The OFT had considered whether it was necessary to refer a merger between two companies to the Competition Commission, and decided against. The Competition Appeal Tribunal held that the proposed merger should have been referred. The OFT and parties appealed. Held: The Tribunal had misdirected itself as to one test. The statutory test required the … Continue reading Office of Fair Trading and others v IBA Health Limited: CA 19 Feb 2004
The appellant challenged stays of proceedings by the respondent magistrates court for abuse of process infringing the defendants’ human right to a fair trial. The magistrates had fund that being faced with dismissal of a summary case through delay, the appellant had increased the charges adding allegations of dishonesty which had not been put to … Continue reading Department for Work and Pensions v Courts: Admn 3 May 2006
The court was asked about the age at which entitlement to a pension began for someone of transgender. Held: The court was divided, and the issue was referred to the European Court of Justice. Judges: Lady Hale, Deputy President, Lord Wilson, Lord Sumption, Lord Toulson, Lord Hodge Citations: [2016] UKSC 53, UKSC 2014/0220 Links: Bailii, … Continue reading MB v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 5 Jul 2016
The defendant’s pension scheme had been set up by deed in 1949. The trustees argued that the firm had an obligation to make substantial additional contributions to ensure it was not underfunded. The defendants argued that it was a money purchase scheme. Held: Contributions were to be made by the employer and by its employees … Continue reading AON Trust Corporation Ltd v KPMG and others: ChD 29 Jul 2004
The claimant challenged the refusal of the respondent, under authority of the regulations, to divide payment of child benefit between himself and his former partner. The child stayed with both parents. Other benefits flowed from the allocation of the benefit to one parent. He alleged that this was discriminatory under the Convention. Held: The challenge … Continue reading Regina (Barber) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Admn 17 Jul 2002
The Authority sought a finding that the respondents had infringed their duties in providing financial advice with respect to the moving of personal pensions and had failed to comply with an order an order for compensation. The defendants asserted that the award made was incorrect and infringed their human rights. Held: The parties had been … Continue reading The Financial Services Authority v William Matthews Patricia Janet Matthews: ChD 21 Dec 2004
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
Judges: Arden, Floyd, Christopher Clarke LJJ Citations: [2015] EWCA Civ 228, [2015] WLR(D) 139, [2015] 4 All ER 919, [2016] ICR 206, [2015] Pens LR 389 Links: Bailii, WLRD Statutes: Pensions Act 2004 96 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Financial Services Updated: 15 July 2022; Ref: scu.544718
The claimant had dual Irish and US nationality. He therefore also was a citizen of the EU. He complained that the British rules against payment of job seekers’ allowance were discriminatory. The matter had already been to the ECJ. Held: The residence test as applied was not in contravention of EU law. ‘[T]he proper interpretation … Continue reading Collins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 4 Apr 2006
The assessment of an absent parent’s liability under the Act is a mechanical one, achieved by the application of a formula. That assessment of liability does not reflect a number of potentially relevant factors, such as the availability to the absent parent of substantial capital. Citations: [1996] 2 FCR 237 Statutes: Child Support Act 1991 … Continue reading Phillips v Peace: 1996
The bankrupt complained that having been made bankrupt, his self-employed pension was subject to attachment by his trustee, but had he been a member of a company scheme the asset would not, and that this was discriminatory. Held: The differential treatment arose because contractual pension rights fell within a definition in the Act, and not … Continue reading Malcolm v Mackenzie, Allied Dunbar Plc: CA 21 Dec 2004
The claimant shared child care with his former partner, but claimed that the system which gave the job-seeker’s child care supplement to one party only was discriminatory. Held: In such cases the supplement usually went to the mother, and this had a diverse impact on men. It was for the Secretary of State to justify … Continue reading Hockenjos v Secretary of State for Social Security (No 2): CA 21 Dec 2004
The defendant appealed her conviction for having breached a restraining order under the 1997 Act. The order required her not to be ‘abusive by words or actions’ towards her neighbour. She had regularly parked her car so as to block her neighbour’s visitors. She appealed saying there had been no case to answer. Held: ‘the … Continue reading Evans Dorothy, Regina v: CACD 6 Dec 2004
Housing Costs as part of child support assessment. The court considered the interpretation of the word ‘necessary’, saying that the Court must not qualify the word ‘necessary’ by reference to what might be regarded as reasonable. The word ‘necessary’ instead requires a high degree of exigency. Judges: Lord Justice Brooke Holman Mr Justice Holman Lord … Continue reading Pabari v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions-And-Nilesh Pabari: CA 10 Nov 2004
The defendant was to have been accused of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16. Proceedings could not be brought, because the allegation was more than a year old, and he was instead accused of indecent assault, but on the same facts. He appealed against his conviction, saying this was an abuse of … Continue reading Regina v J: HL 14 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
The defendant claimed that he had gone absent without leave from the RAF as a conscientous objector. Held: The defendant had not demonstrated by complaint to the RAF that he did object to service in Iraq. In some circumstances where there was no procedure to make his objection known, the failure to do so might … Continue reading Khan v Royal Air Force Summary Appeal Court: Admn 7 Oct 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
PC (Mauritius) A father challenged the constitutionality of a system where 50% of places in Catholic run secondary schools were allocated to Catholic childen, and fifty per cent according to merit. He feared this would discriminate against his daughter as a Hindu. The Supreme Court upheld his claim, and the Colleges appealed. Held: The constitution … Continue reading Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Louis and Others v Suttyhudeo Tengur and Others: PC 3 Feb 2004
The claimant Reynolds challenged the differential treatment by age of jobseeker’s allowance. Carson complained that as a foreign resident pensioner, her benefits had not been uprated. The questions in each case were whether the benefit affected a ‘possession’ within the Convention or the discrimination was arbitrary so as to breach the applicants human rights. Held: … Continue reading Carson and Reynolds v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 17 Jun 2003
Legislation had been enacted to tax under Schedule E, people employed through one man service companies and similar. Representatives of such taxpayers sought review of the legislation as incompatible with European law being a hindrance to the freedom of movement of workers and also state aid. The law set to catch those who would be … Continue reading Professional Contractors’ Group and Others v Commissioners of Inland Revenue: CA 21 Dec 2001
There was no human rights breach where the victims of sex abuse had been refused a right to sue for damages out of time. The question is whether and to what extent differences in otherwise similar situations justify a different treatment in law: ‘Limitation periods in personal injury cases are a common feature of the … Continue reading Stubbings and Others v The United Kingdom: ECHR 22 Oct 1996
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
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
The claimant said that the 1987 Regulations were invalid, in making invalid any claim for benefits by an asylum seeker who had not made his application exactly upon entry to the UK. Held: The appeals were allowed. Section 11 of the 1971 Act is a highly technical provision which for the purposes of immigration control … Continue reading Kola and Another v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 28 Nov 2007
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 a boy of three in receipt of disability living allowance (‘DLA’) challenged (through his parents) the withdrawal of that benefit whilst he was in hospital for a period of more than 12 weeks. He had since died. Held: The appeal succeeded. The Regulations infringed the claimant’s rights because the evidence was that in … Continue reading Mathieson v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 8 Jul 2015
If the Pensions Ombudsman takes part in an appeal and makes himself a party to the lis, he is at risk as to the costs of the appeal. It may be appropriate to make an application before the main hearing to settle such issues. The ombudsman will only be ordered to pay the costs of … Continue reading Providence Capitol Trustees Ltd v Ayres: ChD 1996
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
Statutory Duty Not Extended by Common Law The claimant sought damages after a road accident. The driver came over the crest of a hill and hit a bus. The road was not marked with any warning as to the need to slow down. Held: The claim failed. The duty could not be extended to include … Continue reading Gorringe v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council: HL 1 Apr 2004
The appellant had applied for and been refused disability living allowance on the basis of being able to carry out certain cooking tasks. Held: The purpose of the ‘cooking test’ is not to ascertain whether the applicant can survive, or enjoy a reasonable diet, without assistance. It is a notional test, a thought-experiment, to calibrate … Continue reading Moyna v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 31 Jul 2003
Appeal by the Secretary of State for Work against a decision that the respondent is entitled to state pension credit. The issues in this appeal concern the construction of the Directive governing the rights of Union citizens and the validity of certain domestic regulations applying to Latvian nationals working in the UK. Held: The appeal … Continue reading The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Gubeladze: CA 7 Nov 2017
The claimants, a Polish national and an Austrian national, appealed against decisions of the Court of Appeal upholding decisions that they were not entitled to certain benefits, namely income support and housing assistance respectively, pursuant to the provisions of United Kingdom domestic law. Held: The claimants’ appeals failed. When she applied, Ms Mirga was not … Continue reading Mirga v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Samin v Westminster City Council: SC 27 Jan 2016
Judges: Nugee J Citations: [2017] EWHC 2623 (Ch) Links: Bailii Statutes: Pensions Act 2004 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Financial Services Updated: 01 April 2022; Ref: scu.599618
The 1987 Regulations provided additional benefits for disabled persons, but excluded from benefit those who had nowhere to sleep. The claimant said this was irrational. He had been receiving the disability premium to his benefits, but this was cancelled when he lost his home. Held: The appeal was dismissed. The disabilty premium, as part of … Continue reading RJM, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 22 Oct 2008
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 respondent’s child lived with the estranged father for most of each week. She was obliged to contribute child support. She now lived with a woman, and complained that because her relationship was homosexual, she had been asked to pay more than someone in a heterosexual relationship. Held: The claim failed. The regulations had now … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M: HL 8 Mar 2006
The House asked whether the personal administration of a drug such as a vaccine by an NHS doctor to a patient is a taxable supply for the purposes of value added tax. The provision of medical care in the exercise of the medical and paramedical professions should be exempt from VAT, but the supply of … Continue reading Beynon and Partners v Customs and Excise: HL 25 Nov 2004
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
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
The claimant received a UK state pension. She lived in South Africa, and challenged the exclusion of foreign resident pensioners from the annual uprating of pension benefits. She asserted that the state pension, or its uprating, were pecuniary rights, and were therefore possessions within the Convention. Held: It was difficult to distinguish the appellant’s case … Continue reading Regina (Annette Carson) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Admn 22 May 2002
The applicant had been dependent upon income support, and had then come to receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA). She therefore received additional income support, but the office did not adjust that benefit down when her DLA stopped. The respondent sought repayment of the overpayment. The claimant said she had not understood the instructions. Held: The … Continue reading Hinchy v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 3 Mar 2005
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
The claimant was a male to female trans-sexual who had been refused employment as a police officer by the respondent, who had said that the staturory requirement for males to search males and for females to search females would be impossible to comply with. She had sought to be employed on the basis that her … Continue reading A v West Yorkshire Police: HL 6 May 2004
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy. Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law because it is the antithesis of fairness. It brings the law … Continue reading Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza: HL 21 Jun 2004
The applicant contended that the 1991 Act infringed her human rights in denying her access to court to obtain maintenance for her children. Held: The applicant had no substantive right to take part in the enforcement process in domestic law which is capable in Convention law of engaging the guarantees in it. ‘Sympathetic though one … Continue reading Kehoe, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: HL 14 Jul 2005
The claimant entered the UK as a student coming from Poland. She then worked as a kitchen maid, but having left that job on becoming a mother was refused income support. She later returned to work. She said that the rules which denied her benefit were inconsistent with articles 12 (discrimination on the grounds of … Continue reading Kaczmarek v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: CA 27 Nov 2008
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 applicants, parents of more than 800 Francophone children, living in certain (mostly Dutch-speaking) parts of Belgium, complained that their children were denied access to an education in French. Held: In establishing a system or regime to comply with a Convention obligation, a State may include within the system elements that are not strictly required … Continue reading Relating to certain aspects of the laws on the use of languages in education in Belgium (Belgian Linguistics) No 2: ECHR 9 Feb 1967
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
Police Retention of Suspects DNA and Fingerprints The claimants complained that their fingerprints and DNA records taken on arrest had been retained after discharge before trial, saying the retention of the samples infringed their right to private life. Held: The parts of DNA used for testing are not generally capable of revealing medical information about … Continue reading S, Regina (on Application of) v South Yorkshire Police; Regina v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police ex parte Marper: HL 22 Jul 2004
Magistrates were wrong to think they had a discretion to look at the validity of a liability assessment under child support legislation. The Act gave the payer alternative avenues of appeal, and therefore the Act should be read as it stated and the magistrates had no such jurisdiction. ‘section 33(4) precludes the justices from investigating … Continue reading Farley v Child Support Agency and Another; Farley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (No. 2): HL 28 Jun 2006
The applicants had been imprisoned and held without trial, being suspected of international terrorism. No criminal charges were intended to be brought. They were foreigners and free to return home if they wished, but feared for their lives if they did. A British subject, who was suspected in the exact same way, and there were … Continue reading A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, and X v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 16 Dec 2004
The applicant gypsies had initially been permitted to locate their caravan on a piece of land owned by a local authority, but their right of occupation was brought to an end because the local authority considered that they were committing a nuisance. The local authority then successfully brought summary proceedings for possession, on the ground … Continue reading Connors v The United Kingdom: ECHR 27 May 2004
One claimant said that as a foreign resident pensioner, she had been excluded from the annual uprating of state retirement pension, and that this was an infringement of her human rights. Another complained at the lower levels of job-seeker’s allowance payable to those under 25. Held: (Lord Carswell dissented in part.) The claims failed. The … Continue reading Carson, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Reynolds v Same: HL 26 May 2005
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
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 Secretary of State had appointed inspectors to investigate and report on a company takeover. In their report, which was published, the inspectors made findings which were critical of and damaging to the applicants, who relied on the civil limb of article 6(1) to complain that they had been denied effective access to the courts … Continue reading Fayed v United Kingdom: ECHR 6 Oct 1994
The court was asked whether an EU migrant worker was entitled to the protection of the homelessness provisions of the 1996 Act: ‘he is if he is a migrant worker from another EU country, exercising his EU rights as an Austrian citizen to work in another country. Otherwise he is not.’ Held: His appeal from … Continue reading Samin v City of Westminster: CA 21 Nov 2012
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
EAT Deposit ordered. Order lost in post due to the Claimant putting wrong post-code on ET1. Review. Distinguishing Judgments from Orders. Strike-out. Extending time. Judges: His Honour Peter Clark Citations: [2005] UKEAT 0318 – 05 – 2907, UKEAT/0319/05/TM, UKEAT/0318/05/TM, [2005] ICR 1647, UKEAT/0320/05/TM, [2005] IRLR 836 Links: Bailii, EATn Statutes: Employment Tribunal Rules 2004 20(1) … Continue reading Sodexho Ltd v Gibbons: EAT 14 Jul 2005
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 applicants, intending university students, challenged the decision to raise to andpound;9,000 per annum, the fees which might be charged by qualifying universities.Elias LJ said: ‘Contrary to a submission advanced by Ms Mountfield, I do not accept that this means that it is for the court to determine whether appropriate weight has been given to … Continue reading Hurley and Moore, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills: Admn 17 Feb 2012
The parties had lived together as a married couple. They had had a child together by artificial insemination. It was then revealed that Mr J was a woman. The parties split up, and Mr J applied for an order for contact with the child. Held: The appeal was dismissed. The HFEA Act required that to … Continue reading J v C and E (a Child) (Void Marriage: Status of Children): CA 15 May 2006
EAT Contract of Employment – Definition of Employee Judges: The Honourable Mr Justice Burton (P) Citations: EAT/492/02, [2002] UKEAT 492 – 02 – 1112 Links: Bailii, EAT Statutes: Employment Rights Act 1996 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Cited – McMeechan v Secretary of State for Employment CA 11-Dec-1996 The respondent as a temporary worker was … Continue reading Dacas v Brook Street Bureau (UK) Ltd, Wandsworth London Borough Council: EAT 12 Nov 2002
In 1952, the Minister wrote a leter confirming the planning permissions for four quarries now owned by the claimants. In 1996, two of the quarries were separately included in a list of dormant sites, and in 19999 the applicant began to apply for renewed planning permission for the two sites. In 2005, the applicants began … Continue reading Stancliffe Stone Company Ltd v Peak District National Park Authority: CA 17 Jun 2005
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 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
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
UBS AG devised an employee bonus scheme to take advantage of the provisions of Chapter 2 of the 2003 Act, with the sole purpose other than tax avoidance, and such consequential advantages as would flow from tax avoidance. Several pre-ordained steps were taken according to a detailed timetable. Once the structure of the scheme had … Continue reading UBS Ag and Another v Revenue and Customs: SC 9 Mar 2016
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
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 parties disputed whether Mr Smith had been an employee of or worker with the company so as to bring associated rights into play. The contract required the worker to provide an alternate worker to cover if necessary. Held: The company’s appeal failed. Mr Smith was a worker: ‘there were features of the contract which … Continue reading Pimlico Plumbers Ltd and Another v Smith: SC 13 Jun 2018
Three applicants had lied on entry to secure admission, stayed for a considerable time, and had been treated as illegal immigrants under section 33(1). The fourth’s claim that upon being returned he would been killed, had been rejected without investigation. Held: A claim to refugee status was not an exception to the ban on appeals … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Bugdaycay: HL 19 Feb 1986
Three prisoners raised questions as to the circumstances in which the Parole Board is required to hold an oral hearing before making an adverse decision. One of the appeals (Osborn) concerned a determinate sentence prisoner who was released on licence but then recalled to custody. The other appeals (Booth and Reilly) were indeterminate sentence prisoners … Continue reading Osborn v The Parole Board: SC 9 Oct 2013
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
EAT JURISDICTIONAL POINTS: Worker, employee or neitherFor 13 years the Claimant worked installing double glazing for the Respondent. In 2004 he signed a ‘contract supply agreement’ though matters continued as before. On the Respondent ceasing to use his services the Claimant claimed unfair dismissal. The Respondent asserted the Claimant was not an employee but a … Continue reading Launahurst Ltd v Larner: EAT 18 Aug 2009
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 Home Secretary had issued directives to the BBC and IBA prohibiting the broadcasting of speech by representatives of proscribed terrorist organisations. The applicant journalists challenged the legality of the directives on the ground that they were incompatible with the ECHR, and also on the ground that they were disproportionate in going beyond the established … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Brind: HL 7 Feb 1991
EAT DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION Disability / Disability related discrimination / Reasonable adjustments JURISDICTIONAL POINTS >2002 Act and pre-action requirements The date of disability is a fact found by an Employment Tribunal on the basis of medical and other evidence. When a consultant gave a range of dates for the onset of a condition, the Employment Tribunal … Continue reading Cumbria Probation Board v Collingwood: EAT 28 May 2008
The defendant appealed his convictions for offences relating to the claiming of benefits, saying that he was immune from prosecution as a member of the European Parliament, and that the verdicts were inconsistent with acquittals on other charges. Held: There had been no abuse of process in prosecuting the defendant whilst he was a member … Continue reading Mote v Regina: CACD 21 Dec 2007
The claimant, now aged four and the son of a famous author, was photographed by use of a long lens, but in a public street. He now sought removal of the photograph from the defendant’s catalogue, and damages for breach of confidence. Held: The claim was struck out. In effect this was an application for … Continue reading Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another: ChD 7 Aug 2007
The claimant complained that the state did not give proper recognition of his relationship with his deceased same sex partner. Held: The court noted the growing tendency in a number of European states towards the legal and judicial recognition of stable de facto partnerships between homosexuals. The court considered that, despite this, there was still … Continue reading Mata Estevez v Spain: ECHR 10 May 2001
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
EAT Transfer of Undertakings – pensions and other termsThe Claimant started to work for the transferor in 1999 where there was no severance pay scheme. She transferred to the Appellant in 2004 where there is a dual scheme providing different benefits to those who ‘joined’ before and after 2002, each increasing with length of service. … Continue reading Computershare Investor Services Plc v Jackson: EAT 15 Dec 2006
The trial judge had refused an order requested at a preparatory hearing by the defence for the disclosure of documents held by the prosecutor. The House was now asked whether a right of appeal existed against such a refusal. Held: The practice at preparatory hearings has been the subject of dispute. Lord Nichols said: ‘the … Continue reading H, Regina v (Interlocutory application: Disclosure): HL 28 Feb 2007
The defendant appealed against her conviction under the Act for having sent indecent or grossly offensive material through the post in the form of pictures of an aborted foetus sent to pharmacists. She denied that they were offensive, or that she wished to cause distress, and said she wished to educate the pharmacists as to … Continue reading Connolly v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 15 Feb 2007
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
The claimant had been accused with others of arson to school property. He was suspended for the maximum forty five day period. The school then invited the family to discuss arrangements to return to the school, but the family did not attend. After the expiry of the forty five days, the criminal proceedings were discontinued. … Continue reading Ali v Head Teacher and Governors of Lord Grey School: HL 22 Mar 2006
The worker was employed via an employment agency. The contract the company had was with the agency, and the agency had the contract with the worker. The worker claimed an implied contract of employment with the end-user. Held: The end-user company’s appeal failed. The ET was entitled to hold that Mr Muscat had been an … Continue reading Cable and Wireless Plc v Muscat: CA 9 Mar 2006
The claimant sought damages from his accountants, claiming negligence. The accountants pleaded limitation. They had advised him in connection with an investment in a company which investment went wrong. Held: It was argued that the limitation period was to be extended until three years after the discovery by the claimant of why it was that … Continue reading Haward and others v Fawcetts: HL 1 Mar 2006
Mrs Nolan had been employed at a US airbase. When it closed, and she was made redundant, she complained that the appellant had not consulted properly on the redundancies. The US denied that it had responsibility to consult, and now appealed. Held: The appeal failed (Lord Carnworth dissenting). That the exact situation might not have … Continue reading The United States of America v Nolan: SC 21 Oct 2015
A surviving same-sex partner sought a right of succession to a tenancy (of their previously shared flat). Interveners ‘pointed out that a growing number of national courts in European and other democratic societies require equal treatment of unmarried different-sex partners and unmarried same-sex partners, and that that view is supported by recommendations and legislation of … Continue reading Karner v Austria: ECHR 24 Jul 2003
Parties challenged the compliance of proceedings with the convention where there had been considerable delay. Held: The reasonable detention provision (article 5(3)) and the reasonable time requirement (article 6(1)) conferred free-standing rights, which could be broken notwithstanding absence of effect on the fairness of the trial. The threshold for delay was high, but once established … Continue reading Dyer v Watson and Burrows: PC 29 Jan 2002
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’s job ceased, but he continued to be employed by the same employer on different tasks, but the new arrangement was void as ultra vires. The question arose as to whether his employment had been terminated at the time of the change in such a way as to affect his pension rights under the … Continue reading Eastbourne Borough Council v James Foster: CA 11 Jul 2001
