A lease of a freight shed exonerated the lessor from ‘any claim . . for . . damage . . to . . Goods . . being . . in the said shed’ and requiring the lessee to indemnify the lessor ‘from and against all claims’. The negligent use of an oxy-acetylene torch by an … Continue reading Canada Steamship Lines Ltd v The King: PC 21 Jan 1952
The appellants had applied for emergency housing as homeless persons, anticipating loss of their secure accomodation after falling into arrears. The Council reject their application, but a County Court quashed that decision. The Court of Appeal re-instated it, and the applicants now appealed again. The applicants had first sought advice from the council and had … Continue reading Din (Taj) v Wandsworth London Borough Council: HL 26 Nov 1981
PC (New Zealand) The defendant operated a superannuation scheme for and on behalf of the officers of the bank it regulated. The trustees ought to amend the scheme, but it had been set up by statute. Held: When assessing such amendments to see whether they remained within the purposes of the original scheme as set … Continue reading Bank of New Zealand v Board of Management of the Bank of New Zealand Officers’ Provident Association: PC 14 Jul 2003
There had been a dispute between shareholders, and the defendant was called upon to value the company. He issued a tender for valuers to value the properties. Complaint was made that the tender was negligent in its description of the basis for valuation. Held: Part of the skills of a chartered accountant, especially one who … Continue reading Goldstein v Levy Gee ( A Firm): ChD 1 Jul 2003
The defendant firm appealed against a refusal to strike out the claimant’s claim for professional negligence, asserting that the judge should have considered the limitation issue in the light of Khan v Falvey. Held: By the time that the negligence arose, the first claim was worthless. The claimant knew of the negligence of his solicitors … Continue reading Hatton v Messrs Chafes (A Firm): CA 13 Mar 2003
The court faced the question of, whether if a landlord serves a notice on an assured tenant under section 13(2) of the Act proposing an increase in rent, that will be the rent unless, before the beginning of the new period specified in the notice the tenant refers the notice to a rent assessment committee … Continue reading Regina on the Application of Lester v The London Rent Assessment Committee: CA 12 Mar 2003
The police officer had been accused of an offence. The case was discharged under the section at committal. The Commissioner sought to commence disciplinary proceedings on the same evidence. Held: The tests of the two sets of hearings were different. The magistrates had been asked to see whether there was sufficient evidence to justify putting … Continue reading Regina (on the Application of Redgrave) v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: CA 22 Jan 2003
The applicant was a senior officer seconded to the National Crime Squad. He complained that his secondment had been terminated in a manner which was unfair, and left him tainted without opportunity to reply. He appealed against rejection of his request for judicial review. Held: The appeal failed. Operational matters within the police service, save … Continue reading Regina (Tucker) v Director General of the National Crime Squad: CA 17 Jan 2003
The claimant was injured, being hit in the face by a football in a school playground. It was before school started. There had been accidents, and there were rules which had not been enforced. The school appealed a finding of negligence. Held: ‘a school owes to all pupils who are lawfully on its premises the … Continue reading Kearn-Price v Kent County Council: CA 30 Oct 2002
The claimant appealed against a decision to strike out her claim for want of prosecution, and a failure to pay a sum ordered as security for costs. She had put jewelry with the defendants for safe keeping, and alleged it had been stolen. The lock on her safety deposit box had changed. During complex procedures, … Continue reading Nasser v United Bank of Kuwait: CA 21 Dec 2001
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. Held: The court set out the position in law and … Continue reading Willers v Joyce and Another (Re: Gubay (Deceased) No 2): SC 20 Jul 2016
Mrs M came to England in 1994 living first in Ealing and then Hammersmith. Mr M came later and lived elsewhere in Hammersmith. Hammersmith gave them jointly temporary accommodation, first in a hotel and then in a flat. They then applied under section 193. The authority told Mrs M that they accepted a duty to … Continue reading Mohamed v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council: HL 1 Nov 2001
There is an inherent conflict between the need to promote freedom of competition, and the need to restrict competition to promote continuity of employment. The transfer of undertakings regulations must apply to the re-allocation of public service contracts. The absence of any direct contractual connection between the transferor and transferee of a contract was important … Continue reading Liskojarvi and Another v Oy Liikenne Ab: ECJ 25 Jan 2001
ECJ (Judgment) VAT was payable on supplies of counterfeit drugs even though the income generated by the trade was unlawful. Fiscal neutrality prevented differentiation between lawful and unlawful suppliesThe defendants had sold counterfeit perfumes and had had VAT charges imposed retrospectively. It was held proper to charge VAT on sales which were illegal. Fiscal neutrality … Continue reading Criminal proceedings against Goodwin and Unstead: ECJ 28 May 1998
Salesmen were transferred to a new dealership at a different workplace without any guarantee as to client base or sales figures, so that there was potential for an adverse impact on commission. Held: All these components were ‘working conditions’. The change was substantial because it was a change in remuneration. Citations: C-171/94, [1996] EUECJ C-171/94, … Continue reading Merckx and Neuhuys v Ford Motors Company Belgium (Rec 1996,p I-1253) (Judgment): ECJ 7 Mar 1996
The Society had taken possession of a property in 1989. It located the defendants many years later and sought payment of the excess after deduction of the proceeds of sale, and for interest. The borrowers claimed the debt was expired by limitation under s20. The Society said that the debt was a judgment debt which … Continue reading West Bromwich Building Society v Wilkinson: HL 30 Jun 2005
Income tax – Schedule D, Cases III and VI – Payments of interest and ground rent incurred when property was being developed – Whether capitalised or paid out of profits or gains brought into charge to tax – Income Tax Act 1952 (15 and 16 Geo. 6 and 1 Eliz. 2, c. 10), j. 170.The … Continue reading Fitzleet Estates Ltd v Cherry: HL 9 Nov 1977
A patent infingement claim was met by the assertion that the material covered had been disclosed before the patent had been obtained. The court was asked as to the test of whether the information in a claim had been disclosed. Aldous J said: ‘Mr. Thorley submitted that if a product had been made available to … Continue reading PLG Research Ltd and Another v Ardon International Ltd and Others: ChD 25 Nov 1994
The appellant had broken into an empty council owned flat, and subsequently occupied it. After twelve years the authority obtained a court order for possession. The court had held that the appellant had not had a sufficient animus possidendi since he had not at any time expected to live there for as more than a … Continue reading London Borough of Lambeth v Blackburn: CA 14 Jun 2001
(Saint Vincent and The Grenadines) A writ was issued, but little progress was made. The respondent applied for a declaration that the action had been abandoned and was incapable of being revived. Held: The provision was one local to the home country. It was to be interpreted broadly, but words may only be implied in … Continue reading Lewis v Henry St Hillaire and others: PC 22 May 1996
When a tenancy was terminated and was followed by a statutory tenancy, a term in the contractual tenancy that the tenancy should be forfeit on the tenant’s bankruptcy was continued in and inherited by the statutory tenancy. Though perhaps in conveyancing terms there was no positive obligation not to become bankrupt, the Acts should be … Continue reading Cadogan Estates Limited v McMahon: HL 26 Oct 2000
A tenancy which had been terminated by a notice given by one of the joint tenants had expired. It did not come to an end by any deed, and so was not capable of being set aside by a family court in the course of divorce proceedings. The possession proceedings issued by the landlord could … Continue reading Newlon Housing Trust v Alsulaimen and Another: HL 29 Jul 1998
The plaintiff began a defamation action against seven defendants. Each had admitted publication but pleaded justification. The claims against the fourth to seventh defendants were dismissed by consent, and the third had gone into liquidation. The remaining two defendants, acting in person, applied for the action to be struck-out for want of prosecution. The plaintiff’s … Continue reading Grovit and others v Doctor and others: HL 24 Apr 1997
The claimant had come to England as a child from Italy. As an adult, he was convicted of a sexual assault against his daughter, and after release from his prison sentence of five years, he now appealed against a deportation order, saying that the respondent had failed to take account of the length of time … Continue reading B v Secretary of State for Home Department: CA 18 May 2000
The court was asked whether a clause in a share sale agreement setting out the payment obligation worked to preclude the purchaser from exercising a right of set-off when the time comes to pay a later instalment of the price. Held: The appeal was dismissed. The right of set-off had effectively been excluded. ‘The meaning … Continue reading BOC Group Plc v Centeon Llc and Centeon Bio-Services Inc: CA 29 Apr 1999
The leased premises consisted of a dwelling house and agricultural land which had constituted an agricultural holding. The tenant alleged that the original agreement had been superceded by a subsequent contract which had the effect of moving the tenancy out of the protection of the Agricultural Holdings Act into the protection of the Rent Act. … Continue reading Russell v Booker: CA 1982
The Defendant builders constructed a steel building to be used as, inter alia. a dairy. The original owners sold it to the appellants. A fire spread from the storage area to the rest of the dairy and caused much damage. The Builders, had they followed good building practice and the requirements of the Building Regulations, … Continue reading Bellefield Computer Services Limited, Unigate Properties Limited; Unigate Dairies Limited; Unigate (Uk) Limited; Unigate Dairies (Western) Limited v E Turner and Sons Limited: Admn 28 Jan 2000
The claimant applied to be housed as a homeless person. The authority sought to refer him to a different authority under s198. As an asylum seeker, he had been given assistance both in Portsmouth and Southampton before coming to Ipswich. He said that he had not gone to Southampton freely, but had been placed there … Continue reading Ozbek v Ispwich Borough Council: CA 4 May 2006
Citations: [1998] EWHC Admin 158 Links: Bailii Statutes: Rent Act 1977 70 Housing Updated: 27 May 2022; Ref: scu.138279
The court’s powers under the new CPR to deal with non-compliance with time limits, were wide enough to allow the court to allow re-instatement of an action previously struck out. The court could find alternative ways of dealing with any delay which could recompense the other party and seek to achieve justice as between the … Continue reading Biguzzi v Rank Leisure Plc: CA 26 Jul 1999
The defendant company sought to rely upon an exemption clause. Held: Applying standard rules for contract interpretation, the exemption clause was to be construed against the one proposing it. At best the clause was ambiguous, and the defendants claim for exemption failed. The clause did not satisfy the first two tests set down in the … Continue reading Stent Foundations Ltd v M J Gleeson Group Plc: TCC 9 Aug 2000
The respondent had determined a fair rent under the 1977 Act, on the grounds that LRAC had adopted an impermissible approach to the question of whether any ‘scarcity’ deduction fell to be made and to its assessment of that deduction as 30%. Judges: Mr Justice Ouseley Citations: [2002] EWHC 835 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Rent … Continue reading Yeoman’s Row Management Ltd v Chairman of the London Rent Assessment Committee: Admn 19 Apr 2002
The first paragraph of article 119 of the EEC Treaty applies directly, and without the need for more detailed implementing measures on the part of the community or the member states, to all forms of direct and overt discrimination which may be identified solely with the aid of the criteria of equal work and equal … Continue reading Macarthys Ltd v Smith: ECJ 27 Mar 1980
Europa The wording of the second subparagraph of article 40(3) of the Treaty does not refer in clear terms to the relationship between different industrial or trade sectors in the sphere of processed agricultural products . This does not alter the fact that the prohibition of discrimination laid down in the aforesaid provision is merely … Continue reading Ruckdeschel and Others v Hauptzollamt Hamburg-St Annen: ECJ 19 Oct 1977
Landlord and Tenant – Rent Act 1977 – Assessment of Fair Rent Citations: [2018] UKUT 166 (LC) Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Landlord and Tenant Updated: 21 May 2022; Ref: scu.623942
An occupant of a hostel for homeless and vulnerable single men had only a licence to occupy the room, and was not a tenant. There was a resident warden and a team of support workers. The intention was that residents should use the hostel as a temporary base as part of their rehabilitation. Held: An … Continue reading Westminster City Council v Clarke: HL 29 Apr 1992
The court considered the effect of changes in the law after a conviction on applications for leave to appeal out of time. Held: Lane LJ said: ‘This is an application for an extension of time in which to appeal against conviction. It should be clearly understood, and this Court wants to make it even more … Continue reading Regina v Mitchell: CACD 1977
The employee occupied a dwelling belonging to his employer and for the better performance of his duties. He was summarily dismissed for misconduct. Held: The 1977 Act did not apply, and the owner had not been obliged to give a notice under the 1977 Act. He did not occupy the premises under a periodic tenancy … Continue reading Norris (T/a J Davis and Son) v Checksfield: CA 23 Apr 1991
A lease had been forfeited for non payment of rent. The lessor then took proceedings for possession. The tenant claimed that the action was invalid because a receiving order had been made against him in the meantime. Held: The Court rejected the tenant’s contention on the ground that the claim for possession was not a … Continue reading Ezekiel v Orakpo: CA 1977
(New Zealand) Seventeen years earlier the plaintiff had asked a builder to construct a house for him, but it now appeared that the foundations had been inadequate. The building company no longer being in existence, he sought damages from the local authority which had supervised the construction. Held: A Local Authority was liable for economic … Continue reading Invercargill City Council v Hamlin: PC 12 Feb 1996
The tenant sought to assert that he occupied a houseboat, the Dinty Moore, under a tenancy of a dwellinghouse under the 1988 Act. The claimant appealed a decision that it was. Held: A house-boat, even though used as a dwelling, did not have the character of a house sufficiently to allow an assured tenancy of … Continue reading Chelsea Yacht and Boat Club Ltd v Pope: CA 6 Apr 2000
The court considered the right of a protected tenant to become a statutory tenant on the termination of his protected tenancy under section 2(1)(a) of the 1977 Act, requiring him to occupy the dwelling house ‘as his residence’. The tenant occupied the flat as a temporary expedient for part of the time when the house, … Continue reading Regalian Securities Ltd v Scheuer: CA 1982
The appellants resisted disclosure to the revenue of advice it had received. It claimed legal advice privilege (LAP), though the advice was from its accountants. Held: (Lords Sumption and Clarke dissenting) LAP applies to all communications passing between a client and its lawyers, acting in their professional capacity, in connection with the provision of legal … Continue reading Prudential Plc and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax and Another: SC 23 Jan 2013
K, aged 16, had left home to join what was said to be a religious sect. His whereabouts were unknown. He had been made a ward of court and the Official Solicitor was appointed to represent his interests. He had sent messages to say that he was well and did not wish to return. The … Continue reading Kelly (A Minor) v British Broadcasting Corporation: FD 25 Jul 2000
The council had taken the applicant’s children into care alleging that the mother had harmed them. In the light of the subsequent cases casting doubt on such findings, the mother sought the return of her children. She applied now that the hearings be in public. Held: The applicant and her solicitors had already made significant … Continue reading Kent County Council v The Mother, The Father, B (By Her Children’s Guardian); Re B (A Child) (Disclosure): FD 19 Mar 2004
The court considered the difficulties in categorising and comparing employments: ‘Having then identified the parties, having then acquainted themselves with the nature of the contractual employment, the next thing that has to be done is to look at the position in very broad general terms. The old saying that it is sometimes difficult to see … Continue reading Dorothy Perkins Ltd v Dance: 1977
‘The jury must be told that they can rely on a false alibi as supporting an identification only if they are satisfied that the sole reason for the fabrication was to deceive them on the issue of identification.’ Citations: [1977] 65 Cr App Rep 247 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Regina v … Continue reading Regina v Keene: 1977
Section 34(1)(b) of the 1977 Act should to be read subject to a limitation that it applies that a new tenancy must be a tenancy of the same premises as the old. Citations: (1994) LAGB June 11 Statutes: Rent Act 1977 34(1)(b) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Approved – Arogol Company Ltd v Rajah … Continue reading Goringe v Twinsectra Ltd: 20 Apr 1994
When a court sets a new rent on an application for a new lease under the 1954 Act, the valuation date is, in practice, the date upon which it sets the new rent, taking effect from the date when the new lease is to be executed, although striclty according to the words of the section, … Continue reading Lovely and Orchard Services v Daejan Investments (Grove Hall) Ltd: QBD 1977
A lease contained a covenant against assignment without the Landlord’s consent, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld. The tenant asserted, pace Killick, that the landlord could not refuse consent on the grounds that the proposed tenant might not comply with the terms of the lease, and that the building obligation operated as a use … Continue reading Ashworth Frazer Limited v Gloucester City Council: HL 8 Nov 2001
An agreement was made on May 12 1890 for a tenancy for three years to commence on June 24 1890 and thereafter from year to year until determined. The landlord sued to recover rent after the tenant had given up possession. The tenant argued that no lease existed because it was a reversionary lease not … Continue reading Foster v Reeves: CA 1892
(Supreme Court of Canada) de Grandpre J said: ‘On any construction site, and especially when the building being erected is a complex chemical plant, there is ever present the possibility of damage by one tradesman to the property of another and to the construction as a whole. Should this possibility become reality, the question of … Continue reading Commonwealth Construction Co Ltd v Imperial Oil: 1977
The court discussed the duties of a vendor to the property between exchange and completion: ‘These duties and rights [of a purchaser] arise from the contract of sale and it is because of their existence that the vendor is said to be a constructive trustee, or a trustee sub modo, of the estate for the … Continue reading Berkely v Poulett: CA 1977
An injunction was sought to restrain publication of confidential information about a well-known pop group, starring Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. As the group’s press agent, the defendant’s role had been to see that the group received favourable publicity. However, after parting company, amicably, with the group, the defendant disclosed ‘no doubt, for a very … Continue reading Woodward v Hutchins: CA 1977
There was an interlocutory dispute over the granting of an extension of time for service of the defence. The legally aided plaintiff challenged the costs orders made by the district registrar and the judge. Each ordered that the costs be the defendants’, ‘not to be enforced without leave of the court save by way of … Continue reading Lockley v National Blood Transfusion Service: CA 1992
The doctrine of frustration can apply to contracts of employment. The Court looked at the situations in which it should extend time for an appeal to be filed: ‘Was the employee’s incapacity, looked at before the purported dismissal, of such a nature, or did it appear likely to continue for such a period, that further … Continue reading Marshall v Harland and Wolff Ltd: NIRC 1972
Valuers acting competently and professionally may reach widely varying conclusions as to value. There is a permissible margin of error, the ‘bracket’. What can properly be expected from a competent valuer using reasonable care and skill is that his valuation falls within this bracket. A valuation that falls outside the permissible margin of error calls … Continue reading Singer and Friedlander Ltd v Wood: 1977
The Attorney General sought a declaration as to whether it would be the crime of aiding and abetting or counselling and procuring suicide, to distribute a booklet published by the respondent which described various effective ways of committing suicide. The stated aim of the booklet was to help readers overcome the fear of dying. Held: … Continue reading Attorney-General v Able and Others: QBD 28 Apr 1983
Regulations made to ease the effect of changes on the calculation of registered rents were ultra vires and void. The Act under which they were made was intended to control inflation. The purpose of these Regulations was to ease the effect on protected tenants of decisions which would lead to rent increases. Citations: Times 15-Feb-2000 … Continue reading Regina, Ex Parte Spath Holme Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment Transport and The Regions, Secretary of State For Wales: CA 20 Jan 2000
The Union said that it had been recognised by the employers even though there was no written agreement. Held: Phillips J said: ‘Recognition’ plainly, we think, implies agreement – which, of course, involves consent. That is to say, it is a mutual process by which the employers recognise the union, which obviously agrees to be … Continue reading National Union of Taylors and Garment Workers v Charles Ingram and Company Ltd: EAT 1977
The claimant sought an order for possession of land outside St Paul’s cathedral occupied by the protestor defendants, consisting of ‘a large number of tents, between 150 and 200 at the time of the hearing, many of them used by protestors, either regularly or from time to time, as overnight accommodation, and several larger tents … Continue reading City of London v Samede and Others: QBD 18 Jan 2012
The tenant had gone into possession under an oral agreement with a rent book. He ceased to pay rent or acknowledge the landlord’s right in 1938. In 1952 the landlord sought to recover possession, and now appealed a finding that the tenant had acquired the title to the property by adverse possession. Held: A rent … Continue reading Moses v Lovegrove: CA 29 Apr 1952
(Court of Exchequer Chamber) Blackburn J set out what constituted a fixture: ‘There is no doubt that the general maxim of the law is, that what is annexed to the land becomes part of the land; but it is very difficult, if not impossible, to say with precision what constitutes an annexation sufficient for this … Continue reading Holland v Hodgson: 1872
United States Supreme Court – Title 19 U.S.C. ss 482 and implementing postal regulations authorize customs officials to inspect incoming international mail when they have a ‘reasonable cause to suspect’ that the mail contains illegally imported merchandise, although the regulations prohibit the reading of correspondence absent a search warrant. Acting pursuant to the statute and … Continue reading United States v Ramsey: 6 Jun 1977
The claimant sought to bring a claim against the administrators of a partnership alleging a duty of care to creditors. Held: Such an administrator owed no greater duty to creditors than would a director. That duty was no different whether the duty was also a fiduciary duty or one at common law. His position was … Continue reading Oldham and others v Georgina Kyrris and Another: CA 4 Nov 2003
The appellant’s land was to be taken under compulsory purchase by the Council who wished to use it to assist Tesco in the construction of a new supermarket. Tesco promised to help fund restoration of a local listed building. Sainsbury objected an now appealed against the Court of Appeal’s overturning of the orer in its … Continue reading Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Wolverhampton City Council and Another: SC 12 May 2010
An order was sought to protect from publicity a child whose mother faced trial for the murder of his brother. The child was now in care. Held: The court must balance the need to protect the child with the need for freedom of the press. The issue in the case was not itself about the … Continue reading In re S (A Child) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication): CA 10 Jul 2003
The tenant appealed against an order requiring him to allow access to the landlord to carry out works in order to provide alternative accommodation. Held: The order was invalid. Where the tenant was secure, and opposed the access, the power to make such an order required that the works proposed were supported by a statutory … Continue reading Akram v Adam: CA 6 Nov 2002
Repairs which had the effect of changing a house into one fit for human habitation were to be included as changes to the ‘condition of the dwelling house’. This being so the landlord was entitled to apply again to the rent officer for a new fair rent to be registered even though it was less … Continue reading Regina v Rent Officer for West Sussex Registration Area, Ex Parte Haysport Properties Ltd: CA 22 Mar 2001
Repairs which had the effect of changing a house into one fit for human habitation were to be included as changes to the ‘condition of the dwelling house’. This being so the landlord was entitled to apply again to the rent officer for a new fair rent to be registered even though it was less … Continue reading Regina (Haysport Properties Ltd) v Rent Officer for West Sussex Registration Area: CA 26 Apr 2001
The defendant appealed against the making against him of an order under the 1977 Act on his acquittal for a different substantive offence. Held: The judge is required to identify the factual basis for imposing an order and that it must not be overlooked that, absent a conviction, it may not be possible to determine … Continue reading Regina v Lawrence: CACD 2012
A Mr Ludovici in 1977 took an assignment of the residue of a lease granted in 1953 which had some 5 months to run. He agreed to do works in return for which he would be granted a fresh lease. This was later assigned to Mr Hemmings. Held: He was neither the tenant under the … Continue reading Trustees of Henry Smiths Charity v Hemmings: 1982
Lord Cockburn said ‘no man can make his property real or personal by merely thinking it so.’ Judges: Lord Cockburn Citations: (1843) 5 D 775, [1845] EngR 973, (1845) 12 Cl and Fin 312, (1845) 8 ER 1426 Links: Commonlii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Elitestone Ltd v Morris and Another HL … Continue reading Dixon v Fisher: HL 12 Jun 1845
The defendant appealed his conviction under the 1977 Act. Held: The judge directing a jury must require a finding that the different acts complained of had a sufficient connection with each other to form a ‘course of conduct’ within the Act. For a number of incidents to constitute a course of conduct, they must be … Continue reading Regina v Patel (Nitin): CACD 11 Nov 2004
Interim asset freezing injunctions had been obtained on the application of a liquidator in South Africa. The defendant applied for their discharge. Held: They should be discharged. No foreign proceedings had been specified for which they were proposed as support. An insolvency process was insufficient for this purpose. The court had forewarned the plaintiff of … Continue reading Fourie v Le Roux and Others: ChD 30 Sep 2004
The court considered the circumstances necessary to establish a right to a set-off in equity: ‘where the cross-claim not only arises out of the same contract as the claim but is so directly connected with it that it would be manifestly unjust to allow the claimant to recover without taking into account the cross-claim there … Continue reading The Teno: 1977
English and German companies traded in partnership. They agreed that all disputes between them should be arbitrated in Germany. The English company sold machinery to the German company and by way of payment received some 24 bills of exchange. After the first six bills of exchange had been paid, the German company refused further payment … Continue reading Nova (Jersey) Knit Ltd v Kammgarn Spinnerei GmbH: HL 1977
An application to extradite a former head of state for an offence which was not at the time an offence under English law would fail, but could proceed in respect of allegations of acts after that time. No immunity was intended for heads of state. International law prohibiting torture has the character of jus cogens … Continue reading Regina v Bartle and Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Others, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte; Regina v Evans and Similar (No 3): HL 24 Mar 1999
The claimants said that they had been tortured by Saudi police when arrested on false charges. They sought damages, and appealed against an order denying jurisdiction over the defendants. They said that the allegation of torture allowed an exception to state immunity. Held: The Kingdom’s appeal succeeded. The protection of state immunity was essentially a … Continue reading Jones v Ministry of Interior for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and others: HL 14 Jun 2006
On the rent review of a large factory of which the only potential occupier was the tenant in question, one should assume a hypothetical landlord and hypothetical willing tenant so that the rental levels were not affected by one or both parties being in a monopoly position. A hypothetical willing seller and a hypothetical willing … Continue reading F R Evans (Leeds) Ltd v English Electric Co Ltd: 1977
A provision in a will which purported to make the decision of the trustees final on any matter in dispute between them and the beneficiaries was a provision calculated to oust the jurisdiction of the court and so was void as being contrary to public policy, and: ‘anything which attempts to deprive the parties of … Continue reading Re Wynn (deceased): 1952
The plaintiffs had fallen behind with their rent, which resulted ultimately in an order for possession. The council found that the plaintiffs were threatened with homelessness intentionally. Held: In relation to the argument that a person is not intentionally homeless unless he intended to become homeless or at any rate appreciated that homelessness would result … Continue reading Robinson v Torbay Borough Council: QBD 1982
DONALDSON LJ: Mr. Phillips appeals by case stated against his conviction and a fine of andpound;5 imposed by Mr Loy, the Leeds Stipendiary Magistrates, in September 1978 for failure to comply with a School Attendance Order. It is not the conviction or the fine which irks Mr. Phillips. His irritation, and perhaps even anger, is … Continue reading Phillips v Brown: QBD 20 Jun 1980
Donaldson LJ said: ‘I have on occasion found it a useful test notionally to write into the contract under consideration a declaratory clause expressing the fact that the parties are not subject to the obligations which would flow from the clause which it is urged should be implied. I think it is useful in this … Continue reading Bournemouth and Boscombe FC Limited v Manchester United FC Limited: CA 21 May 1980
Planning permission had been granted for an office block, together with 8 flats as part of the same building. The building was largely erected, with the residential part incomplete. There was an application to change the existing permitted use of the residential part of the block to office use. That application was refused. The resulting … Continue reading Clyde and Co v Secretary of State for the Environment: CA 1977
A claim was made for specific performance of an oral agreement to sell shares. Held: The plaintiff had failed to show that if he issued another writ for the same relief, it would be not be defeated by the doctrine of laches. Payment of the purchase price is neither here nor there if the contract … Continue reading Joyce v Joyce: 2 Jan 1978
An allegation of contempt was made in proceedings related to the publication by a newspaper of extracts from a report by a social worker and a report by the Official Solicitor, both prepared after the commencement and for the purpose of the wardship proceedings. Held: What was published was ‘information relating to [the] proceedings’ within … Continue reading In re F (otherwise A ) (A Minor) (Publication of Information): CA 1977
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its property rights. It was also argued that it was not possible to make a declaration … Continue reading Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2): HL 10 Jul 2003
The court considered the meaning of the word ‘refer’ in the section. Held: Words such as ‘deliver’ or ‘present’ ordinarily require that the transfer shall be completed. Words like ‘send’ or ‘despatch’ do not. The argument on the word ‘referred’, suggest that its meaning is imprecise, and that it is much coloured, as meaning either … Continue reading Nash v Ryan Plant International Limited: 1977
The Secretary of State announced a public enquiry into the Shipman case. He did not say whether it would be a public enquiry. The bereaved families and media wanted it to be public, and contended that it had been invalidly constituted, that an expectation had been created that it would be public, and that to … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for Health, Ex Parte Wagstaff etc: QBD 31 Aug 2000
The official Solicitor appealed against a decision that doctors could withdraw medical treatment including artificial nutrition, from a patient in persistent vegetative state. Held: The doctors sought permission to act in accordance with recommended medical practice. Agreement was universal that there was no prospect of the patient’s improvement, nor any purpose in continued treatment. The … Continue reading Airedale NHS Trust v Bland: CA 9 Dec 1992
The claimant appealed after her claim for sex discrimination had failed. She had been dismissed from her position an associate minister of the church. The court had found that it had no jurisdiction, saying that her appointment was not an employment. However the jurisdiction in sex discrimination cases was wider, extending to those who ‘contract … Continue reading Percy v Church of Scotland Board of National Mission: HL 15 Dec 2005
This appeal raises a short point of law concerning the temporal scope of a pay comparison in proceedings based on equal pay for work of equal value brought under the Equal Pay Act 1970. The Claimants sought arrears of pay dating back to 2002, comparing themselves with two comparators in post from that time and … Continue reading Reading Borough Council v James and Others: EAT 7 Jun 2018
Consent to Assignment Unreasonably Withheld The landlord had refused a proposed assignment of office premises from a tenant who had occupied the premises as its permanent offices, to a tenant who proposed to use the premises as serviced offices – that is, for short-term rent to others. The lease provided that the only permitted use … Continue reading International Drilling Fluids v Louisville Investments (Uxbridge) Ltd: CA 20 Nov 1985
The freeholder had refused consent to an assignment of the head lease of a house to a lady who, if she had become tenant under the head lease for five years, would have been entitled to buy the freehold from the Estate. The existing tenant was a company who would achieve no such right. Held: … Continue reading Bickel v Duke of Westminster: CA 1977
The tenant promised in the lease not to apply for any planning permission without the consent of the landlord, not to be unreasonably withheld. The tenant wished to apply for planning permission for a change of use of part of the demised premises, from business to residential use, but the landlord refused consent on the … Continue reading Sequent Nominees Ltd (Formerly Rotrust Nominees Ltd) v Hautford Ltd: SC 30 Oct 2019
D, a young adult had a mild learning disability and other more serious conditions. He was taken into a hospital providing mental health services. The external door was locked, and a declaration was sought to permit this deprivation of his liberty, and whether his parents could give consent for it. Held: (LL Carnwath and Lloyd-Jones … Continue reading In re D (A Child): SC 26 Sep 2019
(Belize) A company had been formed to manage telecommunications in Belize. The parties disputed the interpretation of its articles. Shares had been sold, but the company was structured so as to leave a degree of control with the government. It was argued that a term was to be implied requiring resignation of a director when … Continue reading Attorney General of Belize and others v Belize Telecom Ltd and Another: PC 18 Mar 2009
The defendants had been trading on Sundays in breach of s.47 of the Shops Act 1950, which, by s.71(1) imposed on every local authority the duty to enforce within their district the provisions of that Act. Parliament has given local authorities a special status to bring proceedings in their own name, thereby overcoming the difficulties … Continue reading Stoke-On-Trent City Council v B and Q (Retail) Ltd: HL 1984
Europa Convention of 27 September 1968 – exclusive jurisdiction – matters relating to tenancies of immovable property – strict interpretation – business carried on in immovable property rented from a third party by the lessor -agreement to run the business – application of article 16 excluded – dispute as to the existence of such an … Continue reading Theodorus Engelbertus Sanders v Ronald van der Putte: ECJ 14 Dec 1977