ECJ 1. The prohibition on the levying of charges having an effect equivalent to customs duties, whether it has its origin in the general rule contained in article 13 of the treaty with effect from 1 january 1970, at the end of the transitional period, or in the special provision of article 12 of regulation … Continue reading Amministrazione Delle Finanze Dello Stato v Sas Mediterranea Importazione, Rappresentanze, Esportazione, Commercio (Mireco).: ECJ 10 Jul 1980
A newspaper and its editor complained that their right to freedom of expression had been breached when they were found liable in defamation proceedings for statements in articles which they had published about the methods used by seal hunters in the hunting of harp seals. Held: The Court considered whether the newspaper had a reasonable … Continue reading Bladet Tromso and Stensaas v Norway: ECHR 20 May 1999
The child had been born to parents who married and later divorced in Romania. The mother brought him to England without the father’s consent, and now appealed an order for his return. Held: The mother’s appeal succeeded. The Convention required an order to be made for the return of a child only where the parent … Continue reading In re D (A Child), (Abduction: Rights of Custody): HL 16 Nov 2006
ECJ 1. The regulations on social security for migrant workers did not set up a common scheme of social security, but allowed different schemes to exist, creating different claims on different institutions against which the claimant possesses direct rights by virtue either of national law alone or of national law supplemented, where necessary, by community … Continue reading Caisse De Compensation Des Allocations Familiales Des Regions De Charleroi Et De Namur v Cosimo Laterza: ECJ 12 Jun 1980
An express statutory authority to construct an oil refinery carried with it the authority to refine. It was impossible to construct and operate the refinery upon the site without creating a nuisance. Lord Wilberforce said: ‘It is now well settled that where Parliament by express direction or by necessary implication has authorised the construction and … Continue reading Allen v Gulf Oil Refining Ltd: HL 29 Jan 1980
The applicant, a suspected Mafioso, had been detained in custody pending his trial. At the end of the maximum period of detention pending trial, he had been taken to an island where, he complained, he was unable to work, keep his family permanently with him, practise the Catholic religion or ensure his son’s education. Held: … Continue reading Guzzardi v Italy: ECHR 6 Nov 1980
(Commission) Complaint was made as to the censorship of prisoners’ correspondence. The censorship of prisoners’ correspondence was ancillary to prison rules restricting the contents of correspondence. The Commission, therefore, and the Court had to consider what restraints upon the content of correspondence were permissible. Held: Communications making representations about the prisoner’s trial, conviction or sentence … Continue reading Silver v United Kingdom: ECHR 1980
Issues arose as to a new planning permission for two existing hangars. Held: The appeal succeeded. The question of the validity of conditions attached to planning permissions will sometimes be a difficult one. To be valid, a condition must be imposed for a planning purpose and not for an ulterior one; it must fairly and … Continue reading Newbury District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment: HL 1980
The parties disputed the property in goods which had been sold and then gone through successive manufacturing processes. The contract included a retention of title clause. Fibres were converted into manufactured carpets and thus lost their identity and thus, from the seller’s perspective, the seller lost any relevant right of property. The issues included whether … Continue reading In Re Bond Worth Ltd: 1980
(Trinidad and Tobago) The appellant teacher alleged that he had been transferred from one school to another without proper notice and as punishment. The appellant instead of following a laid out procedure which would have eventually led to a decision by the Teaching Service Commission, sued under the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago for a … Continue reading Harrikissoon v Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago: PC 1980
The plaintiff film companies accused the defendants of pirating their films. They obtained Anton Piller orders which required the defendants to permit the plaintiffs to enter their premises to inspect and remove any unauthorised films, and three defendants were to disclose: (a) cassette supplier and customer details; (b) invoices; and (c) the whereabouts of pirate … Continue reading Rank Film Distributors v Video Information Centre: CA 1980
The Vice-Chancellor said: ‘if land is conveyed in circumstances which otherwise would create a way of necessity, or a way implied from the common intention of the parties based on a necessity apparent from the deeds, does public policy prevent the creation of such a way from, being negatived by an express term in the … Continue reading Nickerson v Barraclough (2): ChD 2 Jan 1980
DONALDSON LJ: Mr. Phillips appeals by case stated against his conviction and a fine of andpound;5 imposed by Mr Loy, the Leeds Stipendiary Magistrates, in September 1978 for failure to comply with a School Attendance Order. It is not the conviction or the fine which irks Mr. Phillips. His irritation, and perhaps even anger, is … Continue reading Phillips v Brown: QBD 20 Jun 1980
Explanation of Medical Risks essential The plaintiff alleged negligence in the failure by a surgeon to disclose or explain to her the risks inherent in the operation which he had advised. Held: The appeal failed. A mentally competent patient has an absolute right to refuse to consent to medical treatment for any reason, rational or … Continue reading Sidaway v Board of Governors of the Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital: HL 21 Feb 1985
The plaintiff had written a non-fiction book entitled ‘The Spear of Destiny.’ He claimed infringement of copyright by the defendant in his book of fiction called ‘The Spear’. Both books were centered on a spear exhibited in Vienna, said to have been the lance which pierced Christ’s side on the cross. The allegation was that … Continue reading Ravenscroft v Herbert: ChD 1980
On 21 March 1990 the mother removed the child, aged two, from Australia, where he had been habitually resident, to England with the intention of permanently residing here. She did so without the knowledge of the father who also resided in Australia but who, not having been married to the mother, had at that time … Continue reading In re J (a Minor) (Abduction: Custody rights): HL 1 Jul 1990
Practical Realities of Planning Decisions The House considered planning procedures adopted on the construction of two new stretches of motorway, and in particular as to whether the Secretary of State had acted unlawfully in refusing to allow objectors to the scheme to cross-examine the Department’s witnesses. Held: He had not acted unlawfully (Lord Edmud-Davies dissenting). … Continue reading Bushell v Secretary of State for the Environment: HL 7 Feb 1980
Wife in Occupation had Overriding Interest The wife had made a substantial financial contribution to the purchase price of the house which was registered only in her husband’s name, and charged to the bank. The bank sought possession. The wife resisted saying that she had an overriding interest. Held: Her equitable interest was not only … Continue reading Williams and Glyn’s Bank Ltd v Boland: HL 19 Jun 1980
EC has sole jurisdiction over old cartels Several claimants alleged that the defendant airway had been part of a cartel which had overcharged for freight services. The court now heard arguments about whether it had jurisdition to deal with claims which preceded the measures which had brought into force the EU competition rules. The cartel … Continue reading Emerald Supplies Ltd and Others v British Airways Plc: ChD 4 Oct 2017
The employers were a well known roofing and tiling firm, Marley Tiles . The employer sought to impose post employment restrictions including a restriction on canvassing soliciting or dealing with customers in the whole of Devon and Cornwall. Within that area the plaintiffs had 2,500 customers. The covenant against soliciting was also a covenant against … Continue reading Marley Tile Co Ltd v Shaw: CA 1980
The applicant had complained of unfair dismissal.The employment contract had been dressed as a self employed service provider’s contract to privide him with tax, and was unlawfully so. The employer appealed, saying that as an unlawful contract, the court should not support it. Held: The company’s appeal failed. The lower tribunal had correctly concluded that … Continue reading Young and Woods Ltd v West: CA 11 Feb 1980
The applicant, a Belgian butcher, paid a fine by way of settlement in the face of an order for the closure of his shop until judgment was given in an intended criminal prosecution or until such fine was paid.
Held: Since the payment was made . .
Two forged cheques, each for USD500,000, had been presented by two men and as a result USD1,000,000 had been transferred to accounts in their names. The plaintiff sought to trace assets through the banks involved.
Held: The court approved the . .
The defendant had broadcast a TV programme using material confidential to the plaintiff, who now sought disclosure of the identity of the presumed thief.
Held: (Lord Salmon dissenting) The courts have never recognised a public interest right . .
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The claimant sought to challenge the validity of the 2004 Regulations whereby the payment under the Single Payment Scheme was reduced because of the existence of a public right of way across the land. Held: ‘there are cogent arguments for the validity of the crucial paragraphs of the England Regulations. My preliminary view is that … Continue reading Horvath, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Admn 21 Jul 2006
Houses were built on defective foundations. The purchasers sued the builders and later the architects who designed them. The defendants argued that the houses were doomed from the start so that the cause of action accrued, not when the physical damage to the houses occurred, but when the plaintiffs became the owners of the houses … Continue reading Ketteman v Hansel Properties Ltd: HL 1987
Young men were barred from a shopping centre. The private company owner considered that their behaviour was a nuisance. Held: The owner had the right to determine any licence which the applicants might have had to enter the Centre. The local authority had not entered into any walkways agreement with the company which would have … Continue reading CIN Properties Ltd v Rawlins: CA 1995
The claimant sought an order requiring delivery of possession of land occupied by the respondent objectors. They needed to remove trees from the land in order to construct a runway on their own adjacent land. The claimant had been granted a licence to enter on the land to remove the trees. The respondents said the … Continue reading Manchester Airport Plc v Dutton and others: CA 23 Feb 1999
Laws pointed out that the law on dedication of had moved forward, saying: ‘Taking the passage cited from Scott LJ in Jones v Bates as a full and convenient description of the common law, it seemed that the material change effected by the statute of 1932 (and carried through to the Act of 1980) did … Continue reading Jaques v Secretary of State for the Environment: 1995
N objected to the reclassification of a public footpath over his farm as a byway open to all traffic, saying that there had been insufficient evidence to establish a dedication at common law. Held: N’s appeal failed. ‘A track can become a highway by reason of the dedication of the right of passage to the … Continue reading Regina v Nicholson and Another, Secretary of State for Environment and others: Admn 20 Dec 1996
The claimant alleged that the defendant by allowing a flood across a road not to be cleared was in breach of their statutory duty under the 1980 Act. Held: Though the blockage was not entirely on the Highway, the nature and extent of it was known to the Authority and they were properly found to … Continue reading Thoburn v Northumberland County Council: CA 19 Jan 1999
The public used a path across the appellant’s land from 1914 to 1940. From 1940 to 1947 the land was requisitioned and there was no evidence of public user. Prior to 1914 and again in 1948 the public right to use the path was questioned by the padlocking of a gate and by the erection … Continue reading De Rothschild v Buckinghamshire County Council: KBD 1957
Atkin LJ said: ‘It has been suggested that you cannot have a highway except insofar as it connects two other highways. That seems to me that too wide a proposition. I think you can have a highway leading to a place of popular resort even though when you have got to the place of popular … Continue reading Moser v Ambleside Urban District Council: CA 1925
(From Supreme Court of New South Wales) The appellant owned land in New South Wales, acquired from the Crown in 1879, over which there was a track. The respondent was sued for trespass when he went upon the track and removed fences running across it installed by the appellant. The respondent argued that he had … Continue reading Turner v Walsh: PC 1881
A person in actual occupation of registered land at time of transfer can enforce his rights against the transferee. A sub-underlessee in occupation of part could enforce an option to purchase against the freeholder acquiring intermediate registered title. Actual occupation of part of the land comprised in a registered disposition protected a right or interest … Continue reading Ferrishurst Ltd v Wallcite Ltd: CA 30 Nov 1998
The plaintiff lived with her husband in a house in a housing estate of which he was a tenant. Part of the land of the estate, in the ownership of the defendant housing authority, was crossed by footpaths, over which the public had acquired the right of way. The plaintiff was walking on one of … Continue reading McGeown v Northern Ireland Housing Executive: HL 24 Jun 1994
A limited company is not a trustee of its funds, but their beneficial owner. However, the fiduciary character of the duties of its directors mean that they are treated as if they were trustees of those funds of the company which are in their hands or under their control, and if they misapply them they … Continue reading Re Lands Allotment Company: CA 1894
The deceased’s adult son sought provision from the intestate estate. The sole beneficiary under the rules was the plaintiff’s mother. The estate was modest; the intestate’s interest in his house (he had been living there with the plaintiff). The widow was found to have a one third interest in it. The judge took the disposable … Continue reading In Re Coventry (deceased): CA 3 Jan 1979
Appeals were brought complaining as to the apparent reversal of the burden of proof in road traffic cases and in cases under the Terrorism Acts. Was a legal or an evidential burden placed on a defendant? Held: Lord Bingham of Cornhill said: ‘The overriding concern is that a trial should be fair, and the presumption … Continue reading Sheldrake v Director of Public Prosecutions; Attorney General’s Reference No 4 of 2002: HL 14 Oct 2004
Where an action had been begun on basis of allegations of negligence and breach of trust, new allegations of fraud where quite separate new causes of claim, and went beyond amendments and were disallowed outside the relevant limitation period. Sections 23 and 36 and the absence of express statutory mention in the 1980 Act of … Continue reading Paragon Finance Plc (Formerly Known As National Home Loans Corporation Plc v D B Thakerar and Co (a Firm); Ranga and Co (a Firm) and Sterling Financial Services Limited: CA 21 Jul 1998
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 bank had obtained judgment against the defendant, but had failed to act upon it, and the judgment became unenforceable. It then began later proceedings on the original debt (still within the applicable limitation period). The defendant said this was an abuse of process. Held: The decision in Ridgeway after close of oral argument on … Continue reading Bennett v The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland: CA 23 Jul 2004
The court considered whether a pathway had become a public highway. Held: ‘The main question for the Court is whether sufficiency of evidence of an intention not to dedicate necessary to satisfy the proviso requires, as a matter of law, that during the relevant 20 year period the landowner should not only prove that negative … Continue reading Godmanchester Town Council, Regina (on the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs: CA 19 Dec 2005
The appellant landowner had a public bridleway over his land. It passed over an old cattle grid. He had constructed a gate to the side of the track. It was not part of the public highway. He now appealed from a refusal of an order for the Council to remove cattle grid and re-instate the … Continue reading Kind v Northumberland County Council: Admn 14 Mar 2012
The council as highway authority had objected to a development on the grounds of road safety. The application was subsequently approved by the Secretary of State, but the Council sought to maintain its safety objection. Held: The highway authority must co-operate in implementing a planning permission after a successful appeal against its advice that it … Continue reading Regina v Warwickshire County Council ex parte Powergen Plc: CA 31 Jul 1997
The claimant sought judicial review challenging the restrictions on the sale of electoral registers to registered credit reference agencies. Following Robertson (1) the new regulations created two registers, and the claimant sought to be able to purchase the records for its register of addresses. Held: The consultation had been adequate. The regulations did not create … Continue reading I-CD Publishing Ltd v The Secretary of State, The Information Commissioner (Interested Party): Admn 21 Jul 2003
When someone objected to a public footpath order, the council has a discretion as to whether the case should be referred to the Secretary of State. In the absence of an obligation, the judicial review of the council’s decision not to make such a reference failed. The existence of the discretion was not inconsistent with … Continue reading Regina (Hargrave and Another) v Stroud District Council: Admn 7 Dec 2001
A claim for an easement based upon section 62 of the 1925 Act failed. There had not been regular use of the path in question with the putative dominant tenement to gain access to it. Roch LJ said: ‘Section 62 of the 1925 Act cannot create new rights where there has been no actual enjoyment … Continue reading Payne v Inwood: CA 1996
The existence of a planning permission did not excuse the causing of a nuisance by the erection of a pighouse. The permission was not a statutory authority, and particularly so where it was possible it had been procured by the supply of inaccurate and incomplete information. The court considered the function of a gate: ‘The … Continue reading Wheeler and Another v JJ Saunders Ltd and Others: CA 19 Dec 1994
The applicants owned a substantial property near an airbase. They complained that changes in the patterns of flying by the respondents were a nuisance and sought damages. Walcot Hall was subjected to very high noise levels from military aircraft. The particular noise is loud and characterised by a very rapid onset with a corresponding startle … Continue reading Dennis and Dennis v Ministry of Defence: QBD 16 Apr 2003
The defendant appealed a summary judgement on the claimant’s claim with respect to her alleged disclosure of details Miss Campbell’s private life. The claimant sought an action for account of profits for breach of the terms of a contract of service. The defendant claimed that a violent assault by the claimant on her was a … Continue reading Campbell v Frisbee: ChD 14 Mar 2002
Appeals by case stated from failures at trials of charges of obstructing the public highway in the course of protests at the opening of a Defence and Security fair. Held: The DPP’s appeals were granted for the first four defendants but rejected for the second group as being without jurisdiction. As to the first four … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Ziegle and Others: Admn 22 Jan 2019
The claimant alleged that she had been discrimated against in her work for the appellant, a member of the diplomatic staff at the Saudi Embassy in London. She now appealed against a decision that the respondent had diplomatic immunity. Held: The appeal was allowed: ‘the question whether the exception in article 31(1)(c) would have applied … Continue reading Reyes v Al-Malki and Another: SC 18 Oct 2017
The applicant had dual Iraqi and British nationality. He was detained by British Forces in Iraq under suspicion of terrorism, and interned. Held: His appeal failed. The UN resolution took priority over the European Convention on Human Rights where there was a conflict between them. ‘If the Security Council, acting under Chapter VII, consider that … Continue reading Al-Jedda v Secretary of State for Defence: CA 29 Mar 2006
The landlord had wanted possession. The tenant said that the landlord had been harassing him. The landlord said that the tenancy was a mixed residential and business tenancy and that the 1977 Act did not apply. Held: The 1977 Act applied. A tenancy for mixed purposes falls under the protection of the Act of 1954, … Continue reading Pirabakaran v Patel and Another: CA 26 May 2006
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 been detained by the US in Guantanamo Bay suspected of terrorist involvement. He sought to support his defence documents from the respondent which showed that the evidence to be relied on in the US courts had been obtained by torture, and in particular by the hiding of his detention for many months … Continue reading Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 1): Admn 21 Aug 2008
All information available to an employer at the date of the termination of the employment relationship is relevant when considering the fairness of dismissal, and also any information becoming available during the course of, for example, an internal appeal, even post-termination, is relevant. An employer may be considered to have acted unfairly if he refuses … Continue reading West Midlands Co-operative Society v Tipton: HL 1986
The department complained that the defendants had entered into a transaction with their farm at an undervalue so as to defeat its claim for recovery of sums due. The transaction used the grant of a tenancy by the first chargee. Held: The farmers’ appeal as to the farm transaction failed: ‘beyond argument that DEFRA was … Continue reading Feakins and Another v Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Civ 1513): CA 9 Dec 2005
Part of land had been sold off. By oversight no right of way had been taken in favour of the retained land. The dominant owner argued that by demolition of a building a means of access could be found and that therefore no right of way by necessity arose. Held: It was clearly envisaged by … Continue reading Sweet and Another v Sommer and Another: ChD 25 Jun 2004
(Trinidad and Tobago) A police officer had unjustifiably roughed up, arrested, taken to the police station and locked up Mr Ramanoop, who now sought constitutional redress, including exemplary damages. He did not claim damages for the nominate torts that had certainly been committed. Counsel for the Attorney General submitted that constitutional redress, in so far … Continue reading Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v Ramanoop: PC 23 Mar 2005
The claimants challenged rejection of five applications under section 5 of the 1981 Act for modification orders allowing the upgrade of routes to provide vehicular public rights of way. The applications had been submitted using digital mapping. The Council said that the maps did not accord with the legislation. Held: The application failed: ‘there was … Continue reading Trail Riders’ Fellowship and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Dorset County Council: Admn 2 Oct 2012
The appellant had sold land next to its own for use as a school. Access rights were given to assist construction of the school. The council wanted to use the rights in what was no to be a competing residential development. The appellant wished to use the land as a ransom strip. The council argued … Continue reading Beazer Homes Ltd v County Council of Durham: CA 13 Oct 2010
Mr I was employed on a 3-year contract determinable on notice. The contract was renewed by a 2-year extension, followed by a one-year extension, and a waiver clause was agreed for the latter extension. The statute required the fixed term to be of two years or more for contracting out to be permissible. Held: Since … Continue reading BBC v Ioannou: CA 1975
The House considered whether the meaning of the phrase ‘a person having control’ extended to control by more than one person. This depended on whether the word ‘person’ in the singular was to be construed as including the plural. Held: The House applied the 1889 Act. A permissible aid to construction of a stautute is … Continue reading Floor v Davis (Inspector of Taxes): HL 1979
The dispute followed the grounding of a tanker the Ocean Victory. The ship was working outside of a safe port requirement in the charterparty agreement. The contract required the purchase of insurance against maritime war and protection and indemnity risks. The grounding occurred during a combination of severe weather events. Each of the two elements … Continue reading Gard Marine and Energy Ltd and Another v China National Chartering Company Ltd and Another: SC 10 May 2017
An illegitimate child’s habitual country of residence is determined at the date of death of his mother when he was to be removed following the death. Where the mother of an illegitimate child who is resident in England dies and the grandmother takes the child to Ireland, the child remains resident in England. Judges: Lord … Continue reading In Re S (A Minor) (Abduction: European Convention): HL 30 Jul 1997
(Scotland) The appellant had variously been convicted in reliance on evidence gathered at different stages before arrest, but in each case without being informed of any right to see a solicitor. The court was asked, as a devolution issue, at what point the duty to allow access to a solicitor arose, and what use might … Continue reading Ambrose v Harris, Procurator Fiscal, Oban, etc: SC 6 Oct 2011
(First Section) The claimant complaned that he had not been allowed access to a lawyer when being questioned by police when he was not under arrest. He had been stopped driving home from work and his car inspected by the police after reports of workers stealing diesel from their service vehicles. Two cans of diesel … Continue reading Zaichenko v Russia: ECHR 18 Feb 2010
Application for judicial review of decision not to quash footpath order. Judges: Sullivan J Citations: [2007] EWHC 3167 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 , Highways Act 1980 118B Jurisdiction: England and Wales Land Updated: 09 August 2022; Ref: scu.271204
Compensation – Land Compensation Act 1973 Part 1 – Highway not maintainable at public expense within 3 years of opening – Effect of agreement to adopt under s.38(3) of Highways Act 1980 – Interpretation of s. 19(3) of Land Compensation Act under s.3 of Human Rights Act 1998 – Meaning of ‘0n his behalf’ in … Continue reading O’Connor and Another v Wiltshire County Council: LT 6 Feb 2006
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
The council tenant had wished to appeal following a possession order made after her tenancy had been demoted. The court handed down a supplemental judgment to give effect to its earlier decision. The Court had been asked ‘whether article 8 of the . . Convention . . requires a court, which is being asked to … Continue reading Manchester City Council v Pinnock: SC 9 Feb 2011
Twins were conjoined (Siamese). Medically, both could not survive, and one was dependent upon the vital organs of the other. Doctors applied for permission to separate the twins which would be followed by the inevitable death of one of them. The parents, devout Roman Catholics, resisted. Held: The parents’ views were subject to the overriding … Continue reading In Re A (Minors) (Conjoined Twins: Medical Treatment); aka In re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation): CA 22 Sep 2000
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
The authority agreed to sell part of a housing estate. It proposed to enter into restrictive covenants for the retained parts of the estate to prevent the letting of any vacant flat except by way of a long lease at a premium. The decision was challenged on the basis that this would be an unlawful … Continue reading Regina v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council, ex parte Beddowes: CA 1987
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL: Constructive dismissalWhether fundamental breach of implied term of trust and confidence cured, so that the Claimant’s resignation did not amount to constructive dismissal.Whether the range of reasonable responses test has any place in the question as to whether an employee has been constructively dismissed. Fairbrother and Claridge considered and not followed.General observations … Continue reading Bournemouth University Higher Education Corp v Buckland: EAT 8 May 2009
The 1978 Directive required consultation in the case of collective redundancies. Acts had incorrectly incorporated this requirement into English law. The error was corrected in the 1995 Regulations. Held: Anything is ‘related to’ a Community obligation so long as it is not distinct, separate or divorced from it. The 1995 Regulations were valid.Otton LJ said: … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry ex parte Unison: 1996
The court considered a dispute about ownership and confidence in and copyright of of video tapes taken by Princess Diana before her death. Held: The courts have an inherent discretion to refuse to enforce of copyright. When assessing whether the copyright should be enforced the relevant issues would be ones arising from the work itself, … Continue reading Hyde Park Residence Ltd v Yelland, News Group Newspapers Ltd, News International Ltd, Murrell: CA 10 Feb 2000
The claimants had wanted to make a peaceful anti-monarchist demonstration during the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They complained that the actions of the respondent police infringed their human rights by preventing that demonstration. Held: The appeal failed.The fundamental principle underlying article 5 is the need to protect the individual from arbitrary … Continue reading Hicks and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis: SC 15 Feb 2017
The school sought judicial review of a decision to refuse a Special Extinguishment Order to close a footpath crossing its playing fields. Judges: Mackie J Citations: [2008] EWHC 2060 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Highways Act 1980 118B, Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Land Updated: 19 July 2022; Ref: scu.276238
The court considered the lawfulness of telephone tapping. The issue arose following a trial in which the prosecution had admitted the interception of the plaintiff’s telephone conversations under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State. The plaintiff claimed that the interception had been and was unlawful. Held: Although he dismissed the plaintiff’s claim, the … Continue reading Malone v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis (No 2): ChD 28 Feb 1979
The appellants appealed a bind-over for a finding that each appellant had been guilty of conduct whereby a breach of the peace was likely to be occasioned. The appellants, concerned about cruelty to animals, had obstructed an angling competition by seeking to distract the fish and to dissuade the anglers from catching them. No violence … Continue reading Regina v Nicol and Selvanayagam: QBD 10 Nov 1995
The several applicants had been arrested in different circumstances and each charged with breach of the peace contrary to common law. Under the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980, the court can bind over a Defendant to keep the peace, if the Defendant consents, and impose a sentence of up to 6 months’ imprisonment if the Defendant … Continue reading Steel and Others v The United Kingdom: ECHR 23 Sep 1998
The mother had brought the child to the UK wrongfully. She had hidden their identity for more than a year. Upon discovering her, the father came to England and began proceedings for the child’s return to the US. Held: Because the child’s identity had been hidden, that period could not be counted as settled existence … Continue reading Cannon v Cannon: CA 19 Oct 2004
On the divorce, the husband was ordered to transfer his share in the house to the wife. On his bankruptcy shortly after, the order was confirmed. After the wife sold the property at a profit, the trustee in bankruptcy applied to set the transfer aside as a transaction at an undervalue. Held: The starting point … Continue reading Haines v Hill and Another: CA 5 Dec 2007
The husband and wife had each owned a share in a company which sold the services of the husband. The Revenue claimed that the payment of dividends to the wife was a settlement. Held: The Revenue failed. The share had been transferred to the wife by the formation agents. The share carried more than the … Continue reading Jones v Garnett (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Taxes): HL 25 Jul 2007
A serving prisoner was stabbed to death in his cell. The appellant admitted that he had punched the victim twice but maintained that another man had stabbed him, which explained the incriminating presence of the victim’s blood in the vicinity of the appellant’s cell and on his hand. As the victim lay dying, he uttered, … Continue reading Musone v Regina: CACD 23 May 2007
The claimants sought compensation for the diminution in the values of their properties because of noise pollution from a new highway. The defendant highway authority said that liability had been transferred to its contractors, and it had not been and was not a highway maintainable at public expense. Held: The road had been constructed for … Continue reading O’Connor and Another v Wiltshire County Council: CA 9 May 2007
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 claimants sought a declaration that a path over neighbouring land was a public vehicular highway as recorded by the respondents, and not a footpath as asserted by the owners, and that gates over the path infringed the public rights. The council had served notices on the landowners to remove gates. Held: The status of … Continue reading Mear and others v Cambridgeshire County Council: ChD 20 Oct 2006
EAT The Claimant was employed on a fixed term contract. During the terms of the contract he was dismissed for misconduct and made an application to the Employment Tribunal (ET) claiming unfair dismissal. He appealed but the appeal was heard after the date when the contract would have expired by effluxion of time. The appeal … Continue reading Prakash v Wolverhampton City Council: EAT 1 Sep 2006
The occupier had been granted a temporary licence by the authority under the homelessness provisions whilst it made its assessment. The assessment concluded that she had become homeless intentionally, and therefore terminated the licence and set out to evict her. She claimed that the authority had to get a court authority before so evicting her. … Continue reading Desnousse v London Borough of Newham and others: CA 17 May 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
The applicant challenged the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage, saying that the mortgagee’s purposes included purposes not those under the mortgage. The parties had been involved in an attempted development of a penthouse. Held: The power was validly exercised. Provided the recovery of the sums for which the security was given … Continue reading Meretz Investments Nv and Another v ACP Ltd and others: ChD 30 Jan 2006
The claimants were dependants of Iraqi nationals killed in Iraq. Held: The Military Police were operating when Britain was an occupying power. The question in each case was whether the Human Rights Act applied to the acts of the defendant. The question amounted to whether the officers acted under State Agent Authority within the convention … Continue reading Regina (on the Application of Mazin Mumaa Galteh Al-Skeini and Others) v The Secretary of State for Defence: CA 21 Dec 2005
The claimant appealed against a refusal of judicial review of a decision of the Lands Tribunal. Held: A decision of the Lands Tribunal could only be judicially reviewed in exceptional cases where there was either a jurisdictional error or a procedural irregularity. The application had been correctly refused. ‘The question of whether certain work is … Continue reading Sinclair Gardens Investments (Kensington) Ltd, Regina (on the Application of) v The Lands Tribunal: CA 8 Nov 2005
The claimant appealed refusal of his claim for inducing a breach of contract against the sixth defendant. It said that an intention to disturb a contract could be inferred. Held: A mere recklessness as to whether contractual rights were disturbed was insufficient to found the tort of interference with contractual relations. Judges: Sedley LJ, Arden … Continue reading Mainstream Properties Ltd v Young and others: CA 13 Jul 2005
ECHR Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) – Violation of Art. 6-3-c; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award; Costs and expenses award – domestic proceedings; Costs and expenses award – Convention proceedings.A number of the applicant’s meetings with his lawyer were supervised by a police official, and his letters to his lawyer were intercepted and used for … Continue reading S v Switzerland: ECHR 28 Nov 1991
