Category: Torts – Other

S v Airedale National Health Service Trust: QBD 22 Aug 2002

The patient had been detained, and then secluded within the mental hospital for 11 days. He claimed to have been subjected to inhuman treatment, and false imprisonment.
Held: His claim failed. The policy allowed the authority to confine him to a locked room under supervision for the protection of others. The fact of seclusion did not add to the fact that he was already and lawfully confined. A self evidently necessary power could be read into the 1983 Act to permit seclusion. Nevertheless a high degree of scrutiny was appropriate to prevent abuse.
Mr Justice Stanley Burnton considered when it might be proper to hear oral evidence on an application for judicial review: ‘It is a convention of our litigation that at trial in general the evidence of a witness is accepted unless he is cross-examined and is thus given the opportunity to rebut the allegations made against him. There may be an exception where there is undisputed objective evidence inconsistent with that of the witness that cannot sensibly be explained away (in other words, the witness’s testimony is manifestly wrong), but that is not the present case. The general rule applies as much in judicial review proceedings as in other litigation, although in judicial review proceedings it is relatively unusual for there to be a conflict of testimony and even more unusual for there to be cross-examination of witnesses.’

Mr Justice Stanley Burnton
[2003] Lloyd’s Rep Med 21, [2003] MHLR 63, Times 05-Sep-2002, [2002] EWHC 1780 (Admin)
Bailii
Mental Health Act 1983, European Convention on Human Rights 3 5
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Ex parte Hague, Weldon v Home Office HL 24-Jul-1991
The prisoner challenged the decision to place him in segregation under Prison Rule 43. Under rule 43(1) the initial power to segregate was given to ‘the governor’. The case arose from the fact that the governor of one prison had purported to . .
Cited – Regina v Ashworth Hospital Authority, Ex parte Munjaz (No 2) Admn 5-Jul-2002
The court dismissed the claimant’s complaint that the seclusion policies operated at Ashworth Special Hospital infringed his human rights. The Special Hospitals operated policies for seclusion which differed from the Code of Practice laid down under . .
Cited – Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee QBD 1957
Professional to use Skilled Persons Ordinary Care
Negligence was alleged against a doctor.
Held: McNair J directed the jury: ‘Where some special skill is exercised, the test for negligence is not the test of the man on the Clapham omnibus, because he has not got this special skill. The test . .
Cited – Regina (Wilkinson) v Broadmoor Special Hospital and Others CA 22-Oct-2001
A detained mental patient sought to challenge a decision by his RMO that he should receive anti-psychotic medication, despite his refusal to consent, and to challenge a certificate issued by the SOAD.
Held: Where a mental patient sought to . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Munjaz v Mersey Care National Health Service Trust And the Secretary of State for Health, the National Association for Mental Health (Mind) Respondent interested; CA 16-Jul-2003
The claimant was a mental patient under compulsory detention, and complained that he had been subjected to periods of seclusion.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The hospital had failed to follow the appropriate Code of Practice. The Code was not . .
Cited – Shoesmith, Regina (on The Application of) v Ofsted and Others Admn 23-Apr-2010
The claimant challenged her dismissal as Director of children’s services at the respondent council following an adverse report into the Baby P death identified her department as being responsible. She said that the first defendant had allowed its . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health, Torts – Other, Judicial Review

Updated: 02 January 2022; Ref: scu.174790

Gillan and Quinton v The United Kingdom: ECHR 12 Jan 2010

The claimants had been stopped by the police using powers in the 2000 Act. They were going to a demonstration outside an arms convention. There was no reason given for any suspicion that the searches were needed.
Held: The powers given to the police were too wide, provided inadequate protection against abuse, and violated the claimants’ article 8 rights: ‘the concept of ‘private life’ is a broad term not susceptible to exhaustive definition. It covers the physical and psychological integrity of a person. The notion of personal autonomy is an important principle underlying the interpretation of its guarantees’
The legislation envisaged authorisations for periods of 28 days over limited areas. Instead they had been renewed without interruption for the whole area, and the number of searches had risen to 117,000 a year, and ‘the possibility of bringing proceedings in the County Court to determine whether the power had been properly and lawfully used was a wholly inadequate safeguard against misuse and arbitrariness. The ex post facto review of the exercise of the power by the County Court in any individual’s case did not rectify the lack of legal certainty associated with the power.’
The powers to stop and search a person and his belongings were coercive. This was a public action and liable to cause humiliation.
There was no need for anyone to consider the search necessary, but only that it was expedient. There was a clear risk of the searches being arbitrary, and black and asian persons were subjected to these searches disproportionately, and of the power being used to interfere with the exercise of article 10 rights:’while arrests for other crimes had followed searches under section 44, none of the many thousands of searches had ever related to a terrorism offence; . . examples of poor and unnecessary use of section 44 abounded, there being evidence of cases where the person stopped was so obviously far from any known terrorism profile that, realistically, there was not the slightest possibility of him/her being a terrorist, and no other feature to justify the stop.’
The government argues that in certain circumstances a particularly intrusive search may amount to an interference with an individual’s art. 8 rights, as may a search which involves perusing an address book or diary or correspondence, but that a superficial search which does not involve the discovery of such items does not do so. The Court is unable to accept this view. Irrespective of whether in any particular case correspondence or diaries or other private documents are discovered and read or other intimate items are revealed in the search, the Court considers that the use of coercive powers conferred by the legislation to require an individual to submit to a detailed search of his person, his clothing and his personal belongings amounts to a clear interference with the right to respect for private life. Although the search is undertaken in public place, this does not mean that art. 8 is inapplicable. Indeed, in the Courts view, the public nature of the search may, in certain cases compound the seriousness of the interference because of an element of humiliation and embarrassment. Items such as bags, wallets, notebooks and diaries may, moreover, contain personal information which the owner may feel uncomfortable about having exposed to the view of his wider companions or the wider public.
The Court is also unpersuaded by the analogy drawn with the search of to which passengers uncomplainingly submit at airports or at the entrance of a public building. It does not need to decide whether the search of the person and of his bags in such circumstances amounts to an interference with an individual art.8 rights, albeit one which is clearly justified on security grounds, since for the reasons given by the applicants the situations cannot be compared. An air traveller may be seen as consenting to such a search by choosing to travel. He knows that he and his bags are liable to be searched before boarding the aeroplane and has a freedom of choice, since he can leave personal items behind and walk away without being subjected to a search. The search powers under s.44 are qualitatively different. The individual can be stopped anywhere and at any time, without notice and without any choice as to whether or not to submit to a search.’

Lech Garlicki, P, Nicolas Bratza, Giovanni Bonello, Ljiljana Mijovic, Paivi Hirvela, Ledi Bianku, Nebojsa Vucinic
[2010] ECHR 28, 4158/05, Times 15-Jan-2010, [2010] Crim LR 415, 28 BHRC 420, (2010) 50 EHRR 45
Bailii
Terrorism Act 2000 44, European Convention on Human Rights 5 8 10
Human Rights
Citing:
At First Instance – Gillan and Another, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis and Another Admn 31-Oct-2003
The applicants challenged by way of judicial review the way they had been stopped and searched under the Act. They attended a demonstration. The search revealed nothing suspicious. General authorisations for such searches had been issued under the . .
At Court of Appeal – Gillan and Quinton, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Another CA 29-Jul-2004
The appellants had challenged the lawfulness of being stopped and searched by police. The officers relied on an authorisation made under the 2000 Act. They had been on their way to attending an arms fair, intending to demonstrate.
Held: The . .
At House of Lords – Gillan, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Another HL 8-Mar-2006
The defendants said that the stop and search powers granted under the 2000 Act were too wide, and infringed their human rights. Each had been stopped when innocently attending demonstrations in London, and had been effectively detained for about . .
Question Set – Gillan and Quinton v The United Kingdom ECHR 10-Jun-2008
The court set the questions to be answered later in response to the complaint as to the use of stop and search powers by the British police. . .

Cited by:
Cited – Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 23-Mar-2011
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 . .
Cited – Howarth v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis QBD 3-Nov-2011
howarth_cmpQBD2011
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision to search him whilst travelling to a public protest in London. A previous demonstration involving this group had resulted in criminal damage, but neither the claimant nor his companions were found to . .
Cited – Nicklinson and Another, Regina (on The Application of) SC 25-Jun-2014
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 . .
Cited – T and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another SC 18-Jun-2014
T and JB, asserted that the reference in certificates issued by the state to cautions given to them violated their right to respect for their private life under article 8 of the Convention. T further claims that the obligation cast upon him to . .
Cited – Beghal v Director of Public Prosecutions SC 22-Jul-2015
Questions on Entry must be answered
B was questioned at an airport under Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act, and required to answer questions asked by appropriate officers for the purpose set out. She refused to answer and was convicted of that refusal , contrary to paragraph 18 of that . .
Cited – Beghal v Director of Public Prosecutions SC 22-Jul-2015
Questions on Entry must be answered
B was questioned at an airport under Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act, and required to answer questions asked by appropriate officers for the purpose set out. She refused to answer and was convicted of that refusal , contrary to paragraph 18 of that . .
Cited – The Christian Institute and Others v The Lord Advocate SC 28-Jul-2016
(Scotland) By the 2014 Act, the Scottish Parliament had provided that each child should have a named person to monitor that child’s needs, with information about him or her shared as necessary. The Institute objected that the imposed obligation to . .
Cited – Gallagher for Judicial Review (NI) SC 30-Jan-2019
Disclosure of older minor offences to employers 48 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 02 January 2022; Ref: scu.392847

South Wales Police v Daniels and Others: CA 7 Jul 2015

The three respondents and others brought claims against the Chief Constable inter alia for malicious prosecution, unlawful detention, and misfeasance in public office. There had been a series of proceedings arising from the murder of Ms Lynette White in Cardiff in 1988. The respondents are former police officers who were among those officers who investigated that murder. Three men (who later became known as ‘the Cardiff Three’) (three of the five ‘original defendants’) were arrested and, in November 1990, convicted of the murder. In December 1992, however, their convictions were quashed on appeal by the Court of Appeal in a judgment which severely criticised the police investigation.

McFarlane, David, Lloyd-Jones LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 680
Bailii
England and Wales

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.549780

Brownlie v Four Seasons Holdings Incorporated: CA 3 Jul 2015

The claimant commenced an action here after suffering injury whilst in Egypt on an excursion organised under the control of the defendant. The defendant denied jurisdiction as regards the damage suffered.
Held: The defendant’s appeal was allowed in part. The use of the word ‘damage’ in the Regulation could not be relied upon to create a false distinction between ‘any damage’ and ‘the direct damage’.

Arden, Bean, King LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 665, [2015] 2 CLC 151, [2015] CP Rep 40, [2016] PIQR P2, [2015] WLR(D) 292, [2016] 1 WLR 1814
Bailii, WLRD
Council Regulation (EC) No 864/2007, Civil Procedure Rules 6, Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934
England and Wales
Cited by:
At CA – Four Seasons Holdings Incorporated v Brownlie SC 19-Dec-2017
The claimant and her family were in a car crash while on holiday in Egypt. The claimant’s husband and his daughter died. The holiday had been booked in England and the car excursion booked in advance from England. The hotel operator was incorporated . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Jurisdiction, European, Personal Injury, Torts – Other, Civil Procedure Rules

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.549764

X v Y: Misc 20 Mar 2015

Central London County Court – an action brought by the claimant against the defendant for damages in deceit. He claims that a child born during their marriage is not his child and that the defendant, by her words and conduct before and after the child’s birth, deceived him, knowing that the biological father was in fact her former partner.

[2015] EW Misc B10 (CC)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.549376

Baturina v Chistyakov: ComC 10 Jun 2015

(1) The claimant alledged that the defendant induced her to enter into an agreement for the development of certain Moroccan property projects by way of fraudulent misrepresentations, and says that, deceitfully and in breach of contract, the sums which she caused to be invested pursuant to their agreement were misappropriated and lost on account of the defendant’s unlawful conduct.
(2) The defendant alledged that the payments referred to in the claim were authorised by the claimant’s representatives, and says that each one of them was accounted for at the time the payments were made and, in any event, by September 2008. The defendant says that the claimant’s allegations are unsustainable.

Blair J
[2015] EWHC 1653 (Comm)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.549112

Bright (Executor of Hannah Crisp) v Eynon: 1825

A jury are competent to take cognisance of a fraud disclosed in the evidence before them: and where they had found a verdict without respect to those Circumstances which when reviewed by the Court, appeared clearly to indicate a fraudulent imposition. Held, that a new trial ought to be granted.

[1825] EngR 41, (1825) 2 Keny 53, (1825) 96 ER 1104
Commonlii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.326132

Mad Atelier International Bv v Manes: ComC 9 Dec 2021

Claim by an international restaurant chain (the Claimant being MAD Atelier International BV, a Dutch company, part of the Dogus Group primarily based in Turkey), in deceit (alternatively breach of contract) against the Defendant Axel Manes, a renowned French chef, executive chef of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in St. Germain one of the youngest chefs to obtain a Michelin star.

Sir Michael Burton GBE,
Sitting as a Judge of the High Court
[2021] EWHC 3335 (Comm)
Bailii
England and Wales

Contract, Torts – Other

Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.670494

Watkins v Home Office and others: HL 29 Mar 2006

The claimant complained of misfeasance in public office by the prisons for having opened and read protected correspondence whilst he was in prison. The respondent argued that he had suffered no loss. The judge had found that bad faith was established in three prison officers. In one case the officer opened the letter in front of the claimant despite his protests and invited him to ‘tell it to John Major’.
Held: The claim failed. The House faced two conflicting principles; that no action should lie without proof of damage and that deliberate abuse of power should be restrained. The case law clearly established however that no action lay in the absence of proof of material damage. If the law was to be reformed it should be done after a review by the Law Commission.

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Lord Carswell
Times 03-Apr-2006, [2006] UKHL 17, [2006] 2 WLR 807, [2006] 2 AC 395
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Turner v Sterling 1671
The plaintiff complained that his election as one of two custodians of London Bridge, a remunerated office, was thwarted by the malicious and unlawful action of the Lord Mayor. It was an action upon the case.
Held: The action would lie. Wylde . .
Appeal from – Watkins v Secretary of State for The Home Departmentand others CA 20-Jul-2004
The claimant complained that prison officers had abused the system of reading his solicitor’s correspondence whilst he was in prison. The defendant argued that there was no proof of damage.
Held: Proof of damage was not necessary in the tort . .
Cited – Ashby v White KBD 1703
Mr Ashby a burgess of the borough of Aylesbury was deprived of his right to vote by the misfeasance of a returning officer.
Held: The majority rejected the claim.
Lord Holt CJ (dissenting) An action would lie: ‘If the plaintiff has a . .
Cited – Kuddus v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary HL 7-Jun-2001
There is no rule of law preventing the award of exemplary damages against police officers. The fact that no case of misfeasance in public office had led to such awards before 1964, did not prevent such an award now. Although damages are generally . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England (No 3) HL 22-Mar-2001
Misfeasance in Public Office – Recklessness
The bank sought to strike out the claim alleging misfeasance in public office in having failed to regulate the failed bank, BCCI.
Held: Misfeasance in public office might occur not only when a company officer acted to injure a party, but also . .
Cited – Whitelegg v Richards 1823
A debtor had been imprisoned to coerce him to pay his debt to the plaintiff. The defendant, a court clerk, ordered him to be released. The plaintiff said this was ‘wrongfully and maliciously intending to injure the plaintiff’. Abbott CJ recorded: . .
Cited – Dunlop v Woollahra Municipal Council PC 1982
A plaintiff can allege misfeasance in public office against a body such as a local authority or a government ministry. The tort was well establshed. . .
Cited – Henly v Lyme Corporation 1828
The plaintiff owned property by the sea. It was swamped by the tide because the corporation, who had been granted land by the Crown subject to a condition that it maintain the sea-defences of the cob, had ‘wrongfully and unjustly intending to . .
Cited – Farrington v Thomson and Bridgland 1959
(Supreme Court of Victoria) Smith J said: ‘Proof of damage is, of course, necessary in addition. In my view, therefore, the rule should be taken to go this far at least, that if a public officer does an act which, to his knowledge, amounts to an . .
Mentioned – Tampion v Anderson 1973
(Full Court of Victoria) . .
Cited – Rogers v Rajendro Dutt PC 1860
The plaintiff’s claim failed because the conduct complained of had not been wrongful. Dr Lushington, giving the judgment of the Board, said: ‘For if the act which he [the defendant] did was in itself wrongful, as against the Plaintiffs, and produced . .
Cited – Davis v Bromley Corporation CA 1907
The plaintiff had submitted building plans for the defendant’s approval, which were refused for alleged non-compliance with by-laws. The Plaintiff contended that the plans complied with the by-laws and that the rejection was not bona fide.
Cited – Brasyer v Maclean PC 1875
(New South Wales) A false return was made by a sheriff which led to the arrest of the plaintiff and his attachment for 24 hours. The court had non-suited the plaintiff since no malice had been shown.
Held: The appeal succeeded. It was . .
Cited – Northern Territory v Mengel 1995
(High Court of Australia) The court considered the ingredients of the tort of misfeasance in public office.
Held: A necessary ingredient was proof of loss. . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council v Bank of England QBD 22-Apr-1996
In an allegation of misfeasance in public office, a complainant who says he has been affected by the alleged misfeasance, has sufficient locus standi to claim. Parliamentary materials are admissible to discover purpose of an Act, and not just in . .
Cited – Garrett v Attorney-General 1997
(New Zealand Court of Appeal) Mr Garrett claimed damages for financial loss and damage to her reputation caused by the alleged failure of the police to investigate her complaint that she had been raped by a police constable in a police station.
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State Home Department, ex parte Leech (No 2) CA 20-May-1993
Prison rules were ultra vires in so far as they provided for reading letters between prisoners and their legal advisers. Every citizen has a right of unimpeded access to the court. A prisoner’s unimpeded access to a solicitor for the purpose of . .
Cited – JD v East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust and others HL 21-Apr-2005
Parents of children had falsely and negligently been accused of abusing their children. The children sought damages for negligence against the doctors or social workers who had made the statements supporting the actions taken. The House was asked if . .
Mentioned – Rawlinson v Rice 1997
(New Zealand Court of Appeal) The plaintiff asserted that a non-molestation order had been made against him by the defendant District Court Judge without jurisdiction and in breach of natural justice. He sued, in tort, for misfeasance in public . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 2003) CACD 7-Apr-2004
Police Officers had been acquitted of misconduct in public office. They had stood by in a police station custody suite as a prisoner lay on the floor and died.
Held: The trial took place before R -v- G which had overruled Caldwell. The . .
Cited – BB v United Kingdom ECHR 2004
If the evidence showed an egregious and deliberate abuse of power by a public officer the Strasbourg court may award compensation for non-pecuniary loss even though its practice is not to award exemplary damages. . .
Cited – Regina v Lord Chancellor ex parte John Witham Admn 7-Mar-1997
If subordinate legislation cannot be construed in a way that makes it compatible with fundamental rights, it will be declared ultra vires. Rules which disallowed exemptions from court fees to a litigant in person on income support were invalid. They . .
Cited – Odhavji Estate v Woodhouse 2003
(Supreme Court of Canada) The court reviewed the ingredients of misfeasance in public office.
Held: Iacobucci J said: ‘To summarize, I am of the opinion that the tort of misfeasance in a public office is an intentional tort whose . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Ex Parte Pierson HL 24-Jul-1997
The Home Secretary may not later extend the tariff for a lifer, after it had been set by an earlier Home Secretary, merely to satisfy needs of retribution and deterrence: ‘A power conferred by Parliament in general terms is not to be taken to . .
Cited – Regina (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 23-May-2001
A prison policy requiring prisoners not to be present when their property was searched and their mail was examined was unlawful. The policy had been introduced after failures in search procedures where officers had been intimidated by the presence . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for The Home Department Ex Parte Simms HL 8-Jul-1999
Ban on Prisoners talking to Journalists unlawful
The two prisoners, serving life sentences for murder, had had their appeals rejected. They continued to protest innocence, and sought to bring their campaigns to public attention through the press, having oral interviews with journalists without . .
Cited – Mortensen v Peters 1906
The Danish master of a Norwegian steam-trawler was prosecuted for using a particular method of fishing in the Moray Firth. He argued that, although the statute banning the method would have caught a British fisherman, it should be construed as . .
Cited – Greenfield, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Feb-2005
The appellant had been charged with and disciplined for a prison offence. He was refused legal assistance at his hearing, and it was accepted that the proceedings involved the determination of a criminal charge within the meaning of article 6 of the . .
Cited – Black and Others v The North British Railway Company 1907
The widow and children of man who had been killed while travelling as a passenger on one of their trains claimed damages against the railway company. A court of seven judges was asked to lay down the principles on which on which damages should be . .
Cited – Wainwright and another v Home Office HL 16-Oct-2003
The claimant and her son sought to visit her other son in Leeds Prison. He was suspected of involvement in drugs, and therefore she was subjected to strip searches. There was no statutory support for the search. The son’s penis had been touched . .
Cited – Thoburn v Sunderland City Council etc Admn 18-Feb-2002
Various shopkeepers appealed convictions for breach of regulations requiring food sold by weight to be described in metric amounts. They claimed that the Regulations made under the 1985 Act, to the extent that they were inconsistent with it . .
Cited – Nairn v University of St Andrews HL 10-Dec-1908
Women graduates of St Andrews and Edinburgh, who, as graduates, were members of the general council of their university, sought a declarator that they were entitled to vote under section 27 of the 1868 Act. The section provided that ‘every person’ . .
Cited – Hunter and Others v Canary Wharf Ltd HL 25-Apr-1997
The claimant, in a representative action complained that the works involved in the erection of the Canary Wharf tower constituted a nuisance in that the works created substantial clouds of dust and the building blocked her TV signals, so as to limit . .
Cited – Raymond v Honey HL 4-Mar-1981
The defendant prison governor had intercepted a prisoner’s letter to the Crown Office for the purpose of raising proceedings to have the governor committed for an alleged contempt of court.
Held: The governor was in contempt of court. Subject . .
Cited – Smith New Court Securities Ltd v Scrimgeour Vickers HL 21-Nov-1996
The defendant had made misrepresentations, inducing the claimant to enter into share transactions which he would not otherwise have entered into, and which lost money.
Held: A deceitful wrongdoer is properly liable for all actual damage . .
Cited – Davy v Spelthorne Borough Council HL 13-Oct-1983
Although section 243(1)(a) provides that the ‘validity’ of an enforcement notice is not to be questioned except as therein provided, the word ‘validity’ is evidently not intended to be understood in its strict sense. It is used to mean merely . .
Cited – Leech v Secretary of State for Scotland SCS 1991
The rule which allowed the prisons to read correspondence between an inmate and his legal adviser if legal proceedings had not yet been commenced was upheld as valid. . .
Cited – Rantzen v Mirror Group Newspapers (1986) Ltd and Others CA 1-Apr-1993
Four articles in the People all covered the same story about Esther Rantzen’s organisation, Childline, suggesting that the plaintiff had protected a teacher who had revealed to Childline abuses of children occurring at a school where he taught, by . .
Cited – Regina v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Ex parte Hague, Weldon v Home Office HL 24-Jul-1991
The prisoner challenged the decision to place him in segregation under Prison Rule 43. Under rule 43(1) the initial power to segregate was given to ‘the governor’. The case arose from the fact that the governor of one prison had purported to . .

Cited by:
Cited – Ashley and Another v Sussex Police CA 27-Jul-2006
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 . .
Cited – Karagozlu v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 12-Dec-2006
The claimant made a claim for misfeasance in public office. The defendant argued that such a claim required proof of special damage. The claimant said that the deprivation of liberty amounted to such damage. Whilst serving a prison sentence the . .
Cited – Hussain v West Mercia Constabulary CA 3-Nov-2008
The claimant taxi driver complained of misfeasance in public office in the way the defendant had responded to the several calls for assistance made by him to the police.
Held: His appeal against the striking out failed. The damages pleaded . .
Cited – Houchin v Lincolnshire Probation Trust QBD 9-Apr-2013
houchin_lincsPSQBD2013
The defendant sought to have the claim struck out. The prisoner said that the defendant’s probation officer had through misfeasance in public office arranged for his transfer back to secure conditions from open ones. The parole board panel had found . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Prisons

Updated: 31 December 2021; Ref: scu.239746

In re S-C (Mental Patient: Habeas Corpus): CA 22 Nov 1995

The Court of Appeal issued habeas corpus because the applicant was committed to a mental institution pursuant to an application which was made by somebody who lacked the statutory authority to make it. The right of personal freedom is fundamental. In the mental health context, if someone is to be taken out of the community and detained in a hospital there must be clear evidence that the medical condition of a patient justifies such action. A social worker could not make an application for an admission if the nearest relative objected. The correct procedures had not been followed.
Sir Thomas Bingham MR said: ‘As we are all well aware, no adult citizen of the United Kingdom is liable to be confined in any institution against his will, save by authority of law. That is a fundamental constitutional principle, traceable back to chapter 29 of Magna Carta 1297 . . and before that to chapter 39 of Magna Carta 1215.’
and: ‘Powers . . exist to ensure that those who suffer from mental illness may, in appropriate circumstances, be involuntarily admitted to mental hospitals and detained. But, and it is a very important but, the circumstances in which the mentally ill may be detained are very carefully prescribed by statute. . . Thus we find in the statute a panoply of powers combined with detailed safeguards for the protection of the patient. . . One reminds oneself that the liberty of the subject is at stake in a case of this kind, and that liberty may be violated only to the extent permitted by law and not otherwise.’

Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Neill, Hirst LJJ
[1996] QB 599, QBCOF 95/1657/D, [1996] 2 WLR 146, (1996) 29 BMLR 138, [1996] 1 All ER 532, [1996] Fam Law 210, [1995] EWCA Civ 60, [1996] 2 FCR 692, [1996] 1 FLR 548
Bailii
Mental Health Act 1983, Magna Carta 1297 29, Magna Carta 1215 39
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, and X v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Dec-2004
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 . .
Cited – Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 23-Mar-2011
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 . .
Cited – TTM v London Borough of Hackney and Others CA 14-Jan-2011
The claimant had been found to have been wrongfully detained under section 3. He appealed against rejection of his claim for judicial review and for damages. The court found that his detention was lawful until declared otherwise. He argued that the . .
Cited – Kambadzi (previously referred to as SK (Zimbabwe)) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 25-May-2011
False Imprisonment Damages / Immigration Detention
The respondent had held the claimant in custody, but had failed to follow its own procedures. The claimant appealed against the rejection of his claim of false imprisonment. He had overstayed his immigration leave, and after convictions had served a . .
Cited – Welsh Ministers v PJ SC 17-Dec-2018
A patient detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) may be released from compulsory detention in hospital subject to a community treatment order. The question arising on this appeal is whether a patient’s responsible clinician (may impose . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health, Constitutional, Torts – Other

Updated: 31 December 2021; Ref: scu.220474

Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: HL 28 Jan 2009

Movement retsriction was not Liberty Deprivation

The claimants had been present during a demonstration policed by the respondent. They appealed against dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment having been prevented from leaving Oxford Circus for over seven hours. The claimants appealed against rejection of their claims on human rights law.
Held: The appeal failed. Whether there is a deprivation of liberty, as opposed to a restriction of movement, is a matter of degree and intensity. Account must be taken of a whole range of factors, including the specific situation of the individual and the context in which the restriction of liberty occurs. the court should adopt a pragmatic approach taking account of all the circumstances. Crowd control measures resorted to for public order and public safety reasons had to take account of the rights of the individuals and the interests of the community. Such measures fell outside the ambit of Article 5 provided that they were not arbitrary in that they were resorted to in good faith, were proportionate and enforced for no longer than was reasonably necessary. They constituted a restriction of liberty, not a deprivation of it. The police had been engaged in an unusually difficult exercise of crowd control which had as its aim the avoidance of personal injuries and damage to property and the dispersal as quickly as possible of a crowd bent on violence and impeding the police. The police had acted reasonably and properly to prevent serious disorder and violence. The restriction of the claimants’ liberty had not been an arbitrary deprivation of liberty and Article 5 was not applicable.
Lord Neuberger said:
‘The police are under a duty to keep the peace when a riot is threatened, and to take reasonable steps to prevent serious public disorder, especially if it involves violence to individuals and property. Any sensible person living in a modern democracy would reasonably expect to be confined, or at least accept that it was proper that she could be confined, within a limited space by the police, in some circumstances. Thus, if a deranged or drunk person was on the loose with a gun in a building, the police would be entitled, indeed expected, to ensure that, possibly for many hours, members of the public were confined to where they were, even if it was in a pretty small room with a number of other people. Equally, where there are groups of supporters of opposing teams at a football match, the police routinely, and obviously properly, ensure that, in order to avoid violence and mayhem, the two groups are kept apart; this often involves confining one or both of the groups within a relatively small space for a not insignificant period. Or if there is an accident on a motorway, it is common, and again proper, for the police to require drivers and passengers to remain in their stationary motor vehicles, often for more than an hour or two. In all such cases, the police would be confining individuals for their own protection and to prevent violence to people or property.
So, too, as I see it, where there is a demonstration, particularly one attended by a justified expectation of substantial disorder and violence, the police must be expected, indeed sometimes required, to take steps to ensure that such disorder and violence do not occur, or, at least, are confined to a minimum. Such steps must often involve restraining the movement of the demonstrators, and sometimes of those members of the public unintentionally caught up in the demonstration. In some instances, that must involve people being confined to a relatively small space for some time.
In such cases, it seems to me unrealistic to contend that article 5 can come into play at all, provided, and it is a very important proviso, that the actions of the police are proportionate and reasonable, and any confinement is restricted to a reasonable minimum, as to discomfort and as to time, as is necessary for the relevant purpose, namely the prevention of serious public disorder and violence.’
Lord Hope said: ‘I would hold . . that there is room, even in the case of fundamental rights as to whose application no restriction or limitation is permitted by the Convention, for a pragmatic approach to be taken which takes full account of all the circumstances. No reference is made in article 5 to the interests of public safety or the protection of public order as one of the cases in which a person may be deprived of his liberty . . But the importance that must be attached in the context of article 5 to measures taken in the interests of public safety is indicated by article 2 of the Convention, as the lives of persons affected by mob violence may be at risk if measures of crowd control cannot be adopted by the police. This is a situation where a search for a fair balance is necessary if these competing fundamental rights are to be reconciled with each other. The ambit that is given to article 5 as to measures of crowd control must, of course, take account of the rights of the individual as well as the interests of the community. So any steps that are taken must be resorted to in good faith and must be proportionate to the situation which has made the measures necessary.’

Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Scott of Foscote, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Lord Carswell, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
[2009] UKHL 5, [2009] 1 AC 564, [2009] 2 WLR 372, [2009] UKHRR 581, [2009] HRLR 16, [2009] 3 All ER 455
Bailii, HL, Times
European Convention on Human Rights 5(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
At First Instance – Austin and Another v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis QBD 23-Mar-2005
The claimants had variously been attending a demonstration in London, or passing through. The police detained them in a cordon for several hours. They sought damages. No unlawful acts were alleged against them.
Held: There was no deprivation . .
Appeal from – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 15-Oct-2007
The claimants appealed dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment and unlawful detention by the respondent in his policing of a demonstration. They had been held within a police cordon in the streets for several hours to prevent the spread of . .
Cited – Engel And Others v The Netherlands (1) ECHR 8-Jun-1976
The court was asked whether proceedings in a military court against soldiers for disciplinary offences involved criminal charges within the meaning of Article 6(1): ‘In this connection, it is first necessary to know whether the provision(s) defining . .
Cited – Secretary of State for the Home Department v JJ and others HL 31-Oct-2007
The Home Secretary appealed against a finding that a non-derogating control order was unlawful in that, in restricting the subject to an 18 hour curfew and otherwise severely limiting his social contacts, the order amounted to such a deprivation of . .
Cited – Guzzardi v Italy ECHR 6-Nov-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 . .
Cited – McKay v The United Kingdom ECHR 3-Oct-2006
The applicant said that his human rights had been infringed under laws which required him to apply to the high court for bail rather than to a magistrate, necessitating a further four day wait before his application for bail was considered. He had . .
Cited – Gillan, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Another HL 8-Mar-2006
The defendants said that the stop and search powers granted under the 2000 Act were too wide, and infringed their human rights. Each had been stopped when innocently attending demonstrations in London, and had been effectively detained for about . .
Cited – Kurt v Turkey ECHR 25-May-1998
The court referred to ‘the fundamental importance of the guarantees contained in Article 5 for securing the right of individuals in a democracy to be free from arbitrary detention at the hands of the authorities’ and to the need to interpret . .
Cited – Foka v Turkey ECHR 24-Jun-2008
. .
Cited – Stefanov v Bulgaria ECHR 22-May-2008
Article 5(1) may apply to deprivations of liberty of even a very short duration. . .
Cited – HM v Switzerland ECHR 26-Feb-2002
. .
Cited – X v Germany ECHR 19-Mar-1981
The Commission had regard to the fact that the purpose for which the children were taken to the police headquarters and kept there for about two hours was to question them, not to arrest or detain them. This led to the conclusion that the action in . .
Cited – N v The United Kingdom ECHR 27-May-2008
(Grand Chamber) The appellant was found after her arrival in this country from Uganda to have an AIDS-defining illness for which she was still receiving treatment. She claimed that the treatment would not be available in Uganda and she would die . .
Cited – Saadi v United Kingdom ECHR 29-Jan-2008
(Grand Chamber) The applicant sought judicial review of the decision to detain him for a short period while his asylum claim was being subject to fast-track processing. The decision was made pursuant to a policy under which all asylum claimants . .
Cited – Nielsen v Denmark ECHR 28-Nov-1988
The applicant, a minor, complained about his committal to a child psychiatric ward of a state hospital at his mother’s request. The question was whether this was a deprivation of his liberty in violation of article 5. The applicant said that it was, . .
Cited – Soering v The United Kingdom ECHR 7-Jul-1989
(Plenary Court) The applicant was held in prison in the UK, pending extradition to the US to face allegations of murder, for which he faced the risk of the death sentence, which would be unlawful in the UK. If extradited, a representation would be . .
Cited – N v United Kingdom – Press Release ECHR 26-Sep-2007
(Grand Chamber Hearing) . .
Cited – O’Halloran and Francis v United Kingdom ECHR 29-Jun-2007
(Grand Chamber) Each defendant claimed that the obligation imposed on them to name the driver of a motor vehicle caught by a traffic camera prejudiced his right to a fair trial.
Held: The application failed. The nature of the obligation did . .
Cited – Stott (Procurator Fiscal, Dunfermline) and Another v Brown PC 5-Dec-2000
The system under which the registered keeper of a vehicle was obliged to identify herself as the driver, and such admission was to be used subsequently as evidence against her on a charge of driving with excess alcohol, was not a breach of her right . .
Cited – Guenat v Switzerland ECHR 10-Apr-1995
Article 5 did not apply to a claim of false imprisonment by the police where they had acted through necessity. . .
Cited – Lawless v Ireland (No 3) ECHR 1-Jul-1961
The Irish Government derogated from article 5 in July 1957 in order to permit detention without charge or trial, and the applicant was detained between July and December 1957. He could have obtained his release by undertaking to observe the law and . .

Cited by:
Cited – Moos and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of the Police of The Metropolis Admn 14-Apr-2011
The claimants, demonstrators at the G20 summit, complained of the police policy of kettling, the containment of a crowd over a period of time, not because they were expected to to behave unlawfully, but to ensure a separation from those who were. . .
Cited – Castle and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis Admn 8-Sep-2011
The claimants, all under 17 years old, took a peaceful part in a substantial but disorderly demonstration in London. The police decided to contain the section of crowd which included the claimants. The claimants said that the containment of children . .
Cited – Castle and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis Admn 8-Sep-2011
The claimants, all under 17 years old, took a peaceful part in a substantial but disorderly demonstration in London. The police decided to contain the section of crowd which included the claimants. The claimants said that the containment of children . .
Cited – McClure and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis CA 19-Jan-2012
The Commissioner appealed against a decision that certain aspects of its crowd control procedures exercised during a public protest were unlawful.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The issue came down to whether the commanding officer genuinely held . .
Cited – Welsh Ministers v PJ SC 17-Dec-2018
A patient detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) may be released from compulsory detention in hospital subject to a community treatment order. The question arising on this appeal is whether a patient’s responsible clinician (may impose . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other, Human Rights

Updated: 31 December 2021; Ref: scu.280435

Gulati and Others v MGN Limited: ChD 21 May 2015

The claimants each claimed that their mobile phones had been hacked by or on behalf of the defendant newspaper group. The claims had now in substance been admitted, and the court set out to assess the damages (and aggravated damages) to be paid.
Held: The defendants had taken great steps to deny any culpability and only admitted their offences and apologised at the latest opportunity and when it represented a tactical advantage. Substantial damages were awarded to several defendants acknowledging the real damage caused by the defendant’s newspapers.

Mann J
[2015] EWHC 1482 (Ch), [2015] WLR(D) 232
Bailii, WLRD
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Gulati and Others v MGN Ltd ChD 6-Nov-2013
The claimants alleged that the defendant newspaper group had directly or through agents hacked their mobile phones. They suggested that articles published by the defendants could only have come from such activities. The defendants now sought summary . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Representative Claimants v MGN Ltd CA 17-Dec-2015
The claimants complained that the appellant newspaper had hacked into their mobile telephones over a period of time. The newspaper now appealed against the level of damages awarded (between andpound;72k and andpound;260k).
Held: The appeals . .
Cited – NT 1 and NT 2 v Google Llc QBD 13-Apr-2018
Right to be Forgotten is not absolute
The two claimants separately had criminal convictions from years before. They objected to the defendant indexing third party web pages which included personal data in the form of information about those convictions, which were now spent. The claims . .
Cited – Mezvinsky and Another v Associated Newspapers Ltd ChD 25-May-2018
Choice of Division and Business Lists
Claim that the publication of pictures of the young children of the celebrity claimants had been published by the defendant on-line without consent and without pixelation, in breach of their human rights, of data protection, and right to privacy. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Media, Torts – Other, Damages

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.547066

NTC and Others v The Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis: QBD 22 May 2015

The claimants had alleged assault by police officers when the officers, searching for an armed suspect, had pointed guns at them, and detained them. The officers had however entered the wrong flat. The jury returned verdicts saying that the officers had acted reasonably if mistakenly. The claimants now said that the senior officers remained responsible for the mistakes of their juniors.

Curran QC HHJ
[2015] EWHC 1432 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.547123

Bank of Beirut SAL and Another v HRH Prince Adel El-Hashemite and Another: ChD 22 May 2015

‘Application by the Claimants in these two actions for summary judgment and other relief. I indicated at the end of the argument that I was satisfied that judgment should be given against the First Defendant and made an Order accordingly. I did not however have time on that day to give my reasons; and I also wished to consider my judgment on the question of the relief sought against the Second Defendant, which was opposed.’

Nugee J
[2015] EWHC 1451 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.547083

AG, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: Admn 20 May 2015

‘This case concerns the legality of the authorisation and continuation of the detention of the Claimant, a Somali national, under administrative powers contained in sections 36(1)(a) and 36(2) of the UK Borders Act 2007 (the 2007 Act) and Schedule 3 paragraph (2)(3) of the Immigration Act 1971 (the 1971 Act) from 8 July 2010 to 26 February 2013, when he was released on bail. The Claimant was detained first, pending consideration of whether to make an automatic deportation order (between 8 July 2010 and 7 December 2010), and thereafter, pending removal between 7 December 2010 and 26 February 2013 when the Claimant was granted bail. In total, the Claimant was detained for a period in excess of 2 years and 7 months (just under 32 months).’

Richard Clayton QC DHCJ
[2015] EWHC 1309 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Immigration

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.547078

Willers v Gubay: ChD 15 May 2015

The court was asked whether the tort of malicious prosecution of civil proceedings is known to English law.
Held: The Crawfod Adjusters case should not be followed: ‘If I am not bound by Gregory, then I see no reason for departing from the approach of the Court of Appeal in Quartz Hill v Eyre. That decision has not been overruled and is binding on me. This facts of this case relate to an ordinary civil action and, as such, do not support the tort of malicious prosecution . .The claimant’s claim for damages for malicious prosecution should be struck out as disclosing no cause of action known to English law.’
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is not a court. Rather, its function is to advise Her Majesty on ‘appeals to Her Majesty in Council’ from any court in any colony (see section 1 of the Judicial Committee Act 1844). The Privy Council does not therefore appear in the hierarchy of courts in England and Wales save exceptionally, by way of example, in appeals from Ecclesiastical cases where its decisions will be binding on the courts in that hierarchy.
Tipples QC said that she could ‘only follow [a] decision of the Privy Council’ to the opposite effect ‘if, for all practical purposes, it is a foregone conclusion that the Supreme Court will follow the decision of the Privy Council’. As a first instance judge, she was, at least in principle, ‘bound by Gregory v Portsmouth and, in accordance with the doctrine of precedent, [could] not follow Crawford v Sagicor’,

Amanda Tipples QC
[2015] EWHC 1315 (Ch)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Gregory v Portsmouth City Council HL 10-Feb-2000
Disciplinary proceedings had been taken by the local authority against Mr Gregory, a council member, after allegations had been made that he had failed to declare conflicts of interest, and that he had used confidential information to secure a . .
Not Followed – Crawford Adjusters and Others v Sagicor General Insurance (Cayman) Ltd and Another PC 13-Jun-2013
(Cayman Islands) A hurricane had damaged property insured by the respondent company. The company employed the appellant as loss adjustor, but came to suspect advance payments recommended by him, and eventually claimed damages for deceit and . .
Cited – Huddersfield Police Authority v Watson 1947
A judge of the High Court should respect (but is not bound to follow) a decision of another judge of the High Court, but must follow decisions of the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. . .
Cited – Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) HL 1966
The House gave guidance how it would treat an invitation to depart from a previous decision of the House. Such a course was possible, but the direction was not an ‘open sesame’ for a differently constituted committee to prefer their views to those . .
Cited – Daraydan Holdings Limited, Cairn Estates Limited and Others v Solland International Limited and Others ChD 26-Mar-2004
The court was asked whether Lister and Co v Stubbs 45 ChD 1, a decision of the Court of Appeal, was binding on him or whether he could apply the Privy Council’s decision in Attorney General for Hong Kong v Reid
Held: On the facts of the case . .
Cited – National Westminster Bank Plc v Spectrum Plus Ltd and Others; In re Spectrum Plus Ltd (in liquidation) CA 12-Jul-2004
The High Court or the Court of Appeal should not follow a decision of the Privy Council in place of a decision of the House of Lords, unless the circumstances are quite exceptional and the court is satisfied that in practice the result would be a . .
Cited – James, Regina v; Regina v Karimi CACD 25-Jan-2006
The defendants appealed their convictions for murder, saying that the court had not properly guided the jury on provocation. The court was faced with apparently conflicting decision of the House of Lords (Smith) and the Privy Council (Holley).
Cited – Abou Rahmah and others v Abacha and others CA 8-Nov-2006
The appellants were victims of a fraud conducted via the respondent bank by one of their clients. They appealed from a decision that the bank was not liable to the victims either in the equitable tort of knowing or dishonest assistance in a breach . .
Cited – Sinclair Investments (UK) Ltd v Versailles Trade Finance Ltd and Others CA 29-Mar-2011
The appellant challenged a decision that it was not entitled to a proprietary interest in the proceeds of sale of some shares which had been acquired with the proceeds of a breach of trust. Specifically, the claims gave rise to (i) an issue as to . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Willers v Joyce and Another (Re: Gubay (Deceased) No 1) SC 20-Jul-2016
Parties had been involved in an action for wrongful trading. This was not persisted with but the claimant sought damages saying that the action was only part of a campaign to do him harm. This appeal raised the question whether the tort of malicious . .
Appeal from – Willers v Joyce and Another (Re: Gubay (Deceased) No 2) SC 20-Jul-2016
The Court was asked whether and in what circumstances a lower court may follow a decision of the Privy Council which has reached a different conclusion from that of the House of Lords (or the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal) on an earlier occasion. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Constitutional

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.546846

Mahesan v Malaysia Government Officers Co-operative Housing Society: PC 1978

The appellant, the director and employee of a housing society was bribed by a real estate agent, one Manickam, and the appellant then caused the society to buy land at an overvalue. The agent was sued for money had and received (for the amount of the bribe paid in breach of the agent’s fiduciary duty) as well as in tort (for the loss suffered by the society for the overvalued land because of the agent’s fraud).
Held: The profit made by an intermediate purchaser, due to the fraud of the agent, was awarded as compensation on the basis that the principal had lost the opportunity to purchase at the lower price.
Bribery and corruption are torts. A defrauded principal has alternative remedies against both the briber and the agent for money had and received where he can recover the amount of the bribe, or for damages for fraud where he can recover the amount of any actual loss sustained by entering into the transaction in respect of which the bribe was given. The plaintiffs need not elect between these alternatives before the time has come for judgment to be entered in their favour in one or other of those causes of action.
The existence of the tort of fraud/bribery and the basis for a claim of monies had and received was identified: ‘(1) for money had and received under which he can recover the amount of the bribe as money had and received or, (2) for damages for fraud, under which he can recover the amount of the actual loss sustained in consequence of his entering into the transaction in respect of which the bribe was given, but he cannot recover both.’

[1979] AC 374, [1978] 2 All ER 405
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Islamic Republic of Pakistan v Zardari and others ComC 6-Oct-2006
The claimant alleged that the defendants had funded the purchase of various properties by secret and unlawful commissions taken by them whilst in power in Pakistan. They sought to recover the proceeds. They now sought permission to serve proceedings . .
Cited – Wilson and Another v Hurstanger Ltd CA 4-Apr-2007
The company sought to enforce its loan agreement and charge over the defendants’ property. The defendants appealed saying that the agreement was unenforceable under the Act, since a commission had been paid to the introducing broker, and his fee had . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Agency, Damages

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.245212

Schwarzschild v Harrods Ltd: QBD 19 Mar 2008

The Claimant alleged against Harrods Limited the tort of conversion in accordance with s.2(2) of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. The claim relates to certain personal items (principally jewellery) which she inherited and which for many years remained in a safe deposit box on the Defendant’s premises.
Held: On the facts, Eady J concluded that the letter relied on as the relevant demand was not a demand at all, both because it was not an unequivocal request for return of the property and because the request was not ‘ . . specific as to the property being sought. It was not, for example, possible at that stage even to define the items compendiously, by reference to the ‘the contents of the box’, since they had been removed and mixed with other property more than three years before’

The Honourable Mr Justice Eady
[2008] EWHC 521 (QB)
Bailii
Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis v Meekey Admn 12-Jan-2021
The claimant had been convicted and served his time for possession of a large collection of obsolete or antique firearms. He now sought their return. The police replied that he was in any event out of time.
Held: ‘Section 3(2) of the 1980 Act . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Limitation

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.266529

Al-Saadoon and Others v Secretary of State for Defence: Admn 17 Mar 2015

Leggatt J explained the idea of enforced disappearance: ‘a concept recognised in international law and . . a practice which is internationally condemned. It involves detention outside the protection of the law where there is a refusal by the state to acknowledge the detention or disclose the fate of the person who has been detained. Its cruelty and vice lie in the facts that the disappeared person is completely isolated from the outside world and at the mercy of their captors and that the person’s family is denied knowledge of what has happened to them.’

Leggatt J
[2015] EWHC 715 (Admin), [2015] WLR(D) 168, [2015] 3 WLR 503, [2017] QB 1015
Bailii, WLRD
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 29-Aug-2008
The applicants complained of their continued detention in Iraq in a UK internment facility as an infringement of their human rights. . .
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Another, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 19-Dec-2008
The two applicants had been detained by the armed forces in Iraq suspected of murder. They sought release before being transferred to the civilian authorities for trial saying that the trials would not be fair. The respondent denied that the . .
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Another, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence CA 22-Dec-2008
. .
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Another, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence CA 21-Jan-2009
The claimants had been detained on the request of the Iraqi criminal court in a detention facility run by the UK armed forces. They complained of their proposed transfer to an Iraqi facility in anticipation of facing trial for murder, for which if . .
Cited – Al-Saadoon and Mufdhi v The United Kingdom ECHR 2-Mar-2009
The claimant Iraqi nationals complained of their long term detention by British forces in Iraq, and of their transfer to the Iraqi authorities for trial for murder.
Held: The transfer was a breach of the applicants’ rights. The Iraqis had . .

Cited by:
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Others v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 26-Jun-2015
Reasons for orders following a case management hearing to review whether there are steps which the court should now be taking to procure compliance by the Secretary of State for Defence with the duty of the UK under articles 2 and 3 of the European . .
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Others v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 7-Apr-2016
The court considered the extent of the state’s obligations to investigate allegations of unlawful killing and ill-treatment of civilians by British soldiers in Iraq between 2003 and 2009. It follows a hearing to consider three issues: i) Whether the . .
Cited – Belhaj and Another v Straw and Others SC 17-Jan-2017
The claimant alleged complicity by the defendant, (now former) Foreign Secretary, in his mistreatment by the US while held in Libya. He also alleged involvement in his unlawful abduction and removal to Libya, from which had had fled for political . .
See Also – Al-Saadoon and Others v The Secretary of State for Defence and Others CA 9-Sep-2016
. .
Cited – Miller v The College of Policing CA 20-Dec-2021
Hate-Incident Guidance Inflexible and Unlawful
The central issue raised in the appeal is the lawfulness of certain parts of a document entitled the Hate Crime Operational Guidance (the Guidance). The Guidance, issued in 2014 by the College of Policing (the College), the respondent to this . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Armed Forces, Human Rights

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.544341

Tansley v Turner And Another: 15 Jun 1835

Plaintiff sold to J. trees lying on land occupied by B., and J. was to have power of removing them when he pleased. The trees having been marked by the purchaser, the cubical contents of each ascertained, and some of them having been taken away. Held, that the transfer of the whole was complete, and that upon J.’s bankruptcy the Plaintiff could not enforce any lien on the trees notwithstanding they remained on the land of B, and the sum total of the cubical contents had not been ascertained.

[1835] EngR 824, (1835) 2 Bing NC 151, (1835) 132 ER 60
Commonlii
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Land

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.316332

Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd v Nobu Su and Others: ComC 13 Feb 2014

[2014] EWHC 275 (Comm), [2014] 2 Costs LR 307
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd v Su ComC 20-Mar-2014
. .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd v Su and Others CA 14-May-2014
The claimant had obtained a freezing order in standard form against the defendant company. The Director of the company had similar sole positions in three other companies. The claimant obtained a similar order against the assets of the other . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd and Others v Nobu Su/Hsin Chi Su (Aka Su Hsin Chi; Aka Nobu Morimoto) and Others ComC 5-Nov-2014
. .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd v Su CA 16-Sep-2019
Application for bail after committal for contempt on finding of guilt of numerous breaches of court orders relating to the case. . .
See Also – Lakatamia v Su CA 24-Sep-2019
Application for an extension of time for appeal against a committal order. The grounds for the committal were multiple breaches of freezing orders, orders requiring disclosure of assets and orders requiring the defendant not to leave the . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd and Others v Su and Others ComC 30-Jan-2020
Application for committal for contempt. . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and Others v Su (Aka Su Hsin Chi; Aka Nobu Moritomo) and Others ComC 3-Apr-2020
. .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and Others v Su and Others ComC 8-Apr-2020
. .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and Others v Su and Others ComC 9-Nov-2020
Application by Lakatamia pursuant to CPR Part 31.22 to use documents obtained from the Respondent, Mr Su, in these proceedings pursuant to a search order made in related proceedings bearing the claim . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and Others v Su and Others ComC 11-Dec-2020
Application by the claimant, Lakatamia, to re-amend its committal application notice to incorporate 11 additional alleged contempts on the part of the first defendant, . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd v Nobu Su and Others ComC 25-Jan-2021
Application to re-re-amend the Particulars of Claim and the second is an application for specific disclosure also made by the claimant, Lakatamia. . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and Others v Su and Others ComC 15-Apr-2021
. .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd v Su and Others ChD 1-Jul-2021
Interpretation of the phrase ‘has had a place of residence’ in section 263I(2)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986. . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd v Su and Others ComC 8-Jul-2021
Alleged cause of action in unlawful means conspiracy as to whether the Defendants including the Second Defendant Toshiko Morimoto (‘Madam Su’) conspired together to injure Lakatamia by unlawful means, namely by the dissipation of two assets of Madam . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and Others v Su and Others CA 30-Jul-2021
Use of passport orders in enforcement of collection of judgment debt. . .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd v Su ComC 15-Sep-2021
Reasons for dismissal of appeal from maximum sentence of two years imprisonment for contempt. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Costs

Updated: 30 December 2021; Ref: scu.521245

Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd and Others v Nobu Su/Hsin Chi Su (Aka Su Hsin Chi; Aka Nobu Morimoto) and Others: ComC 5 Nov 2014

Cooke J
[2014] EWHC 3611 (Comm)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd v Nobu Su and Others ComC 13-Feb-2014
. .
See Also – Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd v Su and Others CA 14-May-2014
The claimant had obtained a freezing order in standard form against the defendant company. The Director of the company had similar sole positions in three other companies. The claimant obtained a similar order against the assets of the other . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contract, Torts – Other

Updated: 29 December 2021; Ref: scu.538314

NXB v Crown Prosecution Service: QBD 12 Mar 2015

The claimant, saying that she had been abused as a child by another, sought damages alleging breach of her human rights after the defendant failed to prosecute her attacker: ‘it is the Claimant’s case that the CPS made a series of rushed, ill-informed and erroneous assessments of the strength of the Prosecution case, culminating in an irrational decision founded on errors of law and the misapplication or disregard of established policy.’
Held: The CPS decision had been carefuly considered and thought through. The claimant had decided not to answer all questions, and while she was free to do so, this severely qualified te chances of a successful prosecution.

Simon J
[2015] EWHC 631 (QB)
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 3, Human Rights Act 1998 6
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – MC v Bulgaria ECHR 4-Dec-2003
The applicant complained that she had been raped by two men when she was 14 years old. The men were interviewed but it was concluded that they had not used threats or violence and there was no evidence of resistance. The district prosecutor issued a . .
Cited – Regina v The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ex Parte Manning, Ex Parte Melbourne QBD 17-May-2000
The applicants sought judicial review of the decision of the Director not to prosecute anybody after the death of their brother in prison custody, and while under restraint by prison officers. The jury at a coroner’s inquest had returned a verdict . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Torts – Other

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.544269

MS v Croatia (No 2): ECHR 19 Feb 2015

Article 5-1-e
Persons of unsound mind
Lack of effective legal representation in proceedings concerning applicant’s confinement in a psychiatric hospital: violation
Article 3
Degrading treatment
Inhuman treatment
Effective investigation
Unnecessary physical restraint for fifteen hours in psychiatric hospital and lack of investigation into alleged ill-treatment: violation
Facts – In 2012 the applicant went to a hospital emergency room complaining of severe lower-back pain. She was diagnosed with lumbago and psychiatric disorders and admitted against her will to a psychiatric clinic where she was forcibly tied to a bed in an isolation room and kept in that position until the next morning. A county court subsequently ordered her continued confinement in the clinic in a decision that was upheld by a three-judge panel, despite the applicant’s request for her discharge and complaints of ill-treatment in the clinic. The applicant was discharged a month after her forced hospitalisation.
Law – Article 3
(a) Procedural aspect – Both the applicant and her sister had complained in writing to the hospital administration of ill-treatment during the applicant’s involuntary confinement and had provided detailed information about the treatment and the pain suffered as a consequence of physical constraint for 15 hours. Their allegations, supported by medical documentation, had raised an arguable claim of ill-treatment, which had in turn triggered the authorities’ obligation to conduct an effective official investigation. However, the complaints had not been examined by the domestic courts or forwarded to other competent authorities for further investigation.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously)
(ii) Substantive aspect – Developments in contemporary legal standards on seclusion and other forms of coercive and non-consensual measures against patients with psychological or intellectual disabilities in hospitals and all other places of deprivation of liberty required that such measures be employed as a matter of last resort and when their application is the only means available to prevent immediate or imminent harm to the patient or others. The use of such measures must be commensurate with adequate safeguards against abuse, providing sufficient procedural protection, and capable of demonstrating sufficient justification that the requirements of ultimate necessity and proportionality have been complied with and that all other reasonable options failed to satisfactorily contain the risk of harm to the patient or others. It must also be shown that the measure was not prolonged beyond the period strictly necessary for that purpose.
In the instant case, the applicant’s medical records did not suggest that she posed any immediate or imminent harm to herself or others or that she had been aggressive in any way. The fact that she may have given incoherent information about her health issues could not in itself justify the use of measures of physical restraint. Nor had it been shown that any alternative means had been tried, that physical restraint had been used as a matter of last resort, or that the measure had been necessary and proportionate in the circumstances. Lastly, the Court was not satisfied that the applicant’s condition while restrained had been effectively and adequately monitored. Therefore, the ill-treatment the applicant had been subjected to had amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously)
Article 5 – 1 (e): The county court had appointed a legal aid lawyer to represent the applicant in the involuntary confinement proceedings. However, he did not meet the applicant, provide her with legal advice or make submissions on her behalf and acted as a passive observer during the hearing. The mere appointment of a lawyer, without him or her actually providing legal assistance, could not satisfy the requirements of necessary ‘legal assistance’ for persons confined on the ground of ‘unsound mind’. Effective legal representation of persons with disabilities required an enhanced duty of supervision of their legal representatives by the competent domestic courts. Although aware of the lawyer’s omissions, the domestic authorities had failed to take appropriate measures to secure the applicant’s effective legal representation. Furthermore, although the judge conducting the proceedings had visited the applicant in hospital, he had made no appropriate adjustments to secure her effective access to justice, such as informing her of her rights or considering the possibility for her to participate in the hearing. In this respect, there had been no valid justification for the applicant’s exclusion from the hearing. In view of several shortcomings in the procedure for the applicant’s involuntary hospitalisation, the Court concluded that the domestic authorities had failed to meet the necessary procedural requirements under Article 5.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously)
Article 41: no claim made in respect of damage.

75450/12 – Legal Summary, [2015] ECHR 236
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 5-1-e

Human Rights

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.543766

National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland: ComC 11 May 2007

Colman J
[2007] EWHC 1056 (Comm)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland ComC 3-Feb-2006
. .
See Also – National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland ComC 7-Aug-2006
Claim for duty of bank to reveal extent of its own involvement where it was supporting investments as between its customers. . .
See Also – National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland ComC 15-Sep-2006
Application for discovery of documents. . .
See Also – National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland CA 24-Oct-2006
. .
See Also – National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland ComC 14-Nov-2006
On a request for a strike out the test in every case must be what is just and proportionate; and at para 62, as a postscript, that ‘nothing in this judgment affects the correct approach in a case where an application is made to strike out a . .

Cited by:
See Also – National Westminster Bank Plc v Rabobank Nederland ComC 19-Jul-2007
. .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Torts – Other

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.252329

HRH The Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd: CA 2 Dec 2021

The central question in these appeals is whether the judge (Mr – now Lord – Justice Warby) was right to make orders for summary judgment in favour of the claimant, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (the Duchess or the claimant) against the publishers of the Mail on Sunday newspaper and the MailOnline, Associated Newspapers Limited (Associated Newspapers or the defendant). Summary judgment was granted in respect of the Duchess’s claims for misuse of private information and infringement of copyright. The claims relate to the publication in a number of Mail articles (the Articles) of about half the contents of a 5-page handwritten letter (the Letter) which the Duchess had sent on 27 August 2018 to her father, Mr Thomas Markle (Mr Markle).

Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls,
Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queen’S Bench Division,
And,
Lord Justice Bean
[2021] EWCA Civ 1810
Bailii, Judiciary, Judiciary Summary, Bailii Summary
England and Wales

Media, Torts – Other

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.670336

Schloendorff v Society of New York Hospital: 1913

(USA) The libertarian principle of self-determination allows that ‘Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body, and a surgeon who performs an operation without the patient’s consent commits an assault.’

Cardozo J
(1914) 105 NE 92, (1914) 211 NY 125, (1914) 52 LRANS 505
United States
Cited by:
Cited – F v West Berkshire Health Authority HL 17-Jul-1990
The parties considered the propriety of a sterilisation of a woman who was, through mental incapacity, unable to give her consent.
Held: The appeal succeeded, and the operation would be lawful if the doctor considered it to be in the best . .
Cited – Purdy, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions and others CA 19-Feb-2009
The claimant suffered a debilitating terminal disease. She anticipated going to commit suicide at a clinic in Switzerland, and wanted first a clear policy so that her husband who might accompany her would know whether he might be prosecuted under . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

International, Torts – Other, Health Professions

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.250060

Hawkes v Crofton: 1825

A verdict found generally against a defendant in trespass, held sufficiently expressive of opinion in respect of a pleaded justification.

[1825] EngR 117, (1825) 2 Keny 388, (1825) 96 ER 1219 (B)
Commonlii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.326208

Zenati v Police of The Metropolis and Another: CA 11 Feb 2015

The claimant appealed against rejection of his claim for damages for false imprisonment and infringement of his human rights. On his arrest for a different offence his passport was suspected to be counterfeit, and he was then held for an offence under the 2006 Act. The police secured expert evidence from the National Document Fraud Unit that the passport was genuine but delayed in providing this to the CPS and thence the court. All the while, the claimant remained in custody. Once the evidence was provided it was recognised that there were no grounds to continue to suspect the claimant. The prosecution was discontinued. But the claimant had spent time in custody after the evidence had emerged that showed that there were no grounds for continuing to suspect him of the commission of an offence.
Held: ‘a. It is implicit in article 5(1)(c) and article 5(3) of the Convention that investigating / prosecuting authorities are required to bring the relevant facts to the attention of the court as soon as possible, where they cease to have a reasonable suspicion that the detained person committed the offence in question (paragraph 20);
b. If delay on the part of the investigating / prosecuting authorities causes a court to fail to conduct proceedings with special diligence, then those who are responsible for the delay will be responsible for the breach of article 5(3) (paragraph 43);
c. If the investigating authorities fail to bring to the attention of the court material information of which the court should be made aware when reviewing a detention, this may have the effect of causing a decision by the court to refuse bail to be in breach of article 5(3) (paragraph 44).

Lord Dyson MT, Lewison, McCombe LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 80, [2015] 2 WLR 1563, [2015] WLR(D) 74, [2015] 4 All ER 735, [2015] QB 758
Bailii, WLRD
European Convention on Human Rights 5, Identity Cards Act 2006
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Motasim v Crown Prosecution Service and Others QBD 15-Aug-2017
The claimant had been arrested on suspicion of terrorism, from his innocent association with people later convicted of terrorism. The defendant discovered evidence which would undermine the case against him, but refuse to disclose it. Eventually, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights, Torts – Other

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.542485

Jackson v Thompsons Solicitors (A Firm) and Others: QBD 6 Feb 2015

There had been a failed application for a Group Litigation Order. The application was dismissed with costs awarded, and the judge invited an application for a wasted costs order against the solicitors conducting the litigation. The insurance company providing After The Event Insurance for the liability purported to avoid the policy. The claimant was assignee of the claims of the insolvent firm, and now claimed very substantial sums from the defendant solicitors, alleging conspiracy and other torts, by them and the judge involved.

Simon J
[2015] EWHC 218 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Legal Professions

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.542322

Kanagaratnam And Others v Belgium: ECHR 13 Dec 2011

The applicants alleged in particular that their detention at the detention center for illegal immigrants for deportation to the Congo, a country through which they had passed, was in violation of Article 3 and Article 5-1(f) the Convention

Jociene P
15297/09 – HEJUD, [2011] ECHR 2420, (2012) 55 EHRR 26
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights

Human Rights, Immigration, Torts – Other

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.541949

Kamoka and Others v The Security Service and Others: QBD 22 Jan 2015

The claimants alleged unlawful detention by the former government of Libya with the connivance of the defendants. The claim was based on documents discovered after the collapse of the former Libyan government. The defendants now sought the strike out of the claims.

Irwin J
[2015] EWHC 60 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.541728

Chatterton v Gerson: QBD 1980

The doctor failed to explain possible consequences of an operation both on a first operation, and on a subsequent corrective operation.
Held: The failure to explain the general nature of an operation negatived the patient’s consent. The doctor can be held negligent if the patient demonstrates that he would not have accepted an unexplained risk. The doctor was liable in negligence only if the general nature of the operation was not explained.

Bristow J
[1981] QB 432, [1980] 3 WLR 1003, [1981] CLY 2648
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Afshar v Chester CA 27-May-2002
The surgeon carried out the operation successfully, but the claimant suffered consequential post operative damage. He had not been warned of the risk, and sought damages.
Held: Failure to warn of a risk did not vitiate consent, and any . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Professional Negligence

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.182965

Ex parte Island Records: CA 1978

An injunction is available to any person who can show that a private right or interest has been interfered with by a criminal act.

Lord Denning MR
[1978] Ch 122, [1978] 3 All ER 795
Performers Protection Act 1963
England and Wales
Cited by:
Overruled – Lonrho Ltd v Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (No 2) HL 1-Apr-1981
No General Liability in Tort for Wrongful Acts
The plaintiff had previously constructed an oil supply pipeline from Beira to Mozambique. After Rhodesia declared unilateral independence, it became a criminal offence to supply to Rhodesia without a licence. The plaintiff ceased supply as required, . .
Cited – Total Network Sl v Revenue and Customs HL 12-Mar-2008
The House was asked whether an action for unlawful means conspiracy was available against a participant in a missing trader intra-community, or carousel, fraud. The company appealed a finding of liability saying that the VAT Act and Regulations . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 27 December 2021; Ref: scu.193464

Gilks and Another v Hodgson and Another: CA 15 Jan 2015

Defendants’ appeal against the order of His Honour Judge Armitage QC dated 30 December 2013 in which he made declarations, to which I refer below, as to the boundary of the land known as Fiveacres owned by the Respondents and the land owned by the Second Defendant, and as to the Respondents’ entitlement to a vehicular right of way over a way conveniently referred to as Clay Lane in so far as it is in the ownership of the Second Defendant. The judge also made consequential orders, including an order for the payment by the Appellants of damages for trespass and/or nuisance.

Christopher Clarke, Bean LJJ, Sir Stanley Burnton
[2015] EWCA Civ 5
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Land

Updated: 25 December 2021; Ref: scu.541437

AMG, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: Admn 8 Jan 2015

AMG now applies for judicial review of the initial decision to detain him under powers under the 197 Act, and the decision to maintain such detention at various points thereafter.

William Davis J
[2015] EWHC 5 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales

Immigration, Torts – Other

Updated: 24 December 2021; Ref: scu.540496

Mohammed, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for The Home Department: Admn 19 Dec 2014

Claim for judicial review and a declaration that the claimant’s detention by the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the 1971 Act was unlawful and for damages for false imprisonment.

Stephen Morris QC Dep HCJ
[2014] EWHC 4317 (Admin)
Bailii
Immigration Act 1971
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 24 December 2021; Ref: scu.540476

The Secretary of State for Justice v MM: CA 29 Mar 2017

Power of FTT to deprive patient of liberty

Two patients who had been confined to a secure hospital, appealed against orders which would continue to restrict their liberty upon being conditionally released. The parties now disputed the jurisdiction of the FTT to make such an order.
Held: The orders made by the UT were set aside. There is no ‘umbrella’ power that can be exercised by the tribunal to authorise a patient’s deprivation of liberty outside hospital. It is accordingly inappropriate for a tribunal to do so, whether by direct or indirect means (for example, by the use of declarations to provide for an asserted lacuna in the statutory scheme). There is no lacuna in the scheme. However practicable and effective it may be to provide for a tribunal to have such a power, for example to improve access to justice to a specialist and procedurally appropriate adjudication, Parliament has not provided for the same.

Sir James Munby, President, Lady Justice Gloster, Vice-President, and Sir Ernest Ryder, Senior President
[2017] EWCA Civ 194, [2017] WLR(D) 235, [2017] 1 WLR 4681
Bailii, WLRD
Mental Health Act 1983
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Secretary of State for Justice v KC and C Partnership NHS Foundation Trust UTAA 2-Jul-2015
Mental Health : All
The local authority had sought an order under the 2005 Act seeking a personal welfare order on the basis that it would be in KC’s best interests for him to move to a proposed placement (the Placement) on the terms of a care . .
Cited – P (By His Litigation Friend The Official Solicitor) v Cheshire West and Chester Council and Another and similar SC 19-Mar-2014
Deprivation of Liberty
P and Q were two adolescent sisters without capacity. They complained that the arrangements made for their care amounted to an unjustified deprivation of liberty, and now appealed against rejection of their cases. In the second case, P, an adult . .
Cited – Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza HL 21-Jun-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 . .
Appeal from – MM v WL Clinic and Another UTAA 23-Nov-2015
Mental Health : All – whether for the purposes of Article 5 a restricted patient who has the capacity to do so can give a valid consent to the terms of a conditional discharge that, when it is implemented, will on an objective assessment create a . .
Cited – Secretary of State for the Home Department, Regina (on the Application of) v Mental Health Review Tribunal Admn 20-May-2002
The Court considered the meaning of ‘discharge’ from a mental health hospital. Elias J held that it meant ‘discharge from detention in hospital’, so that there could be a discharge on condition of residence in another hospital: but he also held that . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Secretary of State for Justice v MM SC 28-Nov-2018
The respondent had been detained after conviction for arson, under the 1983 Act, and was liable to indefinite detention in hospital for medical treatment and dischargeable only by the Appellant or the First Tier Tribunal, possibly only as a . .
Appeal from – Welsh Ministers v PJ SC 17-Dec-2018
A patient detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) may be released from compulsory detention in hospital subject to a community treatment order (CTO). The question arising on this appeal is whether a patient’s responsible clinician (may . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Health, Human Rights

Updated: 24 December 2021; Ref: scu.581298

Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd and Others v Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and Others: QBD 27 Oct 2014

The claimant sought permanent worldwide injunctions against the defendants to restrain them from harrassing their staff. The companies were involved in medical research involving animal experiments.
Held: On the written evidence put before the court the test for summary judgment in CPR 24.2 was satisfied.

McGowan J
[2014] EWHC 3429 (QB)
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997 3
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Brett Wilson Llp v Person(s) Unknown, Responsible for The Operation and Publication of The Website www.solicitorsfromhelluk.com QBD 16-Sep-2015
The claimant solicitors sought remedies against the unknown publishers of the respondent website which was said to publish material defamatory of them, and to ampunt to harassment.
Held: The alleged defamatory meanings were not challenged by . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.538211

Pearce v Ove Arup Partnership Ltd and others: ChD 2 Nov 2001

An architect was accused of deliberate copying of another’s plans in building the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. The case concerned Dutch copyright, and the experts could not agree on the degree of copying required to found a claim.
Held: The expert evidence fell well short of establishing any copying, and the court rejected the allegation entirely. Jacob J: ‘I see no reason why a judge who has formed an opinion that an expert had seriously broken his Part 35 duty should not, in an appropriate case, refer the matter to the expert’s professional body if he or she has one. Whether there is a breach of the expert’s professional rules and if so what sanction is appropriate would be a matter for the body concerned.’ A witness should be given an opportunity to make representations before any referral took place.

Jacob J
[2001] EWHC Ch 455, [2001] EWHC Ch 481
Bailii, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Routestone Ltd v Minories Finance ChD 1996
A receiver’s management duties will ordinarily impose on him no general duty to exercise the power of sale, or to ‘work’ an estate by refurbishing it before sale. Speaking of the role of an expert witness ‘What really matters in most cases are the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Intellectual Property, Torts – Other

Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.263743

McMeekin v Long: QBD 4 Oct 2002

The sellers of a property did not disclose potential disputes with their neighbours about parking over an access way and the dumping of rubbish. They claimed that in each case they had taken advice and had accepted it and there had been no further disagreement, and that there had therefore been no dispute. The solicitor in his replies to standard Part II enquiries confirmed that the sellers replies were accurate so far as he knew. It was clear however that the potential for dispute remained and that it had been long running and personal. The form also asked if complaints had ever been received.
Held: The sellers were guilty of a fraudulent misrepresentation. The evidence established to a sufficient standard, that the sellers had acted fraudulently, and, since the claimant would not have purchased the property if they had known of the difficulties, they had relied upon the misrepresentations and could claim in damages. Damages of andpound;67,000 were awarded.

Astill J
[2003] 29 EG 120
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Contract

Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.186766

Daiichi UK Ltd and others v Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and Others; Asahi Glass UK ltd and others v Same; Eisaai Ltd v Same; Yam,anouchi Pharma UK Ltd and others v Same; Sankyo Pharma UK Ltd and others v Same: QBD 13 Oct 2003

The claimants sought injunctions and orders under the act against the respondent in respect of acts of harrassment intended variously to dissuade the companies form engaging in activities disapproved by the respondents.
Held: The Act was not available to protect companies. Orders were granted for the individuals employed by them who had been affected, but refused for the companies.

Owen J
Times 22-Oct-2003, Gazette 16-Oct-2003, [2003] EWHC 2337 (QB)
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Banks v Ablex Ltd CA 24-Feb-2005
The claimant appealed denial of her claim for damages for psychological injury. She complained that her employer had failed to prevent her and other female employees being bullied by a co-worker, and they committed a breach of statutory duty in . .
Cited – Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust CA 16-Mar-2005
The claimant had sought damages against his employer, saying that they had failed in their duty to him under the 1997 Act in failing to prevent harassment by a manager. He appealed a strike out of his claim.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Company

Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.187180

Barings Plc and Another v Coopers and Lybrand and Others; etc: ChD 23 Nov 2001

The applicant company employed a trader who, through manipulation of trading systems ran up losses sufficient to bankrupt the company. They sought recovery from the defendant auditors for failing to spot the mis-trading and prevent continuing losses. In a preliminary hearing, the court heard that certain settlements had been agreed between some of the parties, and a stay was sought. The remaining party stated its intention to claim contributions from the defendant parties who had reached settlements. It sought in this hearing certain claims to be struck out as badly pleaded. In particular they said the claim in negligent mis-statement required evidence that the losses suffered arose from use of the statements for the purposes intended. A further defence related to reliance by the auditors on statements made by the directors that all pertinent information had been made available.

Mr. Justice Evans – Lombe
[2001] EWHC Ch 461
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Galoo Ltd and Others v Bright Grahame Murray CA 21-Dec-1993
It is for the Court to decide whether the breach of duty was the cause of a loss or simply the occasion for it by the application of common sense. A breach of contract, to found recovery, must be shown to have been ‘an ‘effective’ or ‘dominant’ . .
Cited – Johnson v Gore Wood and Co HL 14-Dec-2000
Shareholder May Sue for Additional Personal Losses
A company brought a claim of negligence against its solicitors, and, after that claim was settled, the company’s owner brought a separate claim in respect of the same subject-matter.
Held: It need not be an abuse of the court for a shareholder . .
Cited – Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd (No 2) CA 1982
A plaintiff shareholder cannot recover damages merely because the company in which he has an interest has suffered damage. He cannot recover a sum equal to the diminution in the market value of his shares, or equal to the likely diminution in . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Professional Negligence, Torts – Other

Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.167099

Royal Bank of Scotland Plc v O’Donnell and Mcdonald: SCS 16 Oct 2014

Extra Division Inner House Court of Session. The reclaimers have brought proceedings against the respondents to enforce a guarantee that the respondents had purportedly granted in support of the borrowings of a company controlled by them. The respondents have counterclaimed for reduction of the guarantee on the ground that it was induced by misrepresentations made by the reclaimers.

Lord Bracadale, Lord Drummond Young, Lord Wheatley
[2014] ScotCS CSIH – 84
Bailii

Scotland, Banking, Torts – Other

Updated: 22 December 2021; Ref: scu.538175

Al-Sweady and Others, Regina (On the Application of) v Secretary Of State for Defence (PII): Admn 10 Jul 2009

The claimants alleged murder and ill-treatment by the British Armed forces in Iraq. The defendant had failed repeatedly to comply with disclosure orders and an indemnity costs award had been made against him. The defendant had in particular apparently submitted a partly false certificate that redacted parts of documents related to issues of national security and issued a Public Interest Immunity Certificate. In fact much was already in the public domain. This had been realised, and that the PII certificates were no longer sustainable, but had done nothing.
Held: ‘The complete integrity of PII Certificates and the Schedules attached to them, signed by Ministers of the Crown, is absolutely essential in all cases in which they are put forward. The Courts must be able to have complete confidence in the credibility and reliability of such Certificates and Schedules. Nothing less is acceptable.’

Scott Baker LJ, Silber J, Sweeney J
[2009] EWHC 1687 (Admin), Times 03-Aug-2009
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Ex Parte Wiley; Other Similar HL 14-Jul-1994
Statements made to the police to support a complaint against the police, were not part of the class of statements which could attract public interest immunity, and were therefore liable to disclosure.
Lord Woolf said: ‘The recognition of a new . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 4) Admn 4-Feb-2009
In an earlier judgment, redactions had been made relating to reports by the US government of its treatment of the claimant when held by them at Guantanamo bay. The claimant said he had been tortured and sought the documents to support his defence of . .
Cited – Tweed v Parades Commission for Northern Ireland HL 13-Dec-2006
(Northern Ireland) The applicant sought judicial review of a decision not to disclose documents held by the respondent to him saying that the refusal was disproportionate and infringed his human rights. The respondents said that the documents were . .

Cited by:
See Also – Al-Sweady and Others, Regina (On the Application of) v Secretary Of State for Defence Admn 10-Jul-2009
The court rejected an application by a further claimant to be added to the action. . .
See Also – Al-Sweady and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Defence Admn 2-Oct-2009
The claimant’s son had died whilst in the custody of the British Armed Forces in Iraq. His uncle now claimed that his human rights had been infringed. The case ‘raised a fundamental issue of jurisdiction under Article 1 of the ECHR because if the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Armed Forces, Torts – Other, Human Rights, Constitutional

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.347482

John Pfeiffer Pty Limited v Rogerson: 16 Apr 1999

(High Court of Australia) The double actionability rule should be discarded with regard to claims brought in an Australian court in respect of a civil wrong arising out of acts or omissions that occurred wholly within one or more of the law areas of the Commonwealth of Australia.

[2000] HCA 36, (2000) 203 CLR 503
Austlii
Australia
Cited by:
Cited – Harding v Wealands CA 17-Dec-2004
The claimant sought damages here for a road traffic accident which had occurred in Australia. The defendant was working in England. The defendant argued that the law of New South Wales applied.
Held: The general rule in section 11 was not to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Commonwealth, Jurisdiction, Torts – Other

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.222523

Armstrong v Strain: CA 1952

(Upheld)

Devlin J
[1952] 1 KB 236
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Armstrong v Strain QBD 1951
armstrong_strainQBD1951
The necessary knowledge for the tort of deceit could not be found by adding the innocent mind of a principal, who knew facts which showed what his agent said to be untrue but did not know what the agent was saying, to the innocent mind of the agent . .

Cited by:
Cited – MCI Worldcom International Inc v Primus Telecommunications Inc ComC 25-Sep-2003
The claimant sought judgment, and the defendant leave to amend its defence. The question was whether the proposed defence had any reasonable prospect of success.
Held: The misrepresentation alleged was made by the claimant’s in-house . .
Appealed to – Armstrong v Strain QBD 1951
armstrong_strainQBD1951
The necessary knowledge for the tort of deceit could not be found by adding the innocent mind of a principal, who knew facts which showed what his agent said to be untrue but did not know what the agent was saying, to the innocent mind of the agent . .
Cited – Chagos Islanders v The Attorney General, Her Majesty’s British Indian Ocean Territory Commissioner QBD 9-Oct-2003
The Chagos Islands had been a British dependent territory since 1814. The British government repatriated the islanders in the 1960s, and the Ilois now sought damages for their wrongful displacement, misfeasance, deceit, negligence and to establish a . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Contract

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.186442

Frank Houlgate Investment Company Ltd v Biggart Baillie Llp: SCS 25 Sep 2014

Extra Division – Inner House – The pursuer alleged that solicitors had failed to identify that a fraudster borrowing money from him was not the same as the owne of the land to be taken in charge by security. In particular the court was asked: ‘ whether the defenders are liable to make reparation to the pursuers because Mr Mair knew that JMC had deceived the pursuers and granted a security in their favour over property in which he had no interest, yet continued to act on behalf of JMC, took no steps to inform the pursuers or their agents of JMC’s admitted fraud, and did nothing to prevent JMC obtaining further funds from the pursuers.’

Lord Menzies
[2014] ScotCS CSIH – 79
Bailii

Scotland, Professional Negligence, Torts – Other

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.537043

QRS v Beach and Another: QBD 26 Sep 2014

The court gave its reasons for granting an interim injunction to prevent the defendants publshing materials on their web-sites which were said to harrass the claimants.
Held: Whilst it was important to protect the identity of the claimants, the need for open justice was also real and the two could be reconciled by anonymisation of the proceedings. There had been previous proceedings against the defendants making similar allegations.

Slade DBE J
[2014] EWHC 3057 (QB)
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
Citing:
Cited – Jameel and Another v Wall Street Journal Europe Sprl (No 2) CA 3-Feb-2005
The claimant sought damages for an article published by the defendant, who argued that as a corporation, the claimant corporation needed to show special damage, and also that the publication had qualified privilege.
Held: ‘It is an established . .
See Also – Moss and Coleman Solicitors v Kordowski Nom 1-Feb-2007
The claimant solicitors sought transfer to them of a domain name registered by the defendant using their name and criticising them. . .
See Also – Farrall v Kordowski QBD 5-Oct-2010
The claimant, a solicitor, sought an interim injunction to prevent the defendant defaming her on his website ‘solicitorsfromhell.co.uk’. The court gave its reasons for granting it. The website offered solicitors to have material about them withdrawn . .
See Also – Bailey and Another v Kordowski QBD 1-Apr-2011
The defendant published a web-site ‘Solicitors From Hell’. Judgment had been entered against the defendant, as to a complaint falsely attributed to a client of the claimant. The defendant made a further application.
Held: ‘I asked Mr Kordowski . .
See Also – Robins v Kordowski and Another QBD 22-Jul-2011
robins_kordQBD11
The claimant solicitor said he had been defamed on the first defendant’s website (‘Solicitors from Hell’) by the second defendant. The first defendant now applied to set aside judgment entered by default. The claimant additionally sought summary . .
Cited – Lait v Evening Standard Ltd CA 28-Jul-2011
The claimant alleged defamation by the defendant in an article regarding her expenses claims as an MP. She appealed against summary judgment in favour of the defence in their pleaded defence of honest comment.
Held: Laws LJ said: ‘The . .
Cited – Kordowski v Hudson QBD 21-Oct-2011
The claimant alleged that the defendant, the chief executive of the Law Society had slandered him in a conversation with another senior lawyer. The claimant now sought summary judgment against the claimant, saying that the defence had no realistic . .
Cited – Barons Pub Company Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Staines Magistrates’ Court Admn 18-Apr-2013
The company sought judicial review of a refusal to dismiss charges against them under the 2006 Regulations as an abuse of process.
Held: Magistrates have no power of review of a prosecutorial decision other than through an abuse of process . .
Cited – Cream Holdings Limited and others v Banerjee and others HL 14-Oct-2004
On her dismissal from the claimant company, Ms Banerjee took confidential papers revealing misconduct to the local newspaper, which published some. The claimant sought an injunction to prevent any further publication. The defendants argued that the . .
Cited – AVB v TDD QBD 12-May-2014
The Claimant sought an injunction to restrain the misuse of private and confidential information and harassment, and for damages. The information was as to the relationship between the parties and in part what the Defendant learnt about AVB’s family . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.537040

Fardous v Secretary of State for the Home Department: QBD 5 Sep 2014

The claimant had been subject to administrative detention after his failed asylum claim. The court considered whether he was entitled to an award for wrongful imprisonment.

Andrew Edis QC
[2014] EWHC 3061 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Nouazli, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 20-Apr-2016
The court considered the compatibility with EU law of regulations 21 and 24 of the 2006 Regulations, and the legality at common law of the appellant’s administrative detention from 3 April until 6 June 2012 and of bail restrictions thereafter until . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Damages, Torts – Other

Updated: 21 December 2021; Ref: scu.537029

Mercur Island Shipping Corporation v Laughton: 1983

Union officials blacked a ship, with the result that the plaintiff shipowners were unable to perform a time charter.
Held: The tort of indirect wrongful interference in contractual relations required an intention on the part of the defendants to procure the breach of contract. The intention existed because the defendants must have known that the ship was about to sail pursuant to a contract of carriage and diminishing the earnings under the contract was the only way of putting pressure on the shipowners.

Lod Diplock
[1983] 2 AC 571
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Douglas and others v Hello! Ltd and others (No 3) CA 18-May-2005
The principal claimants sold the rights to take photographs of their wedding to a co-claimant magazine (OK). Persons acting on behalf of the defendants took unauthorised photographs which the defendants published. The claimants had retained joint . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.225471

Ackerley v Parkinson: 23 Jan 1815

Abuse of power by judge

(1815) 3 M and S 411, (1815) 105 ER 665, [1815] EngR 455
Commonlii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194973

Turner v Sterling: 1671

The plaintiff complained that his election as one of two custodians of London Bridge, a remunerated office, was thwarted by the malicious and unlawful action of the Lord Mayor. It was an action upon the case.
Held: The action would lie. Wylde J: ‘Where an officer does any thing against the duty of his place and office, and a damage thereby accrues to the party, an action lies’.
Archer J: ‘for the particular damage an action lies’. Tyrrel J: ‘this action is for damages for being prevented of having the office’. As to the argument that every action upon the case supposes damnum and injuriam’, since there had been no election it could not be known whether the plaintiff would have been elected, but it would be determined whether he would have been elected and ‘an action of the case lies for a possibility of damage’.
Vaughan CJ said that no damage appeared. All the judges held damage to be an essential ingredient of the cause of action, as would normally (not always) be so of an action on the case; they differed only on whether damage was or could on the facts be sufficiently shown.

Wylde J, Archer J, Tyrrel J, Vaughan CJ (dissenting)
(1671) 2 Vent 24
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
Cited – Watkins v Home Office and others HL 29-Mar-2006
The claimant complained of misfeasance in public office by the prisons for having opened and read protected correspondence whilst he was in prison. The respondent argued that he had suffered no loss. The judge had found that bad faith was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194963

Tozer v Child: 1857

(1857) 7 El and Bl 377, (1857) 119 ER 1286
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Elections, Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194971

Cullen v Morris: 1819

(1819) 2 Stark 577, (1819) 171 ER 741
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Elections, Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194972

Harman v Tappenden: 1801

Allegation of abuse of power by judge.
Held: An action does not lie against individuals for acts erroneously done by them in a corporate capacity, from which detriment happens to the plaintiff; at least not without proof of malice.

(1801) 1 East 555, (1801) 102 ER 214, [1801] EngR 305
Commonlii
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194974

Davis v Bromley Corporation: CA 1907

The plaintiff had submitted building plans for the defendant’s approval, which were refused for alleged non-compliance with by-laws. The Plaintiff contended that the plans complied with the by-laws and that the rejection was not bona fide.
Held: The court denied the existence of a tort of misfeasance in public office.
Vaughan Williams LJ said: ‘It is not contested that the legislature has given power to this body to decide whether they will sanction such works or not; it is not suggested that in so deciding the Council are exercising judicial functions, and in fact they are not doing so; they are exercising a discretion vested in them by Statute . . and the whole object of this action is really to see if, by this means, the plaintiff can overrule the Council’s decision.’

Vaughan Williams LJ, Sir Gorell Barnes, President, and Bigham J
[1908] 1 KB 170
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
Cited – Watkins v Home Office and others HL 29-Mar-2006
The claimant complained of misfeasance in public office by the prisons for having opened and read protected correspondence whilst he was in prison. The respondent argued that he had suffered no loss. The judge had found that bad faith was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Planning

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194964

Davis v Radcliffe: PC 5 Apr 1990

(Isle of Man) Misfeasance in public office.
Held: No duty of care was owed by financial regulators towards investors.

[1990] 1 WLR 821, [1990] UKPC 18
Bailii
Commonwealth
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
Cited – Tee v Lautro Limited CA 20-Nov-1996
. .
Cited – Michael and Others v The Chief Constable of South Wales Police and Another SC 28-Jan-2015
The claimants asserted negligence in the defendant in failing to provide an adequate response to an emergency call, leading, they said to the death of their daughter at the hands of her violent partner. They claimed also under the 1998 Act. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194965

Taylor v Nesfield: 1854

Misuse of position by judge

(1854) 3 El and Bl 724, (1854) 118 ER 1312
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194975

Jones v Swansea City Council: HL 2 Jan 1990

The case concerned the reversal at a council meeting of a decision taken under different political control. The principal complaint centred on two councillors but it was that all 28 members of that Labour group who took part in that decision had been activated by malice.
Held: Reversed on facts only. The House suggested a ‘substantial influence’ test – requiring that the purpose be material but not necessarily a relatively major reason for the impugned decision. Lord Lowry said: ‘Having regard to Dunlop v Woollahra Municipal Council [1982] AC 158 and the cases mentioned in Wade, Administrative Law, 6th Ed (1988), p.777, I apprehend that a local authority can be sued for misfeasance in a public office.’

Lord Lowry, Lord Griffiths, Lord Ackner and Lord Oliver of Aylmerton
[1990] 1 WLR 1453
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Jones v Swansea City Council CA 1990
The defendant council had originally resolved in favour of allowing the plaintiff to use premises leased to her by the council as a club; the plaintiff’s husband was at that time a member of the majority group on the council; there was then an . .

Cited by:
Appealed to – Jones v Swansea City Council CA 1990
The defendant council had originally resolved in favour of allowing the plaintiff to use premises leased to her by the council as a club; the plaintiff’s husband was at that time a member of the majority group on the council; there was then an . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
Cited – Barnard v Restormel Borough Council CA 6-Feb-1998
The council appealed a refusal to strike out the proceedings. The claimant alleged misfeasance in a planning decision giving a competitor consent to development. He said the mayor had deceived the planning committee as to the need to consider the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.194969

Three Rivers District Council and others v Bank of England: CA 2 Oct 1997

Summary of joint judgment.

Hirst and Robert Walker LJJ
[1997] EWCA Civ 2379
England and Wales
Citing:
See also – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of the Bank of England (No 3) CA 10-Dec-1998
The tort of misfeasance in public office is not separated into two distinct limbs. In each case the Plaintiff must show a deliberate and dishonest abuse of his position by a public official aware of the loss that will follow or reckless as to such a . .

Cited by:
See also – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
See also – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of the Bank of England (No 3) CA 10-Dec-1998
The tort of misfeasance in public office is not separated into two distinct limbs. In each case the Plaintiff must show a deliberate and dishonest abuse of his position by a public official aware of the loss that will follow or reckless as to such a . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.142777

Fox v Hall: QBD 13 Aug 2014

The court considered the outcome of mutual cross claims, which substantially failed, of harrassment in the use of extra-court debt recovery methods, and the pitfalls of: ‘(a) engaging in debt recovery, other than through conventional means; (b) seeking without notice injunctions, without making full and proper disclosure of all relevant material; (c) being too ready to bring civil claims for harassment, when the conduct complained of does not, on proper analysis, fall within the definition of harassment; and (d) pursuing complicated civil claims without the benefit of full and proper legal analysis or advice. ‘

Stephen Davis HHJ
[2014] EWHC 2747 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other

Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.536030

Lemtelsi, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: Admn 4 Aug 2014

Challenge by Judicial Review to a decision of the Defendant that the Claimant be detained under powers contained within immigration legislation after the custodial part of a term of imprisonment imposed upon him had expired. That detention continued until he was granted bail. The Claimant seeks relief including damages.

Clive Heaton QC
[2014] EWHC 2750 (Admin)
Bailii

Immigration, Torts – Other

Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.535657

Al-Fayed and others v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and others: CA 25 Nov 2004

The appellants appealed from dismissal of their claims for wrongful imprisonment by the respondent. Each had attended at a police station for interview on allegations of theft. They had been arrested and held pending interview and then released. Mr Rowland had left a box in the safe security system under the appellants control. They variously admitted having opened the box without consent, but denied any theft. No charges followed. The officer took legal advice before making the arrests. The appellants denied that there were reasonable grounds for suspicion.
Held: ‘it is important not to lose sight of the distinction between availability of evidence and information amounting to prima facie proof and information, maybe falling short of admissible evidence, capable of amounting to reasonable grounds for suspicion for the purpose of section 24(6). The judge had identified carefully how each officer had concluded that he had reasonable suspicion sufficient to justify the arrest. The court derived several principles of law: In determining all Castorina questions the state of mind is that of the arresting officer, subjective as to the fact of his suspicion, and objective as to whether he had reasonable grounds for it and whether he exercised his discretionary power of arrest Wednesbury reasonably. It is for the police to establish that an arresting officer suspected that the claimant had committed an arrestable offence and that he had reasonable grounds for his submission. If the police establish those requirements, the arrest is lawful unless the claimant can establish on Wednesbury principles that the arresting officer’s exercise or non-exercise of his power of arrest was unreasonable. Given the burden on the claimant, the reasonableness requirement may, according to circumstances be narrowed by the human rights jurisprudence. The appeals were dismissed.

Lord Justice Auld Lord Justice Tuckey Jackson, Mr Justice Jackson
[2004] EWCA Civ 1579
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 24(6)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Dumbell v Roberts CA 1944
The court discussed the nature of reasonable grounds for suspicion for an arrest. The threshold for the existence of reasonable grounds for suspicion is low, and the requirement is limited. Scott LJ said: ‘The protection of the public is safeguarded . .
Cited – Hussein v Chang Fook Kam PC 1970
In determining whether the information available to an officer is sufficient to give rise to a reasonable suspicion and charge, the test to be applied by a police officer is ‘Suspicion in its ordinary meaning is a state of conjuncture or surmise . .
Cited – O’Hara v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary HL 21-Nov-1996
Second Hand Knowledge Supports Resaobnable Belief
The plaintiff had been arrested on the basis of the 1984 Act. The officer had no particular knowledge of the plaintiff’s involvement, relying on a briefing which led to the arrest.
Held: A reasonable suspicion upon which an arrest was founded . .
Cited – Castorina v Chief Constable of Surrey CA 10-Jun-1988
Whether an officer had reasonable cause to arrest somebody without a warrant depended upon an objective assessment of the information available to him, and not upon his subjective beliefs. The court had three questions to ask (per Woolf LJ): ‘(a) . .
Cited – Cumming and others v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police CA 17-Dec-2003
The six claimants sought damages for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Each had been arrested on an officer’s suspicion. They operated CCTV equipment, and it appeared that tapes showing the commission of an offence had been tampered with. Each . .
Cited – Cumming and others v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police CA 9-Jun-2003
Application for permission to appeal from dismissal of claims for wrongful arrest.
Held: Granted . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire Constabulary and others Admn 19-Feb-2004
The court considered a claim for judicial review of a police officer’s decision to turn back a number of coaches. Each coach contained passengers en route to join a demonstration at an RAF base in Gloucestershire, the officer honestly and reasonably . .
Cited – Regina (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 23-May-2001
A prison policy requiring prisoners not to be present when their property was searched and their mail was examined was unlawful. The policy had been introduced after failures in search procedures where officers had been intimidated by the presence . .
Cited – Paul v Chief Constable of Humberside Police CA 17-Mar-2004
. .
Cited – Regina v Shayler HL 21-Mar-2002
The defendant had been a member of the security services. On becoming employed, and upon leaving, he had agreed to keep secret those matters disclosed to him. He had broken those agreements and was being prosecuted. He sought a decision that the . .
Cited – Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions, ex parte Kebilene and others HL 28-Oct-1999
(Orse Kebeline) The DPP’s appeal succeeded. A decision by the DPP to authorise a prosecution could not be judicially reviewed unless dishonesty, bad faith, or some other exceptional circumstance could be shown. A suggestion that the offence for . .
Cited – Regina v A (Complainant’s Sexual History) (No 2) HL 17-May-2001
The fact of previous consensual sex between complainant and defendant could be relevant in a trial of rape, and a refusal to allow such evidence could amount to a denial of a fair trial to a defendant. Accordingly, where the evidence was so relevant . .
Cited – Stott (Procurator Fiscal, Dunfermline) and Another v Brown PC 5-Dec-2000
The system under which the registered keeper of a vehicle was obliged to identify herself as the driver, and such admission was to be used subsequently as evidence against her on a charge of driving with excess alcohol, was not a breach of her right . .
Cited – Re S (Children: Care Plan); In re W and B (Children: Care plan) In re W (Child: Care plan) HL 14-Mar-2002
The Court of Appeal had imposed conditions upon the care plan to be implemented by the local authorities, identifying certain ‘starred’ essential milestones. The local authorities appealed.
Held: This was not a legitimate extension of the . .
Cited – Holgate-Mohammed v Duke HL 1984
A police officer had purported to arrest the plaintiff under the 1967 Act, suspecting her of theft. After interview she was released several hours later without charge. She sought damages alleging wrongful arrest. The judge had found that he had . .
Cited – Re S (Children: Care Plan); In re W and B (Children: Care plan) In re W (Child: Care plan) HL 14-Mar-2002
The Court of Appeal had imposed conditions upon the care plan to be implemented by the local authorities, identifying certain ‘starred’ essential milestones. The local authorities appealed.
Held: This was not a legitimate extension of the . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Brind HL 7-Feb-1991
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 . .
Cited – Fox, Campbell and Hartley v The United Kingdom ECHR 30-Aug-1990
The court considered the required basis for a reasonable suspicion to found an arrest without a warrant: ‘The ‘reasonableness’ of the suspicion on which an arrest must be based forms an essential part of the safeguard against arbitrary arrest and . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Bugdaycay HL 19-Feb-1986
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 . .
Cited – Murray v The United Kingdom ECHR 8-Feb-1996
The applicant had been denied legal advice for 48 hours after he had been taken into custody.
Held: There had been a violation of article 6(1) read with article 6(3)(c). However, it was not a breach of human rights to draw inferences from the . .
Cited – Wilding v Chief Constable of Lancashire CA 22-May-1995
The court considered a claim by a woman for wrongful arrest and unlawful detention by police officers who had reasonably suspected her of burglary of the house of her former partner. In interview by the police, she denied the offence and made . .

Cited by:
Cited – Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis v Copeland CA 22-Jul-2014
The defendant appealed against the award of damages for assault, false imprisonment and malicious prosection, saying that the question posed for the jury were misdirections, and that the jury’s decision was perverse. The claimant was attending the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police

Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.219706

Betts v Receiver of Metropolitan Police District and Carter Paterson and Co Ltd: 1932

The police seized from the claimant certain cloth believing it to be stolen from Carter Paterson and delivered it to Carter Paterson, without any order under the 1897 Act. The claimant sued the receiver and Carter Paterson.
Held: Since the theft could not be established and the delivery had been made without any order under the Act, the claimant in right of his possession at the time of seizure (subject only in case of the receiver to a limitation defence) was entitled to succeed in conversion against both defendants.
du Parcq J said: ‘It is general rule that, where there has once been a complete cause of action arising out of contract or tort, the statute begins to run and that subsequent circumstances which would but for the prior wrongful act or default have constituted a cause of action are disregarded.’ and ‘This rule had already been laid down and acted upon forty-five years previously in the case of Granger v. George (1826) 5 B. and C. 149. The facts in Wilkinson v. Verity were held to take that case out of the general rule, to which exceptions may arise where there are ‘circumstances to show a trust for the owner or to found an option to sue either for the wrong or for the breach of the original terms’ of a contract of bailment (see per Willes J.). No such circumstances exist here.’

du Parcq J
[1932] 2 KB 595, 147 LT 336
Police (Property) Act 1897 1
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Irving v National Provincial Bank CA 1962
Goods were seized by the police from the claimant. Neither the claimant nor the defendant could establish that they were the true owners. Under section 1 the first court directed the goods to be delivered to the defendant as the person who appeared . .
Cited – Costello v Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary CA 22-Mar-2001
The police seized a car from Mr Costello, believing that it was stolen. The seizure was lawful at the time, by virtue of section 19 of PACE. The police never brought any criminal proceedings against Mr Costello, but they refused to return the car to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.194106

Crawford v Jenkins: CA 24 Jul 2014

The parties had divorced but acrimony continued. H now complained of his arrests after allegations from his former wife that he had breached two orders. He had been released and no charges followed. The court had ruled that W’s complaints were protected by immunity.
Held: H’s appeals failed. ‘The policy of the immunity rule applies just as much to a claim in harassment based on such a statement as it does to a claim in defamation. In my judgment Judge Baucher was right to hold that the harassment claim could not be brought on the basis of the complaint to the police or the statements made in support of that complaint. Paragraphs (c) to (e) of the particulars of harassment given in paragraph 76 of the Amended Particulars of Claim must be ignored.’

Beatson, Sharp LJJ, Sir Timothy Lloyd
[2014] EWCA Civ 1035, [2015] 1 All ER 476, [2015] 3 WLR 843, [2016] QB 231, [2014] EMLR 29
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Roy v Prior HL 1970
The court considered an alleged tort of maliciously procuring an arrest. The plaintiff had been arrested under a bench warrant issued as a result of evidence given by the defendant. He sued the defendant for damages for malicious arrest.
Held: . .
Cited – Westcott v Westcott CA 15-Jul-2008
The defendant was the claimant’s daughter in law. In the course of a bitter divorce she made allegations to the police which were investigated but did not lead to a prosecution. The claimant appealed dismissal of his claim for defamation on the . .
Cited – Elsee v Smith 1822
The court considered a claim that a search warrant had been issued for malice. . .
Cited – Evans v London Hospital Medical College and Others 1981
The defendants employed by the first defendant carried out a post mortem on the plaintiff’s infant son. They found concentrations of morphine and told the police. The plaintiff was charged with the murder of her son. After further investigation no . .
Cited – Martin v Watson HL 13-Jul-1995
The plaintiff had been falsely reported to the police by the defendant, a neighbour, for indecent exposure whilst standing on a ladder in his garden. He had been arrested and charged, but at a hearing before the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown . .
Cited – Churchill v Siggers 9-Jun-1854
Lord Campbell CJ explained the basis of tortious liability for bringing proceedings maliciously and without reasonable or probable cause: ‘To put into force the process of the law maliciously and without any reasonable or probable cause is wrongful; . .
Cited – Gilding v Eyre And Another CCP 8-Jul-1861
After getting judgment against the plaintiff for a debt, and substantial repayment of it by him, the defendant issued a writ of execution for the full amount of the debt, in consequence of which the plaintiff was arrested by the sheriff’s officers. . .
Cited – Johnson v Emerson 1871
Cleasby B recognised that the tort of malicious prosecution could be committed in the malicious presentation of a winding up petition. The effect of presentation of such a petition was immediately damaging to the company which was the subject of the . .
Cited – The Walter D Wallet 1893
The vessel was arrested by a defendant who had been, but no longer was, a part owner of the vessel, having forgotten or forgotten the importance of that fact.
Held: Procuring the wrongful arrest of a ship can found a cause of action similar to . .
Cited – Clissold v Cratchley CA 1910
A solicitor had sued out a Writ of fi.fa on an order in favour of his client, unaware that the debt had been paid at the country office of the solicitor, prior to the writ being issued.
Held: An action in tort will be available for setting in . .
Cited – Gibbs and others v Rea PC 29-Jan-1998
(Cayman Islands) The respondent worked for a bank. He disclosed a business interest, but that interest grew in importance to the point where he resigned in circumstances amounting to constructive dismissal. His home and business officers were raided . .
Cited – Taylor and Others v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others HL 29-Oct-1998
The defendant had requested the Isle of Man authorities to investigate the part if any taken by the plaintiff in a major fraud. No charges were brought against the plaintiff, but the documents showing suspicion came to be disclosed in the later . .
Cited – Darker v Chief Constable of The West Midlands Police HL 1-Aug-2000
The plaintiffs had been indicted on counts alleging conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to forge traveller’s cheques. During the criminal trial it emerged that there had been such inadequate disclosure by the police that the proceedings were . .
Cited – Congentra Ag v Sixteen Thirteen Marine Sa (‘the Nicholas M’) ComC 15-Jul-2008
Applications for dismissal of interim freezing order and for continuance. Order not set aside. The claim was for a freezing order to support a claim for recovery of damage to goods being transported. The court now considered an allegation that the . .
Cited – Crawford Adjusters and Others v Sagicor General Insurance (Cayman) Ltd and Another PC 13-Jun-2013
(Cayman Islands) A hurricane had damaged property insured by the respondent company. The company employed the appellant as loss adjustor, but came to suspect advance payments recommended by him, and eventually claimed damages for deceit and . .
Cited – Singh v Moorlands Primary School and Another CA 25-Jul-2013
The claimant was a non-white head teacher, alleging that her school governors and local authority had undermined and had ‘deliberately endorsed a targeted campaign of discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation’ against her as an Asian . .
Cited – Halcyon House Ltd v Baines and Others QBD 11-Jul-2014
The judge found that there was only one act which could have amounted to harassment, and since there had to be at least two to amount to a course of conduct he dismissed the claim under the Act.
Submissions were made about the witness immunity . .
Cited – Thomas v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Simon Hughes CA 18-Jul-2001
A civilian police worker had reported officers for racist remarks. The newspaper repeatedly printed articles and encouraged correspondence which was racially motivated, to the acute distress of the complainant.
Held: Repeated newspaper stories . .
Cited – Dowson and Others v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police QBD 20-Oct-2010
Six officers sought damages under the 1997 Act alleging harassment by a senior officer of the defendant.
Held: Simon J set out what a claimant must prove in an harassment claim:
‘(1) There must be conduct which occurs on at least two . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Family, Torts – Other

Updated: 17 December 2021; Ref: scu.535252

BB and Others v Al Khayyat and Others: QBD 17 Sep 2021

Application by the third defendant the bank for orders vacating the forthcoming hearing of and temporarily staying more generally a forum non conveniens application made by it in these proceedings. The substantive claim is a foreign law tort claim for damages brought by a number of anonymised individuals.

[2021] EWHC 2551 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Jurisdiction

Updated: 17 December 2021; Ref: scu.669930

Halcyon House Ltd v Baines and Others: QBD 11 Jul 2014

The judge found that there was only one act which could have amounted to harassment, and since there had to be at least two to amount to a course of conduct he dismissed the claim under the Act.
Submissions were made about the witness immunity rule, because the one act that could have been relevant was what he held to be the malicious making of a complaint to the police, which resulted in an arrest but no prosecution. The judge said that he would not have regarded the witness immunity rule as applying to a civil action under the 1997 Act, principally because the action is not based on the particular statement but on the fact of making a complaint to the police in the course of conduct amounting to harassment. He also said that, if that were wrong, he would come to the same conclusion because the inclusion of the express provision in section 1(3)(a) made it clear that that was to be the limit of any defence of that kind to the claim.

Richard Seymour QC
[2014] EWHC 2216 (QB)
Bailii
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Crawford v Jenkins CA 24-Jul-2014
The parties had divorced but acrimony continued. H now complained of his arrests after allegations from his former wife that he had breached two orders. He had been released and no charges followed. The court had ruled that W’s complaints were . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.534124

Keeble v Hickeringall: 1738

Holt CJ, delivered the opinion of the Court for the plaintiff, and said, that this is a new action, but is supported by the old reason and principles of law ; taking of wild-fowl is a lawful and profitable employment, it is as if it were his trade used upon his own ground, and surely it is lawful for a man to make the best advantage he can of his own ground; and there is the same reason for him to have this action, as for any tradesman for being damnified in his trade; and that is the reason why words, that are in themselves not actionable, will bear an action when they damnify a man in his trade.

Holt CJ
[1738] EngR 471, (1688-1710, 1738) Holt KB 19, (1738) 90 ER 908
Commonlii
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Keeble v Hickeringall (472) 1738
. .
See Also – Keeble v Hickeringall (470) 1738
. .

Cited by:
See Also – Keeble v Hickeringhall 1795
Case lies where the plaintiff had a possession without any property. Case in which the plaintiff declared, that he was possessed of a decoy pond frequented with ducks, of which he made great gains, and that the defendant knowing and maliciously . .
See Also – Keeble v Hickeringill 1796
. .
See Also – Keeble v Hickeringill 1809
. .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.385864

Three Rivers District Council and others v The Governor and Company of the Bank of England: ComC 12 Apr 2006

The claimants had pursued compensation over many years from the defendants alleging various kinds of misfeasance in regulating the bank BCCI. The action had collapsed.
Held: ‘this was extraordinary litigation which came to an abrupt albeit long overdue conclusion’ when the creditors called on the liquidators to abandon the action. The parties now disputed the basis for the costs order. ‘The pursuit of such hopeless but widely publicised allegations of dishonesty against so many officers of this country’s central bank of itself takes the case out of the norm. ‘ Costs were awarded on an indemnity basis.

Tomlinson J
[2006] EWHC 816 (Comm), [2006] 5 Costs LR 714
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Petrotrade Inc v Texaco Ltd CA 23-May-2000
Where a defendant failed to beat a claimant’s part 36 offer to settle, but judgment was given summarily the rule did not mean that the defendant was necessarily to be ordered to pay costs on an indemnity basis, and to pay interest. Summary judgment . .
Cited – Excelsior Commercial and Industrial Holdings Ltd v Salisbury Hammer Aspden and Johnson (A Firm) CA 12-Jun-2002
The court was asked as to when it is appropriate to order costs on an indemnity basis. Waller LJ said: ‘The question will always be: is there something in the conduct of the action or the circumstances of the case which takes the case out of the . .
Cited – National Coal Board v Ridgeway CA 1987
‘action’ in section 23(1) of the 1978 Act included an omission. . .
Cited – King v Telegraph Group Ltd CA 18-May-2004
The defendant appealed against interim costs orders made in the claim against it for defamation.
Held: The general power of cost capping measures available to courts were available also in defamation proceedings. The claimant was being . .
Cited – Jordan Grand Prix Limited v Vodafone Group Plc ComC 4-Aug-2003
The claimant asserted that the defendant had agreed in the course of a telephone conversation, to provide sponsorship, and sought to enforce that agreement. There were considerable conflicts of evidence.
Held: Evidence given on behalf of the . .
Cited – Cepheus Shipping Corporation v Guardian Royal Exchange Plc 1995
. .
Cited – IPC Media Ltd v Highbury Leisure Publishing Ltd ChD 2005
. .
Cited – Cambridge Antibody Technology v Abbott Biotechnology Ltd and Another 2005
. .
Cited – Amoco (UK) Exploration Company and others v British American Offshore Ltd ComC 12-Dec-2000
. .

Cited by:
Cited – Chantrey Vellacott v The Convergence Group Plc and others ChD 31-Jul-2007
The claimants, a firm of accountants, sued their former clients for unpaid fees. The defendant company counterclaimed for professional negligence. The claimant had expended andpound;5.6m in costs. The claimants now sought a non-party costs order . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Torts – Other, Costs

Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.240372

Neville v London Express Newspaper: HL 1919

The question was whether, in order to recover damages for the tort which existed, it was necessary to show specific loss.
Held: An action for damages for maintenance will not lie in the absence of proof of special damage.

Lord Finlay LC, Lord Shaw of Dunfermline and Lord Phillimore, Lord Finlay
[1919] AC 368
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Ashby v White KBD 1703
Mr Ashby a burgess of the borough of Aylesbury was deprived of his right to vote by the misfeasance of a returning officer.
Held: The majority rejected the claim.
Lord Holt CJ (dissenting) An action would lie: ‘If the plaintiff has a . .
Cited – Marzetti v Williams 1830
A finding of a beach of contract implies that some remedy will be available. . .
Cited – Embrey v Owen 1851
Parke B said: ‘It was very ably argued before us by the learned counsel for the plaintiffs that the plaintiffs had a right to the full flow of the water in its natural course and abundance, as an incident to their property in the land through which . .
Cited – Beaumont v Greathead 1846
‘Nominal damages are a mere peg on which to hang costs . . Nominal damages, in fact, mean a sum of money that may be spoken of, but that has no existence in point of quantity.’ . .

Cited by:
Cited – Chagos Islanders v The Attorney General, Her Majesty’s British Indian Ocean Territory Commissioner QBD 9-Oct-2003
The Chagos Islands had been a British dependent territory since 1814. The British government repatriated the islanders in the 1960s, and the Ilois now sought damages for their wrongful displacement, misfeasance, deceit, negligence and to establish a . .
Cited – Watkins v Secretary of State for The Home Departmentand others CA 20-Jul-2004
The claimant complained that prison officers had abused the system of reading his solicitor’s correspondence whilst he was in prison. The defendant argued that there was no proof of damage.
Held: Proof of damage was not necessary in the tort . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.186666

Webb v Portland Manufacturing Co: 1838

‘But I am not able to understand how it can correctly be said, in a legal sense, that an action will not lie, even in the case of a wrong or violation of a right, unless it is followed by some perceptible damage which can be established as a matter of fact; in other words, that injuria sine damno is not actionable. On the contrary, from my earliest reading, I have considered it laid up among the very elements of the common law that, wherever there is a wrong, there is a remedy to redress it; that every injury imports damage in the nature of it; and, if no other damage is established, the party injured is entitled to a verdict for nominal damages.”

Story J
(1838) 3 Sumner Rep 189
Citing:
Cited – Ashby v White KBD 1703
Mr Ashby a burgess of the borough of Aylesbury was deprived of his right to vote by the misfeasance of a returning officer.
Held: The majority rejected the claim.
Lord Holt CJ (dissenting) An action would lie: ‘If the plaintiff has a . .

Cited by:
Cited – Embrey v Owen 1851
Parke B said: ‘It was very ably argued before us by the learned counsel for the plaintiffs that the plaintiffs had a right to the full flow of the water in its natural course and abundance, as an incident to their property in the land through which . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.199933

Embrey v Owen: 1851

Parke B said: ‘It was very ably argued before us by the learned counsel for the plaintiffs that the plaintiffs had a right to the full flow of the water in its natural course and abundance, as an incident to their property in the land through which it flowed; and that any abstraction of the water, however inconsiderable, by another riparian proprietor, and though productive of no actual damage, would be actionable, because it was an injury to a right and, if continued, would be the foundation of a claim of adverse right in that proprietor. We by no means dispute the truth of this proposition, with respect to every description of right. Actual perceptible damage is not indispensable as the foundation of an action; it is sufficient to show the violation of a right, in which case the law will presume damage; injuria sine damno is actionable . . . ‘

Parke B
(1851) 6 Ex 353
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Ashby v White KBD 1703
Mr Ashby a burgess of the borough of Aylesbury was deprived of his right to vote by the misfeasance of a returning officer.
Held: The majority rejected the claim.
Lord Holt CJ (dissenting) An action would lie: ‘If the plaintiff has a . .
Cited – Webb v Portland Manufacturing Co 1838
‘But I am not able to understand how it can correctly be said, in a legal sense, that an action will not lie, even in the case of a wrong or violation of a right, unless it is followed by some perceptible damage which can be established as a matter . .

Cited by:
Cited – Watkins v Secretary of State for The Home Departmentand others CA 20-Jul-2004
The claimant complained that prison officers had abused the system of reading his solicitor’s correspondence whilst he was in prison. The defendant argued that there was no proof of damage.
Held: Proof of damage was not necessary in the tort . .
Cited – Neville v London Express Newspaper HL 1919
The question was whether, in order to recover damages for the tort which existed, it was necessary to show specific loss.
Held: An action for damages for maintenance will not lie in the absence of proof of special damage. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other

Updated: 16 December 2021; Ref: scu.199932

AA (Sudan), Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another: Admn 27 Jun 2014

The claimant sought asylum. He had been detained and absconded and committed serious offences, but had now been detained since August 2011 when his prison sentence had expired and awaiting deportation.

Dingemans J
[2014] EWHC 2118 (Admin)
Bailii

Immigration, Torts – Other

Updated: 15 December 2021; Ref: scu.533199