swarb.co.uk - law index
These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.
Utilities - From: 1994 To: 1994
This page lists 5 cases, and was prepared on 02 April 2018.
Regina v Secretary of State Environment, ex parte Friends of the Earth Ltd and Another Times, 04 April 1994; Independent, 12 April 1994
4 Apr 1994
QBD
Environment, European, Utilities
The Secretary of State may accept undertakings from water companies to provide a wholesome water supply, rather than requiring a court to order them to achieve the same thing.
Water Industry Act 1991 68(1)(a)
H J Banks and Co Ltd v British Coal Corporation Times, 13 May 1994; C-128/92; [1994] 5 CMLR 30; [1994] EUECJ C-128/92; [1994] ECR I-1209
13 Apr 1994
ECJ
Advocate-General Van Gerven
European, Utilities, Jurisdiction
The European Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over ECSC treaty disputes. The duty of sincere cooperation imposed the obligation on the national court to mitigate as far as possible in the interests of the Community the risk of a conflicting ruling. "As a body which supervises compliance with the Community rules of competition and has specialised departments for that purpose, the Commission has many years of experience with the result that its findings carry a degree of authority, although such authority is not binding. However, it is self-evident that no obstacles may be placed in the path of third parties seeking to challenge before the national court findings which the Commission has arrived at in a decision of that kind. If, on the basis of the parties' arguments, the national court comes to the conclusion that the issues of fact and/or law decided by the Commission are incorrect or insufficient, or if at any rate it has serious doubts in that regard, then in the light of the Delimitis judgment it must take the following course of action: in the case of findings which carried no weight in the final decision and do not therefore underlie the reasoning of the Commission, the national court is at liberty to adopt a different interpretation: in those circumstances the risk of conflicting decisions and the resultant impairment of the principle of legal certainty is extremely small. On the other hand, in the case of findings which have an influence on the final decision arrived at by the Commission, the national court is well advised, in accordance with the provisions of its national procedural law, to suspend the proceedings in the case and to seek the necessary information from the Commission or make a direct reference to the court for a preliminary ruling concerning the validity of the decision in question or the interpretation of the relevant Community competition rules."
1 Cites
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
Regina v CPC (Uk) Ltd, CPC (UK) Ltd v National Rivers Authority Independent, 30 August 1994; Times, 04 August 1994; [1994] Env LR 131
4 Aug 1994
CACD
Lloyd LJ
Environment, Utilities, Crime
The defendant operated a factory, using cleaning liquid carried through PVC piping. The piping leaked because it had been badly installed by the reputable subcontractors employed by the previous owners of the factory. Held: Although the defendants were unaware of the existence of the defect and "could not be criticised for failing to discover it," the pollution had nevertheless been caused by their operation of the factory. So the fact that the negligent installation of the pipes had been unforeseeable was no defence. Liability for river pollution is strict. It existed even where the owner had no knowledge of a leak in a pipe put in before he acquired the land. Whether he had caused the pollution remained a question of fact for the jury.
Water Resources Act 1991 85(1) 209
1 Citers
H J Banks and Co Ltd and Others v British Coal Corporation Times, 10 August 1994
10 Aug 1994
QBD
Mance J
Litigation Practice, Utilities, European
No cause of action could be pursued where the European Commission only can decide liability and no decision had yet been made. An action would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction rather than be stayed until the decision was made.
1 Cites
1 Citers
National Rivers Authority v Yorkshire Water Services Ltd Independent, 01 December 1994; Times, 21 November 1994; [1995] 1 AC 444
21 Nov 1994
HL
Lord Mackay of Clashfern
Environment, Utilities
The defendant sewerage undertaker received sewage, treated it in filter beds and discharged the treated liquid into the river. One night someone unlawfully discharged a solvent called iso-octanol into the sewer. It passed through the sewage works and entered the river. The question was whether the defendant had caused the consequent pollution. Held: The defence to a pollution charge is wider than breach of licence condition. The statutory defence to a breach of consent also applies to the allegation of causing pollution. The word "cause" in the subsection should be used in its ordinary sense and "it is not right as a matter of law to add further requirements." and ". . . Yorkshire Water Services having set up a system for gathering effluent into their sewers and thence into their sewerage works there to be treated, with an arrangement deliberately intended to carry the results of that treatment into controlled waters, the special circumstances surrounding the entry of iso-octanol into their sewers and works does not preclude the conclusion that Yorkshire Water Services caused the resulting poisonous, noxious and polluting matter to enter the controlled waters, notwithstanding that the constitution of the effluent so entering was affected by the presence of iso-octanol."
Water Act 1989 107(1)(a) 108(7)
1 Cites
1 Citers