Gilliatt The claimant was born in 1949 with barely formed male genitalia. He was registered at birth as a male child. He lived for some of his life as a male and for some time as a female until he underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1999, since which time the claimed lived life entirely as … Continue reading Ryder, Regina (on the Application of) v The Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths: Admn 20 Jun 2002
The prisoner awaited trial. Among the prosecution witnesses was his partner. They now sought to marry. The applicant sought to prevent the marriage on the basis that this would make her non-compellable as a witness. Held: Public policy considerations did not apply to prevent the marriage. The duty on the registrar to issue a certificate … Continue reading Regina (Crown Prosecution Service) v Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and Another: CA 7 Nov 2002
A child had been adopted in fact and lived with the tenant for many years, but had not been formally adopted under the Act claimed to inherit the tenancy on his death. Held: He was to be considered to be a member of the former tenant’s family living with him at his death within the … Continue reading Brock v Wollams: CA 1949
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
A Mohammedan leader of a Muslim religious sect was charged with and convicted of the offence of solemnising a marriage other than in a licensed building. The service had been a Nichan in a private house, performed in accordance with Islamic law and would have created a potentially polygamous marriage. Held: The Court allowed the … Continue reading Regina v Bham: CCA 1965
The parties had gone through a marriage ceremony, but not having given the required notice to the registrar, no marriage certificate had been issued. They now sought a declaration that the marriage was valid. Held: The declaration was granted. The issue was the extent to which the marriage complied with the Act, and whether it … Continue reading MA v JA (Attorney General intervening): FD 27 Jul 2012
The respondent brought in laws restricting marriages between persons subject to immigration control, requiring those seeking non Church of England marriages to first obtain a certificate from the defendant that the marriage was approved. The applicants said this was discriminatory and infringed their human rights. Held: Legislation which prevented marriages of convenience between aliens and … Continue reading Baiai and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Admn 10 Apr 2006
The claimant and her husband had been married at a Sikh temple, and lived together for many years before his death. The temple had not been accredited for marriages, and the Secretary of State resisted payment of benefits to the claimant as a widow, saying that she had not been married. Held: The claimant’s appeal … Continue reading Chief Adjudication Officer v Bath: CA 28 Oct 1999
In order to prevent marriages of convenience in the UK the Secretary of State introduced a scheme under which certain persons subject to immigration control required her written permission to marry and would not receive it unless they were present in the UK pursuant to a grant of leave for more than six months of … Continue reading Baiai and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 30 Jul 2008
The court was asked to pierce the veil of incorporation of a company in the course of ancillary relief proceedings in a divorce. H had failed to co-operate with the court. After a comprehensive review of all the authorities, Munby J said: ‘The common theme running through all the cases in which the court has … Continue reading Ben Hashem v Ali Shayif and Another: FD 22 Sep 2008
The claimants had made several Star Wars films for which the defendants had designed various props items. The parties disputed ownership of the rights in the designs, and in articular of a stormtrooper helmet. The issues came down to whether the defendant had rights to reproduce images under sections 51 and 52. The claimants appealed … Continue reading Lucasfilm Ltd and Others v Ainsworth and Another: CA 16 Dec 2009
The applicant was born outside marriage in 1948 in East Germany and claimed a share of the estate of her father, who had lived in West Germany dying in 1998. A West German statute of 1969 put illegitimate children on a equality with children of a marriage, but excluded children born before 1 July 1949, … Continue reading Brauer v Germany: ECHR 28 May 2009
A will made by a widow in 1939, left certain property to her son Francesc-Xavier, as tenant for life, with a stipulation that he was to leave this inheritance to a son or grandson of a lawful and canonical marriage, failing which the estate was to pass to the children and grandchildren of the testatrix’s … Continue reading Pla and Puncernau v Andorra: ECHR 13 Jul 2004
The deceased had remarried. His beneficiaries asserted that he had lacked capacity and that the marriage was ineffective. Held: The test of capacity to marry is whether he or she was capable of understanding the nature of the contract, was free of morbid delusions, and capable of appreciating the normal duties and responsibilities of a … Continue reading In re Estate of Park (deceased), Park v Park: CA 2 Jan 1953
A husband was charged with rape of his wife after she had left him and petitioned for divorce. He was also charged with an assault. Held: There was no evidence which entitled the court to say that the wife’s implied consent to marital intercourse had been revoked by an act of the parties or by … Continue reading Regina v Miller: Assz 1954
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
(Crown Ct at Teesside) A husband was charged with having raped his wife, from whom he was living apart at the time. Held: The charge was bad. s 1(1)(a) of the 1976 Act had the effect that the marital exemption embodied in Hale’s proposition was preserved, subject to those exceptions established by cases decided before … Continue reading Regina v J (rape: marital exemption): Crwn 1991
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 main object of the Society was political viz, the repeal of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, and for that reason the Society was not established for charitable purposes only and was not entitled to exemption from tax. An organisation whose aims could be seen as harmful to the public could not be recognised … Continue reading National Anti-Vivisection League v Inland Revenue Commissioners: HL 2 Jul 1947
Same Sex Paartner to Inherit as Family Member The claimant had lived with the original tenant in a stable and long standing homosexual relationship at the deceased’s flat. After the tenant’s death he sought a statutory tenancy as a spouse of the deceased. The Act had been extended to include as a spouse someone living … Continue reading Fitzpatrick v Sterling Housing Association Ltd: HL 28 Oct 1999
One tenant of two joint tenants of a house left and was granted a new tenancy on condition that the existing one of the house, still occupied by her former partner, was determined. She gave a notice to quit as requested, the council claimed possession, and succeeded, even though she had sought to withdraw her … Continue reading Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council v Monk: HL 5 Dec 1991
H has no right to sexual intercourse with W – rape The defendant appealed against his conviction for having raped his wife, saying that intercourse with his wife was necessarily lawful, and therefore outside the statutory definition of rape. Due to the matrimonial difficulties, the wife had left their matrimonial house and gone to her … Continue reading Regina v R: HL 23 Oct 1991
Adopted grandchildren entitled to succession The court was asked whether the adopted children whose adopting father, the son of the testator, were grandchildren of the testator for the purposes of his will. Held: The claim succeeded. The defendants, the other beneficiaries were not entitled to inherit the part of their father’s estate that derived from … Continue reading Hand and Another v George: ChD 17 Mar 2017
Islamic Nikah Ceremony did not create a marriage The parties had undertaken, in 1998, an Islamic marriage ceremony, a Nikah. They both knew at the time that to be effective in UK law, there would need to be a civil ceremony, and intended but did not achieve one. The parties having settled their dispute, the … Continue reading Her Majesty’s Attorney General v Akhter and Another: CA 14 Feb 2020
A flat was sold, but before the purchasers registered the transfer, the seller was sequestrated, and his trustee registered his own interest as trustee. The buyer complained that the trustee was unjustly enriched.
Held: The Act defined the . .
