Decomposed Snail in Ginger Beer Bottle – Liability The appellant drank from a bottle of ginger beer manufactured by the defendant. She suffered injury when she found a half decomposed snail in the liquid. The glass was opaque and the snail could not be seen. The drink had been bought for her by a friend, … Continue reading Donoghue (or M’Alister) v Stevenson: HL 26 May 1932
The vendor was tenant for life of settled land at Redcar. By a 1926 conveyance part was conveyed to a purchaser who covenanted ‘to the intent and so as to bind as far as practicable the said property hereby conveyed into whosesoever hands the same may come and to benefit and protect such part or … Continue reading Marquess of Zetland v Driver: CA 1939
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A claim was made to recover monies due under a contract where the plaintiff had failed to realise that the balance was due to her, and by that mistake the action was concealed from her. Held: Pearson J said: ‘But that is not sufficient. Probably provision (c) applies only where the mistake is an essential … Continue reading Phillips-Higgins v Harper: QBD 1954
The plaintiffs had alleged patent infringement and now sought to recover the costs of the action it had had to take for discovery as against HM Customs and Excise, which they said had been necessary to discover the extent of the concealed fraud alleged against the defendants. As a result of the concealment the plaintiffs … Continue reading Morton – Norwich Products v Intercen (No 2): ChD 1981
S 26 of the Act of 1939 would operate to postpone the running of time in the case of an action at common law to recover money paid under a mistake of fact, and would likewise apply to an analogous claim in equity to recover money paid under a mistake of law.Lord Greene MR said: … Continue reading In re Diplock: CA 1948
Lord Denning MR discussed the meaing of ‘fraud’ in the section: ‘The word ‘fraud’ is not used in the common law sense. It is used in the equitable sense to denote conduct by the defendant or its agent such that it would be ‘against conscience’ for him to avail himself of the lapse of time. … Continue reading King v Victor Parsons: CA 1973
The claimants sought damages alleging commission of atrocities in Kenya in the 1950s. The defendant sought to argue limitation, and the claimants now argued that the limitation period did not apply because of deliberate concealment by the defendant. Judges: Stewart J Citations: [2018] EWHC 1169 (QB) Links: Bailii Statutes: Limitation Act 1939 26 Jurisdiction: England … Continue reading Kimathi and Others v Foreign and Commonwealth Office: QBD 24 May 2018
The italian plaintiff had left Egland in 1935 leaving certain valuables with the defendants for safe keeping. During the war, the property was released to the authorities as alien property, who, informed by the defemdant that they were of no value, gave them to the Salvation Army. The plaintiff returned in 1946, and after discovering … Continue reading Beaman v ARTS Ltd: CA 1949
A car insured by the plaintiffs had been stolen by an unknown person in June 1940. In January 1947 the car was found in the possession of the defendant who it seems had ‘given good consideration for it without knowledge that it was a stolen car’. It had passed to him ‘an innocent purchaser, through … Continue reading RB Policies at Lloyd’s v Butler: 1949
The commissioners sought to claim title to a foreshore by adverse possession. The claimant asserted that he had acquired title in his capacity of Lord Marcher of Magor which had owned the bed of the estuary since the Norman Conquest, and that the Crown could not acquire title by adverse possession, by a wrong against … Continue reading Roberts v Crown Estate Commissioners: CA 20 Feb 2008
Under the 1947 Act, the assets of electricity undertakings were transferred to to electricity boards. Property held by local authorities as authorised undertakers should, on vesting day, vest in the relevant board. A question arose as to whether certain monies had been held by the local authority and the question was referred to the minister, … Continue reading Central Electricity Generating Board v Halifax Corporation: HL 1963
Prerogative act of prorogation was justiciable. The Prime Minister had prorogued Parliament for a period of five weeks, leaving only a short time for Parliament to debate and act the forthcoming termination of the membership by the UK of the EU. The Scottish Court had decided (Cherry) that the prorogation was void being for impermissible … Continue reading Miller, Regina (on the Application of) v The Prime Minister; Cherry QC v Lord Advocate: SC 24 Sep 2019
Twins were conjoined (Siamese). Medically, both could not survive, and one was dependent upon the vital organs of the other. Doctors applied for permission to separate the twins which would be followed by the inevitable death of one of them. The parents, devout Roman Catholics, resisted. Held: The parents’ views were subject to the overriding … Continue reading In Re A (Minors) (Conjoined Twins: Medical Treatment); aka In re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation): CA 22 Sep 2000
The tenants Mr and Mrs Levy did not know their landlord Mrs David’s address and had no means of paying the rent. Held: They had acquired the title by adverse possession against their mesne landlord (Mrs David) – but that nevertheless their statutory tenancy had continued against the freeholder.Sir John Pennycuick said that: ‘I should … Continue reading Jessamine Investment Co v Schwartz: CA 1978
The claimant ship owner and its mortgagee sued the defendant insurer after the loss of the insured vessel, through fire. The insurers replied that the damage by fire was so extensive that the vessel was beyond repair when she sank, and was therefore a constructive total loss (‘CTL’). They said the cause of the loss … Continue reading Kastor Navigation Co Ltd and Another v AGF M A T and others (“Kastor Too”): ComC 4 Dec 2002
The deceased was a prisoner known to be at risk of committing suicide. Whilst in police custody he hanged himself in his prison cell. The Commissioner accepted that he was in breach of his duty of care to the deceased, but not that that breach was caustive of the death by suicide. Held: Police and … Continue reading Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis v Reeves (Joint Administratix of The Estate of Martin Lynch, Deceased): HL 15 Jul 1999
The defendant companies provided media monitoring services, automatically searching web-sites for terms of interest. The claimant newspapers operated a licensing system through the first claimant permitting the re-use of the content on its members web-sites. The defendant denied that it required such a licence, saying that the arrangement required, in effect, double licensing. Judges: Sir … Continue reading The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd and Others v Meltwater Holding Bv and Others: CA 27 Jul 2011
The alleged tenant (the rector of a parish) knew that rent should have been paid but had not paid it. ‘Only one of the previous rectors gave evidence. He was the Rev. Richard Phillips (dates) He knew the rectory cottages and said that the land behind the cottages was used by the occupants, including the … Continue reading Hayward v Chaloner: CA 1968
Banker’s Liability for Negligent Reference The appellants were advertising agents. They were liable themselves for advertising space taken for a client, and had sought a financial reference from the defendant bankers to the client. The reference was negligent, but the bankers denied any assumption of a duty of care to a third party when purely … Continue reading Hedley Byrne and Co Ltd v Heller and Partners Ltd: HL 28 May 1963
One of the testatrix’s children was thought to be profligate, and had failed to maintain his own son. Acting under an enduring power of attorney, the testatrix’s attorneys made a substantial gift in establishing an educational trust for that son’s son. On her death, the other children argued that the share to be taken by … Continue reading In Re the Estate of Marjorie Langdon Cameron (Deceased); Peter David Phillips v Donald Cameron and Others: ChD 24 Mar 1999
The issue raised on this appeal concerns the extent to which the jurisdiction of the First-tier Tribunal to make an order for costs is fettered by the provisions of the Rules regulating the procedure of the Tribunal. Held: With one exception, under rule 10(1), the FTT can only make two types of costs order. The … Continue reading Eclipse Film Partners No 35 Llp v Revenue and Customs: SC 11 May 2016
Land had been purchased which was subject to a restrictive covenant. The papers did not disclose the precise extent of the dominant land, the land which benefitted from the restriction. Held: The land having the benefit of a covenant had to be easily ascertainable. It would be oppressive to expect a purchaser of land to … Continue reading Crest Nicholson Residential (South) Ltd v McAllister: CA 1 Apr 2004
The court was asked what damages are recoverable in a case where (i) but for the negligence of a professional adviser his client would not have embarked on some course of action, but (ii) part or all of the loss which he suffered by doing so arose from risks which it was no part of … Continue reading BPE Solicitors and Another v Hughes-Holland (In Substitution for Gabriel): SC 22 Mar 2017
The court was asked whether the appellant’s occupation of land had been adverse for a particular period. Cumming-Bruce, Templeman, Ackner LJJ [1982] 1 WLR 560, [1981] EWCA Civ 3 Bailii Limitation Act 1939 4(3) 10 England and Wales Land, Limitation Updated: 11 December 2021; Ref: scu.262682
The plaintiffs were steel dressers who, in the course of their employment, had inhaled quantities of noxious dust which had caused them to suffer from pneumoconiosis. They issued proceedings on 1 October 1956 but were unable to show any breach of duty by their employers which contributed to their condition after 1 October 1950. The … Continue reading Cartledge v E Jopling and Sons Ltd: HL 1963
The applicant challenged the decision of the court that the sperm donor who had fertilised her eggs to create embryos stored by the respondent IVF clinic, could withdraw his consent to their continued storage or use. Held: The judge worked within a strict statutory framework. His task was to calculate the application of that law, … Continue reading Evans v Amicus Healthcare Ltd and others: CA 25 Jun 2004
The claimants complained of their segregation while in prison. Several preliminary questions were to be decided: whether damages might be payable for breach of a Convention Right; wheher the act of a prison governor was the act of the executive; whether time ran from the date of the first breach, whether want of proportionality is … Continue reading Somerville v Scottish Ministers: HL 24 Oct 2007
Right of Recovery of Money Paid under Mistake Kleinwort Benson had made payments to a local authority under swap agreements which were thought to be legally enforceable when made. Subsequently, a decision of the House of Lords, (Hazell v. Hammersmith and Fulham) established that such swap agreements were unlawful. Kleinwort Benson then sought restitution of … Continue reading Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council etc: HL 29 Jul 1998
The plaintiff, injured in an accident, pleaded trespass to the person, which was not a breach of duty within the proviso to the section, in order to achieve the advantages of a six-year limitation period.
Held: Trespass is strictly speaking . .
References: [2002] EWHC 2601 (Comm), [2003] 1 All ER (Comm) 277, [2003] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 296 Links: Bailii Coram: Tomlinson J Ratio: The claimant ship owner and its mortgagee sued the defendant insurer after the loss of the insured vessel, through fire. The insurers replied that the damage by fire was so extensive that the … Continue reading Kastor Navigation Co Ltd and Another v AGF M A T and others (Kastor Too”): ComC 4 Dec 2002″
