Judges: Holman J Citations: [2007] EWHC 1028 (Admin), (2007) 10 CCL Rep 464, [2007] 1 WLR 2239 Links: Bailii Statutes: European Convention on Human Rights 5, Mental Health Act 1983 75(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Human Rights, Health Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.252401
The claimant sought damages, saying that he had been unlawfully detained when found unfit to plead in 1997. Held: The claim failed. (a) The 1964 Act, and its Scottish equivalent, did not authorise anything that was arbitrary. (b) It followed that Parliament did not, by the 1986 Order, pass subordinate legislation which authorised arbitrary detention … Continue reading Juncal, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and others: Admn 19 Dec 2007
The defendant appealed the decision of the district judge when adjourning his case for a second psychiatric report with a view to hispossible committal to hospital, saying that this would deprive him of his right to a trial. Held: In cases alleged insanity either at the time of the offence or at trial, the magistrates … Continue reading Singh, Regina (on the Application Of) v Stratford Magistrates Court: Admn 3 Jul 2007
The Secretary appealed against the refusal of renewal of a control order. It had been said that the secretary had failed properly to consider on the renewal whether there was sufficient evidence to justify instead a prosecution. Held: The appeal succeeded. The formal consideration of the possibility of a prosecution was a continuing one, but … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Home Department v E and S: CA 17 May 2007
The applicant had had his application for asylum rejected. Pending deportation, he had been held in custody. The court had found his detention unlawful. Held: The Home Secretary’s appeal succeeded. The power to detain in such circumstances had to be for the purpose for which the power had been created, and the detention must not … Continue reading A, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 30 Jul 2007
The applicants were detained at Rampton. The form of detention denied the access to space in which they would be able to smoke cigarettes to comply with the law. Held: The claim failed. The legislative objectives were sufficiently serious to support as rational the imposition of the rules. Having a mental illness is not a … Continue reading G, Regina (on the Application of) v Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: Admn 20 May 2008
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Constructive dismissal The Employment Tribunal did not approach the question of constructive unfair dismissal in a last straw case by reference to the steps in Omilaju. To take an analytic approach and ask of each event whether the Claimant had proved a breach or fundamental breach of contract was an error. Appeal … Continue reading Muschett v Parkwood Healthcare: EAT 16 Mar 2009
The claimant psychiatrist allowed freedom within the insecure grounds of the hospital to a newly admitted but unexamined patient. He left and committed a homicide. She was suspended pending disciplinary proceedings by the Trust. An expert report found minor faults but suggested no further action, and the claimant sought confirmation that the matter was closed. … Continue reading Mezey v South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust: QBD 5 Dec 2008
The claimant said that the defendant hospital had been negligent in failing to prevent her daughter escaping from the mental hospital at which she was detained and committing suicide. Held: The status of a detained mental patient was more akin to that of a prisoner than of a patient because of the control exercised and … Continue reading Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Another: CA 21 Dec 2007
The claimant sought damages from his barrister saying that he should have introduced evidence of his good character during the trial. The defendant appealed against the order permitting extension of the limitation period. Held: The court had not allowed the defendant the difficulty he would face in establishing the condition of the claimants mental health … Continue reading Kamar v Nightingale and Another: QBD 14 Dec 2007
EAT Unfair dismissal – Constructive dismissalThe Claimant, a long serving charge nurse accused of institutional abuse of patients, was suspended in breach of contract for she was not offered trade union representation at a suspension meeting. Suspension, and the refusal to lift it at an investigatory meeting, destroyed the relationship of trust and confidence without … Continue reading Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust v Atkinson: EAT 20 Aug 2007
EAT PART TIME WORKERSA police officer was found by the Tribunal to be significantly disadvantaged compared with his peers when carrying out examinations for promotion. Nonetheless, the Tribunal held that he was not disabled within the meaning of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 because that was not a normal day-to-day activity. In so far as … Continue reading Paterson v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: EAT 23 Jul 2007
Judges: Heatson J Citations: [2007] EWHC 776 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Mental Health Act 1983 3 Health Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.250701
Citations: [2007] EWHC 2902 (QB) Links: Bailii Statutes: Mental Capacity Act 2005 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Health Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.263253
The claimant challenged a control order made against him, saying that the respondent had renewed the order despite failing to keep under review the possibility of prosecuting him, and that his mental health had suffered as a result of the order and that that had not been taken account of. Held: Ony very limited weight … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Home Department v E: Admn 16 Feb 2007
The claimant appealed against adverse findings on her claims of sex discrimination. The court considered questions arising from the provisions relating to the transfer of the burden of proof in a discrimination case. Held: Questions of the burden of proof are very common in discrimination cases: ‘The factual content of the cases does not simply … Continue reading Madarassy v Nomura International Plc: CA 26 Jan 2007
The claimant council alleged that the defendant had acted to abuse its dominant market position in the provision of bus services in the city. Held: It was for the claimant to show that the defendant had a dominant position. It had not done so, and was mistaken in confining their analysis to the bus market. … Continue reading Chester City Council and Another v Arriva Plc and others: ChD 15 Jun 2007
Claim that transactions void for lack of mental capacity. Judges: Lindsay J Citations: [2007] EWHC 2240 (Ch) Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Health Updated: 06 July 2022; Ref: scu.259665
The claimant had sought to bring proceedings against the respondent, but as a mental patient subject to the 1983 Act, had been obliged by the section first to obtain consent. The parties disputed whether the failure was a procedural or substantial failing and whether it made the proceedings a nullity. Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. … Continue reading Seal v Chief Constable of South Wales Police: HL 4 Jul 2007
ECJ 1. Community law – Principles – Legal certainty – Protection of legitimate expectations – Prohibition of the use in livestock farming of certain substances having a hormonal action in the absence of unanimity as to their harmlessness – Infringement – None (Council Directive 88/146) 2. Community law – Principles – Proportionality – Prohibition of … Continue reading Regina v Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Secretary of State For Health, ex Parte Fedesa and Others: ECJ 13 Nov 1990
Challenge to directions given by the respondent for the recall of the appellant to a mental hospital. Held: The breach of a condition would, if of ‘sufficient significance’ justify a recall. Judges: Keene, Gage, Toulson LJJ Citations: [2007] EWCA Civ 687 Links: Bailii Statutes: Mental Health Act 1983 42 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: … Continue reading MM, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 6 Jul 2007
The applicant was an adult autistic, unable to consent to medical treatment. Treatment was provided at a day centre. He had been detained informally under the Act and against the wishes of his carers, but the Court of Appeal decided he should have been formally detained. Held: The appeal succeeded. His detention had not been … Continue reading In Re L (By His Next Friend GE); Regina v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust, Ex Parte L: HL 25 Jun 1998
A notice was given to the holder of a waste disposal licence to require certain information to be provided on pain of prosecution. The provision of such information could also then be evidence against the provider of the commission of a criminal offence. Held: Nevertheless, the provision of such information was required in this case, … Continue reading Regina v Hertfordshire County Council, ex parte Green Environmental Industries Ltd and Another: HL 17 Feb 2000
The test of ‘When a plaintiff became aware of the cause of an injury’ is a subjective test of what passed through plaintiff’s mind. ‘(1) the knowledge required to satisfy s14(1)(b) is a broad knowledge of the essence of the causally relevant act or omission to which the injury is attributable; (2) ‘attributable’ in this … Continue reading Spargo v North Essex District Health Authority: CA 13 Mar 1997
The complainant made two requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the ‘Act’) to East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust (the ‘Trust’). The first request was for a copy of internal reports into the circumstances surrounding the death of a patient of the Trust (‘Mr A’). The Trust refused to disclose … Continue reading East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust (Decision Notice): ICO 3 Dec 2007
The defendant journalist had published confidential material obtained from the claimant’s secure hospital at Ashworth. The hospital now appealed against the refusal of an order for him to to disclose his source. Held: The appeal failed. Given that over 200 people may have been the source, the claimant’s argument based on the burden on fellow … Continue reading Mersey Care NHS Trust v Ackroyd: CA 21 Feb 2007
The complainant wrote to North East London NHS Strategic Health Authority (the ‘SHA’) regarding an internal inquiry carried out by East London and The City NHS Mental Health Trust (the ‘MHT’) into the death of a patient (‘Mr A’) in 2001, and the subsequent decision not to hold an independent inquiry into his death – … Continue reading NHS London (Decision Notice): ICO 3 Dec 2007
The claimant sought damages for repudiation of a charterparty. The charterpary had been intended to continue until 2005. The charterer repudiated the contract and that repudiation was accepted, but before the arbitrator could set his award, the Iraq war broke out, under which the charterer could have terminated the charter as of right. The defendant … Continue reading Golden Strait Corporation v Nippon Yusen Kubishka Kaisha (‘The Golden Victory’): HL 28 Mar 2007
The authority had carried out an inquiry into its handling of an application for a care order. It sought to restrain republication of the report. Held: There were competing requirements under the Convention. Any jurisdiction to restrain publication must be exercised in such circumstances only to protect the children involved. The scope to act for … Continue reading In re a local authority (Inquiry: restraint on publication); A Local Authority v A Health Authority and A: FD 27 Nov 2003
The plaintiff had acquired land to build a hospital, which would require re-alignment of a link road, over which the defendants had rights of way. The land was also subject to a restrictive covenant in favour of the defendants. The defendants did not object, and the re-alignment of the right of way would improve the … Continue reading Greenwich Healthcare National Health Service Trust v London and Quadrant Housing Trust and Others: ChD 11 Jun 1998
The claimant’s son had been stabbed to death. She challenged the refusal of the coroner to continue with the inquest with a view to examining the responsibility of any of the police in having failed to protect him. Held: The question amounted to asking whether the coroner’s decision on the resumption should have been affected … Continue reading Hurst, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v London Northern District Coroner: HL 28 Mar 2007
The patient an elderly lady with limited mental capacity was to be returned from hospital, but her daughter said she was to come home. The local authority sought to prevent this, wanting to return her to a residential unit where she had lived for some months. The court had held that the patient lacked capacity … Continue reading In re PS (an Adult), Re; City of Sunderland v PS by her litigation friend the Offcial Solcicitor and CA; Re PS (Incapacitated or Vulnerable Adult): FD 9 Mar 2007
Change in Doctors’ Information Obligations The pursuer claimed that her obstetrician had been negligent, after her son suffered severe injury at birth. The baby faced a birth with shoulder dystocia – the inability of the shoulders to pass through the pelvis. The consultant considered that a vaginal birth was preferable and did not given advice … Continue reading Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board: SC 11 Mar 2015
The MCA 2005 had specifically codified the approach and principles previously recognised and applied under the inherent jurisdiction Judges: Charles J Citations: [2007] EWHC 3085 (Fam) Links: Bailii Statutes: Mental Capacity Act 2005 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – G v E and Others CA 16-Jul-2010 E, now aged 19, suffered a genetic … Continue reading Surrey County Council v MB and Others: FD 9 Oct 2007
The defendant appealed his conviction of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. He was made subject to a hospital order without limit of time under sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Judges: Lord Justice Latham (Vice President of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division) Mr Justice Royce Mr Justice … Continue reading Johnson, Regina v: CACD 9 Jul 2007
Damages were sought by parents for psychological harm against health authorities for the wrongful diagnosis of differing forms of child abuse. They appealed dismissal of their awards on the grounds that it was not ‘fair just and reasonable’ to impose such a duty. The appellants sought to distinguish X v Bedfordshire in different ways. Held: … Continue reading JD, MAK and RK, RK and Another v East Berkshire Community Health, Dewsbury Health Care NHS Trust and Kirklees Metropolitan Council, Oldham NHS Trust and Dr Blumenthal: CA 31 Jul 2003
Parents of children had falsely and negligently been accused of abusing their children. The children sought damages for negligence against the doctors or social workers who had made the statements supporting the actions taken. The House was asked if the suffering of psychiatric injury by the parent was a foreseeable result of making it and … Continue reading JD v East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust and others: HL 21 Apr 2005
The test for capacity to consent to sexual relations must be the same in its essentials as the test in the criminal law; more importantly ‘a woman either has capacity, for example, to consent to ‘normal’ penetrative vaginal intercourse, or she does not . . Put shortly, capacity to consent to sexual relations is issue … Continue reading Local Authority X v MM and Another; re MM (An Adult): FD 21 Aug 2007
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 claimant appealed against an order striking out his claim in negligence. He had leaped from a window in a suicide attempt. The accommodation was provided by the defendant whilst caring for him under the 1983 Act. Held: The case should be allowed to go ahead. Though the common law tort of negligence is still … Continue reading K v Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust and Another: QBD 30 May 2008
EAT Race Discrimination : Inferring Discrimination – Burden of proof The submission that both Madarassy v Nomura International plc [2007] ICR 867 and Hewage v Grampian Health Board [2012] ICR 1054 support the proposition that an Employer should not have the burden of proof reversed and be required to give a non-discriminatory explanation for its … Continue reading Veolia Environmental Services Uk v Gumbs: EAT 7 Feb 2014
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
Appellate Roles – Human Rights – Families Split The House considered the decision making role of immigration appellate authorities when deciding appeals on Human Rights grounds, against refusal of leave to enter or remain, under section 65. In each case the asylum applicant had had his own request refused but that of his family had … Continue reading Huang v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 21 Mar 2007
The prosecutor appealed a grant of a stay of a prosecution of the 13 year old defendant as an abuse of process. Reports had indicated that he was unfit to plead. The prosecution contended that, if the court thought P ought not to face trial by reason of his disability, it should proceed to decide … Continue reading Crown Prosecution Service v P; Director of Public Prosecutions v P: Admn 27 Apr 2007
The three respondents had fled persecution in Darfur. They sought asylum which was refused, and they now appealed. It was argued that whilst they had a well founded fear of persecution in Dhafur, that would not apply if they returned to Khartoum. The AIT had found that it would not be unreasonable for them to … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Home Department v AH (Sudan) and others: HL 14 Nov 2007
The court was asked, whether asked to grant possession against a disabled tenant where the grounds for possession were mandatory. The defendant was a secure tenant with a history of psychiatric disability. He had set out to buy his flat, but the council sought possession when it discovered that he had sublet. Held: Section 23(3)(c) … Continue reading London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm and Disability Rights Commission: CA 25 Jul 2007
The court made a section 11 order to prevent the publication of the identity of a woman who was due to be the principal witness at the trial of a person charged with having recklessly infected her with HIV. There was evidence before the court that the woman’s mental health would be endangered if her … Continue reading Her Majesty’s Advocate v Mola: HCJ 7 Feb 2007
EAT Disability discrimination – DisabilityCompulsory admission of a patient under the Mental Health Act is not automatically a disability under the DDA 1995. In the circumstances of this case the severity of the Claimant’s condition did mean she had an impairment with a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities.In determining whether or not a condition … Continue reading McDougall v Richmond Adult Community College: EAT 13 Jul 2007
The House was asked whether a private care home when providing accommodation and care to a resident under arrangements with a local authority the 1948 Act, is performing ‘functions of a public nature’ for the purposes of section 6(3)(b) of the Human Rights Act 1998 and as such a ‘public authority’ subject to Convention rights … Continue reading YL v Birmingham City Council and Others: HL 20 Jun 2007
Discrimination – Shifting Burden of Proof (Preliminary Ruling) A woman was employed as a speech therapist by the health authority. She complained of sex discrimination saying that at her level of seniority within the NHS, members of her profession which was overwhelmingly a female profession, were appreciably less well paid than members of comparable professions … Continue reading Enderby v Frenchay Health Authority and Another: ECJ 27 Oct 1993
The appellants said that the 2004 Act infringed their rights under articles 8 11 and 14 and Art 1 of protocol 1. Held: Article 8 protected the right to private and family life. Its purpose was to protect individuals from unjustified intrusion by state agents into the private sphere within which they expected to be … Continue reading Countryside Alliance and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Attorney General and Another: HL 28 Nov 2007
The claimant had been employed as a consultant orthodontist. She resigned claiming constructive dismissal and sex and race discrimination. The EAT reversed the findings on discrimination saying that they had not been sufficiently pleaded. The Court of Session re-instated the discrimination findings and the Board now appealed. Held: The Board’s appeal failed. Although the positions … Continue reading Hewage v Grampian Health Board: SC 25 Jul 2012
The respondent had been subject to a civil search, which revealed the existence of obscene images of children on his computer. He appealed against refusal of an order that the evidence should not be passed to the police as evidence. He said that the order infringed his right against self-incrimination. He had permitted the search … Continue reading C Plc v P and Attorney General Intervening: CA 22 May 2007
The claimant sought damages for the development of neural plaques, having been exposed to asbestos while working for the defendant. The presence of such plaques were symptomless, and would not themselves cause other asbestos related disease, but signalled the presence of asbestos in the lungs. The employer appealed a finding of liability. Held: The claims … Continue reading Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd; Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd; similar: HL 17 Oct 2007
The applicant, who was subject to a control order, complained that the respondent had failed as required to keep under review the possibility of a prosecution, and had renewed the order without satisfying that requirement. Held: The appeal failed. Though the respondent had failed as described, that did not make the renewal of the control … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Home Department v E and Another: HL 31 Oct 2007
The plaintiff suffered catastrophic brain damage as a result of cardiac arrest induced by respiratory failure as a child whilst at the defendant hospital. A doctor was summoned but failed to attend, and the child suffered cardiac arrest and brain damage. Held: In cases of diagnosis and treatment there are cases where, despite a body … Continue reading Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority: HL 24 Jul 1997
The claimants appealed against the imposition on them of smoking bans while they were compulsorily detained at Rampton Hospital. They said that other persons detained for example in prisons had been exempted fully. Held: The right or freedom to smoke does not engage article 8(1) of the Convention. The appeal failed: ‘We reject the argument … Continue reading N, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health; Regina (E) v Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: CA 24 Jul 2009
Toleration of Diverse Parenting Standards Hedley J considered the meaning of ‘significant harm’: ‘What about the court’s approach . . to the issue of significant harm? In order to understand this concept and the range of harm that it’s intended to encompass, it is right to begin with issues of policy. Basically it is the … Continue reading Re L (Care: Threshold Criteria): FD 2007
EAT Practice and Procedure : Costs – Tribunal orders that Appellant should pay Respondents one-third of their costs (estimated prior to assessment at andpound;260,000) on the basis that the claim was misconceived from the start.Held, dismissing the appeal, that there was no error of law in the Tribunal’s approach – In particular, it was not … Continue reading Vaughan v London Borough of Lewisham and Others (Practice and Procedure : Costs): EAT 6 Jun 2013
The patient was detained under the Act. The Mental Health Tribunal decided he should be released. The hospital disagreed. The patient continued to reside to the Hospital voluntarily, but the hospital viewed the decision to release him as . .
The availability of accommodation in a medium secure hospital where the patient could be detained in appropriate conditions, including appropriate facilities for treatment, can never be relevant to the question whether an order should be made under . .
The complainant requested information from the public authority relating to reports prepared by the environmental health officers of Bridgend County Borough Council in respect of John Tudor and Sons, a large scale meat supplier based in the . .
Challenge to refusal to accept claimant in to guardianship. . .
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E Was born with and still suffered severe learning difficulties. The court was asked as to the extent of his capacity to make decisions, and as to where he should live, with a family member, the carer or with the local authority, which had removed him from her care. As he had become an adult, … Continue reading G v E and Others: CoP 26 Mar 2010
Judges: Baker J Citations: [2010] EWHC 2042 (Fam), [2010] MHLR 407 Links: Bailii Statutes: Mental Capacity Act 2005, Mental Health Act 2007 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Health Updated: 03 September 2022; Ref: scu.430382
E, now aged 19, suffered a genetic disorder leading to severe learning disability and lack of mental capacity. He had been in the care of his sister, the appellant, but had been removed by the local authority when his behaviour became disturbed. G, his sister sought an order for his return to F, his carer … Continue reading G v E and Others: CA 16 Jul 2010
The case addresses the question of the extent of the duty on a local authority to ensure that a person who lacks capacity is able to challenge a deprivation of their liberty, and in particular the choice of an independent mental capacity advocate. Baker J [2015] EWCOP 5 Bailii Mental Capacity Act 2005, Mental Health … Continue reading AJ (Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards): CoP 10 Feb 2015
The statutory provisions of the 2007 Act for review of standard authorisations were matters that the Court of Protection should take into account in determining whether it should make an order authorising the deprivation of P’s liberty, and if so the extent and period of such an authorisation having regard to the authorities relating to … Continue reading GJ v The Foundation Trust and Another: FD 20 Nov 2009
Counsel appearing at the tribunal had previously sat as a judge with a tribunal member. The opposing party asserted bias in the tribunal. Held: The test in Gough should be restated in part so that the court must first ascertain all the circumstances which have a bearing on the suggestion that the judge was biased. … Continue reading Lawal v Northern Spirit Limited: HL 19 Jun 2003
Application had been made to register as a town or village green an area of land which was largely a boggy marsh. The local authority resisted the application wanting to use the land instead for housing. It then rejected advice it received from a non-statutory enquiry, and sought a declaration from the court as to … Continue reading Oxfordshire County Council v Oxford City Council and others: HL 24 May 2006
Prosecution to protect defendant not available The claimants faced extradition to the US. They said that the respondent had infringed their human rights by deciding not to prosecute them in the UK. There was no mutuality in the Act under which they were to be extradited. Held: The Director had a discretion as to whether … Continue reading Bermingham and others v The Director of the Serious Fraud Office: QBD 21 Feb 2006
It had been decided that PC, a 43 year old woman, had capacity to marry, but the LA now argued that she did not have the capacity to decide to live with her partner, a man who had old convictions for serious sexual assault. Held: Decisions as to the existence of capacity was always specific … Continue reading PC and Another v City of York Council: CA 1 May 2013
The court considered an extension of the time for claiming damages for personal injuries after the claimants said they had been sexually abused as children in the care of the defendants. Held: The test to be applied under section 14(2) was ‘partly subjective’and ‘section 14(2) was designed principally to provide for cases of late diagnosis … Continue reading KR and others v Bryn Alyn Community (Holdings) Ltd and Another: CA 10 Jun 2003
The applicants sought to challenge the grant of a permit by the defendant to a company to operate a cement works, saying that the environmental impact assessment was inadequate. Held: The Agency had been justified in allowing the application in the form presented. Nor had there been inadeqate disclosure. Everything which was required to be … Continue reading Edwards, Regina (on the application of) v Environment Agency: HL 16 Apr 2008
Each claimant sought damages after being exposed to asbestos dust. The defendants resisted saying that the injury alleged, the development of pleural plaques, was yet insufficient as damage to found a claim. Held: (Smith LJ dissenting) The defendants appeals succeeded. The claimants had three possible claims, none of which on their own would amount to … Continue reading Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd and Another: CA 26 Jan 2006
ECHR Article 9-1 Manifest religion or belief Disciplinary measures against employees for wearing religious symbols (cross) at work or refusing to perform duties they considered incompatible with their religious beliefs: violation; no violations Article 14 Discrimination Disciplinary measures against employees for wearing religious symbols (cross) at work or refusing to perform duties they considered incompatible … Continue reading Eweida And Others v The United Kingdom: ECHR 15 Jan 2013
The physical and psychological integrity which the state may in principle be under an obligation to take positive steps to protect under Article 8 included two particularly important concepts. The first was human dignity, the second was the right of the disabled to participate in the life of the community and to have access to … Continue reading AB X and Y, Regina (on the Application of) v East Sussex County Council and Another: Admn 18 Feb 2003
The plaintiff’s son aged 10 died of Addison’s Disease which had not been diagnosed. An action against the Health Authority was settled. The parents then brought an action against 5 doctors in their local GP Practice in relation to matters that had taken place post death. The allegations included conspiracy to injure by unlawful means. … Continue reading Powell and Another v Boldaz and others: CA 1 Jul 1997
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 applicants complained that as an unmarried couple they had been excluded from consideration as adopters. Held: Northern Ireland legislation had not moved in the same way as it had for other jurisdictions within the UK. The greater commitment to traditional family structures did not however justify the difference. The rules were unlawful discrimination.Lord Hoffmann … Continue reading In re P and Others, (Adoption: Unmarried couple) (Northern Ireland); In re G: HL 18 Jun 2008
The defendant had published a set of guidelines for intelligence officers called upon to detain and interrogate suspects. The defendant said that the guidelines could only be tested against individual real life cases, and that the court should not answer hypothetical questions. The objection lay to reactions to anticipated torture and mistreatment by third party … Continue reading Equality and Human Rights Commission v Prime Minister and Others: Admn 3 Oct 2011
The appellant had been charged with and disciplined for a prison offence. He was refused legal assistance at his hearing, and it was accepted that the proceedings involved the determination of a criminal charge within the meaning of article 6 of the Convention, that the deputy controller was not an independent tribunal and that the … Continue reading Greenfield, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 16 Feb 2005
A contract of guarantee was made, but based upon a term of fundamental importance which was mistaken as to the existence of certain machines. Held: The court must first look to the nature of the purported agreement. Steyn J said: ‘Logically, before one can turn to the rules as to mistake, whether at common law … Continue reading Associated Japanese Bank (International) Ltd v Credit du Nord SA: 1988
G executed a deed surrendering his life interest in a trust fund in order to vest the property in his two children: the deed did not have that effect because of two errors (one of which was ignoring the fact that his life interest was subject to protective trusts), with the result that the fund … Continue reading Gibbon v Mitchell: ChD 1990
The authority sought to evict their tenant on the ground that he was behaving in a way which was a nuisance to neighbours. The tenant was disabled, and claimed discrimination. Held: In secure tenancies, the authority had to consider the reasonableness of making a possession order, and in situations where it was enforcing a possession … Continue reading Council of the City of Manchester v Romano, Samariz: CA 1 Jul 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
The claimant contracted sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob’s Disease disease. He executed a Lasting Power of Attorney in favour of his brother, expressing to him that he should do whatever was possible to protract his life. The brother now sought treatment accordingly, referring to an experimental treatment. He was given the treatment initially, but the hospital refused … Continue reading AVS v A NHS Foundation Trust and Another: CA 17 Jan 2011
The claimant had sought and been refused judicial review of a decision of the SIAC Upper Tribunal. The Upper Tribunals were designated as courts of superior record, and the court at first instance had said that SIACs specialist procedures and jurisdiction meant that it was amenable to judicial review, but only on grounds of excess … Continue reading Cart, Regina (on The Application of) v The Upper Tribunal and Others: CA 23 Jul 2010
The employer had altered existing employment contracts. The claimants having commenced discrimination claims then sought to add to the existing proceedings comparators from different job groups. The tribunal had been asked whether, given that this amounted to a new claim (applying Bainbridge), that new claim was out of time and if so whether its discretion … Continue reading North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust v Fox and Others: CA 30 Jun 2010
The appellant, an Iraqi national had arrived in 2000 as a child, and stayed unlawfully after failure of his asylum claim. He was convicted twice of drugs offences. On release he was considered a low risk of re-offending. He had been in a serious relationship with an English woman since 2005. However the Home Secretary … Continue reading Hesham Ali (Iraq) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: SC 16 Nov 2016
A complaint was made that the authorities had failed in their duty to protect a prisoner’s life. The authorities had him in custody for two years and knew of his health problems. He was not properly treated in the penal colony. When he had acute pain, he was diagnosed with a perforated ulcer and peritonitis … Continue reading Tarariyeva v Russia: ECHR 14 Dec 2006
Criminality of Assisting Suicide not Infringing The court was asked: ‘whether the present state of the law of England and Wales relating to assisting suicide infringes the European Convention on Human Rights, and whether the code published by the Director of Public Prosecutions relating to prosecutions of those who are alleged to have assisted a … Continue reading Nicklinson and Another, Regina (on The Application of): SC 25 Jun 2014
The claimant journalist sought disclosure of papers acquired by the respondent in its conduct of enquiries into the charitable Mariam appeal. The Commission referred to an absolute exemption under section 32(2) of the 2000 Act, saying that the exemption continued until the papers were destroyed, or for 20 years under the 1958 Act. Held: The … Continue reading Kennedy v The Charity Commission: SC 26 Mar 2014
The claimant’s daughter had committed suicide whilst on home leave from a hospital where she had stayed as a voluntary patient with depression. Her admission had followed a suicide attempt. The hospital admitted negligence but denied that it owed her a positive obligation to protect life under Article 2. Held: The claimants’ appeal succeeded. The … Continue reading Rabone and Another v Pennine Care NHS Foundation: SC 8 Feb 2012
Loss of Confidentiality Protection – public domain A retired secret service employee sought to publish his memoirs from Australia. The British government sought to restrain publication there, and the defendants sought to report those proceedings, which would involve publication of the allegations made. The AG sought to restrain those publications. Held: A duty of confidence … Continue reading Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd (No 2) (‘Spycatcher’): HL 13 Oct 1988
Procedures on Withdrawal of Life Support Treatment The patient had been severely injured in the Hillsborough disaster, and had come to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). The doctors sought permission to withdraw medical treatment. The Official Solicitor appealed against an order of the Court of Appeal permitting the action. Held: The appeal failed. … Continue reading Airedale NHS Trust v Bland: HL 4 Feb 1993
A challenge by request for judicial review to the legality of the comprehensive ban on smoking at the State Hospital at Carstairs which the State Hospitals Board adopted. The appellant, a detained patient, did not challenge the ban on smoking indoors, but rather as to the ban on smoking in the grounds and on home … Continue reading McCann v The State Hospitals Board for Scotland: SC 11 Apr 2017
The Court considered the procedures when a prisoner is kept in solitary confinement, otherwise described as ‘segregation’ or ‘removal from association’, and principally whether decisions to keep the appellants in segregation for substantial periods were taken lawfully. Held: The segregation was not authorised by the applicable legislation: ‘rule 45 . . (1) enables the governor … Continue reading Bourgass and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 29 Jul 2015
The applicant challenged the prodecures for deciding her appeal against the council’s refusal to pay backdated housing benefits. She complained that the availability of judicial review of the decision was not adequate. Held: The system did not provide a fair system. The Board was not itself independent of the Council whose decision it looked at … Continue reading Tsfayo v The United Kingdom: ECHR 14 Nov 2006