UTTC TRIBUNALS, COURTS AND ENFORCEMENT ACT 2007COMPENSATION – compulsory purchase – value of land taken – severance and injurious affection – valuation – comparables – disturbance – Land Compensation Act 1961 section 5, rules (2) and (6); Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 section 7 – compensation determined at pounds 544,400 Citations: [2011] UKUT 18 (LC) Links: … Continue reading East Cheshire Council, Re Heawood Hall Cottage: UTTC 14 Jan 2011
The claimant had been abused as a child by foster parents with whom she had been placed by the respondent authority. The court was now asked, the Council not having been negligent, were they in any event liable having a non-delegable duty of care with accompanying vicarious liability? Held: The appeal succeeded (Lord Hughes dissenting). … Continue reading Armes v Nottinghamshire County Council: SC 18 Oct 2017
The dominant owner wished to deal with delivery vehicles in a manner where they were left parked awaiting emptying. The servient owner (a lessee) wanted to construct buildings over a large part of the land. The servient owner objected. Held: Whether an easement was being subjected to an actionable interference, was answered by asking whether … Continue reading B and Q Plc v Liverpool and Lancashire Properties Ltd: ChD 26 Jul 2000
The court was asked whether what purported to be a contract for the hire purchase of certain trucks was in truth an unregistered bill of sale over the trucks thereby disentitling the finance company from taking possession of the vehicles upon the hirer going into liquidation.Davies LJ stated: ‘No authority is needed for the proposition … Continue reading Stoneleigh Finance Ltd v Phillips: CA 1965
Two appeals as to the circumstances in which the concept of ‘statutory incompatibility’ will defeat an application to register land as a town or village green where the land is held by a public authority for statutory purposes. In the first case, five plots in Lancaster were owned by LCC who objected to an application … Continue reading Lancashire County Council, Regina (on The Application of) v SSEFRA and Another: SC 11 Dec 2019
When setting out to establish that a piece of land has become a village green with rights of common, the tests are similar to those used in the law of prescription and adverse possession. Accordingly, there is no need to establish a belief in those using the rights asserted beyond that the use is as … Continue reading Regina v Oxfordshire County Council and Another, Ex Parte Sunningwell Parish Council: HL 25 Jun 1999
Affirmed Judges: Lord Denning MR Citations: [1965] Ch 992 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Appeal from – Phipps v Boardman ChD 1964 Agents of certain trustees had purchased shares, in circumstances where they only had that opportunity because they were agents. Held: The shares were held beneficially for the trust. . . Cited by: Appeal … Continue reading Phipps v Boardman: CA 1965
A lessor or vendor does not impliedly warrant that the premises are fit for any particular purpose. It is the contract which allocates the risk of the premises being unfit for such a purpose to the lessee. The lessee has duties to investigate the title, and to ensure that the permitted use under the tenancy … Continue reading Hill v Harris: CA 1965
The appellant was charged, under s. 27 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, with giving a false warranty in writing to a purchaser in respect of an article of food sold by the appellant. When the appellant sold the article he did not know, and had no reason to believe, that the … Continue reading Derbyshire v Houliston: QBD 11 May 1897
Land had been registered in part as a common. The council appealed. Held: The rights pre-existing the Act had not been lost. The presumption against retrospectively disapplying vested rights applied, and the application had properly been made. The claimant was entitled to register part only of the area of land original included. An application was … Continue reading Oxfordshire County Council v Oxford City Council, Catherine Mary Robinson: ChD 22 Jan 2004
The defendants had wrongfully appointed receivers of the claimant, who then came into the business and terminated contracts undertaken by the business. The claimant asserted that their actions amounted to a wrongful interference in their contracts and otherwise. The receivers having done the acts normally associated with a receivership. Held: The tort of unlawful interference … Continue reading OBG Ltd OBG (Plant and Transport Hire) Ltd v Raymond International Ltd; OBG Ltd v Allen: CA 9 Feb 2005
Land was bought for development, but the purchaser later discovered a sewage pipe which very substantially limited its development potential. The existence of the pipe had not been disclosed on the sale, being unknown to the seller. Held: Under the National Conditions of Sale, it is the purchaser who takes the risk of there being … Continue reading William Sindall Plc v Cambridgeshire County Council: CA 21 May 1993
The Court declined to limit the extent of a right of way 20 feet wide by reference to the bottleneck at its entrance from the road of 4 feet 6 inches, consisting of a pair of gate pillars and a gate of that width. The grant was over the whole 20 . .
The 1965 Act ‘was passed to give effect to the recommendations of the Royal Commission so far as registration was concerned. The Act of 1965 did not confer any general public right of access over common land and did not set up the machinery for the . .
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A dealer may for some ad hoc purpose be the agent of a finance company. In relation to a purchase of a motor vehicle through a motor dealer, where the prospective purchaser completes an application for hire purchase in the office of the motor dealer, he forwards it to the finance company for approval, and … Continue reading Branwhite v Worcester Works Finance Ltd: HL 1969
A person in actual occupation of registered land at time of transfer can enforce his rights against the transferee. A sub-underlessee in occupation of part could enforce an option to purchase against the freeholder acquiring intermediate registered title. Actual occupation of part of the land comprised in a registered disposition protected a right or interest … Continue reading Ferrishurst Ltd v Wallcite Ltd: CA 30 Nov 1998
The court considered whether certain conduct, part of which took place in Ghana, would, mutatis mutandis , have constituted an offence over which the English court had jurisdiction. Held: ‘Where a deception is made in this country, but the property is obtained outside the jurisdiction, there is no offence under the English law either under … Continue reading Governor of Pentonville Prison ex parte Khubchandani: QBD 1980
In the case of what is a result crime in English Law, the offence is committed in England and justiciable by an English court if any part of the proscribed result takes place in England. The gist of the offence of obtaining by false pretences lies in the act of obtaining, and that if this … Continue reading Regina v Ellis: 1899
Estoppel Cannot Oust Statutory Discretion The plaintiff had been refused planning permission for a factory. The refusals were followed by the issue of Enforcement Notices and Stop Notices. The plaintiff said that they had been given re-assurances upon which they had relied. Held: The appeal failed. The court tried to reconcile invocations of estoppel with … Continue reading Western Fish Products Ltd v Penwith District Council and Another: CA 22 May 1978
The claimant alleged complicity by the defendant, (now former) Foreign Secretary, in his mistreatment by the US while held in Libya. He also alleged involvement in his unlawful abduction and removal to Libya, from which had had fled for political persecution. The defendants now appealed from rejection of the defendants’ claim to state immunity and … Continue reading Belhaj and Another v Straw and Others: SC 17 Jan 2017
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
Land adjoining a harbour at Vizagapatam which at that time was malarial was to be valued for compulsory purchase. The land contained a spring of clean water. The only potential purchaser of the special adaptability of the land as a water supply was the harbour authority. The High Court valued the land as partly waste … Continue reading Raja Vyricherla Narayana Gajapathiraju v Revenue Divisional Officer, Vizagapatam: PC 23 Feb 1939
A policewoman, having made a complaint of serious sexual assault against a fellow officer complained again that the Commissioner had failed to protect her against retaliatory assaults. Her claim was struck out, but restored on appeal. Held: Her claim was arguable. It was possible that the Commissioner owed to her a similar duty as would … Continue reading Waters v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: HL 27 Jul 2000
The defendant solicitors acted for the plaintiff in the purchase of land, but failed to undertake a commons search which would have revealed an entry which would prevent the client pursuing his development. The defect was discovered only when purchasers from their clients later undertook a commons search. In fact the registration was erroneous, but … Continue reading G and K Ladenbau (UK) Ltd v Crawley and De Reya: QBD 25 Apr 1977
The claimant had sought damages against his employer, saying that they had failed in their duty to him under the 1997 Act in failing to prevent harassment by a manager. He appealed a strike out of his claim. Held: The appeal succeeded. The issue is whether an employer may be vicariously liable under section 3 … Continue reading Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust: CA 16 Mar 2005
The compensation which was payable for disturbance, when works were carried out on land acquired compulsorily, did not extend to the damage caused by noise dust and vibration arising from the works. Where however damage could be brought within the section, it did not cease to be recoverable because the interruption was only temporary. Lord … Continue reading Wildtree Hotels Ltd and others v Harrow London Borough Council: HL 22 Jun 2000
Compensation is payable for losses properly anticipating resumption of possession of the land. The principle of equivalence gives rise to the statutory right to interest under section 11(1). The council explained the conceptual foundation of the discounted cash flow basis of calculation: ‘In this calculation the discount rate, or capitalisation rate, comprises the rate at … Continue reading Director of Buildings and Lands v Shun Fung Ironworks Ltd: PC 20 Feb 1995
The respondent had obtained registration of land, Bachelors’ Acre, a grassed area of land in New Windsor, now used as a car park in the register of town and village greens under the Act as a customary green. It had been used for archery in mediaeval times and had later been leased for grazing subject … Continue reading New Windsor Corporation v Mellor: CA 1975
The House described the way that the 1845 Act continued to affect the calculation of compensation: ‘The relevant section of the Act of 1845 (section 68) has, over 100 years, received through a number of decisions, some in this House, and by no means easy to reconcile, an interpretation which fixes upon it a meaning … Continue reading Argyle Motors (Birkenhead) v Birkenhead Corporation: HL 1974
W challenged the grant of planning permission for the change of use of agricultural land to allow erection of a wind turbine, saying that the authority had taken into account a promise by the land owner to run the scheme as a community development contributing funds locally, and that such was not capable of being … Continue reading Wright, Regina (on The Application of Wright) v Resilient Energy Severndale Ltd and Another: SC 20 Nov 2019
The defendant finance company alleged that the plaintiff car dealer, by its conduct, was estopped from denying the authority of their (rogue) customer to sell the car at issue, because they had permitted the customer, unkown to them, to take possession of the car and its registration book without having made any or sufficient inquiries … Continue reading Central Newbury Car Auctions Limited v Unity Finance Limited: CA 1957
Charitable Company- Directors’ Status and Duties A married couple set up a charitable foundation to assist children in developing countries. When the marriage failed an attempt was made to establish a second foundation with funds from the first, as part of W leaving the Trust. Court approval was obtained, but the court ordered the remaining … Continue reading Lehtimaki and Others v Cooper: SC 29 Jul 2020
The appellant, in England, sent false hire purchase agreements to a company in Jersey, who posted back cheques to him. The court analysed the transaction in contractual terms, and held that as the post office was the appellant’s agent to carry the cheques they had in law been ‘obtained’ by him in Jersey. Held: As … Continue reading Regina v Harden: 1962
The appellant, in Kuwait, had fraudulently caused a bank there to credit his bank balances in England. Held: The court discussed its jurisdiction: ‘It is of course a basic principle of our criminal law that no British subject can be tried under English law for an offence committed on land abroad, unless there is a … Continue reading Regina v Thompson: 1984
Blackmail was alleged under section 21 of the 1968 Act, the letter making the unwarranted demand with menaces having been posted from England to an intended victim in Germany. Held: The appeal was dismissed. To allow an English court to have jurisdiction where elements of the offence occurred abroad, the last act constituting the actus … Continue reading Treacy v Director of Public Prosecutions: HL 1970
Houses were built next to a common. Over many years the owners had driven over the common. The landowners appealed a decision that they could not acquire a right of way by prescription over the common because such use had been unlawful as a criminal offence under section 193 of the Law of Property Act … Continue reading Bakewell Management Limited v Brandwood and others: HL 1 Apr 2004
Pearson LJ said: ‘There is no rule of law that in a hire purchase transaction the dealer never is, or always is, acting as agent for the finance company or as agent for the customer.Nevertheless, the dealer is to some extent an intermediary between the customer and the finance company, and he may well have … Continue reading Mercantile Credit Co Ltd v Hamblin: CA 1964
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
Standing to Claim under A1P1 ECHR The appellants had written employers’ liability insurance policies. They appealed against rejection of their challenge to the 2009 Act which provided that asymptomatic pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis should constitute actionable harm for the purposes of an action of damages for personal injury. Held: The insurers’ appeals failed. … Continue reading AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others: SC 12 Oct 2011
Mens Rea essential element of statutory Offence The appellant had been convicted under the Act 1965 of having been concerned in the management of premises used for smoking cannabis. This was a farmhouse which she visited infrequently. The prosecutor had conceded that she was unaware that the premises were used for that purpose. Held: The … Continue reading Sweet v Parsley: HL 23 Jan 1969
PI Damages not Reduced for Own Pension The plaintiff policeman was disabled by the negligence of the defendant and received a disablement pension. Part had been contributed by himself and part by his employer. Held: The plaintiff’s appeal succeeded. Damages for personal injury were not to be reduced by deducting the full net value of … Continue reading Parry v Cleaver: HL 5 Feb 1969
Power to call in is administrative in nature The powers of the Secretary of State to call in a planning application for his decision, and certain other planning powers, were essentially an administrative power, and not a judicial one, and therefore it was not a breach of the applicants’ rights to a fair hearing before … Continue reading Regina (Holding and Barnes plc) v Secretary of State for Environment Transport and the Regions; Regina (Alconbury Developments Ltd and Others) v Same and Others: HL 9 May 2001
Former HL decision in Siebe Gorman overruled The company had become insolvent. The bank had a debenture and claimed that its charge over the book debts had become a fixed charge. The preferential creditors said that the charge was a floating charge and that they took priority. Held: The appeal was allowed. The debenture, although … Continue reading National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited and others: HL 30 Jun 2005
The landlord had assigned the reversion of the lease. There was an outstanding dispute with the tenant defendant who owed arrears of rent, but sought to set these off against a claim for damages for the landlord’s failure to construct the factory in the first place. Held: The new landlord was not liable for the … Continue reading Edlington Properties Limited v J H Fenner and Co Limited: CA 22 Mar 2006
Standard Conract – Wide Exclusions, Apply 1977 Act The claimant had acquired a computer system from the defendant, which had failed. It was admitted that the contract had been broken, and the court set out to decide the issue of damages. Held: Even though Wang had been ready to amend one or two of its … Continue reading Pegler Ltd v Wang (UK) Ltd: TCC 25 Feb 2000
Appeal against judgment in boundary dispute involving a private driveway. Held: The appeal failed. ‘The respondents are entitled to exercise the ‘relative luxury’ of the ample right to gain both vehicular and pedestrian access to their land from the Driveway Land along the whole length of the right of way, unless insistence on this is … Continue reading Emmett v Sisson: CA 3 Feb 2014
Land-owner’s Possible Duty to Trespassers The plaintiff, a child had gone through a fence onto the railway line, and been badly injured. The Board knew of the broken fence, but argued that they owed no duty to a trespasser. Held: Whilst a land-owner owes no general duty of care to a trespasser, the creation by … Continue reading British Railways Board v Herrington: HL 16 Feb 1972
In Douglas, the claimants said that the defendants had interfered with their contract to provide exclusive photographs of their wedding to a competing magazine, by arranging for a third party to infiltrate and take and sell unauthorised photographs. In OBG, the defendants acted as receivers under an invalid charge, and were accused of unlawful interference … Continue reading Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others; similar: HL 2 May 2007
The plaintiff policeman was hit by a car whilst he was on traffic duty. When he claimed damages in negligence the defendant sought to have deducted from his award an amount received by way of additional pension payments received which had been purchased by contributions made by the plaintiff in the civilan scheme as to … Continue reading Parry v Cleaver: CA 9 May 1967
The claimant appealed against rejection of his claim for damages after alleging sexual abuse by a catholic priest. The judge had found the church not vicariously liable for the injuries, and that the archdiocese had not been under a duty further to pursue the investigation of the reports received by them at the time. The … Continue reading Maga v The Trustees of The Birmingham Archdiocese of The Roman Catholic Church: CA 16 Mar 2010
Interpretation of Exclusion Clauses The plaintiffs had contracted with the defendants for the provision of a night patrol service for their factory. The perils the parties had in mind were fire and theft. A patrol man deliberately lit a fire which burned down the factory. It was an unresolved issue whether the employee intended to … Continue reading Photo Production Ltd v Securicor Transport Ltd: HL 14 Feb 1980
The parties disputed whether one could retain for his own benefit land on an estate reserved for an estate road. A trust was claimed under Pallant saying that the parties had made an informal agreement before the property was purchased. Held: Any original agreement had lapsed before contracts were exchanged, and were no longer applicable. … Continue reading Clarke and Another v Corless and Another: ChD 8 Jul 2009
Land was to be compulsorily purchased. A large development required the land to be used to create a nature reserve. The question was how and if at all the value of the overall scheme should be considered when assessing the compensation for this plot. Held: ‘All that was necessary, since it was clear that the … Continue reading Waters and others v Welsh Development Agency: HL 29 Apr 2004
The Burtons had purchased the former Hall of the village of Ireby, and been registered as proprietors of the Lordhsip of the Manor. The villagers had successfully challenged the registration. The Court now considered the circumstances in which the corrective power may be exercised in the case of the mistaken registration under the 2002 Act … Continue reading Walker and Another v Burton and Another: CA 14 Oct 2013
Wife in Occupation had Overriding Interest The wife had made a substantial financial contribution to the purchase price of the house which was registered only in her husband’s name, and charged to the bank. The bank sought possession. The wife resisted saying that she had an overriding interest. Held: Her equitable interest was not only … Continue reading Williams and Glyn’s Bank Ltd v Boland: HL 19 Jun 1980
Under a wartime agreement in 1941 the UK government agreed to lease to the US Government land in Trinidad on which the US could establish a naval base. To do this the Crown acquired the Pointe Gourde land for its limestone quarry which would be used to provide materials to construct the air base. It … Continue reading Pointe Gourde Quarrying and Transport Co Ltd v Sub-Intendant of Crown Lands: PC 29 Jul 1947
The court considered the need to establish mens rea where it was dealing with something which was one of a class of acts which ‘are not criminal in any real sense, but are acts which in the public interest are prohibited under a penalty’, and ‘There is a presumption that mens rea, an evil intention, … Continue reading Sherras v De Rutzen: QBD 2 May 1895
Interpretation of Double Taxation Agreements This appeal is concerned with the interpretation and application of a double taxation agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States of America. A had been a member of an LLP in Delaware, and he was resident within the UK, but not domiciled here. He was liable to UK … Continue reading Anson v Revenue and Customs: SC 1 Jul 2015
The appellant challenged a sale and rent back transaction. He said that the proposed purchaser had misrepresented the transaction to them. The Court was asked s whether the home owners had interests whose priority was protected by virtue of section 29(2)(a)(ii) of, and Schedule 3, paragraph 2, to the Land Registration Act 2002. Held: The … Continue reading Scott v Southern Pacific Mortgages Ltd and Others: SC 22 Oct 2014
Parties had entered into a bunker supply contract which contained a retention of title clause in favour of the supplier. It purported to allow the buyer to use the goods before title came to be passed. Held: The owner’s appeal failed. It did not fall within the scope of the 1979 Act, and therefore the … Continue reading PST Energy 7 Shipping Llc and Another v OW Bunker Malta Ltd and Another: SC 11 May 2016
Sham requires common intent to create other result The court considered a claim by a hire-purchase company for the return of a vehicle. The bailee said the agreement was a sham. Held: The word ‘sham’ should only be used to describe an act or document where the parties have a common intention that the act … Continue reading Snook v London and West Riding Investments Ltd: CA 1967
The defendant had sold a car, taking as payment a cheque which was dishonoured; the plaintiffs later bought the car in good faith.
Held: The defendant was entitled to return of the car, even though the original purchaser had disappeared, and . .
