The claimant qualified potentially for a pension based upon her own Class B contributions, or a category A pension. The Class B pension and requested that it be backdated. Held: She could claim one pension but not both. The pension entitlement under the 1992 Act was dependent upon a claim being made. She could not … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Nelligan: CA 15 Apr 2003
‘These appeals raise important and difficult questions posed by the impact of legislation for the protection of pension funds upon companies which are undergoing an insolvency process.’ Judges: Laws, Lloyd, Rimer LJJ Citations: [2011] EWCA Civ 1124, [2012] BCC 83, [2012] 1 BCLC 248, [2012] BCLC 248, [2012] 1 All ER 1455, [2012] Bus LR … Continue reading Bloom and Others v The Pensions Regulator and Others; In re Nortel GMBH (in administration: CA 14 Oct 2011
The applicant cleaner sought compensation for unfair dismissal. The issue was whether she was an employee of the respondents, of their client where she did her work, or was not an employee at all. She worked for an agency, who sent her out to offices to work. The court was called upon to give guidance … Continue reading Brook Street Bureau (UK) Ltd v Dacas: CA 5 Mar 2004
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
The claimant, an EU national, came to the UK to join her son. He had worked but became dependent on benefits. She sought payment of the State Pension. Held: A refusal to pay the pension would dissuade workers from moving around within the EU, and was therefore contrary to EU law and the Citizens Directive. … Continue reading Pedro v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 14 Dec 2009
Applications for directions by the administrators of twenty companies in two groups, all raising the same common questions as to the effect of the Financial Support Direction regime created by the Pensions Act 2004 upon companies in administration or insolvent liquidation.Briggs J said that Lord Hoffmann’s speech in Toshoku established as ‘a general rule’ that: … Continue reading Bloom and Others v The Pensions Regulator (Nortel, Re): ChD 10 Dec 2010
M had challenged the Child Support Regulations saying that they discriminated against her. She was the liable parent, and in a monogomoud lesbian relationship. As such she said that she was treated worse than she would have been since the Regulations did not that her relationship as constituting a family. The Secretary of State appealed … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M: CA 15 Oct 2004
The applicant questioned the compatibility of s185 of the 1996 Act with Human Rights law. The family sought emergency housing. The child of the family, found to be in priority housing need, was subject also to immigration control. Though the matter had been settled the court was invited to pursue the decision. Held: The Act … Continue reading Morris, Regina (on the Application of) v Westminster City Council and Another: Admn 7 Oct 2004
FSMT FSA: REGULATORY ACTION AGAINST INDIVIDUALS withdrawal of approval – prohibition order – fit and proper obligations under Pensions Review – importance of compliance disposal of assets without making proper provision for review – lack of integrity – proportionality of action – test to be applied Citations: [2004] UKFSM FSM009 Links: Bailii Financial Services Updated: … Continue reading Rayner and Another v The Financial Services Authority: FSMT 6 Aug 2004
The company went into insolvent liquidation. The secretary of state was to make payments to employees and there were other state preferential creditors. At the same time a refund of VAT was due from the Commissioners of customs and Excise. Held: The sums paid out and preferential debts could be set off against the VAT … Continue reading Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Frid: HL 13 May 2004
The secretary appealed a decision of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal to set aside a decision of the Pensions Tribunal. The applicant had been awarded a service pension. Held: The PAT had no general power to set aside a decision of the tribunal for an irregularity. The rules provided for a right of appeal to the … Continue reading Secretary of State for Defence v President of the Pension Appeal Tribunals (England and Wales): QBD 4 Feb 2004
The claimants sought a declaration that part of the Regulations were invalid, and an infringement of their human rights. The Regulations sought to exempt church schools from an obligation not to discriminate against homosexual teachers. Held: The Regulation was within the scope of the Directive. Though a member state had some freedom in implementing a … Continue reading Regina (Amicus etc) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: Admn 26 Apr 2004
Appeals were against decisions of Pensions Appeal Tribunals relating to claims for pensions in respect of death or disablement by war injuries. Article 4(1) of the Royal Warrant concerning Retired Pay, Pensions, etc dated December 1943 (Cmd 6489) provided that in no case was there to be an onus on any claimant to prove that … Continue reading Irving v Minister of Pensions: SCS 1945
The claimant appealed against a costs order. She had previously appealed against an order of the High Court on her application for judicial review of the inquest held by the respondent. Held: The coroner, and others in a similar position should not generally be expected to pay the costs of an appeal against an order … Continue reading Regina on the Application of Davies (No 2) v HM Deputy Coroner for Birmingham: CA 27 Feb 2004
It was discriminatory to treat differently homosexual and heterosexual couples when considering liability for child support payments. Sedley LJ: ‘The broad effect of the material provisions is to allocate the financial responsibility of separated parents for the maintenance of their children by pooling the absent parent’s income and outgoings with those of his or her … Continue reading Langley v Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 15 Oct 2004
PENSIONS REGULATOR – Financial support direction – pension scheme of joint venture company insufficiently resourced – jurisdiction – whether Targets connected with or an associate of the employer at the relevant time – yes – whether the legislation can be applied to events all of which occurred before legislation came into force – yes – … Continue reading ITV Plc and Others v The Pensions Regulator With Box Clever Trustees Ltd As An Interested Party: UTTC 18 May 2018
(European Citizenship) (Opinion) Directive 2004/38/EC Right of Union citizens to reside in the territory of the Member States Article 16(1) Right of permanent residence – Residence for a continuous period of five years Taking into account periods of time before expiry of the transposition period Retroactive effect Application of the conditions of a legal provision … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Lassal: ECJ 11 May 2010
The court was asked whether it was lawful for the Secretary of State to make subordinate legislation imposing a cap on the amount of welfare benefits which can be received by claimants in non-working households, equivalent to the net median earnings of working households. The challenge was under the 1998 Act on the basis that … Continue reading SG and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 18 Mar 2015
Widowers claimed that, in denying them benefits which would have been payable to widows, the Secretary of State had acted incompatibly with their rights under article 14 read with article 1 of Protocol 1 and article 8 of the ECHR. Held: The Secretary’s appeal succeeded. Section 6 of the 1998 Act permitted the discrimination as … Continue reading Hooper and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 5 May 2005
The deceased had been shot by soldiers of the British Army whilst in a car in Northern Ireland. The car was alleged to have ‘run’ a checkpoint. The claimants said the investigation, now 20 years ago, had been inadequate. The claim was brought under human rights law, but predated by many years the incorporation of … Continue reading In re McKerr (Northern Ireland): HL 11 Mar 2004
The applicant challenged the decision of the court that the sperm donor who had fertilised her eggs to create embryos stored by the respondent IVF clinic, could withdraw his consent to their continued storage or use. Held: The judge worked within a strict statutory framework. His task was to calculate the application of that law, … Continue reading Evans v Amicus Healthcare Ltd and others: CA 25 Jun 2004
Wrongful Refusal of Benefits The claimant was estranged from his family, but claimed re-imbursement of the expenses for his brother’s funeral. The respondent required him to establish that none of his siblings was in a better position than he to pay for the funeral, but he had no means of contacting them. Held: Deciding a … Continue reading Kerr v Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland): HL 6 May 2004
Contracts of service or for services In three cases appeals were heard against a finding as to whether a worker was entitled to have his employer pay National Insurance contributions on his behalf which would apply if he were an employee. He worked as an ‘owner-driver’ Held: The court asked what was the test of … Continue reading Ready Mixed Concrete Southeast Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance: QBD 8 Dec 1967
The claimant challenged as incompatible with EU law, the Regulations which restricted the entitlement to state pension credit to those entitled to reside in the UK. Held: The appeal failed (Majority). The conditions imposed by the Regulations were indirectly discriminatory. There was not an exact correspondence between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups and the protected … Continue reading Patmalniece v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 16 Mar 2011
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The court was asked as to the interrelationship of the statutory schemes relating to the protection of employees’ pensions and to corporate insolvency. Held: Liabilities which arose from financial support directions or contribution notices issued by the Pensions Regulator under the 2004 Act after the company had gone into administration, which required the company to … Continue reading In re Nortel Companies and Others: SC 24 Jul 2013
Successful Lloyds names were entitled to enforce their claims in the normal time sequence. The transfer of the rights of the insured against the insurer under section 1(1) the 1930 Act takes place on the event of insolvency, even if the insured’s liability to the third party has not yet been established. In handling claims, … Continue reading Cox v Bankside Members Agency Ltd and Others: CA 16 May 1995
The claimant sought to unravel a settlement she had made as receiver for her late husband, saying that it had been made without consideration of its Inheritance Tax implications. The Revenue said that there was no operative mistake so as to allow the rule in Hastings-Bass to apply allowing the variation. Held: For the rule … Continue reading Pitt and Another v Holt and Another: ChD 18 Jan 2010
A claim in negligence was brought against insurance brokers for failing to advise the claimant of certain matters with the result that an insurance policy entered into by the claimant was voidable for non-disclosure. Held: The claimant suffered damage when the policy was entered into: ‘the cause of action can accrue and the plaintiff have … Continue reading Knapp v Ecclesiastical Insurance Group Plc and Another: CA 30 Oct 1997
The Court was asked whether an employee’s remuneration is taxable as his or her emoluments or earnings when it is paid to a third party in circumstances in which the employee had no prior entitlement to receive it himself or herself. Held: The company’s appeal failed. The purposive approach to the interpretation of the general … Continue reading RFC 2012 Plc (Formerly The Rangers Football Club Plc) v Advocate General for Scotland: SC 5 Jul 2017
The court considered what elements must be present to create a contract of employment. Held: Stephenson LJ said: ‘There must . . be an irreducible minimum of obligation on each side to create a contract of service.’Kerr LJ said: ‘The inescapable requirement concerning the alleged employees however . . is that they must be subject … Continue reading Nethermere (St Neots) Ltd v Taverna and Gardiner: CA 1984
A nurse was employed under a contract, under which there was no mutuality of obligation; she could refuse work and employer need offer none. This meant that there was no employment capable of allowing an unfair dismissal issue to arise.Sir Christopher Slade summarised as follows: ‘Principles governing appeals from an industrial tribunal At first impression … Continue reading Clark v Oxfordshire Health Authority: CA 18 Dec 1997
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 defendants had been convicted on evidence obtained from them by inspectors with statutory powers to require answers on pain of conviction. Subsequently the law changed to find such activity an infringement of a defendant’s human rights. Held: There was no requirement for a court to implement a Human Rights Court decision retrospectively to require … Continue reading Regina v Lyons, Parnes, Ronson, Saunders: HL 15 Nov 2002
The claimant challenged a decision that it was liable for non domestic rates in respect of some commercial units, on the basis that the use by the charity was not itself charitable. Held: ‘there is no reason for limiting the ambit of the phrase in the way contended for by the Appellant. As was pointed … Continue reading Kenya Aid Programme v Sheffield City Council: Admn 22 Jan 2013
The claimants had been detained under the 1971 Act, after completing sentences of imprisonment pending their return to their home countries under deportations recommended by the judges at trial, or chosen by the respondent. They challenged as unlawful the respondent’s, at first unpublished, policy introduced in 2006, that by default, those awaiting deportation should be … Continue reading Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: SC 23 Mar 2011
The defendant appealed against his conviction of manslaughter of his baby son. He said that a family court had previously investigated the same allegations and had explicitly found itself unable to say which of himself and the mother were responsible for the death. Held: A prosecutor in a criminal a case has a broader duty … Continue reading Levey, Regina v: CACD 27 Jul 2006
A wife’s agency of necessity for her husband extended to cover necessities for the children. Citations: (1868) LR 3 QB 559 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Kehoe CA 5-Mar-2004 The claimant had applied to the Child Support Agncy for maintenance. They failed utterly to … Continue reading Bazeley v Forder: 1868
Since a husband owed it to the community to sustain himself, he was under the inevitable compulsion to sustain his other self, his wife, who was ‘bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, and no man did ever hate his own flesh so far as not to preserve it.’ The marriage and its incidents … Continue reading Manby v Scott: 1663
The court gave an extensive analysis of the workings of the Child Support Act: (Lady Justice Hale) ‘It is important to bear in mind that the child support scheme is not simply a method for the State to recoup part of its benefit expenditure from the absent parents. It is a replacement both for the … Continue reading Huxley v Child Support Agency: CA 2000
The question arose as to the refusal of planning permission and the service of an enforcement notice against Mrs Chapman who wished to place her caravan on a plot of land in the Green Belt. The refusal of planning permission and the enforcement notice were upheld by the inspector. Held: The needs of gypsies for … Continue reading Chapman v United Kingdom; similar: ECHR 18 Jan 2001
A law permitted local authorities to oblige landowners to transfer hunting rights over private land to approved hunting associations. The landowners could not prevent hunting on their property. Landowners so affected were made members automatically of the hunting association so that they could now hunt over other land also subject to the same new access … Continue reading Chassagnou and Others v France: ECHR 29 Apr 1999
The claimant, who was disabled, said that his Article 8 rights were infringed because, in breach of Italian law, there were no facilities to enable him to get to the sea when he went on holiday. Held: ‘Private life . . includes a person’s physical and psychological integrity; the guarantee afforded by Article 8 of … Continue reading Botta v Italy: ECHR 24 Feb 1998
An employee at an educational establishment told management that he intended to undergo gender reassignment. He was given notice of dismissal. Held: The scope of the Directive was not confined to discrimination based on the fact that a person was of one or other sex but also extended to discrimination arising from the gender reassignment … Continue reading P v S and Cornwall County Council: ECJ 30 Apr 1996
Obligations in a Notice of Claims clause should not be treated as conditions precedent to liability but as innominate terms apt only to create a defence to a claim under the policy if the consequences of breach are so serious as to give the insurers a right to reject the claim. Judges: Waller LJ Citations: … Continue reading Alfred Mcalpine Plc v BAI (Run-Off) Limited: CA 11 Feb 2000
The defendant was charged with offences for having been in possession of a document or record containing information of a kind ‘likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’. It was thought he was associated with a terrorist plan to attack the government of Libya. The defendant argued that … Continue reading Regina v F: CACD 16 Feb 2007
The Liechtenstein constitutional court had held that the unequal pension treatment afforded to married and unmarried couples was unconstitutional. The constitutional court did not set aside the existing legislation, given the practical difficulties involved and given also that a comprehensive legal reform guaranteeing gender equality in social security law was in course of preparation. New … Continue reading Walden v Liechtenstein: ECHR 16 Mar 2000
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 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
(Grand Chamber) The claimants said that differences between the sexes in the payment of reduced earning allowances and retirement allowances were sex discrimination. Held: The differences were not infringing sex discrimination. The differences arose from the differences in pensionable ages for men and women introduced in 1940 in order to help remedy severe social inequalities … Continue reading Stec and Others v United Kingdom: ECHR 12 Apr 2006
The appellant, barristers and solicitors, challenged the respondent’s approval of alterations to their regulatory arrangements, under Part 3 of Schedule 4 to the 2007 Act. The alterations gave effect to the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates providing for the assessment of the performance of criminal advocates in England and Wales by judges. They now appealed … Continue reading Lumsdon and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Legal Services Board: SC 24 Jun 2015
Reference to Parliamentary Papers behind Statute The inspector sought to tax the benefits in kind received by teachers at a private school in having their children educated at the school for free. Having agreed this was a taxable emolument, it was argued as to whether the taxable benefit was the cost to the employer, or … Continue reading Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart: HL 26 Nov 1992
This appeal is concerned with the liability of a local authority for what is alleged to have been a negligent failure to exercise its social services functions so as to protect children from harm caused by third parties. The principal question of law which it raises is whether a local authority or its employees may … Continue reading Poole Borough Council v GN and Another: SC 6 Jun 2019
The claimant had spent his childhood in foster care, and now claimed damages against a local authority for decisions made and not made during that period. The judge’s decision to strike out the claim had been upheld by the Court of Appeal. Held: An adult formerly in the care of a local authority as a … Continue reading Barrett v London Borough of Enfield: HL 17 Jun 1999
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
(Grand Chamber) The applicant was a Jehovah’s Witness who had been convicted of insubordination under the Military Criminal Code for refusing to wear a military uniform at a time of general mobilisation. He was subsequently refused appointment as a Chartered Accountant under rules which excluded those convicted of serious crimes. He argued that the lack … Continue reading Thlimmenos v Greece: ECHR 6 Apr 2000
The court was asked whether the Bill was within the competence of the Welsh Assembly. The Bill purported to impose NHS charges on those from whom asbestos related damages were recovered. Held: The Bill fell outside the legislative competence of the Welsh Assembly, in that it did not relate to any of the subjects listed … Continue reading Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases (Wales) Bill (Reference By The Counsel General for Wales): SC 9 Feb 2015
Each claimant had arrived here with their parents, and stayed for several years. They were excluded from the scheme allowing families who had been here more than three years to stay here, because they had attained 18 and were no longer dependant on their families. They said the removals would be discriminatory. Held: To justify … Continue reading AL (Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Rudi v Same: HL 25 Jun 2008
In the course of the insolvent administration of the bank, substantial additional sums were received. Parties appealed against some orders made on the application to court for directions as to what was to be done with the surplus. Held: The Court considered the so called waterfall of distributions made on liquidation which proved to be … Continue reading LB Holdings Intermediate 2 Ltd, The Joint Administrators of v Lehman Brothers International (Europe), The Joint Administrators of and Others: SC 17 May 2017
Transgender Male to Female not to marry as Female The parties had gone through a form of marriage, but Mrs B had previously undergone gender re-assignment surgery. Section 11(c) of the 1973 Act required a marriage to be between a male and a female. It was argued that the section was incompatible with the claimant’s … Continue reading Bellinger v Bellinger: HL 10 Apr 2003
The rules of a pensions scheme were altered. It was required that any such alteration be in writing, but the trustees had not signed the document creating the amendment. Held: The words ‘writing under hand’ clearly required a signature, and the amendment was ineffective. No estoppel arose as against the members: ‘An avoidance of pedantry, … Continue reading Trustee Solutions Ltd and others v Dubery and Another: ChD 21 Jun 2006
The applicant was a Turkish national resident in Austria. While working there he had paid unemployment insurance contributions. At a stage when he was unemployed he applied for an advance on his pension in the form of emergency assistance. That was available under the material Austrian legislation, but one of the conditions was that the … Continue reading Gaygusuz v Austria: ECHR 16 Sep 1996
Need for Certainty in Scope of Offence The appellant suffered a severe chronic illness and anticipated that she might want to go to Switzerland to commit suicide. She would need her husband to accompany her, and sought an order requiring the respondent to provide clear guidelines on the circumstances under which someone might be prosecuted … Continue reading Purdy, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions: HL 30 Jul 2009
Unrelated Detriment was no Discrimination The tenant had left his flat and sublet it so as to allow the landlord authority an apparently unanswerable claim for possession. The authority appealed a finding that they had to take into account the fact that the tenant was disabled and make reasonable adjustments. Held: The authority’s appeal succeeded. … Continue reading London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm: HL 25 Jun 2008
A company went into liquidation, being owed substantial sums by another company in the same group, but itself insolvent. A settlement did not include accrued interest, but was claimed to be taxed as if it had, and on an accruals basis. If so, was this an expense properly arising in the insolvency, and payable as … Continue reading Kahn and Another v Commissioners of Inland Revenue; In re Toshoku Finance plc: HL 20 Feb 2002
EAT Disability Discrimination : Disability Related Discrimination – Reasonable adjustments – The Respondent was employed by the Appellants as a reception and finance manager. She suffered from work-related stress and severe depression. She resigned from her employment when the Appellants did not act on the recommendations made by the clinical psychiatrist to whom they referred … Continue reading Croft Vets Ltd and Others v Butcher: EAT 2 Oct 2013
The three asylum seeker appellants arrived in the United Kingdom at different times in possession of false passports. They were prosecuted for possession or use of false documents contrary to section 5, and for obtaining air services by deception under the Criminal Attempts Act. At the time, their applications to be accorded refugee status had … Continue reading Regina v Uxbridge Magistrates and Another ex parte Adimi; R v CPS ex parte Sorani; R v SSHD and Another ex parte Kaziu: Admn 29 Jul 1999
The court was asked to decide from whom DNA samples could lawfully be taken by the Police,and for how long they should be kept. The first respondent now said that a declaration of incompatibility of section 64(1A) could not be avoided. Held: (Majority: Lord Dyson, Lord Phillips, Lady Hale, Lord Judge and Lord Kerr. Dissenting: … Continue reading GC v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis: SC 18 May 2011
The prosecutor had lead and relied at trial on evidence obtained by compulsory questioning under the 1986 Act. Held: In doing so the prosecutor was acting to give effect to section 433. The decision in Lambert to disallow retrospective effect of Human Rights decisions in appeal cases may have been incorrect, but will be followed. … Continue reading Regina v Kansal (2): HL 29 Nov 2001
Limitations to Judicial Reviw of Upper Tribunal Three claimants sought to challenge decisions of various Upper Tribunals by way of judicial review. In each case the request for judicial review had been first refused on the basis that having been explicitly designated as higher courts, the proper scope of judicial review was limited or excluded. … Continue reading Cart v The Upper Tribunal: SC 21 Jun 2011
The claimants were former serving prisoners who complained that the early release provisions discriminated against them unjustifiably. Each was subject to a deportation requirement, and said that in their cases the control on the time for their early release had been vested in the respondent and not in the courts. Held: It could no longer … Continue reading Clift, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 13 Dec 2006
EAT Harassment – SEX DISCRIMINATION – Injury to feelings SEX DISCRIMINATION – Other losses The Claimant resigned from the Respondent company and was found by the Employment Tribunal to have been constructively dismissed as the result of three acts of harassment related to her sex. She succeeded in her claim, including claims for unfair dismissal … Continue reading Timothy James Consulting Ltd v Wilton: EAT 5 Mar 2015
The appellants were teachers in Christian schools who said that the blanket ban on corporal punishment interfered with their religious freedom. They saw moderate physical discipline as an essential part of educating children in a Christian manner. Held: The appeal was dismissed. For Article 9 to be engaged (aside from certain other threshold conditions) the … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for Education and Employment and others ex parte Williamson and others: HL 24 Feb 2005
The claimant’s house was regularly flooded by waters including also foul sewage from the respondent’s neighbouring premises. He sought damages and an injunction. The defendants sought to restrict the claimant to his statutory rights. Held: The damages were restricted to the statutory ones. The defendant was regulated under the 1991 Act by the Director-General, who … Continue reading Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Limited: HL 4 Dec 2003
The administrators gave employees of the company notice of termination of their employment. Then administrators refused consent under para 43(6) to actions against the company in the Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal for protective awards, unfair dismissal, breach of contract and otherwise. The claims were issued anyway, and the administrators argued that they were a nullity, … Continue reading McCartney and Unite The Union and Another v Nortel Networks UK Ltd (In Administration): ChD 22 Apr 2010
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
B, a former senior member of the security services wished to publish his memoirs. He was under contractual and statutory obligations of confidentiality. He sought judicial review of a decision not to allow him to publish parts of the book, saying it was vitiated by bias, and in breach of his right to freedom of … Continue reading A, Regina (on The Application of) v B; Regina (A) v Director of Establishments of the Security Service: SC 9 Dec 2009
There are no degrees of nullity The plaintiffs had owned mining property in Egypt. Their interests were damaged and or sequestrated and they sought compensation from the Respondent Commission. The plaintiffs brought an action for the declaration rejecting their claims was a nullity. The Commission replied that the courts were precluded from considering the question … Continue reading Anisminic Ltd v Foreign Compensation Commission: HL 17 Dec 1968
The claimants sought damages saying that after a decision had been made that they should receive indefinite leave to remain in 2001 (latest), the leave was not issued until 2007 (earliest) thus causing them severe losses. The defendant now appealed against a refusal to strike out the claims in negligence, and under article 8. Held: … Continue reading Home Office v Mohammed and Others: CA 29 Mar 2011
Parish Councils are Hybrid Public Authorities The owners of glebe land were called upon as lay rectors to contribute to the cost of repairs to the local church. They argued that the claim was unlawful by section 6 of the 1998 Act as an act by a public authority incompatible with a Convention right. Held: … Continue reading Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley, Warwickshire v Wallbank and another: HL 26 Jun 2003
Restraint on Interference with Burden of Proof The defendant had been convicted for possessing drugs found on him in a bag when he was arrested. He denied knowing of them. He was convicted having failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he had not known of the drugs. The case was heard before … Continue reading Regina v Lambert: HL 5 Jul 2001
Employer can be liable for Managers Harassment The claimant employee sought damages, saying that he had been bullied by his manager and that bullying amounting to harassment under the 1997 Act. The employer now appealed a finding that it was responsible for a tort committed by a manager, saying that the intention of the Act … Continue reading Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust: HL 12 Jul 2006
The claimant, a post-operative male-to-female transsexual person, said that section 3(3) of the 2004 Act was incompatible with her Human rights after refusal of a gender recognition certificate. Held: The application failed. The provision of the information required in paragraph 3(3) is necessary and proportionate to the legitimate aim. There is no incompatibility with Article … Continue reading Carpenter v The Secretary of State for Justice: Admn 27 Feb 2015
Two solicitors had been made bankrupt and then discharged from bankruptcy. They suffered adjudications by the SDT awarding compensation for matters occurring before the bankruptcies. They appealed, saying that the awards were bankruptcy debts from which they were discharged. The Law Society submitted that the adjudicators’ awards were discretionary, that no debt or liability arose … Continue reading Casson and Another v The Law Society: Admn 20 Oct 2009
Former employees had obtained a protective award against the company for failing to consult on the impending redundancies and submitted proofs of debt to the liquidator who sought guidance from the court. The judge had held that since the Act provided only one remedy, the protective awards were not provable. Held: The appeal was allowed. … Continue reading Haine v Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Another; Day v Haine: CA 11 Jun 2008
Appeal about the distribution of European Structural Funds among the regions of the United Kingdom. It arises out of the complaint of a number of local authorities in Merseyside and South Yorkshire about the way in which it is proposed to distribute funds allocated to the United Kingdom for the years 2014 to 2020. The … Continue reading Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills: SC 25 Feb 2015
(Orse Kebeline) The DPP’s appeal succeeded. A decision by the DPP to authorise a prosecution could not be judicially reviewed unless dishonesty, bad faith, or some other exceptional circumstance could be shown. A suggestion that the offence for which a prosecution was authorised was framed so as to breach the accused’s human rights was to … Continue reading Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions, ex parte Kebilene and others: HL 28 Oct 1999
The appellant challenged the procedure for reviewing a decision made as to the suitability of accomodation offered to her after the respondent had accepted her as being homeless. The procedure involved a review by an officer of the council, with an appeal to the County Court on a point of law. Held: The decision was … Continue reading Runa Begum v London Borough of Tower Hamlets (First Secretary of State intervening): HL 13 Feb 2003
The claimant wheelchair user alleged discrimination by the bus company. The space reserved for wheelchair users on a bus had been wrongly occupied by a passenger who refused to vacate the space. The claimant said that the bus driver should have . .
Film distributors contracted to supply newsreels at a cinematic theatre. The contract was for a minimum of 26 weeks, and after on termination by the distributors on four weeks notice thereafter, but by the cinema on four weeks after the first month. . .
The two prisoners, serving life sentences for murder, had had their appeals rejected. They continued to protest innocence, and sought to bring their campaigns to public attention through the press, having oral interviews with journalists without . .
