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Monday, May 21, 2012

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PRIVY COUNCIL JUDGMENT ON EX-CHIEF JUSTICES COSTS Following the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council's majority Advice to Her Majesty the Queen last November in relation to the removal of the then Chief Justice of Gibraltar, the matter of costs came before the Privy Council on the 2nd July 2010. In a Judgment issued on the 01.10.10, Master Campbell of the Privy Council recalled how the case was "very unusual." The United Kingdom's most senior judges had heard the matter and Lords Phillips, Brown, Judge and Clarke had advised Her Majesty that the Chief Justice should be removed from office whilst Lords Hope and Rodger and Lady Hale had held that the case for removal had not been made out and that the proper course was for him to resign.

Previously a specially convened Tribunal in Gibraltar had unanimously recommended the CJ's removal (Lord Cullen of Whitekirk, Rt. Hon Sir Peter Gibson and Rt. Hon Sir Jonathan Parker).

Prior to the substantive hearing in London, Lord Phillips had ordered that the Chief Justice's legal costs be covered by the Government of Gibraltar. At the costs hearing the Government had argued that the Chief Justice's replacement of the legal team who had represented him before the Tribunal had led to an unnecessary increase in costs. Read the Full Story
POWER STATION NOISE NUISANCE CASE In November 2009 the owners at the luxury Clifftop residential development over looking the Straits of Gibraltar across to North Africa found out that an Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate ("EIAC") had been issued for the construction of a £50,000,000 power station in the nearby Lathbury area. The Claimants complained that they had not been consulted as required by the relevant planning legislation and that the Environmental Statement and the EIAC had not properly dealt with the question of noise emissions.

Following the issue of a claim for judicial review in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar and strenuous negotiations the parties agreed terms and on the 27th September 2010 a Consent Order was made by the Chief Justice requiring the Development & Planning Commission to amend the EIAC to include a limit on the permitted noise level to 42 dB(A) at the nearest facade of any apartment in Clifftop House when measured in accordance with BS 4142.

The Government was ordered to pay the Claimants' costs. Read the Full Story
GIBRALTAR TO CUT COMPANY TAX BY 12% Company Tax in Gibraltar is to be reduced from 22 per cent to 10 per cent with effect from 1 January next year. The new tax regime, which has been on the cards for several years – but whose introduction was delayed in part by a protracted legal clash with the European Commission over the problematic question of ‘State Aid’ –  will also abolish the current tax exempt company arrangements. The reduction – details of which are set out in proposals for a new, amended and consolidated Income Tax Act – ends the historic distinction between “onshore” and “offshore” business which, in the past has proved particularly attractive to international investors.

“Together with the tax information exchange agreements being entered into by the Government, and Gibraltar’s full integration in the EU and compliance with EU financial services regulation, money laundering and co-operation rules, the new Tax Act completes Gibraltar’s 14 year transition from tax haven to mainstream European financial services centre,” Chief Minister Peter Caruana told a local newspaper. Read the Full Story
GIBRALTAR HOME-BUYING BOOM BOOSTS CONVEYANCING Conveyancing in Gibraltar is growing strongly. The tax advantages and other attractions Gibraltar offered the on-line gaming industry combined with the Rock’s burgeoning financial services sector created an unparalleled demand for accommodation. It came both from an inflow of expatriate professionals and workers with specialized skills and from the growing demand by Gibraltarians to own their own homes. Many of these were families who moved from Government rental housing to home-ownership and this is a trend which continues today.

Two decades ago only some 6 per cent of the Rock’s inhabitants owned the houses and apartments in which they lived; today that figure is nudging the 50 per cent mark, and although some of this growth has stemmed from “affordable” Government-sponsored housing schemes far more homes have been privately built. And it was further encouraged by a new prosperity and improved individual incomes which developed as the finance sector – and retail growth – took over as the economic engine room following the closure of the Naval Dockyard. Read the Full Story
RECORD REVENUES & GDP UNDERSCORE THE ROCK’S FINANCIAL STRENGTHS Reflecting record  revenues, a record surplus and a rising GDP which has topped the 5 per cent mark, Gibraltar’s Budget for 2009/10 not only underscores the extent to which the Rock’s financial sector has weathered the global economic crunch, but – albeit on a smaller scale – provides a set of accounts which most developed Western countries would envy. For individual Gibraltarians and local companies it was very much a ‘give-and-take’ budget, in which corporate and personal tax cuts were partly off-set by rises in service costs. But it will be welcomed by the growing number of international investors who are making the Rock their financial headquarters for the Budget also heralded the arrival of the long-promised 12 per cent reduction of corporate tax to a highly competitive 10 per cent.

However it also, finally spelt the end of the ‘exempt company’ regime which will cease with effect from January 1 next year and which for many years has proved attractive to some investors. Some uncertainty surrounds the possible impact of ending the zero tax exempt company, and the Government has set aside £10 million of the $27.7 million surplus announced in the Budget to buttress Gibraltar’s finances against any impact the abolition might have. Read the Full Story
HOW GIBRALTAR’S TAX-PLANNING REGIME CAN HELP YOU With no capital gains, VAT, inheritance or wealth taxes, added to various tax incentives and full membership of the EU allowing the passporting of financial services across Europe, Gibraltar presents a myriad of tax planning opportunities to companies, investors and private individuals alike. However, issues of residence and domicile are central to all offshore tax planning and require careful attention. Charles A. Gomez & Co. have the necessary expertise to help you avoid any of the pitfalls of relocation whilst ensuring your tax planning is really effective.

We and our clients accept that tax cannot be avoided – indeed we would never advise a client to try to do so. However, if used carefully and effectively, with professional guidance Gibraltar’s unique tax structure can help reduce your tax bill.

Our associate barrister-at-law, Nicholas Piñero is a fully accredited member of the Association of Taxation Technicians and can advise you on any local and cross-border taxation issues involving the UK and/or Gibraltar. Read the Full Story
News Lawyers or Businessmen?

Lawyers or Businessmen?

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Thursday, 27 December 2007 00:00 Written by Charles A Gomez

C Gomez & CoA prominent English solicitor has called for lawyers to be obliged to work "pro bono" (free of charge) in deserving cases.

 

Lord Phillips of Sudbury told a conference of lawyers last week: "If we want to get richer then we should drop the word lawyer and call ourselves businessmen, we need to re-examine what we are on this planet for" he said, adding "the role of lawyers is not just about serving the best paying clients but lawyers do have an indispensable role in ensuring a fair society".

It has always been true that the law courts are like the Ritz hotel, open to anyone .... as long as they can pay. Still the provision of state funded legal aid in Britain is far superior to that in Gibraltar where assistance is only available to a very small proportion of people who are almost on the bread line. A few local lawyers take on a disproportionate amount of social work and it is the talk of the town that in a city with such a high proportion of lawyers, Opposition leader Joe Bossano who is not a lawyer, should have represented the complainant in the widely reported Dr. Giraldi home unfair dismissal case.

A surprisingly small number of recently qualified lawyers seem to be available to represent impecunious litigants or to offer free consultations.

Although the reform of the civil procedure rules has had some positive effect in simplifying court procedures and pays lip service to reducing unnecessary delay, the fact is that it is still open to a rich litigant to get his lawyers to grind down a poorer adversary with the threat of huge adverse costs orders. Only last year, the Gibraltar Heritage Trust got a taste of legal realities when it tried to sue the Development & Planning Commission - the trustees were soon bounced out of the Court House at 277 Main Street when they were told the kind of fortunes that they would be personally liable for if they lost their case.

When the former Chief Justice's wife, Mrs. Anne Schofield promoted the Gibraltar Law Students' Association ("GSLA") in 2005, some hoped that this would be the dawn of a new found social conscience at least among newer recruits, but this has not yet materialised.

Gibraltarian barrister Charles Gomez who drafted the rules of the GLSA and has fought several cases pro bono says that there was extremely good material among the members, but as they have moved into the big, mainly finance centre oriented firms, their availability to do pro bono works does not appear to have materialised. "Of course I am not saying that lawyers should do more of this kind of work than they can afford, but it is a good training for young lawyers and it should be possible for them to organise themselves in a way that the burden of unremunerated work is fairly apportioned. Most Gibraltarian lawyers have been trained at tax payers' expense and should not feel coy about making some payment back to society. I am sure that the heads of the main chambers would support this".

Meanwhile the Minister of Justice, Daniel Feetham is working on the reform of the Legal Aid & Assistance Act. The general feeling in the legal profession is that the current legislation may be over generous in matrimonial cases (leading perhaps to an over-aggressive adversarial style in family matters where, of course, it is most inappropriate) and positively miserly in other deserving cases. Feetham, who is himself a barrister has a reputation for getting things done.