The court considered the meaning of ‘maladministration’ in the section. Held: Lord Denning MR said: ‘It will cover ‘bias, neglect, inattention, delay, incompetence, ineptitude, perversity, turpitude, arbitrariness and so on.’ It ‘would be a long and interesting list’ clearly open-ended, covering the manner in which a decision is reached or discretion is exercised; but excluding … Continue reading Regina v Local Commissioner for Administration for the North and East Area of England ex parte Bradford Metropolitan City Council: CA 1979
Mr Sharp was the local land registrar with statutory duty to maintain the local registry, issuing certificates in response to search requests. A clerk who had been seconded by another Council to assist him negligently issued an inaccurate certificate to a prospective purchaser of land, omitting any reference to a claim to reimbursement of compensation … Continue reading Ministry of Housing and Local Government v Sharp: CA 1970
Maladministration includes bias, neglect, inattention, delay, incompetence, inaptitude, perversity, turpitude and arbitrariness in reaching a decision or exercising a discretion, but that it has nothing to do with the intrinsic merits of the decision itself.Lord Donaldson of Lymington MR set out the correct view of the relationship between a local authority and the Ombudsman: ‘There … Continue reading Regina v Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte Eastleigh Borough Council: CA 1988
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A by-law made by a county council under s 16 of the 1888 Act, was in the following terms: ‘No person shall in any street or public place, or on land adjacent thereto, sing or recite any profane or obscene song or ballad, or use any profane or obscene language’ Held: that the by-law was … Continue reading Strickland v Hayes: CA 12 Feb 1896
The claimant had obtained orders against two companies who banked with the respondent. Asset freezing orders were served on the bank, but within a short time the customer used the bank’s Faxpay national service to transfer substantial sums outside the bank’s branch controls, and defeat the freezing order. The claimant sought recovery from the bank. … Continue reading Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Barclays Bank Plc: ComC 3 Feb 2004
The claimant challenged fees which were charged to the respondents on applying to Westminster City Council for sex shop licences for the three years ended 31 January 2011, 2012 and 2013 and which included the council’s costs of enforcing the licensing scheme against unlicensed third parties running sex shops (‘enforcement costs’). The respondents’ applications all … Continue reading Hemming (T/A Simply Pleasure) and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Westminster City Council: SC 19 Jul 2017
The appellants sought partial exemption from rates on its premises. The Corporation challenged their charitable status. The society’s object was to encourage and provide facilities for cremation. Held: The object was charitable.Lord Reid said that it was not now necessary to produce evidence so as to show that the object was for the public benefit, … Continue reading Scottish Burial Reform and Cremation Society v Glasgow Corporation: HL 26 Jul 1967
21 people protested peacefully on the verge of the A344, next to the perimeter fence at Stonehenge. Some carried banners saying ‘Never Again,’ ‘Stonehenge Campaign 10 years of Criminal Injustice’ and ‘Free Stonehenge.’ The officer in charge concluded that they constituted a ‘trespassory assembly’ and told them so. When asked to move off, many did, … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Jones and Lloyd: HL 4 Mar 1999
The applicant sought to bring an action to challenge new rules on approval of export credit guarantees. The company was non-profit and founded to support investigation of bribery. It had applied for a protected costs order to support the application, and now appealed its refusal. Held: The court restated the practice on the making of … Continue reading Corner House Research, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: CA 1 Mar 2005
The claimant was a superintendent registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages. His union instructed him not to conduct weddings on Saturdays. He had been told that if he failed to perform his full range of duties on a Saturday (including marriages), he would not be required to attend for work and would not be paid. … Continue reading Miles v Wakefield Metropolitan District Council: HL 1987
The court considered correct approach to determination of the rateable value of an office building, in circumstances where the evidence showed at the relevant time a general demand in the area for comparable office buildings, but no actual tenant willing to pay a positive price for the building itself. Held: (Briggs, Black LL dissenting) The … Continue reading Telereal Trillium v Hewitt (Valuation Officer): SC 15 May 2019
The claimant had contracted with the defendant for the production of a series of reality TV shows featuring celebrities. After severe personal clashes between the people involved on the claimants side, the contract was terminated. The claim was that the defendant had wrongfully determined the contract, and the defendant said that the behaviour of the … Continue reading Mr H TV Ltd v ITV2 Ltd: ComC 8 Oct 2015
Appropriation was not in sufficient form The claimants had challenged an order supporting the decision of the Council to use their allotments for a new primary school, saying that the land had be appropriated as allotment land, and that therefore the consent of the minister was needed. Held: The appeal failed. The use of the … Continue reading Adamson, Regina (on The Application of) v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council: CA 18 Feb 2020
The Chagos Islands had been a British dependent territory since 1814. The British government repatriated the islanders in the 1960s, and the Ilois now sought damages for their wrongful displacement, misfeasance, deceit, negligence and to establish a . .
