Author: admin

Manchester City Council (Decision Notice): ICO 3 Jul 2013

References: [2013] UKICO FS50485626
Links: Bailii
Ratio: ICO The complainant requested details about the replacement of a Headteacher with an acting Deputy Head at a named school. Manchester City Council (the ‘Council’) responded stating that it did not hold the requested information. Following an internal review it provided some information and applied the exemption for personal information (section 40(2)) to the remainder. During the investigation the Council reverted to its original position that no information was held at the time the request was made. The Information Commissioner’s decision is that the information the Council identified at internal review was not held at the time of the request and has concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that the Council did not hold the requested information at the time of the request. He does not require the Council to take any steps.
Section of Act/EIR and Finding: FOI 1 – Complaint Not upheld

Last Update: 04 January 2018
Ref: 528486

A G of Southern Nigeria v John Holt and Company (Liverpool) Limited: PC 1915

References: [1915] AC 599
Coram: Lord Shaw of Dunfermline
Ratio: The right to use servient land for the purpose of storage was claimed. It was argued that such a right could not exist as an easement.
Held: Lord Shaw of Dunfermline said: ‘there is nothing in the purposes for which the easement is claimed inconsistent in principle with a right of easement as such.’
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Moncrieff and Another v Jamieson and others HL (Bailii, [2007] UKHL 42, [2007] 1 WLR 2620)
    The parties disputed whether a right of way over a road included an implied right for the dominant owner to park on the servient tenement.
    Held: The appeal failed. ‘The question is whether the ancillary right is necessary for the comfortable . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 30 December 2017
Ref: 260030

In re Downer Enterprises Ltd: 1974

References: [1974] 1 WLR 1460
Ratio:
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Kahn and Another v Commissioners of Inland Revenue; In re Toshoku Finance plc HL (House of Lords, Bailii, Gazette 21-Mar-02, [2002] UKHL 6, Times 25-Feb-02, [2002] 1 WLR 671, [2003] 1 AC 1, [2002] 2 All ER 113, [2002] 2 Cr App R 9, [2002] HRLR 23, (2002) 166 JPN 431, (2002) 166 JP 333)
    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 list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 27 September 2017
Ref: 190100

Dowds v Regina: CACD 22 Feb 2012

References: [2012] EWCA Crim 281
Links: Bailii
Coram: Hughes LJ, Simon, Lang JJ
Ratio: The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder, saying that he should have been allowed to rely on a plea of dimished responsibillity given the changes to section 2 of the 1957 Act introduced in 2009. He said that his alcoholism should have been treated as explaining his loss of self control and amounting to an abnormality of mind.
Statutes: Homicide Act 1957 82, Coroners and Justice Act 2009 52
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case cites:

  • Cited – Fenton, Regina v ([1975] 61 Cr App R 261)
    The defendant had shot four people in two different locations. He suffered a number of conditions, including paranoid psychopathy, which raised the possibility of diminished responsibility, although the jury had rejected that defence. He now . .
  • Cited – Criminal proceedings against Lindqvist ECJ ([2004] All ER (EC) 561, Times 13-Nov-03, Bailii, [2003] EUECJ C-101/01, [2004] 2 WLR 1385, [2004] Info TLR 1, ECLI:EU:C:2003:596, [2004] QB 1014, [2003] ECR I-12971, [2004] CEC 117, [2004] 1 CMLR 20, C-101/01)
    Mrs Lindqvist had set up an internet site for her local parish containing information about some of her colleagues in the parish. She gave names, jobs, hobbies and in one case some of the person’s employment and medical details. The Court decided . .
  • Cited – Wood, Regina v (No 1) CACD (Bailii, [2008] EWCA Crim 1305, [2008] Crim LR 976, [2008] 2 Cr App R 34, [2008] 3 All ER 898, [2009] 1 WLR 496)
    The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder, saying that he suffered from alcohol dependency syndrome, and that this amounted to a diminished responsibility.
    Held: The appeal succeeded and and a conviction for manslaughter was . .
  • Cited – Regina v Gittens CACD ([1984] QB 698, [1984] Crim LR 554)
    Lord Lane set out the directions to be given to a jury on the defence of diminished responsibility: ‘Where a defendant suffers from an abnormality of mind arising from arrested or retarded development or inherent causes or induced by disease or . .
  • Cited – Regina v Dietschmann HL (House of Lords, Times 28-Feb-03, Bailii, [2003] UKHL 10, Gazette 10-Apr-03, [2003] 2 Cr App Rep 54, [2003] 1 All ER 897, [2003] 1 AC 1209, [2003] 2 WLR 613, [2003] All ER (D) 406)
    The defendant had been convicted of murder. At the time of the assault, he was both intoxicated to the point of losing his inhibitions and was also suffering an abnormality of mind sufficient substantially to reduce his mental responsibility.
  • Cited – Jaggard v Dickinson QBD ([1980] 3 All ER 716, [1981] QB 527)
    The defendant broke two windows and damaged a curtain in the house of a stranger. She was drunk. She was charged under the 1971 Act, but she raised her honest but drunken and mistaken belief that the house belonged to a friend who would have . .

(This list may be incomplete)
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Bogdanic v The Secretary of State for The Home Department QBD (Bailii, [2014] EWHC 2872 (QB))
    The claimant challenged fines imposed on him after three illegal immigrants were found to have hidden in his lorry in the immigration control zone at Dunkirk. The 1999 At was to have been amended by the 2002 Act, and the implementation was by the . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 26 September 2017
Ref: 451458

Italy v Parliament (Law Governing The Institutions): ECJ 30 Apr 2009

References: C-9/08, [2009] EUECJ C-9/08
Links: Bailii
Ratio: ECJ Action for annulment Decision of the European Parliament of 24 May 2007 on the verification of the credentials of Beniamino Donnici Member of the European Parliament – Verification of the credentials of a Member of the Parliament Appointment of a member resulting from the withdrawal of candidates Articles 6 and 12 of the 1976 Act.

Last Update: 28 March 2017
Ref: 342033

Lowery v Walker: 1910

References: [1910] 1 KB 173
Ratio: An occupier of land who knows that members of the public are in the habit of going on to his land and does nothing to prevent it, may be deemed to have licensed them to do so.
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case cites:

  • Appealed to – Lowery v Walker HL ([1911] AC 10, Bailii, [1910] UKHL 1)
    A trespasser was injured by the land owner’s savage horse.
    Held: If a land-owner knows of but does nothing to stop acts of trespass by the public on his land, there may be an implied license. Decision reversed. In Scottish courts the . .

(This list may be incomplete)
This case is cited by:

  • Appeal from – Lowery v Walker HL ([1911] AC 10, Bailii, [1910] UKHL 1)
    A trespasser was injured by the land owner’s savage horse.
    Held: If a land-owner knows of but does nothing to stop acts of trespass by the public on his land, there may be an implied license. Decision reversed. In Scottish courts the . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 17 August 2017
Ref: 218728

Cornish and Another, R v: QBD 15 Apr 2016

References: [2016] EWHC 779 (QB)
Links: Bailii
Coram: Coulson J
Ratio: Mrs Francis Cappuccini died whilst in the care of the second defendant (‘the Trust’). There can be no doubt that she should not have died and, in the absence of any clear explanation of what had happened, there were concerns that she may not have received proper anaesthetic care.
Jurisdiction: England and Wales

Last Update: 19 July 2017
Ref: 562792

Belhaj v Straw: 2013

References: [2013] EWHC 2672 (QB)
Coram: Simon J
Ratio: Where Article 4 applies, a party must bring forward evidence on foreign law and cannot simply rely on a presumption that in the absence of evidence foreign law should be assumed to be the same as English law.
Simon J said: ‘ It is not consonant with the overriding objective of the Civil Procedure Rules, in a case where the 1995 Act applies, for a party either to decline to plead the relevant provisions of the applicable law or to rely on a presumption that a foreign law is the same as English law. Such an approach is evasive. There may of course be an issue as to which particular law applies, but that is a different matter. The ‘parochial’ approach, which ‘presupposes that it is inherently just for the rules of the English domestic law of tort to be indiscriminately applied regardless of the foreign character of the circumstances and the parties’, is precisely the mischief which the Law Commission sought to remedy, and which was remedied by the 1995 Act’
Statutes: Rome II Regulation 4
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case is cited by:

  • See Also – Belhaj and Another v Straw and Others CA (Bailii, [2014] EWCA Civ 1394, Judiciary Summary, [2014] WLR(D) 459, WLRD)
    Judiciary 1. In these proceedings the appellants seek a declaration of illegality and damages arising from what they contend was the participation of the respondents in their unlawful abduction, kidnapping and . .
  • See Also – Belhaj and Another v Straw and Others QBD (Bailii, [2013] EWHC 4111 (QB))
    The Claimants seek a declaration of illegality and claim damages arising from what they contend was the participation of the seven Defendants in their unlawful abduction, kidnapping and illicit removal across state borders to Libya in March 2004. . .
  • Cited – Rhodes v OPO and Another SC ([2015] 2 WLR 137, Bailii, [2015] UKSC 32, [2016] AC 219, [2015] EMLR 20, [2015] HRLR 11, [2015] WLR(D) 227, [2015] 4 All ER 1, WLRD, Bailii Summary, UKSC 2014/0251, SC, SC Summary, SC Video Summary)
    The mother sought to prevent a father from publishing a book about his life. It was to contain passages she said may cause psychological harm to their 12 year old son. Mother and son lived in the USA and the family court here had no jurisdiction to . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 13 July 2017
Ref: 566200

Regina v Pilgrim: CACD 1993

References: [1993] 14 Cr App R(S) 432
Ratio:
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Regina v Biddle, IR CACD (Bailii, [1996] EWCA Crim 1198)
    The defendant appealed sentences of five years for indecent assaults on strangers in public places at night. One was on a girl of 16, and the offences. Were committed within a short time of each other. He had denied the offences despite clear . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 13 July 2017
Ref: 182319

Burnett v George: 1992

References: [1992] 1 FLR 525 CA
Ratio:
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Wong v Parkside Health NHS Trust and Another CA (Times 07-Dec-01, Gazette 10-Jan-02, Bailii, [2001] EWCA Civ 1721, [2003] 3 All ER 932)
    The claimant had sued her former employer for post-traumatic stress resulting from alleged harassment at her place of work. The claimant appealed against an order refusing damages. The court had held that outside the 1997 Act which was not in force . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 08 July 2017
Ref: 182089

Cabinet Office (Central Government): ICO 3 Apr 2017

References: [2017] UKICO FS50611073
Links: Bailii
Ratio: ICO The complainant requested information relating to the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information (the Commission). The Cabinet Office denied holding information for one part of the complainant’s request. For the other requests, it refused to disclose the relevant information because it was third party personal data under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). During the Commissioner’s investigation, the Cabinet Office denied holding information for another part of the request, and for the others cited further exemptions: Section 35(1)(a) – for the information in its entirety; Section 35(1)(b) – for the specific correspondence which was communication between ministers; Section 36(2)(c) – should the Commissioner find that section 35 did not apply; Section 41(1) – for the correspondence concerning Jack Straw MP. The Commissioner’s decision is that on the balance of probabilities the Cabinet Office does not hold information relating to contact with the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties regarding the setting up of the Commission, or views or correspondence on the suitability of Jack Straw MP and Lord Carlisle. The Commissioner’s decision regarding section 35(1)(a) is that the exemption is engaged for the information in its entirety, and that the balance of the public interest test favours maintaining the exemption. The Cabinet Office breached section 17(1) by citing additional exemptions late. As the complainant has been informed of these new exemptions the Commissioner does not require the Cabinet Office to correspondence further on this. No steps are required.
FOI 1: Not upheld FOI 17: Upheld FOI 35: Not upheld
Jurisdiction: England and Wales

Last Update: 10 June 2017
Ref: 583832

Regina v Palmer: PC 1971

References: [1971] 1 All ER 1077, (1971) 55 Cr App R 223 (PC), [1971] AC 814
Coram: Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest
Ratio: It is a defence in criminal law to a charge of assault if the defendant had an honest belief that he was going to be attacked and reacted with proportionate force: ‘If there has been an attack so that defence is reasonably necessary, it should be recognised that a person defending himself cannot weigh to a nicety the exact measure of necessary defensive action. If a jury is of the opinion that in a moment of unexpected anguish the person attacked did only what he honestly and reasonably thought was necessary, that should be regarded as most potent evidence that only reasonably defensive action was taken.’
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – Bici and Bici v Ministry of Defence QBD ([2004] EWHC 786(QB), Bailii, Times 11-Jun-04)
    Claimants sought damages for personal injuries incurred when, in Pristina, Kosovo and during a riot, British soldiers on a UN peacekeeping expedition fired on a car.
    Held: The incidents occurred in the course of peace-keeping duties. It was . .
  • Cited – Buckley, Regina (on the Application Of) v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn (Bailii, [2004] EWHC 2533 (Admin))
    Appeal against conviction for common assault. The defendant argued his actions had been in defence of his girlfriend who had been surrounded in the street by an aggressive group of drunken young women. The magistrates had found his reaction to be . .
  • Cited – Regina (Anderson and Others) v HM Coroner for Inner North Greater London QBD (Bailii, [2004] EWHC 2729 (Admin))
    The deceased suffered depressive mental illness, and was detained outside on a cold night naked and in a cannabis induced delirium. Because of his size, additional officers were called upon to assist restraining him. He was taken to hospital, but . .
  • Cited – Ashley and Another v Sussex Police CA ([2007] 1 WLR 398, Bailii, [2006] EWCA Civ 1085, Times 30-Aug-06)
    The deceased was shot by police officers raiding his flat in 1998. The claimants sought damages for his estate. They had succeeded in claiming damages for false imprisonment, but now appealed dismissal of their claim for damages for assault and . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 30 May 2017
Ref: 190054

Smith v South Wales Switchgear: HL 1978

References: [1978] 1 WLR 165
Coram: Lord Fraser, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Keith of Kinkel
Ratio: The principles set out in Canada Steamship apply to ‘clauses which purport to exempt one party to a contract from liability’. The principles should be applied without ‘mechanistic construction’. Lord Keith of Kinkel: The tests were guidelines, but ‘guidelines’ but ‘the matter is essentially one of the ascertaining the intention of the contracting parties from the language they have used, considered in the light of surrounding circumstances which must be taken to have been within their knowledge.’
Jurisdiction: England and Wales
This case cites:

  • Approved – Canada Steamship Lines Ltd v The King PC ([1952] AC 192, Bailii, [1952] UKPC 1, [1952] 1 TLR 261, [1952] 1 All ER 305, [1952] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 1)
    A lease of a freight shed exonerated the lessor from ‘any claim . . for . . damage . . to . . Goods . . being . . in the said shed’ and requiring the lessee to indemnify the lessor ‘from and against all claims’. The negligent use of an oxy-acetylene . .
  • Cited – Gillespie Bros and Co Ltd v Roy Bowles Transport Ltd CA ([1973] QB 400, [1973] 1 Lloyds Rep 10)
    The court looked at how it should construe the Canada Steamship guidelines with regard to an exemption clause absolving one party of responsibility for negligence. There was a express reference to negligence by the words ‘save harmless and keep . . . .
  • Dicta approved – Hollier v Rambler Motors (AMC) Ltd CA ([1972] 2 QB 71, Bailii, [1971] EWCA Civ 12, [1972] 1 All ER 399, [1972] 2 WLR 401, [1972] 2 QB 71, [1972] RTR 190)
    The plaintiff left his car with the defendant garage for repair. Whilst there it was substantially damaged by fire. The defendant sought to rely upon their terms which would negative liability, saying that the terms had been incorporated by . .

(This list may be incomplete)
This case is cited by:

  • Cited – National Westminster Bank v Utrecht-America Finance Company CA (Bailii, [2001] EWCA Civ 658, [2001] 3 All ER 733)
    An agreement between the parties for assignment or novation of a credit agreement, contained a ‘take out’ agreement (‘TOA’). The defendant began proceedings in California to rescind the agreement, and the claimants obtained summary judgement under . .
  • Cited – Stent Foundations Ltd v M J Gleeson Group Plc TCC (Bailii, [2000] EWHC Technology 66)
    The defendant company sought to rely upon an exemption clause.
    Held: Applying standard rules for contract interpretation, the exemption clause was to be construed against the one proposing it. At best the clause was ambiguous, and the . .
  • Cited – HIH Casualty and General Insurance Limited and others v Chase Manhattan Bank and others HL (House of Lords, Bailii, [2003] UKHL 6, [2003] 1 All ER Comm 349, [2003] 2 Lloyd’s Law Reports 61, [2004] ICR 1708, [2003] Lloyds Rep IR 230, [2003] 1 CLC 358)
    The insurance company had paid claims on policies used to underwrite the production of TV films. The re-insurers resisted the claims against them by the insurers on the grounds of non-disclosure by the insured, or in the alternative damages for . .
  • Cited – Gray v Fire Alarm Fabrication Services Ltd and others QBD (Bailii, [2006] EWHC 849 (QB))
    The deceased, a maintenance engineer died after falling through a skylight at work. The court considered the respective liabilities of his employer and the landowner. . .
  • Cited – BOC Group Plc v Centeon Llc and Centeon Bio-Services Inc CA (Bailii, [1999] EWCA Civ 1293, [1999] 1 All ER (Comm) 970)
    The court was asked whether a clause in a share sale agreement setting out the payment obligation worked to preclude the purchaser from exercising a right of set-off when the time comes to pay a later instalment of the price.
    Held: The appeal . .
  • Cited – Circle Freight International Ltd v Medeast Gulf Imports Ltd CA ([1988] 2 Lloyds Reports 427)
    The court considered the effect of a driver’s behaviour on the ability to claim under his insurance policy, on the basis that his behaviour would constitute ‘wilful misconduct’. Taylor LJ: ‘Mr Malins has sought to argue that although Huggins (the . .

(This list may be incomplete)

Last Update: 22 April 2017
Ref: 185979

Figures

We live or die, sadly, by the visitor statistics. We hit a peak in early May, and then fall off a cliff. I have been saying (bravely), that all will be well, and that the corner will be turned on the second Monday in July.

Here we are two days later, and lo and behold, the 30 day running total of Page Views did indeed turn on Monday and improve again on Tuesday. I am not sure how pleasing it is that the figures are so predictable, but in cycle terms, they are.

More pleasing is that we are still doing much better than last year. On the second Monday of July 2015, the page views over the previous 30 days stood at 137471. This year, that figure was 201576. This represents about a 45% increase over the year.