Statutory Intervention Research Articles

“Suiting up”: Preparing workforces to take on the mantle of preventing child maltreatment from a public health perspective

Internationally, particularly in anglophone countries, there are increasing calls for a new vision for child welfare involving significant shifts in service delivery from a statutory intervention focus to systems based on public health approaches. The impetus for change includes the rapidly growing demand for services, chronic workforce challenges, systemic inequities, systemic failings, disproportionate representation of disadvantaged groups, and poor outcomes for many children subject to child protection intervention. Research suggests that public health approaches, focusing on primary prevention and population-wide delivery of interventions, are more likely to support the safety and wellbeing of children and families across the community, reducing the escalation of risk and the need for statutory intervention. Despite this, the preparation of the child welfare workforces across health and social care sectors required to implement public health approaches, and implications of current workforce shortfalls for such a transition has received little attention. Drawing on the findings from a child welfare workforce study in Australia (Russ et al., 2022), this paper considers the workforce challenges present in current neo-liberal child protection systems and looks to what is needed to engage families and communities, ‘suit up’ and equip workforces for preparing for system reform to shift the dial from risk-oriented responses to the prevention of child maltreatment across the entire community.

Voting behaviour in AMNOG benefit assessments

The study examines the voting behaviour in the G-BA in AMNOG benefit assessments since 2011, showing on the one hand that most decisions (93%) are passed unanimously. On the other hand, it is particularly striking that the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-SV) voted in favour of a lower classification of added benefit in 100% of the dissenting resolutions compared to the other benches. The result empirically illustrates a procedural conflict of interest at the GKV-SV and underpins the structural criticism regarding the governance deficits of the G-BA. Even in the unanimously adopted procedures, these deficits can lead to a systematic negative distortion of the benefit assessment. This cannot be verified due to a lack of documentation at the G-BA. Overall, the unity of the GKV-SV as regulator, referee and player in the AMNOG procedure should be scrutinised more closely. This also applies in particular to the evaluation of the more recent statutory interventions (guard rails and combination discounts), which are highly susceptible to conflicts of interest.

Social workers in schools: A feasibility study of three local authorities

Summary This study evaluated the feasibility of ‘Social Workers in Schools’, an intervention that involved social workers being based within schools across three local authorities in England (SWIS). Schools make a large number of referrals to Children's Social Care and play an important role in recognizing risks to children and protecting them from harm, but it is unusual for social workers to be based in schools in the U.K. and to do statutory work. We evaluated the pilots on the basis of the feasibility of implementing SWIS, how promising it was in terms of reducing the need for statutory intervention, and the extent to which it be scaled. We used a mixed methods approach, with a process evaluation and a difference in differences analysis of indicative impact on key social care outcomes. In addition, we estimated the cost of implementing and maintaining SWIS. Findings We found high levels of acceptability among those involved, and examples of how SWIS enhances the way safeguarding issues are addressed. There was also some evidence that it may reduce the need for social care interventions, though this needs ratifying with more and better data. Applications The study suggests that SWIS is a promising intervention. Both the qualitative and quantitative findings suggest it may have the intended policy impact, but this needs to be tested on a larger scale and with a more rigorous counterfactual comparison. Such a study—a randomized-controlled trial involving 21 local authorities—was commissioned in 2020.

Risk perceptions and experience in child protection decision-making: A comparative study of student social workers in Wales and Aotearoa New Zealand

Decision making in child protection is the product of interacting factors between workers, organizations, families, and macro social structures. Individual perceptions of risk, safety, and harm, as one piece of this complex puzzle, are important to understand. This article reports on a comparative study of social work students in two countries: Wales and Aotearoa New Zealand. Using a mixed methods survey and a staged vignette (in which the situation becomes progressively more serious), we found there were similarities between respondents from the two countries in their perceptions of risk, safety and harm, and their reasoning processes. Beneath this broad consensus, respondents from Wales rated the level of harm to the children lower at earlier stages but were more likely to say the case should meet the threshold for statutory intervention. Risk-averse respondents were more likely to conclude the children experienced serious harm and also that the case should meet the threshold for statutory intervention. These differences largely disappeared by the concluding stage. Qualitative analysis shows that the reasoning processes used to explain risk, safety, and plan goals were similar between the two countries. Some nuanced differences emerged in relation to a risk-averse group fromAotearoa New Zealandemphasizing the importance of continuing engagement with professional services as a sign of change. Implications are discussed, particularly for workforce development and the needs of newly qualified social workers.

Enforcing payment obligations under construction contracts by insolvency proceedings

PurposeStates have intervened with legislation to improve cashflow within construction project supply chains. The operation of the UK’s Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 leads to payment obligations stated either as a contract administrator’s certificate (or equivalent) or an adjudicator’s decision. The purpose of the intervention would be defeated unless there are speedy ways of transforming these pieces of paper into real money. The combination of the legislation, contractual provisions and insolvency law has produced a minefield of complexity concerning enforcement of payment obligations stated in these documents. Unfortunately, the knowledge and understanding required to navigate these complexities have been sorely lacking. The purpose of this paper is to plug this gap.Design/methodology/approachLegal research methods and case study approaches, using relevant court decisions as data, were adopted.FindingsThe enforcement method advised by the court is the summary judgment procedure provided under the Civil Procedure Rules. An overdue payment obligation, either under the terms of a construction contract or an adjudicator’s decision, amounts to a debt that can be the subject of insolvency proceedings. Although the insolvency enforcement method has been successfully used on some occasions, using it purely as a debt collection weapon would be inappropriate and likely to be punished by the court.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to knowledge in two ways: (i) it maps out the factual situations in which these payment challenges arise in language accessible to the construction industry’s professions; and (ii) comparative analysis of payment enforcement methods to aid decision-making by parties to construction industry contracts. It is relevant to the other common-law jurisdictions in which similar statutory interventions have been made.

Parental risk factors and children entering out-of-home care: The effects of cumulative risk and parent’s sex

BackgroundParental difficulties, including mental ill health, substance misuse, domestic violence and learning disability have been associated with children entering out-of-home care. There is also evidence that these issues may co-occur within families. Understanding how the co-occurrence of these difficulties is associated with care entry is complex because they may co-occur in the same or different household members and have different impacts on the likelihood of care entry when they occur in mothers, fathers or in single parent households. MethodAdministrative data from local authority children’s services in Wales were linked with demographic data to identify households in which children lived prior to entering care. Linkage to birth data identified biological mothers. Linkage with primary care, emergency department, hospital admissions and substance misuse services data enabled indicators of substance misuse, mental health, assaults in the home, learning disability and neurodivergence in the adults in those households to be identified. A series of multilevel binary logistic regression models were used to explore the odds of a household having one or more children entering care if risk factors were present. These considered the effects of individual risks, and cumulative risk both in individual adults in the household, and across the whole household. The effects of the number of adults, having adults with no risks and the differential impacts of risks in biological mothers, other women or men were also explored. Additional models explored these factors in single adult households. ResultsCumulative risks increased the likelihood of care entry, however this effect disappeared when individual risks were controlled for. The presence of an individual with no risks in the household acted as a protective factor. Overall, the impact of the risks on the odds of care entry was substantially greater if the risks were present in the biological mother than if they occurred in other adults (men or women) in the household. In single adult households risk factors had a much greater impact when they occurred in households headed by women as opposed to men. ConclusionSubstantial differences in the effects of risk factors in female and male adults are apparent and further research is needed to understand why this is occurring to ensure that parents are treated equally in terms of support and statutory intervention regardless of their sex.11Throughout this paper we refer to the “sex” of the parents /adults in households, as opposed to their “gender.” This is because in the analysis we carried out the sex of these individuals was determined by their GP records. We have chosen to use the term “sex,” rather than “gender,” as we believe this data is more likely to reflect their biological sex, rather the gender that the individuals identify as.

Judicial Interpretations, Findings and Pronouncements of the Nigerian Apex Court: A Review of Mohammed Vs Frn

Purpose: The objective of this review was to challenge the apex court's decision, encompassing its findings, judicial interpretations, and pronouncements (DFIP). A notable issue arises from the discovery that the National Assembly (NA) mistakenly granted 'exclusive' criminal jurisdiction to the Federal High Court (FHC) regarding Indian hemp offenses. Consequently, this study critically examined the DFIP in depth.
 Methodology: This work adopts the doctrinal method of research, which involves the use of primary and secondary sources of law. This study relied on key primary sources, including the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Acts of the National Assembly, case laws, and Decrees. Supplementary information was derived from secondary sources such as books and articles. This review extensively employed primary and secondary legal sources, focusing on statutory interpretation rules, the hierarchy of norms, particularly in relation to the principle of inconsistency, and the unalterable nature of jurisdiction prescribed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN). These criteria were systematically applied to evaluate the Decision, Findings, Interpretations, and Pronouncements (DFIP) of the apex court.
 Findings: The apex court's determination that Section 8 of the Indian Hemp Act (IHA) was implicitly repealed by Section 26 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act is inaccurate. Similarly, the assertion that the National Assembly (NA) granted 'exclusive' criminal jurisdiction to the Federal High Court (FHC) is flawed, as Section 251(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) actually confers concurrent criminal jurisdiction on the FHC. 
 The finding of the apex court that Magistrate Courts (MC), being a creation of state legislation, cannot try Indian hemp offences is erroneous. The apex court's assertion that Indian hemp is both a 'drug' and a 'narcotic drug' is refuted as erroneous in the course of this review.
 Recommendations: Statutory intervention in the manner of amendment of Sections 251(1)(s) and 251(3) is required if the decision of the apex court is to represent the position of the law in Nigeria.

A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE DOCTRINE OF PRIVITY TO CIRCUMVENT ITS EFFECT ON SUBCONTRACTOR’S PAYMENT CLAIM

In common law jurisdictions, the doctrine of privity has been criticised by the judiciary and academic commentators, particularly the second rule of doctrine, which states that a person who is not a party to the contract cannot sue on it to obtain promised performance, although the contract has been formed with the intention to benefit him. In certain circumstances, this rule may produce unfair and injustice result to the third party of a contract, as it prohibits the third party from enforcing the right to get benefits conferred on them. The doctrine of privity becomes relevant in the context of tendering procedures when subcontractors, who are not direct parties to the main construction contract, are involved. Hence, the aim of this paper is two-fold: to highlight the difficulties of the existing legal mechanism associated with privity rule and to suggest possible ways to circumvent the effect of the doctrine of privity on subcontractors’ payment claims in the Malaysian construction industry. By adopting the socio legal research approach, the impact of the doctrine of privity, the difficulties of the existing legal mechanisms, and the need for a possible law reform were examined. The findings were also validated by conducting semi-structured interviews with five construction law experts. Among others, the findings showed that enhancement to the existing legal mechanisms and statutory intervention can effectively circumvent the privity rule and protect the subcontractor’s right for the payment claim.

Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures, Biodiversity Stewardship and Statutory Intervention – A South African Perspective

Area-based approaches are a central component of global efforts to conserve biodiversity. While the focus of many countries has been mainly on protected areas, other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMS) have been accorded global recognition in the past decade as a vital complementary approach to protected areas. This recognition has been reemphasised in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted by parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022, with its Target 3 ratchetting up area-based coverage targets to 30 per cent by 2030. A growing focus and reliance on OECMs to contribute towards achieving this target is anticipated. The international community has in the past few years introduced some guidance to identify, secure, manage, monitor and verify the anticipated long-term biodiversity conservation outcomes of OECMs. Some commentators have argued for domestic legal intervention to complement this general international guidance. The South African Government has recognised the potential contribution of OECMs towards the achievement of domestic and global area-based biodiversity targets in its National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy (2018) but has alluded to the need for legal intervention to ensure that they achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity. Some domestic commentators have highlighted the strong link between biodiversity stewardship (particularly conservation areas) and OECMs, advocating that these conservation areas should form the priority focus of domestic efforts to identify OECMs. This article scopes this potential link and specifically considers whether the current domestic legal and policy framework applicable to these conservation areas is sufficiently robust to ensure that only appropriate areas are identified as OECMs and that once recognised, they are governed and effectively managed in the long term. It highlights several frailties of the existing framework and drawing from anticipated legal reform in the Western Cape relating to biodiversity stewardship, it proposes a possible model for future national legislation regulating OECMs.

The role of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in Early Help: Critical reflections from embedded social care research

AbstractThe independent review of children's social care (2022) has proposed a radical reset of England's children's services, shifting a remote, assessment heavy system towards one that works alongside communities to help prevent statutory interventions. However, notions around the harnessing of community resources to deliver Early Help are often underpinned by assumptions regarding the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and the ease with which such organizations can be integrated into preventative strategies. This paper reports findings from embedded research within a unitary authority in Southwest England during remodelling of its Early Help service to work more collaboratively with local VCSE organizations. The study generated data from ethnographic observations, semi‐structured interviews and focus groups with 95 participants, including local parents, service providers, VCSE organizations and Council leaders. The findings illustrate that families value the compassionate, responsive and flexible support available within many VCSE settings. However, differences in practice cultures, regulatory pressures on statutory providers, the need to (re)build trust in communities and sensitivities around power‐sharing and resourcing meant negotiating VCSE sector integration was fraught with complexities. Few studies have gained such privileged access to a Local Authority's remodelling of Early Help services, and this paper has significant insights for the debates surrounding the independent review of children's social care (2022) and its recommendation to bring services ‘closer to communities’.

A qualitative study of the perspectives of designated safeguarding leads responding to child protection concerns in fee‐paying schools

AbstractThis article explores the experiences and perspectives of designated safeguarding leads (DSL) in fee‐paying schools to better understand how they engage affluent parents when there are safeguarding and child protection concerns. The research employed a roundtable data gathering methodology, with 33 DSLs from a range of fee‐paying schools in southern England participating in the study. A primary objective of the research was to understand the factors that influence how DSLs in fee‐paying schools engage parents from affluent backgrounds. The findings showed that a major concern is that affluent parents are adept at using their power and privilege to avoid statutory interventions, which meant that the DSLs' safeguarding role was often fraught with difficulties. This article addresses factors that enable or hinder DSLs' conversations with affluent parents and offers some critical reflections on the challenges posed for their duty to safeguard the children in their care. For the purpose of this article, three key themes will be addressed: the interpretation of harm thresholds; communication issues; and mental health issues. Overall, the analysis contributes to a greater understanding of how DSLs in fee‐paying schools navigate their engagement with parents when familial risks are identified.

The missing and imagined perpetrator in rape prevention efforts

ABSTRACT In response to unceasing rates of sexual assault, and the failure of statutory interventions to reduce the prevalence of sexual violence, several prevention strategies have emerged. Over the past fifty years, initiatives have included awareness raising campaigns, provision of self-defence training, promotion of rape alarms, and education-based efforts in the form of bystander intervention and consent training workshops aimed at encouraging prosocial action to reduce sexual violence. More recently, a striking array of technologies has emerged claiming the capacity to prevent or mitigate the risk of sexual violence including apps that harness the communication functions of smart technology and a variety of ‘wearables’ designed to protect the body from assault or repel a would-be assailant. In this paper we analyse these prevention initiatives in the modern period, demonstrating that what is striking about the majority is the relative absence of the perpetrator in both design and endorsement. Where an assailant is alluded to, this ‘imagined perpetrator’ tends to reflect stereotypical constructions of how sexual violence occurs and who commits it. The consequence of such representations is that many prevention efforts place responsibility onto potential victims to protect themselves, contributing further to widespread misunderstandings about the realities of rape and rapists.

Defining Trade Secrets in the United States: Past and Present Challenges – A Way Forward?

When approaching an analysis of a particular area of law, one must initially locate and understand the definition of its core concept. Yet in trade secret law serious obstacles impede the process. Unlike other intellectual property (IP) regimes, such as copyright and patent law, the core concepts of which are subject to unitary definitions governed by international treaties or domestic statutes, the trade secret concept has received no parallel treatment and, until recently in the United States, remained mainly defined under common law. Subtle differences in the way trade secrets were judicially conceived often generated conflicts between courts, opening the door for the application of divergent rules on similar points. This confusing background prompted the individual U.S. jurisdictions to gradually orient towards implementing statutory provisions in defining trade secrets. Despite the fact that U.S. trade secret law has since seen several statutory interventions at state and federal level, the precise meaning and definitional parameters of the concept remain elusive. This paper probes the existing trade secret definitions applicable in the U.S. via analysis of the divergent sources of law that underscored their formulation from the past until the present and identifies the challenges pertinent to their application in practice. Its aim is to analyze and compare these legal sources: first, to determine whether the current definition for the concept of a trade secret is adequate, or whether perhaps the existence of the multi-tier system impedes a party’s ability to identify trade secrets in a cross-border context; and second, to investigate whether a unanimously accepted definition under a pre-emptive statute complementary to one under an elaborated internationally binding treaty might remedy this issue.

Zero-hours contracts and english employment law: Developments and possibilities

The UK has seen a dramatic growth in precarious work over recent decades, including the amorphous category of ‘zero-hours contracts’ which are often regarded as a paradigm example of an exploitative and insecure form of work. Although somewhat overshadowed by litigation and debates surrounding the gig-economy, the regulation of zero hours work continues to be a pressing issue in the UK, and important questions as to the rights that are, and should be, available to individuals with these contracts remain unanswered. This article sets out the detrimental effects that zero hours working arrangements have in the absence of adequate regulatory safeguards and argues that the orthodox treatment of zero hours contracts under English law, and the standard tools of employment law, fail to protect against these economic and social harms. The article then assesses the extent to which recent legislative and common law developments improve the position of zero hours workers, and whether existing legislation might be creatively applied to better protect these individuals. While current statutory frameworks, including reforms and legislation aimed at regulating atypical work, fall short of adequately protecting zero hours workers, the ‘purposive approach’ to employment status developed by the Supreme Court in Uber makes it considerably easier for zero hours contracts to be brought within the protective scope of employment law. It is argued that under this approach many individuals with supposedly ‘zero hours’ working arrangements should in fact now be regarded as employees with overarching contracts of employment. Despite the significance of this, however, it is ultimately concluded that further statutory intervention is necessary to effectively regulate zero hours work in the UK.

Parents’ views on improving relationships with their social workers

• Summary: In England, the reason why most families have a social worker is because their children have been identified as having suffered or being at risk of suffering significant harm from abuse or neglect or requiring a statutory service for another need. Research has shown that positive relationships between social workers and families are essential. A study to evaluate Signs of Safety (Sofs) provided the opportunity to explore the quality of this relationship through the perceptions of 270 families who were in contact with children's social care (CSC). Over half were satisfied with the relationship, and many of the remaining families were able to identify what had stood in the way of it developing. • Findings: The areas which were of most concern was the high turnover of social workers with the attendant lack of consistency, poor communication, a failure to provide services which families had been promised and the withdrawal of support too soon. Most dissatisfactions stemmed either from parents believing they had not been shown sufficient respect or, that while they had been drawn into a statutory intervention, they had not been provided with sufficient support to address their problems. • Application: While some of the difficulties were connected to limited resources and overstretched services, others came about as a result of poor practice. The views expressed by these parents provide the basis for reflection amongst social workers, their managers and strategic leads on how improvements may be achieved and, in doing so, strengthen relationships with parents and potentially reduce future demand.

Enhancing the use of Children's Rights Impact Assessments in ordinary and extraordinary times to understand the rights of children subject to statutory intervention in family life

ABSTRACT This paper draws on work undertaken to inform the alternative Children's Right Impact Assessment (CRIA) undertaken by the Observatory for Children's Human Rights Scotland (the observatory) in the early months of the impact of COVID-19 in the UK. With reference to children who are at risk of neglect and abuse, potentially subject to statutory intervention in family life, or living in care, the paper focuses on the purpose, process and value of children's rights impact assessments (CRIAs). It argues that wider understanding of the limitations of policy-making processes and close attention to existing limitations of CRIAs can help to enhance their effectiveness in achieving the realisation of children's rights in practice.

A TALE OF ATTEMPTED MURDER AND HIV … S v Nyalungu 2005 JOL 13254 (T) “

The South African Law Commission (as it was then – hereinafter “SALC”) was commissioned to investigate various aspects of the law as it related to HIV/AIDS. In its 5th and final report (Project 85, 5th Interim Report on Aspects of the Law Relating to AIDS – The Need For A Statutory Offence Aimed At Harmful HIV-Related Behaviour, April 2001 – hereinafter “SALC 5th report”), it dealt with “harmful (ie unacceptable) sexual behaviour by a person with HIV or AIDS that could transmit HIV or expose others to HIV, current measures available to address such behaviour and whether there is a need for statutory intervention” (viii of the executive summary of the report). This note considers the SALC’s recommendations in this regard and the reality that there have been no reported cases of successful prosecution under the common-law crimes for the wilful transmission of HIV, but that the case in point shows a willingness on the part of the courts to accept that such behaviour is dire and will be punished albeit under the guise of some “lesser” offence. Whether the decision is S v Nyalungu ([2005] JOL 13254 (T) (unreported)) has/will made/make it a less daunting task to prosecutecrimes involving allegations of the wilful transmission of HIV/AIDS is yet to be seen.

Public Interest Disclosure in Labuan Offshore Banking: Is Statutory Intervention Necessary?

Such inquiry like the recent Pandora Papers requires further legislative measure in offshore banking. While banking secrecy is legitimate privacy and viable, it has different character to tax evasion and money laundering activities. This article attempts to analyse public interest disclosure, onshore and offshore banking secrecy law from the perspective of statutory and judicial approaches. Statutory and judicial approaches show that banking secrecy is regarded as strict liability offense in onshore banking. The question arises whether public interest disclosure should be allowed as statutory intervention in Labuan offshore in response to a case like Pandora Papers? This research employs doctrinal analysis to unearth and address a necessary legislative measure for further development in descriptive and prescriptive manner. From the findings, it is evident that statutory intervention is deemed required to assist public interest disclosure for further inquiry and the general rule banking secrecy stated in Section 178 of the Labuan Financial and Securities Services Act 2010 (ACT 704) and Section 139 of the Labuan Islamic Financial and Securities Services Act 2010 (ACT 704). In this case, extensive provisions should be addressed in Section 178 of the Labuan Financial and Securities Services Act 2010 and Section 139 of the Labuan Islamic Financial and Securities Services Act 2010 regarding public interest disclosure within Malaysian offshore context that is fundamentally distinctive from the onshore banking. The forthcoming legislative measure is necessary to prevent such further sail in offshore banking.

Discussion of the Knowns and Unknowns of Child Protection During Pregnancy in Australia

ABSTRACT Legislative provisions for accepting unborn child reports into the child protection system in Australia have coincided with a noticeable rise in the number of infants entering care. This article collates information on the child protection process during pregnancy based on a desk review of relevant public primary sources. The effectiveness of child protection during pregnancy in reducing statutory intervention at or following birth and avoiding unintended consequences is also explored through an examination of relevant child protection data, reviews, and research. The summary revealed some differences in the process of making, accepting, and responding to an unborn child report across Australia. The knowns about child protection during pregnancy include a high rate of unborn child reporting, a high proportion of children involved in unborn child reports who are subsequently admitted to care, and a disproportionate representation of Indigenous children in these statistics. The knowledge gaps include the circumstances of parents involved in unborn child reports who are approached by child protection and when; parents who refuse to engage; parents who are provided advice and support; and the outcome of these cases. Some aspects of child protection practice during pregnancy, including information sharing, risk assessment and case planning, and parental engagement and partnership throughout the process represent further knowledge gaps. IMPLICATIONS Attention to the high rate of unborn child reporting to child protection in Australia and to the differences in procedures for responding across the states and territories is needed. The high proportion of children involved in unborn child reports who are subsequently admitted to care, and the disproportionate number of Indigenous children who are represented in unborn child reports, substantiations, and care entries during infancy need to be addressed. There is a need for further research on child protection practices during pregnancy and case outcomes to maximise safe pregnancy journeys.

The ‘code adjudicator’ model: the Pubs Code, statutory arbitration and the tied lease

AbstractThe ‘code adjudicator’ is a new statutory intervention in business-to-business disputes. They are Janus-faced, combining a statutory arbitration function with a regulatory remit. This paper is a detailed critique of the ‘Pubs Code Adjudicator’, which presides over the Pubs Code Regulations 2016 and intervenes in the contractual relationships between the largest pub-owning companies and their tied tenants. Drawing on a sample of interviews with affected tenants, arbitration data, and legal appeals under the Arbitration Act 1996, we argue that – although these ‘new intermediaries’ show promise – there are a series of limitations with both the function of the Pubs Code Regulations and the ‘code adjudicator’ model itself. In particular, our findings demonstrate the use of delaying tactics, the interaction of code adjudication with the parties’ existing contractual relationships, and issues with the application of arbitration ‘burden of proof’ standards to the exercise of duties under the statutory code.