The defendant company had been convicted of failing to keep proper drugs records in the nursing home it ran. Held: The prosecution by the CSCI ws necessarily authorised by the CSCI. As to the issue of intention, the offences alleged were ones of strict liability. The judge had looked to the outcome of the offences … Continue reading Brooklyn House Ltd v Commission for Social Care Inspection: Admn 25 May 2006
(Professional Conduct Committee of the GMC) The Board of the Privy Council, when acting to hear an appeal from the disciplinary committee of the General Medical Council would in future deal with the case by way of a rehearing. Given the nature of the threat to those appearing before the committee, their human rights to … Continue reading Dr Ghosh v The General Medical Council: PC 25 Jun 2001
The claimants were residents of care homes. The homes were owned by charitable companies providing housing and support for persons with mental disorders. The company’s had altered the agreements so that the claimants became assured tenants. The claimants appealed the refusal of the respondents to de-register the homes. Held: The appeals were dismissed. The crucial … Continue reading Moore and others v Care Standards Tribunal and Another: CA 24 May 2005
The plaintiffs each complained of negligent decisions in his or her education made by the defendant local authorities. In three of them the Court of Appeal had struck out the plaintiff’s claim and in only one had it been allowed to proceed. Held: The House unanimously dismissed the local authority’s appeal in that last case … Continue reading Phelps v Hillingdon London Borough Council; Anderton v Clwyd County Council; Gower v Bromley London Borough Council; Jarvis v Hampshire County Council: HL 28 Jul 2000
The defendant appealed the making of a sex offender order under 1998 Act. The justices had found that the defendant was a sex offender within section 2(1)(a) and that he had acted on a number of occasions in a way which brought him within section 2(1)(b). Held: The civil standard of proof is flexible and … Continue reading B v Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary: QBD 5 Apr 2000
The claimant was seriously injured in a professional boxing match governed by rules established by the defendant’s rules. Ringside medical facilities were available, but did not provide immediate resuscitation. By the time he received resuscitation in hospital he had sustained permanent brain damage which such treatment would have prevented. Held: A body which had responsibility … Continue reading Michael Alexander Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Ltd, World Boxing Organisation Incorporated: CA 19 Dec 2000
The couple going through the divorce each had substantial farms and wished to continue farming. It had been a long marriage. Held: Where a division of the assets of a family would satisfy the reasonable needs of either party on an ancillary relief application on a divorce, the court should include consideration of why any … Continue reading White v White: HL 26 Oct 2000
A mandatory lifer is to be permitted to suggest the period of actual sentence to be served. The Home Secretary must give reasons for refusing a lifer’s release. What fairness requires in any particular case is ‘essentially an intuitive judgment’, changes over time, and the requirements are flexible and closely conditioned by the legal and … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Doody and Others: HL 25 Jun 1993
1267 – 1278 – 1285 – 1297 – 1361 – 1449 – 1491 – 1533 – 1677 – 1688 – 1689 – 1700 – 1706 – 1710 – 1730 – 1737 – 1738 – 1751 – 1774 – 1792 – 1793 – 1804 – 1814 – 1819 – 1824 – 1828 – 1831 – 1832 … Continue reading Acts
The deceased was an off-duty naval airman. The claim was based upon the alleged negligent failure of the defendant to enforce disciplinary regulations against drunkenness so as to protect the deceased against his own known proclivity for alcohol abuse. Held: The Ministry of Defence has no duty to prevent a forces member from the abuse … Continue reading Barrett v Ministry of Defence: CA 3 Jan 1995
The appellant had been convicted of causing death by careless driving with excess alcohol. He said that he had taken alcohol after stopping driving but before being tested. He challenged the weight of the burden of proof ascribed by the statute. The judge had directed the jury that he faced a persuasive burden of establishing … Continue reading Drummond v Regina: CACD 7 Mar 2002
The claimants challenged the policy issued by the DPP on assisted suicide following the Nicklinson case. Held: The request for judicial review was refused. Sir Brian Leveson P said: ‘It is important not to misunderstand the effect either of the policy or the impact of the amendment to the policy introduced by the DPP. The … Continue reading Kenward and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Director of Public Prosecutions and Another: Admn 4 Dec 2015
The Secretary of State sought a disqualification order. The director argued that one shoul not be made in the absence of some breach of legal duty, some dishonesty should be shown. Held: The answer was a mixture of fact and law. A breach of duty alone was neither necessary nor sufficient. Unfitness by reason of … Continue reading The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Goldberg, Mcavoy: ChD 26 Nov 2003
Four articles in the People all covered the same story about Esther Rantzen’s organisation, Childline, suggesting that the plaintiff had protected a teacher who had revealed to Childline abuses of children occurring at a school where he taught, by keeping secret that he himself was a pervert, unfit to have any child in his care. … Continue reading Rantzen v Mirror Group Newspapers (1986) Ltd and Others: CA 1 Apr 1993
Supreme Court of Canada Appellant testified at his trial for drug trafficking and, at the close of his defence, brought an application for a stay of proceedings on the basis of entrapment. His testimony indicated that he had persistently refused the approaches of a police informer over the course of six months, and that he … Continue reading Regina v Mack: 15 Dec 1988
A school board employed staff to manage a residential school for vulnerable children. The staff committed sexual abuse of the children. The school denied vicarious liability for the acts of the teachers. Held: ‘Vicarious liability is legal responsibility imposed on an employer, although he is himself free from blame, for a tort committed by his … Continue reading Lister and Others v Hesley Hall Ltd: HL 3 May 2001
The applicant challenged the terms of a non-derogating control order. It was anticipated that unless prevented, he would fight against UK forces in Iraq. Held: The section allowed the Secretary of State to impose any necessary conditions, but subject to a system of supervision by the courts. The parties now disputed whether the Act gave … Continue reading MB, Re, Secretary of State for the Home Department v MB: Admn 12 Apr 2006
The appellant sought to restrict publication by the defendants in the Mail on Sunday of matters which he said were a breach of confidence. He had lied to a court in giving evidence, whilst at the same time being ready to trash the reputation of his opponent. The judge had refused to excise the details … Continue reading Lord Browne of Madingley v Associated Newspapers Ltd: CA 3 Apr 2007
The claimant sought to restrain publication by the defendant of a book recounting very personal events in her life. She claimed privacy and a right of confidence. The defendant argued that there was a public interest in the disclosures. Held: Documents showed a readiness in the defendant to seek to manipulate the claimant through threats … Continue reading McKennitt and others v Ash and Another: QBD 21 Dec 2005
Appeal under Section 86 (1) of the Care Standards Act 2000 against her inclusion on the list kept by the Secretary of State under Section 81 of the Care Standards Act 2000 of individuals who are considered unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults, the ‘POVA’ list. Citations: [2006] EWCST 636(PVA) Links: Bailii Statutes: Care Standards … Continue reading Pain v Secretary of State: CST 1 Jun 2007
The claimant said that his continued detention after the custody time limits had expired was an infringement of his human rights. He faced continued detention having been refused bail because of his arrest on a grave charge, having a previous conviction for another grave offence. Held: The appeal was dismissed. Insofar as the the word … Continue reading O v Crown Court at Harrow: HL 26 Jul 2006
The defendant having provided sufficient evidence of his means, a court awarding prosecution costs, where the other penalty is a fine, should not allow these to be completely disproportionate to the fine. Where a defendant failed to provide sufficient information the justices were entitled to draw reasonable inferences about what they might be. Costs orders … Continue reading Regina v Northallerton Magistrates, ex parte Dove: QBD 17 Jun 1999
Limitation of Loss from Negligent Mis-statement The plaintiffs sought damages from accountants for negligence. They had acquired shares in a target company and, relying upon the published and audited accounts which overstated the company’s earnings, they purchased further shares. Held: The duties of an auditor are founded in contract and the extent of the duties … Continue reading Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman and others: HL 8 Feb 1990
The respondent’s child lived with the estranged father for most of each week. She was obliged to contribute child support. She now lived with a woman, and complained that because her relationship was homosexual, she had been asked to pay more than someone in a heterosexual relationship. Held: The claim failed. The regulations had now … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M: HL 8 Mar 2006
The appellant was detained under section 37 of the 1983 Act as a mental patient with a restriction under section 41. He sought his release. Held: The standard of proof in such applications remained the balance of probabilities, but that standard was flexible, and varied according to the seriousness of the allegation. The only misdirection … Continue reading AN, Regina (on the Application of) v Mental Health Review Tribunal (Northern Region) and others: CA 21 Dec 2005
The appellant care worker fell in snow when visiting the respondent’s client at home. At issue was the admission and status of expert or skilled evidence. Held: Mrs Kennedy’s appeal succeeded. ‘There are in our view four considerations which govern the admissibility of skilled evidence: (i) whether the proposed skilled evidence will assist the court … Continue reading Kennedy v Cordia (Services) Llp: SC 10 Feb 2016
The court was asked whether proceedings in a military court against soldiers for disciplinary offences involved criminal charges within the meaning of Article 6(1): ‘In this connection, it is first necessary to know whether the provision(s) defining the offence charged belong, according to the legal system of the respondent State, to criminal law, disciplinary law … Continue reading Engel And Others v The Netherlands (1): ECHR 8 Jun 1976
Tenants of council flats with ineffective sound insulation argued that the landlord council was in breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment in their tenancy agreements. Held: A landlord’s duty to allow quiet enjoyment does not extend to a positive duty to require an improvement in the sound-proofing of a building, well beyond standards which … Continue reading Southwark London Borough Council v Mills/Tanner; Baxter v Camden London Borough Council: HL 21 Oct 1999
The court was asked whether the decision of the Visitors to the Inns of Court dismissing Mr McCarthy’s appeal from the Bar Disciplinary Tribunal should be quashed with a view to the underlying matter being remitted to the Tribunal. The Tribunal disbarred Mr McCarthy following a finding that after a dispute had arisen he had … Continue reading McCarthy, Regina (on The Application of) v The Visitors To The Inns of Court and Another: CA 20 Jan 2015
Unreasonable Behaviour must reach criteria W appealed against the judge’s refusal to grant a decree of divorce. He found that the marriage had broken down irretrievably, but did not find that H had behaved iin such a way that she could not reasonably be expected to live with H. Held: W’s appeal failed. ‘What the … Continue reading Owens v Owens: CA 24 Mar 2017
The prosecutor had lead and relied at trial on evidence obtained by compulsory questioning under the 1986 Act. Held: In doing so the prosecutor was acting to give effect to section 433. The decision in Lambert to disallow retrospective effect of Human Rights decisions in appeal cases may have been incorrect, but will be followed. … Continue reading Regina v Kansal (2): HL 29 Nov 2001
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy. Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law because it is the antithesis of fairness. It brings the law … Continue reading Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza: HL 21 Jun 2004
The applicants had been made subject of anti-social behaviour orders. They challenged the basis upon which the orders had been made. Held: The orders had no identifiable consequences which would make the process a criminal one. Civil standards of evidence therefore applied, and hearsay evidence was admissible. Nevertheless, the test as to whether it was … Continue reading Clingham (formerly C (a minor)) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Regina v Crown Court at Manchester Ex parte McCann and Others: HL 17 Oct 2002
The claimant appealed against the denial of her claim that the defendant had infringed her right to respect for her private life. She was a model who had proclaimed publicly that she did not take drugs, but the defendant had published a story showing a picture of her leaving a drug addiction clinic, along with … Continue reading Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd (MGN) (No 1): HL 6 May 2004
The authority sought orders to prevent the respondent children travelling to countries controlled by the ISIS groups. The parents being unlikely to be effective to restrain them, the court had made them wards of court. Held: ‘the status of a Ward of the High Court of England and Wales has achieved international recognition. For this … Continue reading Tower Hamlets v M and Others: FD 27 Mar 2015
The appellants were teachers in Christian schools who said that the blanket ban on corporal punishment interfered with their religious freedom. They saw moderate physical discipline as an essential part of educating children in a Christian manner. Held: The appeal was dismissed. For Article 9 to be engaged (aside from certain other threshold conditions) the … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for Education and Employment and others ex parte Williamson and others: HL 24 Feb 2005
Conditions for new evidence on appeal At the trial, the wife of the appellant’s opponent said she had forgotten certain events. After the trial she began divorce proceedings, and informed the appellant that she now remembered. He sought either to appeal admitting fresh evidence, or for a retrial. Held: The Court of Appeal refused to … Continue reading Ladd v Marshall: CA 29 Nov 1954
The deceased had committed suicide on escaping from a mental hospital. The Trust appealed against a refusal to strike out the claim that that they had been negligent in having inadequate security. Held: The Trust’s appeal failed. The fact that she was detained for her own protection rather than to protect others required different standards … Continue reading Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MIND intervening): HL 10 Dec 2008
The Sentence Review Commissioners had decided not to order the release of the prisoner, who was serving a life sentence. He had been released on licence from a life sentence and then committed further serious sexual offences against under-age girls and was recalled. In considering his application for a further licence he complained that the … Continue reading In re D; Doherty, Re (Northern Ireland); Life Sentence Review Commissioners v D: HL 11 Jun 2008
Will Drafter liable in Negligence to Beneficiary A solicitor drawing a will may be liable in negligence to a potential beneficiary, having unduly delayed in the drawing of the will. The Hedley Byrne principle was ‘founded upon an assumption of responsibility.’ Obligations may occasionally arise outside the terms of the retainer or where there is … Continue reading White and Another v Jones and Another: HL 16 Feb 1995
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
When a licence is really a tenancy The document signed by the occupier stated that she understood that she had been given a licence, and that she understood that she had not been granted a tenancy protected under the Rent Acts. Exclusive occupation was in fact granted. Held: This was a tenancy not a licence. … Continue reading Street v Mountford: HL 6 Mar 1985
Non-resident parents in each case appealed against suspended orders of imprisonment for non-payment of child support. They argued that the procedures used were indistinguishable from those held to be human rights non-compliant in Mubarak. Held: The Commission had not taken all alternative enforcement steps first as required by the Act, and accordingly it was ot … Continue reading Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission v Gibbons; Same v Karoonian: CA 30 Oct 2012
Rejection of Submission of No Case to Answer The defendant had faced a charge of affray. The court having rejected his submission of having no case to answer, he had made an exculpatory statement from the dock. He appealed against his conviction. Held: Lord Lane LCJ said: ‘How then should the judge approach a submission … Continue reading Regina v Galbraith: CCA 1981
The defendant appealed against her conviction for assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty. He had sought to caution her with regard to activity as a prostitute. The 1959 Act gave no power to detain, but he took hold of her. She resisted, and injured him. Held: There was no arrest, and … Continue reading Collins v Wilcock: QBD 1984
In each case, the other parent appealed care orders where she had been found to have injured her children. In each case the sole evidence was the injury to the child’s health and expert medical evidence. The cases were referred following the Cannings case. Held: The appeals failed. It was wrong to diminish the difference … Continue reading In re LU (A Child); In re LB (A Child) (Serious Injury: Standard of Proof); re U (A Child) (Department for Education and Skills intervening): CA 14 May 2004
The student, a Muslim wished to wear a full Islamic dress, the jilbab, but this was not consistent with the school’s uniform policy. She complained that this interfered with her right to express her religion. Held: The school’s appeal succeeded. The school had acted responsibly and carefully seeking to balance and respect several interests when … Continue reading Begum (otherwise SB), Regina (on the Application of) v Denbigh High School: HL 22 Mar 2006
A newspaper company appealed against an order preventing it naming a footballer who, they claimed, had been unfaithful to his wife. Held: There remains a distinction between the right of privacy which attaches to sexual activities within and outside a marriage. An order restricting the freedom of the press requires positive and clear justification. The … Continue reading A v B plc and Another (Flitcroft v MGN Ltd): CA 11 Mar 2002
A judgment summons, issued was issued by the wife to enforce a lump sum order made against her husband in their divorce proceedings. The judge had performed his statutory duty which included having to satisfy himself under s. 25 of the 1973 Act of the income, earning capacity, property and other financial resources of the … Continue reading Mubarak v Mubarak: CA 2001
The claimants had been provisionally listed as ‘people considered unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults’ which meant that they could no longer work, but they said they were given no effective and speedy opportunity to object to the listing. Typically the process took many months. Held: The procedure asked only if the employer reasonably considered … Continue reading Wright and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another: HL 21 Jan 2009
Need for Advocate’s Immunity from Negligence The appellant had obtained the services of the respondent barrister to defend him on a dock brief, and alleged that the respondent had been negligent in the conduct of his defence. Held: The House considered the immunity from suit of barristers acting in court. An advocate should remain immune … Continue reading Rondel v Worsley: HL 1967
The various applicants sought judicial review of the operation of the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List insofar as they had been placed provisionally on the list, preventing them from finding work. One complaint was that the list had operated . .
A solicitor had failed to register an option as a land charge over property. The court was asked what steps should have been taken by a solicitor in the conduct of a claim: ‘Mr Harman [leading counsel for the plaintiff] sought to rely upon the fact . .
References: [1955] SLT 213, [1955] ScotCS CSIH_2, 1955 SC 200, [1955-95] PNLR 1 Links: Bailii Coram: Lord President Clyde The pursuer had been injured when the hypodermic needle being used by the defender doctor broke in use. The pursuer said that the direction by the judge as to accepted practice for the use of such … Continue reading Hunter v Hanley; 4 Feb 1955
