, and then the 'Junior members' link on the left. You will find an explanation of Junior Membership, and a simple form to register. You do not need to enter your name/details, as these are already recognised by the website after you logged in; you only need to confirm your eligibility by giving either your date of birth, or stating that you are junior in your area of expertise.

Nicholas Gould, SCL's Vice chariman, is responsible for the Junior members and he can be emailed on by email

SCL Hudson Prize 2005

A final reminder that the closing date for entries for the SCL Hudson Prize is 31 st  December 2005 . Entries are invited from members and non-members, so if you have any non-member colleagues who you think might be interested, then please let them know. The entry details can be downloaded from the website, or request a copy from admin.

The winner of the first prize will receive a cheque for £1,500 and a case of champagne, and the winner of the second prize will receive a cheque for £750 and a case of wine. Other prizes may be awarded.

Avoidance of doubt – a further clarification

Members of Council have again been contacted about possible confusion arising from the activities of an organisation using the initials SGCL. SCL has no connection with that organisation, its seminars or any other of its activities.

If any Society members are in doubt about the identity of any person contacting them or the source of any connection, they should contact an Officer of the Society or other member of Council for clarification.

Anthony Lavers, Chairman

Published papers

If any member wishes to receive an email copy of web-only papers (ie those not printed in hard copy) as soon as they are put on the website, they may do so by registering at www.scl.org.uk  

Further search facilities have been added recently, making it even easier to search SCL's extensive library (over 180 papers).

UK businesses and associations unite to tackle corruption

UK businesses and associations with interests in the domestic and international infrastructure, construction and engineering sectors have agreed a comprehensive Anti-Corruption Action Statement as part of a programme to promote industry-led actions which can help eliminate corruption.

The Action Statement has been developed and endorsed by the Anti-Corruption Forum, which comprises the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), British Consultants and Construction Bureau (BCCB), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Transparency International (UK) (TI(UK)), and representatives of the business community.

The Action Statement calls on all those with interests in the infrastructure, construction and engineering sectors to take effective and co-ordinated action to reduce corruption, on both a domestic and international basis, and on both the supply and demand sides. It identifies the various categories of participant in the sectors, including governments, project owners, banks, export credit agencies, companies providing the equipment and services for a project, business associations and professional institutions. It recommends preventive and enforcement actions which could be taken by those participants. A copy of the Anti-Corruption Action Statement is available on the Ethics page of SCL's website.

New Website Search Engine

A useful search facility has been added to the SCL website. In the right column of the homepage you will see 'Quick Search'. Enter your word(s) and choose which of three sections to search - 'About Us', SCL newsletters, and summaries of papers. We hope that this facility will make it easier for members to find what they are looking for on the site.

The website is constantly being improved.  If you have any questions, problems or suggestions, please contact our webmaster, Edward Peters, at Webmaster

How to register on the website as a member

In order to get members' access to the website you must register online as a member. Registration is easy.

Go to the website homepage www.scl.org.uk click Member Registration (listed below the Member Login box on the right hand side of the homepage) and enter your details and a username and password of your own choosing. Your membership number is also asked for (if you don't know it, then admin can tell you).  

Thereafter, you can simply log onto the website using your username and password. When you log in you will see a navigation link to 'Members' which is where you can update your contact details, email subscriptions and data protection information – as well as search for information about other SCL members who have agreed for their data to be accessible to other members on the website (currently over 500 members).

Contributions invited from Members

What construction law related topic would you like to see presented as a talk? Please email your suggestions to Jackie Morris on admin@scl.org.uk and we will do our best to organise a talk in your area.

You are also invited to contribute to the newsletter. If you have an item related to construction law that you feel would be of interest to others, then please email text to Jackie Morris at admin@scl.org.uk. A member of Council will thereafter decide whether to include the item in the next newsletter. Please note that we do not accept advertisements or items of a commercial nature.

New Members

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the following new members who joined the Society in November:

Raid Abu-Manneh, London
Richard Anderson, Glasgow
Richard Bailey, London
Matthew Bell, Melbourne, Australia
Alan Bristow, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Matthew Coleman, London
Colin Dean, Derby
Stuart Donovan, London
John Harwood, London
Graham Hicks, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Thomas Janes, Canaan, USA
John Kelly, Nottingham
Stuart Kelly, Wolverhampton
Clifford Leach, Hull
Gerard Martin, Ardee, Ireland
Nicholas Pope, Torquay
David Rollason, London
Emma Sephton, London
Trevor Sharpe, Crowthorne
J Mark Swift, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire
James Turner, Belfast
Kwok Ming Wai, Hong Kong

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