Four children complained that, for years before they were taken into care by the local authority, its social services department was well aware that they were living in filthy conditions and suffering ‘appalling’ neglect in the home of their parents. Suspicions of abuse had arisen in 1987, but they were given effective support only in … Continue reading Z And Others v The United Kingdom: ECHR 10 May 2001
The claimant sought damages after her lifelong partner had died of asbestos associated illness after exposure while serving in the Navy. Liability had been refused under the 1947 Act, because the 1987 Act was not retrospective. Citations: 19298/08, [2010] ECHR 166 Links: Bailii Statutes: European Convention on Human Rights, Crown Proceedings Act 1947, Crown Proceedings … Continue reading ME MacRitchie v The United Kingdom: ECHR 29 Jan 2010
Judges: Mummery, Hale LJJ Citations: [2002] EWCA Civ 533 Links: Bailii Statutes: Crown Proceedings Act 1947 10, European Convention on Human Rights Jurisdiction: England and Wales Human Rights, Litigation Practice Updated: 23 June 2022; Ref: scu.217068
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its property rights. It was also argued that it was not possible to make a declaration … Continue reading Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2): HL 10 Jul 2003
The claimants, Pakistani students in the UK on student visas, had been arrested and held by the defendants under the 2000 Act before being released 13 days later without charge. They were at first held incognito. They said that their arrest and detentions had been unlawful since they had not been given sufficient information about … Continue reading Sher and Others v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and Others: Admn 21 Jul 2010
The claimant’s life partner died after contracting diseases associated with his exposure to asbestos while serving in the Navy. [2010] ECHR 1911 Bailii European Convention on Human Rights, Crown Proceedings Act 1947, Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987 1 Citing: Questions to parties – ME MacRitchie v The United Kingdom ECHR 29-Jan-2010 The claimant sought … Continue reading ME MacRitchie v The United Kingdom: ECHR 2 Nov 2010
The pursuer craved from the Sheriff an interim interdict against the Procurator Fiscal from proceeding with a criminal charge.
Held: the Sheriff sitting in a civil court has no power to restrain criminal proceedings by the Procurator Fiscal, . .
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Where an army doctor was accused of failing to diagnose a serviceman’s ocular cancer, the negligence which caused the consequent injury was caused by the delay in a correct diagnosis, and the treatment fell within the scope of Crown Immunity. Citations: Times 30-Mar-1999, Gazette 21-Apr-1999, [1999] EWCA Civ 1016, [1999] PIQR P204 Statutes: Crown Proceedings … Continue reading Derry v Ministry of Defence: CA 18 Mar 1999
The claimant had been subject to experiments at Porton Down in the 1950s. He later sought damages, but the respondent issued a certificate under the 1947 Act. Citations: [2004] EWHC 2344 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Crown Proceedings Act 1947 10, Naval, Military and Air Forces (Disablement and Death) (Services Pension) Order 1983 Jurisdiction: England and … Continue reading Roche v Secretary of State for Defence: Admn 8 Oct 2004
The Ministry appealed against a finding that the Act, which deprived the right of a Crown employee to sue for personal injuries, was an infringement of his human rights. Held: The restriction imposed by the section was not a procedural section, but a substantive one which delimited the rights and liabilities arising under civil law. … Continue reading Matthews v Ministry of Defence: CA 29 May 2002
The claimant sought damages for asbestos related diseases, incurred whilst working as an engineer in the Royal Navy. He claimed that the bar on claiming against the Crown infringed his rights to a remedy. The 1987 Act removed the bar to a claim, but not retrospectively. Section 10 of the 1947 Act created a new … Continue reading Matthews v The Ministry of Defence: QBD 22 Jan 2002
The deceased was injured serving in the forces in Germany. His injury was worstened after negligent communications between army doctors. The defendant relied upon State Immunity to defend a claim, saying he had issued a certificate that he had died on active duty. Held: The Secretary was entitled to issue the certificate of entitlement even … Continue reading Bell v Secretary of State for Defence: CA 1986
The fact that the Secretary of State has issued a certificate under section 10(1)(b) is no guarantee that the person in respect of whose case it is issued will be awarded a pension. Citations: [1955] 3 All ER 245, [1955] 1 WLR 1116 Statutes: Crown Proceedings Act 1947 10(1)(a)(b), Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943 10(1)(b) … Continue reading Adams v War Office: QBD 1955
The claimant sought damages against the Crown, having suffered asbestosis whilst in the armed forces. He challenged the denial to him of a right of action by the 1947 Act. Held: Human rights law did not create civil rights, but rather voided procedural bars to their enforcement. The issue of what is a substantive and … Continue reading Matthews v Ministry of Defence: HL 13 Feb 2003
(Grand Chamber) The claimant had been exposed to harmful chemicals whilst in the Army at Porton Down in 1953. He had wished to claim a service pension on the basis of the ensuing personal injury, but had been frustrated by many years of the defendant failing to provide records to allow the claim. The defendant … Continue reading Roche v The United Kingdom: ECHR 19 Oct 2005
The Secretary of State had appointed inspectors to investigate and report on a company takeover. In their report, which was published, the inspectors made findings which were critical of and damaging to the applicants, who relied on the civil limb of article 6(1) to complain that they had been denied effective access to the courts … Continue reading Fayed v United Kingdom: ECHR 6 Oct 1994
The plaintiff councillor had been disciplined by the defendant for allegations. The findings were later overturned, and he now sought damages alleging malicious prosecution. Held: The categories of malicious prosecution are closed, and it was not appropriate to use this tort in respect of disciplinary proceedings by a local authority against a councillor. Judges: Simon … Continue reading Gregory v Portsmouth City Council: CA 5 Nov 1997
A soldier in the Artillery Regiment was serving in Saudi Arabia in the course of the Gulf war. He was injured when he was part of a team managing a Howitzer, which was firing live rounds into Iraq, and he was standing in front of the gun when it was negligently fired by the gun … Continue reading Mulcahy v Ministry of Defence: CA 21 Feb 1996
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order made on his conviction for possession of a Class B controlled drug. There had been considerable delays in the completion of the process, and it had exceeded the two year limit. The appellant argued that exceptional circumstances had not existed. The court had, of its own motion, adjourned … Continue reading Regina v Johal: CACD 19 Apr 2013
The claimant had applied to the Child Support Agncy for maintenance. They failed utterly to obtain payment, and she complained now that she was denied the opportunity by the 1991 Act to take court proceedings herself. Held: The denial of access to the courts under section 8 did not engage her civil rights. The Act … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Kehoe: CA 5 Mar 2004
G was a prisoner who was refused permission by the Home Secretary to consult a solicitor with a view to bringing libel proceedings against a prison officer. The court construed article 6 of ECHR, which provides that ‘in the determination of his civil rights . . everyone is entitled to a fair . . hearing’, … Continue reading Golder v The United Kingdom: ECHR 21 Feb 1975
Grand Chamber – The first applicant said he had been injured by a shot fired by a British soldier who had been carried for two miles into the Republic of Ireland, clinging to the applicant’s vehicle following an incident at a checkpoint. Held: Rules granting the State immunities, did not infringe the applicants’ right to … Continue reading McElhinney v Ireland; Al-Adsani v United Kingdom; Fogarty v United Kingdom: ECHR 21 Nov 2001
‘another round in the series of important points of law which arise as preliminary issues in actions brought by people who claim to have been wrongfully detained or mistreated by British or American troops in the course of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.’ Judges: Lord Neuberger, President, Lady Hale, Deputy President, Lord Mance, Lord … Continue reading Rahmatullah (No 2) v Ministry of Defence and Another: SC 17 Jan 2017
The claimant had won an action for damages against the respondent. He was however released on licence, and subsequently became unlawfully at large. The question was whether the damages continued to be payable to him. The defendant insisted that the sum could only be paid personally, which would allow his arrest. The legal aid provisions … Continue reading Ram, Regina (on the Application Of) v Parole Board: Admn 12 Jan 2004
There was no human rights breach where the victims of sex abuse had been refused a right to sue for damages out of time. The question is whether and to what extent differences in otherwise similar situations justify a different treatment in law: ‘Limitation periods in personal injury cases are a common feature of the … Continue reading Stubbings and Others v The United Kingdom: ECHR 22 Oct 1996
The prisoner, a notorious murderer had begun to write his autobiography. His solicitor wished to return a part manuscript to him in prison to be finished. The prison did not allow it, and the prisoner claimed infringement of his article 10 rights. Held: Section 47 of the Act speaks not only of regulation and management … Continue reading Nilsen v HM Prison Full Sutton and Another: CA 17 Nov 2004
The claimants challenged the instruction that they must squat whilst undergoing a strip search in prison. A dog search had given cause to supect the presence of explosives in the wing, and the officers understood that such explosives might be hidden anally. Held: The common thread in all the cases has been the search to … Continue reading Regina v Carroll and Al-Hasan and Secretary of State for Home Department: Admn 16 Feb 2001
A question arose as to whether the stamps the Post Office lost, which if they had been stolen would have been sold in the thieves’ market, had a ‘market value’ within the meaning of the section. Held: The buyer, the seller and the market considered may be hypothetical. Lord Denning excluded illegitimate transactions from the … Continue reading Building and Civil Engineering Holidays Scheme Management Ltd v Post Office: CA 1966
Police’s Complete Immunity was Too Wide (Grand Chamber) A male teacher developed an obsession with a male pupil. He changed his name by deed poll to the pupil’s surname. He was required to teach at another school. The pupil’s family’s property was subjected to numerous acts of vandalism, which the police investigated and in respect … Continue reading Osman v The United Kingdom: ECHR 28 Oct 1998
The Property of Every Man is Sacred The King’s Messengers entered the plaintiff’s house and seized his papers under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State, a government minister. Held: The common law does not recognise interests of state as a justification for allowing what would otherwise be an unlawful search. Lord Camden CJ … Continue reading Entick v Carrington: KBD 1765
The claimants challenged the 1967 Act, saying that it deprived them of their property rights when lessees were given the power to purchase the freehold reversion. Held: Article 1 (P1-1) in substance guarantees the right of property. Allowing a mechanism for the compulsory transfer of the freehold interest in the house and the land to … Continue reading James and Others v The United Kingdom: ECHR 21 Feb 1986
The right of access to the courts is not absolute but may be subject to limitations. These are permitted by implication since the right of access ‘by its very nature calls for regulation by the State, regulation which may vary in time and place according to the needs and resources of the community and of … Continue reading Ashingdane v The United Kingdom: ECHR 28 May 1985
Equity applies its doctrines to the substance, not the form, of transactions. In respect of the rule against self dealing for trustees ‘But of course equity looks beneath the surface, and applies its doctrines to cases where, although in form a trustee has not sold to himself, in substance he has. Again one must regard … Continue reading Tito v Waddell (No 2); Tito v Attorney General: ChD 1977
Each applicant sought an interim order against the Scottish Minister with respect to their treatment in prison. It had been found that the conditions in Barlinnie Prison were inhumane. The Crown responded that the court had no jurisdiction to make such an order. Held: McDonald is binding on the court. An interim order could not … Continue reading Petition of Andrew Scott and Scott Davidson for Judicial Review of A Decision To Continue Their Detention In Inhumane Prison Conditions: SCS 26 Oct 2001
The claimant challenged the Order as regards the prescription of the morning-after pill, asserting that the pill would cause miscarriages, and that therefore the use would be an offence under the 1861 Act. Held: ‘SPUC’s case is that any interference with a fertilised egg, if it leads to the loss of the egg, involves the … Continue reading Regina (Smeaton) v Secretary of State for Health and Others: Admn 18 Apr 2002
(Trinidad and Tobago) The claimant had been held after arrest on suspicion of theft. He was held for several months before the case was dismissed, the posecution having made no apparent attempt to further the prosecution. He appealed against refusal of damages for malicious prosecution, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Held: The appeal failed. The … Continue reading Williamson v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago: PC 3 Sep 2014
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children. Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law which is capable in Convention law of engaging the guarantees in it. ‘Sympathetic though one … Continue reading Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 14 Jul 2005
The claimants sought damages from the defendants saying that they had been held and ill treated at various detention centres by foreign authorities, but with the involvement of the defendants. The defendants sought to bring evidence before the court as closed material, not to be seen by the claimants. Held: The court could make such … Continue reading Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others: QBD 18 Nov 2009
(Northern Ireland) The defendant reported a press conference at which the claims denying the criminal responsibility of an army private were made. The report was severely critical of the claimants, who then sued in defamation. The defendants claimed qualified privilege. Held: It is necessary in a modern democracy to restrict to as limited extent as … Continue reading McCartan Turkington Breen (A Firm) v Times Newspapers Limited: HL 2 Nov 2000
The defendant was fifteen. He was convicted of statutory rape of a 13 year old girl, believing her to be 15. He appealed saying that as an offence of strict liability he had been denied a right to a fair trial, and also that the offence charged was excessive, violating his right to privacy. Held: … Continue reading Regina v G (Secretary of State for the Home Department intervening): HL 18 Jun 2008
Crown Privilege for Documents held by the Polie The plaintiff probationary police constable had been investigated, prosecuted and cleared of an allegation of theft. He now claimed damages for malicious prosecution, and in the course of the action, sought disclosure of five documents, but these were withheld on the ground of Crown privilege. The House … Continue reading Conway v Rimmer: HL 28 Feb 1968
Before the parties called evidence, and having read the papers, the court considered that there was no real defence shown, and invited submissions. Negotiations for the grant of a tenancy had been terminated by the sudden illness of the proposed . .
The trustees brought a claim against the Attorney-General seeking clarification of their duties and powers to return objects which were part of the collection in law, but where a moral duty might exist to return it to a former owner. Here drawings . .
The claimant on behalf of himself and other islanders sought a declaration that the 2004 Order was unlawful. The islands had been emptied of people in 1973 and before in order to allow use of the islands as military bases. He had enjoyed a right to . .
The parties had engaged in a bitter 95 day trial in which allegations of forgery, theft, false accounting, blackmail and arson. A company owning patents and other rights had become insolvent, and the real concern was the destination and ownership of . .
