Australia: The Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2002 (Vic) (unlike in all other Australian jurisdictions) contains provisions which seek to limit the application of the Act, on the basis that disputes of a certain nature and quantum are not appropriate for the swift and informal adjudication process provided under the Act. In particular, the Act imposes a limit on the quantum of variation claims that can be made under the Act, where the contract ‘provides a method of resolving disputes’ (the intention being that parties use the agreed contractual dispute resolution mechanism to resolve the dispute instead of the Act). In SSC Plenty Road Pty Ltd v Construction Engineering (Aust) Pty Ltd [2015] VSC 631 the court confirmed that ‘method of resolving disputes’ within the meaning of the Act meant that the Contract must have a dispute resolution clause which produces a final and binding outcome determined by a third party. Where the dispute resolution clause is optional or allows for a final outcome to be appealed, it is not a method for resolving disputes and therefore the Act is available to a claimant in respect of disputed variations. UK: The Home Office published its guidance on section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which requires businesses with a global turnover above GBP 36 million to publish a slavery and human trafficking statement each financial year. To read more on this, please see page 58.
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December Hong Kong: Many jurisdictions have enacted competition laws in the past years. Hong Kong seems to have fallen behind in protecting fair competition. Now, after years of highly polarised debate, the Competition Ordinance finally commenced operation on 14 December 2015. Under the new legislation, four types of serious anti-competitive conducts, namely market sharing, price fixing, output restriction and bid rigging are prohibited. Businesses engaging in other anti-competitive activities, depending on their size and market power, may also be penalized. Those who are found in breach of the Competition Ordinance, in addition to penalties under the law, may be liable to civil remedies. A Competition Commission has been formed to investigate anti-competitive activities and enforce the new legislation. Competition- related cases will be heard in a specialized Competition Tribunal.
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