The applicant had defended an action for possession for arrears of rent, and counterclaimed for damages for failure to repair. A compromise was put to the court, and the court took that as consent and made a possession order. The tenant appealed. Held: The court had not had jurisdiction to make the possession order and … Continue reading Gil v Baygreen Properties Ltd: CA 5 Jul 2002
Parties appealed decisions as whether assured shorthold tenancy notices were valid despite errors. Held: If, notwithstanding errors or omissions, the substance of the notice was sufficiently clear to the reasonable person reading it, then the notice was likely to serve the purpose, and it could be valid. There was not a two stage test of … Continue reading Ravenseft Properties Ltd v Hall; White v Chubb; similar: CA 19 Dec 2001
The defendants had been required to enter into a recognisance to be of good behaviour after disrupting a hunt by blowing of a hunting horn. They were found to have unlawfully caused danger to the dogs. Though there had been no breach of the peace, they had acted contrac bonos mores. They complained that the … Continue reading Hashman and Harrup v The United Kingdom: ECHR 25 Nov 1999
Having been convicted of drug trafficking, an application was made for a confiscation under the 1994 Act. On the civil balance of proof, and applying the assumptions under the Act, an order was made. The applicant claimed that his article 6 rights had been infringed. The respondent government said the application for an order was … Continue reading Phillips v United Kingdom: ECHR 5 Jul 2001
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
A notice was given to the holder of a waste disposal licence to require certain information to be provided on pain of prosecution. The provision of such information could also then be evidence against the provider of the commission of a criminal offence. Held: Nevertheless, the provision of such information was required in this case, … Continue reading Regina v Hertfordshire County Council, ex parte Green Environmental Industries Ltd and Another: HL 17 Feb 2000
A County Court may stay a right to buy application by the tenant, even though terms had been agreed, in order to await the result of court proceedings for possession against the secure misbehaving tenant. A court’s case management powers can be invoked to determine substantive rights. Judges: Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Lloyd of … Continue reading City Council of Bristol v Lovell: HL 26 Feb 1998
The plaintiff acquired land on which 27 chalets were erected. They served notice to quit so that the site could be developed. The defendants argued that they had residential tenancies with protection under the Rent Act 1977. Held: The tenants’ appeals succeeded. A built structure becomes part of the land and itself real property, according … Continue reading Elitestone Ltd v Morris and Another: HL 1 May 1997
The respondent was a composer who sought to restrict the import of CDs containing his music into the UK. The appellants responded putting him to strict proof of his title. The title included assignments from a partnership to limited companies, but the original documents were no longer available. He sought to have admitted in evidence … Continue reading Masquerade Music Ltd and Others v Bruce Springsteen: CA 10 Apr 2001
The respondent appealed against an order for possession made on the grounds that he had been convicted of breach of an order under the 1997 Act in harassing his daughter who lived nearby the premises. The tenant argued that the agreement had incorporated a version of the Housing Act before its amendment to allow possession … Continue reading North British Housing Association Ltd v Sheridan: CA 29 Jul 1999
The claimants were paper owners of land occupied by the defendant. The claimant said the acquiescence had been interrupted by an abortive court action by the claimant’s predecessor in title. Held: With regard to any particular action the relevant time, and the only relevant time, for consideration of adverse possession is that which has expired … Continue reading Markfield Investments Ltd v Evans: CA 9 Nov 2000
An order had been made refusing an unmarried father access to his child by the court after evidence that it would not be in the child’s best interests. The father appealed. Held: The father could not appeal on a question of fact alone. There had been delay in the matter coming before the House. The … Continue reading Sanderson v McManus: HL 6 Feb 1997
The applicant sought a judicial review of the Commission’s refusal of his appeal against the refusal to remove a restriction on his legal aid certificate. The request had been refused on the merits after applying a cost benefit analysis, and he challenged the fairness of the procedure adopted on his appeal. He said that a … Continue reading Toth, Regina (on the Application of) v Legal Services Commission: Admn 17 Jan 2002
The bank appealed against a decision that the simple deposit of deeds with a bank did not take effect as an equitable charge. Held: Depositing deeds with a bank is not sufficient to create a charge over them. The old law as to the creation of an equitable mortgage by deposit of deeds had been … Continue reading United Bank of Kuwait Plc v Sahib and Others: CA 2 Feb 1996
The law of the defence of duress arising out of threat or circumstances is in need of urgent parliamentary clarification. Appeals were allowed where the defendants hijacked an airplane in order to escape deportation to a hostile country. ‘The principles may be summarised thus. First, English law does, in extreme circumstances, recognise a defence of … Continue reading Regina v Abdul-Hussain; Regina v Aboud; Regina v Hasan: CACD 17 Dec 1998
The defendant resisted accelerated possession proceedings brought for rent arrears under his assured shorthold tenancy, by a private housing association who was a successor to a public authority. Held: Once the human rights issue was raised, the judge had an obligation to deal with it. He did not have an obligation to examine housing policy … Continue reading Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association Ltd v Donoghue: CA 27 Apr 2001
The claimants worked for Rotaprint when it went into receivership in 1988, and then for the receiver before being transferred to Pan Graphics. Statutory redundany payments were made on the receivership of Rotaprint. The claimants sought further redundancy payment on the insolvency of Rotaprint. The Secretary now appealed the decision of the EAT that payments … Continue reading Lassman and Others v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry: CA 19 Apr 2000
A knife fell from the defendant’s jeans during the course of a police search. He claimed to have forgotten about it. Held: It is important to concentrate on the time in respect of which the defendant is charged. Six days earlier he had the knife on him for a good reason, because the justices found … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Gregson: QBD 23 Sep 1992
A claimant’s claim for compensation on the compulsory acquisition of his land is but one claim for all those losses which flow from a compulsory acquisition of which the value of the land taken and any injury to retained land is but part of the compensation claim. The value of the land and the disturbance … Continue reading Hughes v Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council: HL 1991
The claimant was a serving a life sentence. During prison disciplinary proceedings he was refused legal and other assistance, and an outside tribunal on the basis that since any finding would not lead to any loss of remission or extra time, his rights to a fairtrial were not engaged. Held: The prisoner’s appeal was dismissed. … Continue reading Tangney v The Governor of HMP Elmley and Another: CA 29 Jul 2005
For possession of an indecent image of a child to be proved, it was necessary to establish some knowledge of its existence. Images stored without the defendant’s knowledge by browser software in a hidden cache, of which he was also unaware, were not such, and a conviction was quashed. The situation was akin to a … Continue reading Atkins v Director of Public Prosecutions; Goodland v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 8 Mar 2000
The tenant appealed against a refusal of what he said was his right to buy the flat he occupied. The Housing Association respondent and arbitrator had said that the tenancy had been assured, not secure and that therefore no right to buy had existed. After the grant of the tenancy, the Association had changed in … Continue reading Ali Bhai and Another v Black Roof Community Housing Association Ltd: CA 2 Nov 2000
One of two joint tenants under a tenancy protected under the Act, had left the property to get married and did not intend to return. The remaining tenant stayed until the end of the tenancy. The landlord claimed possession, arguing that the remaining tenant was not a statutory tenant protected by the statute because she … Continue reading Lloyd v Sadler: CA 1978
The accused sought to defend a charge on indictment of assault on a special defence of self-defence and gave notice of an intention to attack the character of the complainer and the other two Crown witnesses. He sought the previous convictions of the complainer and these witnesses, as well as those relating to a third … Continue reading Maan Petitioner: 2001
Fraudulent Intent Negated Trust The daughter claimant sought possession of business premises from her father who held them under leases. He claimed an order that the property was held in trust for him. The judge that at the time the properties were conveyed, the father had been fearful of a potential substantial liability and it … Continue reading Collier v Collier: CA 30 Jul 2002
Protection was sought under the 1954 Act for premises where the relevant occupation was partly residential and partly for the purposes of a business. Held: The Act will apply so long as the business activity is a significant purpose of occupation. It must be more than incidental. The business occupation must exist both at the … Continue reading Cheryl Investments v Saldanha: CA 1978
The parties disputed the validity of a clause in a car hire contract relating to the consequences of a breach. Held: (Majority) The agreement had been terminated by breach rather than by the exercise of an option, so that the stipulated payment could be, and in fact was, a penalty. Lord Morton said that had … Continue reading Campbell Discount Company Ltd v Bridge: HL 1962
The freeholder purported to let the house to the tenant ‘for the duration of the war’ Held: The term was uncertain, and therefore no lease was created. Lord Green MR said: ‘The intention was to create a tenancy and nothing else. The law says that it is bad as a tenancy. The court is not … Continue reading Lace v Chantler: CA 1944
21 people protested peacefully on the verge of the A344, next to the perimeter fence at Stonehenge. Some carried banners saying ‘Never Again,’ ‘Stonehenge Campaign 10 years of Criminal Injustice’ and ‘Free Stonehenge.’ The officer in charge concluded that they constituted a ‘trespassory assembly’ and told them so. When asked to move off, many did, … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Jones and Lloyd: HL 4 Mar 1999
The tenant was guilty of nuisance, but her misbehaviour was attributable to her psychotic state – her ‘disability’ within the 1995 Act. Held: Though a very pertinent factor to be taken into account may be a housing authority’s obligations to other tenants on a housing estate and the interests of those other tenants, though the … Continue reading North Devon Homes Housing Association v Brazier: QBD 2003
Administrative Discretion to be Used Reasonably The applicant challenged the manner of decision making as to the conditions which had been attached to its licence to open the cinema on Sundays. It had not been allowed to admit children under 15 years of age. The statute provided no appeal procedure, and the applicant sought a … Continue reading Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation: CA 10 Nov 1947
‘This appeal concerns the Scots law of gratuitous alienations on insolvency. It raises three principal questions. First, there is a question as to the interpretation of the term ‘adequate consideration’ in section 242(4)(b) of the Insolvency Act 1986. Secondly, there is the question whether the Inner House was entitled to interfere with the Lord Ordinary’s … Continue reading MacDonald and Another v Carnbroe Estates Ltd: SC 4 Dec 2019
The plaintiffs contracted to buy a plot of registered land with a house to be built on it. The developer had charged the estate as a whole to a bank to secure the development finance. The developer became insolvent and the bank sold the estate as mortgagee to the first defendant ‘subject to and with … Continue reading Lyus v Prowsa Developments Ltd: ChD 1982
By a tenancy agreement, the landlord of a dwelling house let to the tenant, on a weekly tenancy, four unfurnished rooms on the first floor of the house together with the use in common with the landlord of the back bedroom on the first floor and the use, in common with the landlord and others … Continue reading Goodrich v Paisner: HL 1956
The council sought to exercise its powers under the Act to take possession of part of the defendant’s property. Held: Denning LJ said: ‘It is necessary to consider the nature of the power to requisition land. It is only a power to take possession of land. It is not a power to acquire any estate … Continue reading Lewisham Borough Council v Roberts: CA 1949
The defendant appealed a conviction of possession of indecent pseudo-photographs of children. He said that he had not seen the image, and that though he had reason to know the images were indecent, he had no reason to know that they were of children. Held: The defence in section 160(2)(b) succeeded if the defendant had … Continue reading Regina v Collier: CACD 11 Jun 2004
A claim was made for the price of goods sold and delivered. The defendant’s solicitor gave an oral undertaking to his counterpart to procure the execution by directors of his client company of charges over their homes in return for an adjournment sine die. The charges were not executed, and the defendant company went into … Continue reading Udall v Capri Lighting Ltd (in liquidation): CA 1987
Mrs Jolly let a farm to her son who paid rent until 1881, but not thereafter, and her title to the farm was extinguished in 1893. She died in 1898. The question which arose was whether at her death any rent arrears remained due. Held: The extinction of the title also determined her entitlement to … Continue reading In Re Jolly: CA 1900
A landlord gave notice to quit to a tenant subject to an assured shorthold tenancy. Held: The notice did not include the instructions and advice required by the Regulations, and so could not be said to be substantially in the same form. The notice was accordingly invalid. It had been quite wrong of the judge … Continue reading Manel and Others v Memon: CA 20 Apr 2000
The claimant advanced funds to the respondent for him to invest in a bank of which the claimant had insider knowledge. In fact the defendant did not invest the funds, the knowledge was incorrect. The defendant however did not return the sums advanced, saying he need not return it because the contract was for an … Continue reading Patel v Mirza: SC 20 Jul 2016
Illegal intent alone rebutted presumption The plaintiff held 499 of the 500 issued shares of a company. In 1986 he wished to retire and transferred 30 shares to his son, one of four children, who was to take over the business. In 1988 he was worried about a bill for dilapidations, and, to safeguard his … Continue reading Tribe v Tribe: CA 26 Jul 1995
The Attorney General referred the defendant’s sentence to the court as being unduly lenient. The judge had remarked as to the overcrowding of prisons. He had passed a suspended sentence of 12 months in a young offenders’ institution with 100 hours community service for possession with intent to supply of a class A drug. Held: … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference (No 11 of 2006) Regina v Scarth: CACD 21 Mar 2006
The applcant challenged a provision which imposed criminal liability on a director of a body which had committed a criminal offence ‘unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence’. The Commission found the application to be manifestly ill-founded. … Continue reading Attorney General v Malta: 10 Dec 1991
Trustees in bankruptcy of bankrupt husbands successfully appealed for the removal of provisos delaying the operation of orders for sale made under s30 in respect of each husband’s matrimonial home for the benefit of that husband’s wife who had been declared by the judge at first instance to be an equal owner with the husband … Continue reading Re Citro, Lloyds Bank plc v Byrne and Byrne, Abbey National plc v Moss and others and Barclays Bank plc v Hendricks: CA 1991
Two women parties used funds generated by a joint business venture to buy a house in which they lived together. It was vested in the sole name of the plaintiff but on the understanding that they were joint beneficial owners. The purpose of the arrangement was so that false benefit claims could be made to … Continue reading Tinsley v Milligan: HL 28 Jun 1993
Houses were built next to a common. Over many years the owners had driven over the common. The landowners appealed a decision that they could not acquire a right of way by prescription over the common because such use had been unlawful as a criminal offence under section 193 of the Law of Property Act … Continue reading Bakewell Management Limited v Brandwood and others: HL 1 Apr 2004
The appellant had lived for a number of years with his grandmother; had then married; had thereupon moved with his bride for three months into a house owned by friends who were abroad; had, throughout that time, left the bulk of his belongings at the grandmother’s property; at the expiry of the three months had … Continue reading Camden London Borough Council v Goldenberg and Another: CA 1 Apr 1996
The claimant’s son had been stabbed to death. She challenged the refusal of the coroner to continue with the inquest with a view to examining the responsibility of any of the police in having failed to protect him. Held: The question amounted to asking whether the coroner’s decision on the resumption should have been affected … Continue reading Hurst, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v London Northern District Coroner: HL 28 Mar 2007
(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 share information was outwith the powers of the Parliament. It extended the information to be … Continue reading The Christian Institute and Others v The Lord Advocate: SC 28 Jul 2016
The commissioners obtained court orders directing the applicant bank to disclose confidential information in their possession. The bank resisted on the ground that the demand breached their rights to confidentiality and to privacy. Although the orders did infringe the Bank’s article 8 rights, the notices were valid because the interference was justified under article 8(2). … Continue reading Regina v Inland Revenue Commissioners Ex Parte Banque Internationale a Luxembourg Sa: Admn 23 Jun 2000
The commissioners obtained court orders directing the applicant bank to disclose confidential information in their possession. The bank resisted on the ground that the demand breached their rights to confidentiality and to privacy. Although the orders did infringe the Bank’s article 8 rights, the notices were valid because the interference was justified under article 8(2). … Continue reading Regina v Inland Revenue Commissioners Ex Parte Banque Internationale A Luxembourg Sa: QBD 27 Jul 2000
A lockable folding knife was a fixed blade knife where a process was required in order to refold it. To be ‘a folding pocket-knife’ the blade has to be readily and immediately foldable at all times simply by the folding process. It held that a knife which on opening automatically locks and cannot be folded … Continue reading Harris v Director of Public Prosecutions; Fehmi v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 9 Sep 1992
Family law proceedings such as judicial separation do give rise to civil rights. In complex cases article 6 might require some provision for legal assistance, the precise form being a matter for the member state. The Court reiterated the importance of the right of access to a court, having regard to the prominent place held … Continue reading Airey v Ireland: ECHR 9 Oct 1979
Shopmoor’s predecessors demised premises for 150 years at a yearly rent of andpound;100 on payment of a premium. A covenant provided that the tenant was not to assign or sublet without the landlord’s consent, not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed. In April 1996 Norwich Union contracted to sale of the lease, conditional on a … Continue reading Norwich Union Life Insurance Society v Shopmoor Ltd: ChD 1999
Each applicant had been subject to confiscation in criminal proceedings relating to drugs offences. They complained that the legislation had reversed the burden of proof. Held: ‘it was not incompatible with the notion of a fair hearing in criminal proceedings to place the onus on each applicant to give a credible account of his current … Continue reading Grayson and Barnham v The United Kingdom: ECHR 23 Sep 2008
The defendant appealed against a conviction for possession of a prohibited weapon, namely an MAC 10 submachine gun. It was the opinion of an expert at that laboratory that the weapon was capable of burst fire. It had been adapted to prevent this, but the adaptation was not fully effective with the result that it … Continue reading Regina v Law: CACD 1 Feb 1999
Reference to Parliamentary Papers behind Statute The inspector sought to tax the benefits in kind received by teachers at a private school in having their children educated at the school for free. Having agreed this was a taxable emolument, it was argued as to whether the taxable benefit was the cost to the employer, or … Continue reading Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart: HL 26 Nov 1992
The trustee in bankruptcy had taken a charge on the property in 1992 to support the bankruptcy in 1988. He sought to enforce it in 2005. The chargor appealed an order which denied he was protected by limitation. Held: The appeal succeeded. Charges under the 1986 Act were unusual in that they were not preceded … Continue reading Doodes v Gotham, Perry: ChD 17 Nov 2005
An horrific rape had taken place. The defendant was arrested on a separate matter, tried and acquitted. He was tried under a false ID. His DNA sample should have been destroyed but wasn’t. Had his identity been known, his DNA could have been kept because of other convictions. He was arrested for the rape after … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference No. 3 of 1999: HL 14 Dec 2000
The appellant appealed against a finding of contempt of court at common law as regards a report in Punch published when he had been its editor. Held: The appeal succeeded. The A-G had failed to establish the mens rea of contempt in the appellant.The issue boiled down to whether an injunction could bind a third … Continue reading Steen v Her Majesty’s Attorney General; Attorney-General v Punch Ltd and Another: CA 23 Mar 2001
A logo had been created for the claimants, by an independent sub-contractor. They sought assignment of their legal title, but, knowing of the claimant’s interest the copyright was assigned to a third party out of the jurisdiction. The claimant sought an order for its transfer, and an order was so made. Before it was perfected … Continue reading R Griggs Group Ltd and others v Evans and others (No 2): ChD 12 May 2004
Standing to Claim under A1P1 ECHR The appellants had written employers’ liability insurance policies. They appealed against rejection of their challenge to the 2009 Act which provided that asymptomatic pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis should constitute actionable harm for the purposes of an action of damages for personal injury. Held: The insurers’ appeals failed. … Continue reading AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others: SC 12 Oct 2011
The court considered correct approach to determination of the rateable value of an office building, in circumstances where the evidence showed at the relevant time a general demand in the area for comparable office buildings, but no actual tenant willing to pay a positive price for the building itself. Held: (Briggs, Black LL dissenting) The … Continue reading Telereal Trillium v Hewitt (Valuation Officer): SC 15 May 2019
An authority serving a notice to treat no longer has a statutory power to acquire land in circumstances where the order under which the notice had been served was for the acquisition of land for specific purposes which the authority had abandoned. Accordingly, the notice to treat was no longer effective. As to the effect … Continue reading Grice and another v Dudley Corporation: ChD 1958
Registered land was bought with an advance from the plaintiff. The transfer and charge were registered one month later, but in the meantime, the buyer’s parents moved in. When the buyer defaulted, his mother resisted possession proceedings, saying that she had an overriding interest through her occupation at the time when the charge was registered. … Continue reading Abbey National Building Society v Cann: HL 29 Mar 1990
A company had granted a debenture over all its assets, present and future, but wishing to acquire an additional property, it approached a third party who agreed to finance the purchase against a charge. It contracted to buy the property at pounds 1,100, with pounds 150 deposit on exchange. The company duly paid the deposit. … Continue reading In re Connolly Brothers Ltd (No. 2): CA 1912
The leaving of furniture in a flat or having a key to the flat or making occasional use of it was not enough to constitute actual occupation. Where A permits B to occupy land on B’s own behalf by way of gratuitous licence, A’s capacity as licensor will not by itself entitle him to claim … Continue reading Strand Securities Ltd v Caswell: CA 2 Feb 1965
A couple were not married but lived together in Vincent Farmhouse in which the plaintiff claimed a beneficial interest on separation. The female partner was told by the male partner that the only reason for not acquiring the property in joint names was because she was involved in divorce proceedings and that, if the property … Continue reading Grant v Edwards and Edwards: CA 24 Mar 1986
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 to seek damages against advisers to … Continue reading Johnson v Gore Wood and Co: HL 14 Dec 2000
Section 89 does not apply to an order for possession made by the High Court, and an application for an adjournment of a possession order must be refused. The word ‘Court’ must be construed to refer to the County Court only: ‘possession of a dwelling house under a rental purchase agreement is a matter which … Continue reading Bain and Co v Church Commissioners for England: ChD 1989
The deceased had committed suicide in prison. His family felt that the risk should have been known to the prison authorities, and that they had failed to guard against that risk. The coroner had requested an explanatory note from the jury. Held: The jury should indeed have been given opportunity to explain their verdict: ‘By … Continue reading Middleton, Regina (on the Application of) v Coroner for the Western District of Somerset: HL 11 Mar 2004
The wife joined in a charge on the family home to secure her husband’s business borrowings. The husband was found to have misrepresented to her the effect of the deed, and the bank had been aware that she might be reluctant to sign the deed. Held: The charge was not to be enforced. The bank … Continue reading Barclays Bank Plc v O’Brien and Another: HL 21 Oct 1993
The plaintiff firm of solicitors sought to recover money which had been stolen from them by a partner, and then gambled away with the defendant. He had purchased their gaming chips, and the plaintiff argued that these, being gambling debts, were worthless, and that therefore no consideration had been given. Held: The casino’s defence succeeded. … Continue reading Lipkin Gorman (a Firm) v Karpnale Ltd: HL 6 Jun 1991
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 be in possession of any materials for causing damage. The claimant said that the officer … Continue reading Howarth v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis: QBD 3 Nov 2011
The Court considered whether, on exercising a break clause in a lease, the tenant was entitled to recover rent paid in advance. Held: The appeal failed. The Court of Appeal had imposed what was established law. The test for whether a clause might be implied in a contract is: ‘that it is necessary for business … Continue reading Marks and Spencer Plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Company (Jersey) Ltd and Another: SC 2 Dec 2015
Natural causes were responsible for soil collapsing onto neighbouring houses in Bridgwater. Held: An occupier of land owes a general duty of care to a neighbouring occupier in relation to a hazard occurring on his land, whether such hazard is natural or man-made (the ‘hazard’ being an unstable mound of earth which was present on … Continue reading Leakey v The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty: CA 31 Jul 1979
ECHR Grand Chamber – Article 1 Jurisdiction of states Jurisdiction of Armenia as regards Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent occupied territories Article 8 Article 8-1 Respect for family life Respect for home Respect for private life Denial of access to homes to Azerbaijani citizens displaced in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: violation Article 13 Effective … Continue reading Chiragov And Others v Armenia: ECHR 16 Jun 2015
ECHR Article 1 Jurisdiction of states Jurisdiction of Azerbaijan as regards a disputed area near Nagorno-Karabakh on the territory of Azerbaijan Article 8 Article 8-1 Respect for family life Respect for home Respect for private life Impossibility for an Armenian citizen displaced in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to gain access to his home … Continue reading Sargsyan v Azerbaijan: ECHR 16 Jun 2015
These appeals concern the statutory provisions governing the eligibility for compensation of persons convicted of a criminal offence where their conviction is subsequently quashed (or they are pardoned) because of the impact of fresh evidence. It was argued that the failure to make payment amounted to a denial of the right to the presumption of … Continue reading Hallam, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 30 Jan 2019
FTTTx CORPORATION TAX – deductions for amortisation of goodwill – Schedule 29 FA 2002 – whether goodwill purchased on a transfer of trade in September 2004 or whether a migration of trade – market value of goodwill – principles for determining market value of goodwill on transfer of trade – whether a transfer of trading … Continue reading Spring Capital Ltd v Revenue and Customs and Others: FTTTx 10 Feb 2015
The bank had obtained a judgement against the defendant, and took a charging order. Nothing happened for more than twelve years, and the defendant now argued that the order and debt was discharged. Held: The enforcement of the charging order by normal means is not barred by section 20(1), and unlike the position under a … Continue reading Yorkshire Bank Finance Ltd v Mulhall and Another: CA 24 Oct 2008
Appeals were made against pronouncements for the validity of a will and against the validity of an earlier will. The solicitor drawing the will was to receive a benefit, and had requested an independent solicitor to see the testatrix and ensure that she understood it, and that it represented her wishes. He then witnessed the … Continue reading Hoff and others v Atherton: CA 19 Nov 2004
Capacity for Litigation The claimant appealed against dismissal of his claims. He had earlier settled a claim for damages, but now sought to re-open it, and to claim in negligence against his former solicitors, saying that he had not had sufficient mental capacity at the time to accept the offer. Held: There is no definition … Continue reading Masterman-Lister v Brutton and Co, Jewell and Home Counties Dairies (No 1): CA 19 Dec 2002
A company went into liquidation, being owed substantial sums by another company in the same group, but itself insolvent. A settlement did not include accrued interest, but was claimed to be taxed as if it had, and on an accruals basis. If so, was this an expense properly arising in the insolvency, and payable as … Continue reading Kahn and Another v Commissioners of Inland Revenue; In re Toshoku Finance plc: HL 20 Feb 2002
Minor Irregularity in Break Notice Not Fatal Leases contained clauses allowing the tenant to break the lease by serving not less than six months notice to expire on the third anniversary of the commencement date of the term of the lease. The tenant gave notice to determine the leases on 12th January 1995, although the … Continue reading Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Assurance: HL 21 May 1997
A failure by a landlord under the pre-1996 assured shorthold tenancy regime, to insert the correct tenancy dates in a shorthold notice, meant that the tenancy became an assured tenancy, since the arrangement failed to meet the requirements to create a shorthold tenancy. The divisional court had decided that the landlord’s possession action had failed, … Continue reading Clickex Ltd v McCann: CA 26 May 1999
What makes a road a Road? The Court was asked whether a Road was a ‘road’ for the purposes of the 1984 Act’ Held: It has often been said that the public access mentioned in the definition of ‘road’ must be both actual access and legal or lawful access. However, simple reference to a requirement … Continue reading Bowen and Others v Isle of Wight Council: ChD 3 Dec 2021
A mother sought to challenge guidelines issued by the respondent which would allow doctors to protect the confidentiality of women under 16 who came to them for assistance even though the sexual activities they might engage in would be unlawful. Held: A person under 16 who was otherwise competent was entitled to seek medical assistance, … Continue reading Axon, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another: Admn 23 Jan 2006
The parties’ respective properties were separated by a fence or hedge and the true owner had no access to the disputed land. In 1967 the Defendants’ predecessors in title began to maintain the land by mowing the grass and trimming the hedges and using the land for their own purposes. The evidence was that the … Continue reading Buckinghamshire County Council v Moran: CA 13 Feb 1989
Disapplication of Without Prejudice Rules The House was asked whether a letter sent during without prejudice negotiations which acknowledged a debt was admissible to restart the limitation period. An advice centre, acting for the borrower had written, in answer to a claim by the lender for the sum still due after the sale of the … Continue reading Bradford and Bingley Plc v Rashid: HL 12 Jul 2006
There had been a trial of 35 days regarding rights of way over land, which had proved fruitless, and where some orders had been made without jurisdiction. The result had been inconclusive. The costs order was now appealed, the plaintiff complaining that the judge had failed to take into account an offer of settlement made … Continue reading Cutts v Head and Another: CA 7 Dec 1983
The parties disputed ownership of land, one claiming adverse possession. In the course of negotations, the possessor made a without prejudice offer to purchase the paper owner’s title. The paper owner claimed that this was an acknowledgement under section 29. Held: The letter should not be admitted. Any admission in the first letter could not … Continue reading Ofulue and Another v Bossert: HL 11 Mar 2009
Tenants of council flats with ineffective sound insulation argued that the landlord council was in breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment in their tenancy agreements. Held: A landlord’s duty to allow quiet enjoyment does not extend to a positive duty to require an improvement in the sound-proofing of a building, well beyond standards which … Continue reading Southwark London Borough Council v Mills/Tanner; Baxter v Camden London Borough Council: HL 21 Oct 1999
Mr Harrison was convicted by the Sheriff-substitute of an offence under section 7(4) of the 1930 Act on the ground that, while disqualified from holding a driving licence, he had driven a vehicle on a specific road. The Sheriff-substitute stated a case for appeal to the High Court. The facts admitted or proved included the … Continue reading Harrison v Hill: 1932
The former bankrupt resisted sale of his property by the trustee, saying that enforcement was barred by limitation. He and his wife bought the property in early 1988, and he was made bankrupt in October 1988. He was dischaged from bankruptcy in October 1991. In December 1990 the court answered an application for the sale … Continue reading Gotham v Doodes: CA 25 Jul 2006
The court was asked whether a letter could be admitted in evidence and relied upon as an act of bankruptcy. The letter was sent by the debtor to the creditor at a time when there was no dispute, headed ‘without prejudice’. It contained an offer of composition but threatening that payment would be suspended unless … Continue reading In Re Daintrey, Ex Parte Holt: QBD 8 May 1893
The appellant had been convicted by justices of an offence of being in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle on a public place while unfit through drink, contrary to section 4 of the 1988 Act. The issue was whether the vehicle was on a public place. The place in question was a private car park … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Richardson: Admn 27 Nov 2014
The landlord had assigned the reversion of the lease. There was an outstanding dispute with the tenant defendant who owed arrears of rent, but sought to set these off against a claim for damages for the landlord’s failure to construct the factory in the first place. Held: The new landlord was not liable for the … Continue reading Edlington Properties Limited v J H Fenner and Co Limited: CA 22 Mar 2006
Appeal against refusal to set aside possession order made under assured shorthold tenancy. No rent was paid on three rent days, but then the Housing benefit begand clearing arrears in part. Held: It is settled law that the notice requiring possession need not follow exactly the words of the section. Hallett, Davis, Floyd LJJ [2014] … Continue reading Masih, Regina (on The Application of) v Yousaf: CA 6 Feb 2014
Each applicant sought an interim order against the Scottish Minister with respect to their treatment in prison. It had been found that the conditions in Barlinnie Prison were inhumane. The Crown responded that the court had no jurisdiction to make such an order. Held: McDonald is binding on the court. An interim order could not … Continue reading Petition of Andrew Scott and Scott Davidson for Judicial Review of A Decision To Continue Their Detention In Inhumane Prison Conditions: SCS 26 Oct 2001
