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