The court considered the interaction of the 1934 and 1976 Acts.
[2007] EWHC 1875 (QB)
Fatal Accidents Acts 1976, Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934
England and Wales
Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.261911
The defendant solicitors were joint tortfeasors, having failed to make an application to court in a timely fashion, when it might have succeeded. It defended the claim saying that had the claimant issued proceedings against a second firm that firm would also have been liable.
Held: The ‘but for test’ set out in Iraqi Airways was satisfied in this case. The claim fell within the purpose of the law imposing liability for professional negligence. Nothing prevented the claim against the defendant. The possible liability of a second party did not absolve the defendant.
Lewison J
Times 01-Sep-2005
England and Wales
Cited – Kuwait Airways Corporation v Iraqi Airways Company and Others (Nos 4 and 5) HL 16-May-2002
After the invasion of Kuwait, the Iraqi government had dissolved Kuwait airlines, and appropriated several airplanes. Four planes were destroyed by Allied bombing, and 6 more were appropriated again by Iran.
Held: The appeal failed. No claim . .
Cited – Finecard International Ltd (T/A the Ninja Corporation) v Urquhart Dyke and Lord (A Firm) and Another ChD 10-Nov-2005
The defendants sought an interim ruling that they were not the cause of the claimant’s losses. They had acted as patent agents to license to exploit the claimant’s patent in the UK. They alleged that the failure to complete the registration of the . .
See Also – Vision Golf Ltd v Weightmans (A Firm) ChD 21-Jul-2006
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.229997
The sellers claimed under a sale contract against buyers who had refused to accept goods. By reason of the buyer’s non-acceptance of the goods, the sellers had incurred storage charges to their own suppliers with whom they had entered into an agreement which effectively made recovery of the storage charges contingent upon recovery of the storage charges from the buyers.
Rosklii J said: ‘Next there are the storage charges . . [Counsel] correctly summarised the final position by saying that the bargain was that the Russian sellers would only claim against the plaintiffs if the plaintiffs could recover those charges from the defendants in this action. [Counsel] argued that an arrangement of that kind barred the plaintiffs recovering in this action. For my part I am unable to see why. The plaintiffs have – and this was not contested – apart from any agreement with the Russian sellers, a perfectly good claim for these storage charges. Why the plaintiffs should not make an arrangement for their own sellers, ‘we will claim these and hand the proceeds over to you if we recover provided you let us off if we do not’, I am unable to see. Nor do I see why the existence of such an arrangement should afford the defendants a defence which they would not otherwise possess. It seems to me an eminently sensible commercial arrangement . . ‘
Roskill J
[1967] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 509
England and Wales
Cited – Giles v Thompson, Devlin v Baslington (Conjoined Appeals) HL 1-Jun-1993
Car hire companies who pursued actions in motorists’ names to recover the costs of hiring a replacement vehicle after an accident, from negligent drivers, were not acting in a champertous and unlawful manner. Lord Mustill said: ‘there exists in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 13 July 2022; Ref: scu.272902
The plaintiff reared lobsters in tanks into which seawater was pumped for the purpose of oxygenation. The whole purpose of the pumps was to preserve the health of the lobsters. Due to the negligence of the third defendant, the pumps cut out and the lobsters died from lack of oxygen.
Held: The death of the lobsters was physical damage and was recoverable.
O’Connor LJ, Robert Goff LJ, Nourse LJ
[1985] EWCA Civ 16, [1986] 1 QB 507, [1985] 3 All ER 705
England and Wales
Cited – D Pride and Partners (A Firm) and Others v Institute for Animal Health and Others QBD 31-Mar-2009
The claimants sought damages after the loss of business when the defendants’ premises were the source of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The organism had escaped from their premises via a broken drain.
Held: Much of the damage claimed . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 12 July 2022; Ref: scu.262662
Arbitrator to award all costs even if award much less than original claim.
Phillips J said: ‘It is always necessary to exercise the greatest care before applying the reasoning in one case to a different factual situation, and this is particularly true in the field of damages. The majority of the Court in Ruxley Electronics did not hold that a plaintiff can recover in damages the cost of remedial measures which are unreasonable. They held that, in the circumstances of that case it was not unreasonable for the plaintiff to spend the substantial sum necessary to have what he had contracted for. The test of what was reasonable had to have regard to his personal preference, as expressed in the depth of water that he had contractually required. This reasoning can be applied to a requirement which is incorporated in a contract as an end in itself, reflecting a personal preference of the contracting party. It does not apply where the contractual requirement is not an end in itself, but is inserted into a commercial contract because it has financial implications. If, in such a case, the contractual requirement is not met, the costs of remedial measures will not normally be recoverable as damages if they are disproportionate to the financial consequences of the breach. If that is the case it will not be reasonable to incur those costs. The damages recoverable will be those necessary to compensate for the financial consequences of the breach.’
Phillips J
Times 05-Apr-1994, [1994] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 161
England and Wales
Cited – Ruxley Electronics and Construction Ltd v Forsyth CA 7-Jan-1994
In 1986, the defendant, wanted a swimming pool adjoining his house. He contracted with the plaintiffs. The contract price for the pool, with certain extras, was 17,797.40 pounds including VAT. The depth of the pool was to be 6 ft 6 in at the deep . .
Cited – Ruxley Electronics and Construction Ltd v Forsyth HL 29-Jun-1995
Damages on Construction not as Agreed
The appellant had contracted to build a swimming pool for the respondent, but, after agreeing to alter the specification to construct it to a certain depth, in fact built it to the original lesser depth, Damages had been awarded to the house owner . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 12 July 2022; Ref: scu.78974
The claimants were husband and wife. They had six children. The wife was severely disabled and confined to a wheelchair. In breach of their duty under section 21(1)(a) of the 1948 Act, the respondent council failed for some 20 months to provide the family with accommodation suited to her disability. The consequences were appalling. The wife was doubly incontinent and, because there was no wheelchair access to the lavatory, was forced to defecate and urinate on the living-room floor. And she was unable to play any part in looking after her six children.
Held: The respondent’s failure was a clear breach of the claimant’s article 8 rights and not at all finely balanced. The court awarded andpound;10,000 damages.
Sullivan J
[2002] EWHC 2282 (Admin), [2003] HRLR 111, [2003] LGR 423
Human Rights Act 1998 8, National Assistance Act 1948 21(1)(a)
England and Wales
Cited – McDonald, Regina (on The Application of) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea SC 6-Jul-2011
The claimant, a former prima ballerina, had suffered injury as she grew old. She came to suffer a condition requiring her to urinate at several points during each night. The respondent had been providing a carer to stay with her each night to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 11 July 2022; Ref: scu.258663
Warren J
[2007] EWHC 454 (Ch)
England and Wales
Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.250017
Dispute as to quantification of damages for libel. An offer of amends had been made, but the parties could not agree the sum payable.
Pill LJ, Keene LJ, Moses LJ
[2006] EWCA Civ 540, [2006] 1 WLR 3469, [2006] EMLR 703, [2006] 4 All ER 613
England and Wales
Cited – Burstein v Times Newspapers Ltd CA 20-Dec-2000
Where a defendant in a defamation action sought to reduce the damages payable by arguing that the claimant had a reduced or damaged reputation, he could include evidence about particular facts only where these were directly connected to the . .
Cited – Kaschke v Gray and Another QBD 23-Jul-2010
The claimant sought damages in defamation saying that the defendants had published a web page which falsely associated her with a terrorist gang in the 1970s. The defendants now sought a strike out of her claim as an abuse saying that a similar . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.245867
Quantification of claim for damages for damage from tree roots. Costs order.
Ramset J
[2006] EWHC 2014 (TCC)
England and Wales
Main judgment – Eiles v London Borough of Southwark TCC 22-Jun-2006
Claim for damages – subsidence caused by tree roots. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 08 July 2022; Ref: scu.245898
LT COMPENSATION – injurious affection – Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 s 10 – preliminary issue – motorway service area – junction alterations affecting trade – whether damage suffered as result of ‘works’ – whether particular damage suffered – held claim for compensation may lie.
[2006] EWLands LCA – 122 – 2005
Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 10
England and Wales
Cited – Ocean Leisure Ltd v Westminster City Council LT 31-Dec-2003
LT COMPENSATION – injurious affection – hoardings erected in street during construction works outside shop premises – preliminary issue – whether claim under Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 s 10 valid – held . .
Appeal from – Moto Hospitality Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport CA 26-Jul-2007
The company sought damages to its business on a motorway service station when works closed an access road.
Held: The Secretary of State’s appeal succeeded. A claim for compensation under section 10 had not been established, at least in respect . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 07 July 2022; Ref: scu.244522
[2006] EWCA Civ 1104
England and Wales
Updated: 07 July 2022; Ref: scu.244105
Nugee QC DHCJ
[2006] EWHC 1766 (Ch)
England and Wales
See Also – Vision Golf v Weightmans (a Firm) ChD 26-Jul-2005
The defendant solicitors were joint tortfeasors, having failed to make an application to court in a timely fashion, when it might have succeeded. It defended the claim saying that had the claimant issued proceedings against a second firm that firm . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 07 July 2022; Ref: scu.243988
Where a court was asked to approve a settlement of a claim for damages on behalf of a minor plaintiff, the approval should normally be a public act made in open court.
Times 20-May-1999
England and Wales
Updated: 07 July 2022; Ref: scu.78343
Appeal by the claimant against the decision of a Social Security Appeal Tribunal and it relates to a certificate in respect of compensation recovery.
[1996] NISSCSC C1/96(CRS)
Northern Ireland
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.240639
Forbes J
[2006] EWHC 820 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.240427
Damages for breach of restrictive covenant.
[2006] EWCA Civ 225
England and Wales
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.239212
The claimant said that the defendant had accused her of falsifying hospital waiting statistics. The defendant pleaded justification.
Held: There were stark differences in the evidence given by different witnesses. Nevertheless the evidence that there had been wrongdoing was sufficient. Though not all the imputations had been proved to be true, in the light of what had been shown, the remaining untrue implication could not further damage the claimant’s reputation.
Gray J
[2006] EWHC 386 (QB), [2006] 1 All ER 154
England and Wales
Cited – In re H and R (Minors) (Child Sexual Abuse: Standard of Proof) HL 14-Dec-1995
Evidence allowed – Care Application after Abuse
Children had made allegations of serious sexual abuse against their step-father. He was acquitted at trial, but the local authority went ahead with care proceedings. The parents appealed against a finding that a likely risk to the children had still . .
Cited – Nina Naicker Gow v Dr Rosemary Harker CA 31-Jul-2003
The defendant had taken a blood sample. The claimant asserted that because the needle had been inserted incorrectly she had suffered damage to her wrist.
Held: Guidance from cases involving allegations of fraud could be relevant when assessing . .
Cited – Armagas Ltd v Mundogas SA (‘The Ocean Frost’) HL 22-May-1985
Ostensible authority creates estoppel
Apparent authority as agent can arise where an employer by words or conduct has represented that his employee, who has purported to act on behalf of the employer, is authorised to do what he is purporting to do. Ostensible authority depends on a . .
See Also – Henry v British Broadcasting Corporation QBD 11-Nov-2005
. .
See Also – Henry v British Broadcasting Corporation QBD 2-Dec-2005
The defendant reported an enquiry as to the alleged falsification of waiting list figures at a local hospital. It argued for a Reymolds qualified privilege and justification. . .
Cited – Garrett v Halton Borough Council CA 16-Mar-2007
The defendants argued that the conditional fee agreement in use by the claimant’s solicitors was void and so in breach of the rules.
Held: In assessing whether there was any ‘interest’ for the purposes of the Regulation, the court looked to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.238933
Tomlinson J
[2006] EWHC 102 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.238554
Peter Smith J
[2006] EWHC 184 (Ch)
England and Wales
Cited – Tilling v Whiteman HL 1980
Lord Scarman said: ‘Preliminary points of law are too often treacherous short cuts. Their price can be, as here, delay, anxiety and expense.’
Lord Wilberforce said: ‘The judge took what has turned out to be an unfortunate course. Instead of . .
See Also – WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund); World Wildlife Fund Inc v World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc CA 27-Feb-2002
The claimant sought enforcement of a contract restricting the use by the appellant defendant of the initials ‘WWF’ in their trading. The agreement had been reached in settlement of an action for breach of the claimant’s trade mark rights. The . .
See Also – World Wide Fund for Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund), World Wildlife Fund Incorporated v World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Incorporated – Intervener Jakks Pacific Llc CA 27-Mar-2003
. .
Appeal from – WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and Another v World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc CA 2-Apr-2007
The parties had disputed use of the initals WWF, with a compromise reached in 1994 allowing primary use by the Fund with restricted use by the Federation. The Federation now appealed an award of damages made after a finding of a breach of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.238543
LT COMPENSATION – planning permission – discontinuance order – preliminary issue – airfield – scope and effect of planning permissions granted under s73A of Town and Country Planning Act 1990 – whether conditions would continue to bind adjoining land the subject of an earlier, less restrictive planning permission – issue estoppel – abuse of powers – held conditions would not continue to bind adjoining land – held compensating authority estopped from so contending.
[2006] EWLands LCA – 73 – 2002
England and Wales
Cited – Newbury District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment HL 1980
Issues arose as to a new planning permission for two existing hangars.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The question of the validity of conditions attached to planning permissions will sometimes be a difficult one. To be valid, a condition must be . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.238408
LT COMPENSATION – compulsory purchase – houses in disrepair – owner of intermediate long leasehold interest not responding to CPO – value – comparable transactions – Land Compensation Act 1961 Part 1 – compensation
[2005] UKLands ACQ – 5 – 2004
Updated: 01 July 2022; Ref: scu.229247
Copyright was claimed in a draft legal agreement. Infringement was established, but the court was asked to look at the assessment of damages.
Held: ‘what is the basis upon which damages for breach of copyright are awarded? The question cannot be answered without consideration of the nature of the wrongdoing which breach of copyright represents. The nature of the wrong is clear enough. In a case where the copyright work is a written document, it consists in the unauthorised use of the actual text of the document. It does not consist in pirating the idea or ideas to be found in the text.’ The claimed loss was not attributable to any breach of copyright: not because it was unforeseeable or otherwise too remote . . . but because in principle . . . it lies beyond the scope of protection which the law of copyright affords.’ The judge had lost hold of the distinction between the loss which flowed from the copying of the text and that which flowed from the copying of the ideas. The appeal succeeded.
[2005] EWCA Civ 931
England and Wales
Cited – Sutherland Publishing Co Ltd v Caxton Publishing Co Ltd CA 1936
. .
Cited – Paterson Zochonis and Co v Merfarken Packaging Ltd CA 1986
The normal measure of damages for copyright infringement is the amount by which the copyright is depreciated, by the infringement, as a chose in action. . .
Cited – Work Model Enterprises Limited v ECO System Limited 1996
There had been an admitted infringement of copyright by a competitor who copied the claimant’s brochure.
Held: The infringement did not cause the lost sales which were the result of legitimate competition. . .
Cited – Gerber Garment Technology Inc v Lectra Systems Ltd ChD 30-Jan-1995
A prior art recital in a Patent application is strong but rebuttable evidence of the state of knowledge. . .
Cited – Jolley v Sutton London Borough Council HL 24-May-2000
An abandoned boat had been left on its land and not removed by the council. Children tried to repair it, jacked it up, and a child was injured when it fell. It was argued for the boy, who now appealed dismissal of his claim by the Court of Appeal, . .
Cited – Gerber Garment Technology Inc v Lectra Systems Limited Lectra Systemes SA CA 18-Dec-1996
The plaintiffs claimed damages for patent infringement. Some of the lost profits for which the plaintiff company claimed damages were suffered by subsidiary companies in which it held all the shares.
Held: When a shareholder has a cause of . .
Cited – South Australia Asset Management Corporation v York Montague Ltd etc HL 24-Jun-1996
Limits of Damages for Negligent Valuations
Damages for negligent valuations are limited to the foreseeable consequences of advice, and do not include losses arising from a general fall in values. Valuation is seldom an exact science, and within a band of figures valuers may differ without . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 01 July 2022; Ref: scu.228963
[2005] EWHC 1053 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 01 July 2022; Ref: scu.227001
Request for judicial review of refusal to pay compensation for wrongful detention in prison after end of sentence.
Bennett J
[2004] EWHC 3084 (Admin)
European Convention on Human Rights 5(5)
England and Wales
Updated: 01 July 2022; Ref: scu.226917
The local authority sought repayment from a negligent hospital of the cost of services it had had to provide to an injured patient. They said that the hospital had failed to advise the patient to resume taking warfarin when her operation was postponed, with the result that she suffered a stroke, which rendered her incapable of looking after herself and required institutional care funded by her local authority. They said that the duty owed by the Trust was a duty not to treat or fail to treat the patient in such a way that she would foreseeably suffer injury, which would cause financial loss to the council in the provision and the care it was obliged to provide.
Held: The claim failed. Though the loss was reasonably foreseeable, but (by a majority) there was not a sufficient degree of proximity between the parties to found the duty of care and it was not fair, just and reasonable to impose such a duty on the Trust.
Buxton LJ said on the issue of reasonable foreseeability: ‘The level of certainty required for an outcome to be deemed, after the event, to have been foreseeable is to a large extent a matter of impression.’
Buxton LJ, Clarke LJ, Ouseley J
[2005] EWCA Civ 596, Times 28-Jun-2005
England and Wales
Cited – Bourhill v Young’s Executor HL 5-Aug-1942
When considering claims for damages for shock, the court only recognised the action lying where the injury by shock was sustained ‘through the medium of the eye or the ear without direct contact.’ Wright L said: ‘No doubt, it has long ago been . .
Cited – Jolley v Sutton London Borough Council HL 24-May-2000
An abandoned boat had been left on its land and not removed by the council. Children tried to repair it, jacked it up, and a child was injured when it fell. It was argued for the boy, who now appealed dismissal of his claim by the Court of Appeal, . .
Cited – Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman and others HL 8-Feb-1990
Limitation of Loss from Negligent Mis-statement
The plaintiffs sought damages from accountants for negligence. They had acquired shares in a target company and, relying upon the published and audited accounts which overstated the company’s earnings, they purchased further shares.
Held: The . .
Cited – West Bromwich Albion Football Club Ltd v El-Safty QBD 14-Dec-2005
The claimant sought damages from the defendant surgeon alleging negligent care of a footballer. The defendant argued that he had no duty to the club as employer of his patient who was being treated through his BUPA membership. It would have created . .
Cited – Hone v Six Continents Retail Ltd CA 29-Jun-2005
The employer appealed a finding that it was liable in damages for negligence to the claimant, and employee who suffered psychiatric injury cause by stress at work. He said he had been left to work very excessive hours, between 89 and 92 hours a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 30 June 2022; Ref: scu.226311
A covenant prevented new building other than for a garage. The owner proposed a three-car garage extension, but with a play-room above, for the applicant’s own use. The relevant property of the objector was not her own house, but consisted of a driveway, and a plot of land on which she hoped to be allowed to build a house. The development had proceeded without obtaining a modification. High Court proceedings for breach of the covenant were adjourned, at the appeal stage, to allow an application to the tribunal under section 84. The principle of modification was agreed, so that the only issue was compensation. The main issues were, first, the impact of the development on the objector’s property, and, secondly, whether she was entitled to compensation assessed, as she claimed, on the negotiated share basis.
Held: The President described the impact on her plot as ‘minimal’, and concluded that there should be no compensation.
[2004] EWLands LP – 34 – 2003
England and Wales
Cited – Stokes v Cambridge Corporation LT 1961
The tribunal considered case concerned 5.1 ha of land with an assumption of planning permission for industrial development under Planning legislation. There was only one possible access over adjoining land in different ownership.
Held: When . .
Cited – Winter and Another v Traditional and Contemporary Contracts Ltd CA 7-Nov-2007
The land-owners applied for a variation of a restrictive covenant to allow them to put a second house on their plot. They had bought out the right of the original builder, but a neighbour also had the benefit of the covenant. They now appealed the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 30 June 2022; Ref: scu.225825
[2003] EWCA Civ 1370
England and Wales
Updated: 28 June 2022; Ref: scu.220572
The claimant appealed the award of damages in his claim for defamation. The defendants had variously issued apologies. The claimant had not complained initially as to one publication.
Held: In defamation proceedings the damage to feelings is assessed as at the point of assessment, and conduct of the defendant after the publication may aggravate or mitigate the damage and therefore the award. The court could not say the awards were wrong. Appeals dismissed.
Lord Justice Auld Lord Justice May
[2004] EWCA Civ 1708, [2005] 1 All ER 1040
England and Wales
Cited – Horrocks v Lowe HL 1974
The plaintiff complained of an alleged slander spoken at a meeting of the Town Council. The council meeting was an occasion attracting qualified privilege. The judge at trial found that the councillor honestly believed that what he had said in the . .
Cited – Milne v Express Newspapers CA 28-May-2004
The claimant, having not accepted an offer to make amends, wanted to proceed to a jury trial. To be permitted to do so, he had to seek to establish that the defendants ‘knew or had reason to believe that the statement complained of . . was both . .
Cited – Dingle v Associated Newspapers HL 1964
The plaintiff complained of an article written in the Daily Mail which included the reporting of a report of a Parliamentary select committee. The reporting of the select committee’s report was privileged under the Parliamentary Papers Act 1840. At . .
Cited – Tolstoy Miloslavsky v United Kingdom ECHR 19-Jul-1995
The applicant had been required to pay andpound;124,900 as security for the respondent’s costs as a condition of his appeal against an award of damages in a defamation case.
Held: It followed from established case law that article 6(1) did not . .
Cited – Abu v MGN Ltd QBD 2003
There should be nothing in any sense ‘rough and ready’ about the assessment of the claimant’s reputation under the offer of amends procedure in the 1996 Act. If compensation is not agreed it should be determined by the court on the same principles . .
Cited – John v MGN Ltd CA 12-Dec-1995
Defamation – Large Damages Awards
MGN appealed as to the level of damages awarded against it namely pounds 350,000 damages, comprising pounds 75,000 compensatory damages and pounds 275,000 exemplary damages. The newspaper contended that as a matter of principle there is no scope in . .
Cited – Cleese v Clark QBD 2003
The court looked at the calculation of damages after an offer of amends under the Act by the defendant.
Held: Such calculations have to be linked to the very different circumstances of each case. Comparisons with awards after jury trial were . .
Cited – Mawdsley v Guardian Newspapers Ltd QBD 2002
The court asked whether the summary judgment procedure under sections 8 to 10 of the 1996 Act, with its ceiling of andpound;10,000, was appropriate in a case in which a jury after a trial might award andpound;30,000. He decided that it was . .
Cited – Gorman v Mudd CA 15-Oct-1992
The plaintiff, a Conservative MP, complained of a ‘mock press release’ written and circulated by the defendant, Mudd, a prominent member of the local community and chairman of the Billericay Conservative Businessman’s Association, to ninety-one . .
Cited – Bonnick v Morris, The Gleaner Company Ltd and Allen PC 17-Jun-2002
(Jamaica) The appellant sought damages from the respondent journalists in defamation. They had claimed qualified privilege. The words alleged to be defamatory were ambiguous.
Held: The publishers were protected by Reynolds privilege. The court . .
Cited – Kiam v MGN Ltd CA 28-Jan-2002
Where a court regards a jury award in a defamation case as excessive, a ‘proper’ award can be substituted for it is not whatever sum court thinks appropriate, wholly uninfluenced by jury’s view, but the highest award which a jury could reasonably . .
Cited – Kiam v Neill and Another (No 2) CA 26-Jul-1996
An allegation of insolvency was made against a well known businessman. An apology in agreed terms was published after 3 weeks.
Held: A jury award of 45,000 in damages was not excessive for a libel despite an apology having been given. The . .
Cited – Houston v Smith CA 16-Dec-1993
Doctors operated within the same building. The defendant falsely accused the plaintiff of harassing her and her staff, groping them and fondling them sexually. The allegation was made in the hearing of several of the plaintiff’s patients in the . .
Appeal from – Nail v Jones, Harper Collins Publications Ltd; Nail v News Group Newspapers Ltd, Wade etc QBD 26-Mar-2004
The claimant was upset by an article published by the defendant making false allegations that he had behaved in a sexually profligate manner many years earlier. When it was substantially repeated he sued.
Held: The words were defamatory. An . .
Cited – Bowman v MGN Ltd QBD 26-Apr-2010
The claimant complained of an article on the defendant’s web-site. The defendant offered an unqualified offer of amends. The court was asked to settle an amount of compensation. Though the article was removed within a few hours and upon receipt of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.220494
Appeal against apportionment of liability
[2004] EWCA Civ 1629
England and Wales
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.219918
His Honour Judge Wilcox
[2004] EWHC 1748 (TCC)
England and Wales
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.219673
EAT Sex Discrimination – Other losses – Sex discrimination – compensation. Deductions because of pre-existing condition and chance of further illness in any event
His Honour Judge Ansell
[2004] UKEAT 0280 – 04 – 1510, UKEAT/0280/04
England and Wales
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.219097
[2001] EWCA Civ 1602
England and Wales
See Also – Samuels and Another v Benning CA 22-May-2002
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.218462
A pregnant barmaid suffered nervous shock causing her to give premature birth as a result of the tortfeasor’s horse van bursting into her bar at the Bonner Arms in Bethnal Green from the roadway. The defendant pleaded that the damages claimed were too remote.
Held: In principle ‘terror wrongfully induced and inducing physical mischief gives a cause of action.’ The plaintiff could recover in respect of the physical consequences of ‘nervous shock’ caused by reason of ‘reasonable fear of immediate personal injury to oneself’.
Kennedy J considered the argument that fright, where physical injury is directly produced by it, cannot be a ground of action merely because of the absence of any accompanying impact, to be ‘both unreasonable and contrary to the weight of authority.’ The argument was unreasonable and contrary to the weight of authority, but he limited the type of shock for which damages were recoverable to that suffered from fear for oneself only: ‘The shock, where it operates through the mind, must be a shock which arises from a reasonable fear of immediate personal injury to oneself.’
Phillimore J, Kennedy J
[1901] 2 KB 669
England and Wales
Not Followed – Victorian Railway Commissioners v Coultas PC 21-Jan-1888
(Victoria) The appellant’s gatekeeper had negligently invited the plaintiffs to cross a railway line as a train approached. There was no collision, but the plaintiff sought damages for physical and mental injuries from shock.
Held: The . .
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 – Cooper v Caledonian Railway Co 1902
Recovery of damages for psychiatric injury. . .
Cited – Simmons v British Steel plc HL 29-Apr-2004
The claimant was injured at work as a consequence of the defender’s negligence. His injuries became more severe, and he came to suffer a disabling depression.
Held: the Inner House had been wrong to characterise the Outer House decision as . .
Cited – Simmons v British Steel plc HL 29-Apr-2004
The claimant was injured at work as a consequence of the defender’s negligence. His injuries became more severe, and he came to suffer a disabling depression.
Held: the Inner House had been wrong to characterise the Outer House decision as . .
Cited – Donachie v The Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police CA 7-Apr-2004
The claimant had been asked to work under cover. The surveillance equipment he was asked to use was faulty, requiring him to put himself at risk repeatedly to maintain it resulting in a stress disorder and a stroke.
Held: There was a direct . .
Cited – Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd and Another CA 26-Jan-2006
Each claimant sought damages after being exposed to asbestos dust. The defendants resisted saying that the injury alleged, the development of pleural plaques, was yet insufficient as damage to found a claim.
Held: (Smith LJ dissenting) The . .
Cited – French and others v Chief Constable of Sussex Police CA 28-Mar-2006
The claimants sought damages for psychiatric injury. They were police officers who had been subject to unsuccessful proceedings following a shooting of a member of the public by their force.
Held: The claim failed: ‘these claimants have no . .
Cited – Alcock and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police QBD 31-Jul-1990
Overcrowding at a football match lead to the deaths of 95 people. The defendant’s employees had charge of safety at the match, and admitted negligence vis-a-vis those who had died and been injured. The plaintiffs sought damages, some of them for . .
Cited – Rhodes v OPO and Another SC 20-May-2015
The mother sought to prevent a father from publishing a book about her child’s life. It was to contain passages she said may cause psychological harm to the 12 year old son. Mother and son lived in the USA and the family court here had no . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.186860
[2001] EWCA Civ 1264
England and Wales
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.218317
Kennedy, Buxton LJJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 1573
England and Wales
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.217673
Renewed application for leave to appeal against decision refusing compensation after wrongful conviction.
Laws LJ, Sir Martin Nourse
[2002] EWCA Civ 1259
England and Wales
Updated: 23 June 2022; Ref: scu.217200
Claimant’s application for leave to appeal against level of damages awarded on personal injury claim.
Potter LJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 618
England and Wales
Updated: 23 June 2022; Ref: scu.217111
Ward, Chadwick LJJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 409
England and Wales
Updated: 23 June 2022; Ref: scu.216837
Whether psychiatric injury caused by accident
Kay LJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 265
England and Wales
Updated: 23 June 2022; Ref: scu.216788
appealed against a certificate of recoverable benefits
[2004] UKSSCSC CCR – 4065 – 2003
England and Wales
Updated: 21 June 2022; Ref: scu.216128
Assessment of damages, together with a claim for other relief, in respect of this libel action by Mr Laurence Easeman against Mr Adam Ford.
Soole J
[2016] EWHC 1576 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 19 June 2022; Ref: scu.566571
Nicol J
[2016] EWHC 1190 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 19 June 2022; Ref: scu.564502
Application on behalf of the claimant under CPR 25.7 for an interim payment in respect of her claim for damages for personal injuries, loss and damage arising out of a road traffic accident. She was a passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend, who was insured by the defendant.
Reddihough HHJ
[2016] EWHC 1497 (QB)
England and Wales
Updated: 18 June 2022; Ref: scu.566258
The Scheme must award compensation in accordance with accepted methods of calculating damages. It had no authority to limit payment of legal fees of applicants to andpound;500.00.
Times 30-Jun-1994, Ind Summary 29-Aug-1994
England and Wales
Appeal from – Regina v Investor’s Compensation Scheme, ex Parte Bowden QBD 17-Feb-1993
The Investors’ Compensation Scheme must exercise discretion in quantifying a claim. An investor’s right to make a claim under the scheme survives his death and passes to his personal representative. . .
Appeal from – Regina v Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd, ex Parte Bowden and Another HL 18-Jul-1995
A regulated firm, Fisher Prew-Smith, ran a scheme whereby elderly homeowners were persuaded to invest money in equity-linked funds by mortgaging their homes on terms that the interest would roll up unless and until the total mortgage debt reached a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 June 2022; Ref: scu.86961
The defendant had been found liable for infringing the claimant’s right of light. The court considered the proper measure of damages.
Held: The court should ask what might be the fair result of a hypothetical negiation for the sale of the right, bearing the context in mind, including the significant power of the dominant owner to prevent a development to demand some part of the likely profit. In the absence of evidence of the size of any profit, the court could use a multiplier.
Gabriel Moss QC
[2007] EWHC 212 (Ch), Times 14-Feb-2007
England and Wales
See Also – Tamares (Vincent Square) Ltd v Fairpoint Properties (Vincent Square) Ltd ChD 4-Sep-2006
Dispute as to right of light – proposed development likely to breach right for dominant tenement. . .
Cited – Wrotham Park Estate Ltd v Parkside Homes Ltd ChD 1974
55 houses had been built by the defendant, knowingly in breach of a restrictive covenant, imposed for the benefit of an estate, and in the face of objections by the claimant.
Held: The restrictive covenant not to develop other than in . .
Cited – Bracewell v Appleby ChD 1975
The defendant wrongly used and asserted a right of way over a private road to a house which he had built.
Held: To restrain the defendant from using the road would render the new house uninhabitable. The court refused an injunction on the . .
Cited – Carr-Saunders v Dick McNeill Associates 1986
The claim was for interference with the plaintiff’s right to light.
Held: There is a need to approach infringements of easements of light with flexibility. The plaintiff’s subjective views as to the loss of light were not to the point. When . .
Cited – Amec Developments Limited v Jury’s Hotel Management (UK) Limited 2001
A hotel had been built so as to encroach across a building line in breach of covenant, allowing the hotel to have 25 more rooms than it would otherwise have enjoyed. The court considered conflicting evidence as to the capital value of the additional . .
Cited – Liverpool and Lancashire Properties Limited and Another v Lunn Poly Ltd and Another CA 15-Mar-2006
Where a tenant successfully obtained relief from forfeiture, and compensatory damages were payable under the 1858 Act in lieu of an injunction, and had assigned the lease for a profit the court could exceptionally use its equitable jurisdiction to . .
See Also – Tamares (Vincent Square) Ltd v Fairpoint Properties (Vincent Square) Ltd ChD 9-Mar-2007
Dispute over right to light.
Gabriel Moss QC HHJ said: ‘I would deduce the following principles from these cases in relation to the assessment of damages for loss of the ability to prevent an infringement of a right to light at the point just . .
Cited – HKRUK II (CHC) Ltd v Heaney ChD 3-Sep-2010
The claimant sought a declaration that its property was free of a suggested right of light in favour of its neighbour . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 June 2022; Ref: scu.250597
When calculating interest on the loss of a primary family wage, the court was not to deduct benefits from such payments, and interest can be included in the total to be offset against his own liability to repay benefits.
Times 18-May-1998
Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997
Scotland
Updated: 14 June 2022; Ref: scu.89452
The former employee appealed against the finding of the date of his dismissal. His preferred date would change the maximum award.
Held: The appeal failed.
Underhill QC Rec
[2001] UKEAT 1032 – 00 – 0202
Updated: 14 June 2022; Ref: scu.203540
Nelson J
[2001] EWHC QB 453
England and Wales
Cited – Knauer v Ministry of Justice SC 24-Feb-2016
The court was asked: ‘whether the current approach to assessing the financial losses suffered by the dependant of a person who is wrongfully killed properly reflects the fundamental principle of full compensation, and if it does not whether we . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 13 June 2022; Ref: scu.201650
Kennedy, Chadwick, Rougher LJJ
[2001] EWCA Civ 1192, [2002] 1 P and CR DG8
England and Wales
Updated: 13 June 2022; Ref: scu.201170
The claimants were due to have substantial sums repaid after it had been found that the system of making premature reclaims of advance corporation tax had been was discriminatory under European Law.
Held: The sums payable were to carry interest calculated on a compound interest basis.
Park J
Times 25-Jun-2004, [2004] EWHC 2387 (Ch), [2004] STI 1495, [2004] Eu LR 939, [2004] BTC 358, [2004] STC 1178
England and Wales
At First Instance – Sempra Metals Ltd v Inland Revenue Commissioners and Another HL 18-Jul-2007
The parties agreed that damages were payable in an action for restitution, but the sum depended upon to a calculation of interest. They disputed whether such interest should be calculated on a simple or compound basis. The company sought compound . .
Appeal from – Sempra Metals Ltd v Inland Revenue and Another CA 12-Apr-2005
The court was asked whether it was contrary to Community law – specifically, the provisions then contained in article 52 of the EC Treaty (now renumbered as article 43) – for the domestic tax law in the United Kingdom to differentiate, in the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.198393
The parties were negotiating for an under-lease. The lease provided for rent to increase along with rent reviews under the head lease. The solicitors failed to ascertain the rent under the head lease, to advise his client to have the property valued, or to explain the unusual clause. The rent was reviewd to an uneconomic rent, and the client sued his solicitor for negligence. He appealed dismissal of his claim.
Held: The solicitor was negligent. In exercising reasonable professional judgement he should have alerted his client to the consequences of the unusual clause. As to damages, the court was not restricted to the diminution in value. The plaintiff was entitled also to the costs of surrender and possibly to the cost of a lease whch would be saleable.
[1987] 1 All ER 289
England and Wales
Cited – Neighbour v Barker CA 1992
Purchasers had set out to buy the property without having a survey, relying upon representations as to its condition, later found to be fraudulent, from the vendor. The condition was discovered only after exchange of contracts. The purchasers’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.219184
The claimant was a secure tenant of English Churches Housing Group. He was unemployed and lived on benefits. He claimed damages against his landlord for breaches of the repairing covenants implied by section 11. The court considerd the appropriate level of damages. For the breach of landlord’s covenant to repair.
Held: The court allowed the landlord’s appeal and reduced the damages to andpound;8,000, subject to set-off in respect of some of the landlord’s costs. Where a tenant was awarded damages for a landlord’s breach of his covenant to repair, the damages awarded should reflect the rent payable under the lease. The tenant here had the benefit of a secure tenancy at a rent well below the market rent, and the damages were reduced accordingly. The court criticised the conduct of the hearing by the judge: ‘[The judge’s] behaviour is unacceptable. He is both abrupt and discourteous. He makes it clear he is not prepared to entertain argument, and gives no reasons.’
Lord Justice Keene and Lord Justice Wall
[2004] EWCA Civ 434, Times 02-Jun-2004, Gazette 20-May-2004, [2004] HLR 42
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 11
England and Wales
Cited – McGriel v Wake CA 1984
. .
Cited – Fayner v Bilton 1878
. .
Cited – Wallace and others v Manchester City Council CA 23-Jul-1998
Damages payable to a tenant for a landlord’s failure to repair whilst the tenant remained in the property were not separate damages for discomfort and diminution in rental value since these amounted to the same thing: ‘for periods when the tenant . .
Cited – London Borough of Southwark v Kofi-Adu CA 23-Mar-2006
The authority complained that during the course of the trial, the judge had repeatedly intervened during oral evidence.
Held: A judge must be careful not to repeatedly intervene during oral evidence as opposed to counsel making submissions. . .
Cited – Regus (UK) Ltd v Epcot Solutions Ltd CA 15-Apr-2008
The appellant had contracted to provide office accomodation to the defendant. The air conditioning did not work and there were other defects. The appellant now challenged a finding of liability and that its contract terms which were said to totally . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.197044
The claimant sought damages for increased road noise resulting from traffic control measures taken by the respondent.
Held: The defendants action to strike out the claim could not succeed. They had not shown that the claim was unarguable, however difficult were the prospects of success.
Mr Justice Collins
[2004] EWHC 970 (QB)
European Convention on Human Rights 8
England and Wales
Cited – Hatton and Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 8-Jul-2003
More Night Flights No Infringement of Family Life
The claimants complained that the respondent had acted to infringe their rights. They were residents living locally to Heathrow Airport. They claimed the respondent had increased the number of night flights, causing increased noise, but without . .
Cited – Anufrijeva v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 22-Mar-2002
Three asylum-seekers brought claims of breach of their Article 8 rights. One complained of a local authority’s failure to provide accommodation to meet special needs, the other two of maladministration and delay in the handling of their asylum . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Anufrijeva HL 26-Jun-2003
The appellant challenged the withdrawal of her benefits payments. She had applied for asylum, and been granted reduced rate income support. A decision was made refusing her claim, but that decision was, by policy, not communicated to her for several . .
Cited – Marcic v Thames Water Utilities Limited HL 4-Dec-2003
The claimant’s house was regularly flooded by waters including also foul sewage from the respondent’s neighbouring premises. He sought damages and an injunction. The defendants sought to restrict the claimant to his statutory rights.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.196629
The claimant sought damages after his negligent solicitors had saddled him with a ruinous underlease. They had had to buy themselves out of the lease. The court considered the date at which damages were to be calculated.
Held: The starting point is to calculate the damages as at th edate of the breach.
Bingham LJ said: ‘While the general rule undoubtedly is that damages for tort or breach of contract are assessed at the date of the breach, this rule also should not be mechanistically applied in circumstances where assessment at another date may more accurately reflect the overriding compensatory rule.’ The ‘diminution in value’ rule is almost always appropriate where property is acquired following negligent advice by surveyors; but that that is not an invariable approach and should not be mechanistically applied in cases where it may appear inappropriate. It was wholly inapt on these particular facts.
Sir Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson V-C observed that the diminution in value ‘rule’ was concerned with cases where the client had purchased for a capital sum a property having a capital value: which was not the instant case. In agreement with Bingham LJ, he thought that the sum needed to be paid by the plaintiffs to release themselves from the burdensome lease represented the true measure of damage under that particular head (there were other heads of damage claimed).
Bingham LJ, Sir Nicolas Browne-Wilkinson V-C
[1987] 1 WLR 916, [1987] ANZ Conv R 391, [1987] 1 All ER 289
England and Wales
Cited – Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co HL 13-Feb-1880
Damages or removal of coal under land
User damages were awarded for the unauthorised removal of coal from beneath the appellant’s land, even though the site was too small for the appellant to have mined the coal himself. The appellant was also awarded damages for the damage done to the . .
Cited – Dodd Properties (Kent) Ltd v Canterbury City Council CA 21-Dec-1979
The defendants had, in the course of building operations, caused nuisance and damage to the plaintiff’s building. The dispute was very lengthy, the costs of repair increased accordingly, and the parties now disputed the date at which damages fell to . .
Cited – Kennedy v K B Van Emden and Co; Jordan v Gershon Young Finer and Green and Similar CA 27-Mar-1996
A solicitor failed in 1983 to advise a purchaser of the fact that premium she was paying on purchasing a leasehold flat was unlawful under the Act, and would be unrecoverable on the sale. Before trial however, in 1989 the law changed and the premium . .
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 – Golden Strait Corporation v Nippon Yusen Kubishka Kaisha (‘The Golden Victory’) HL 28-Mar-2007
The claimant sought damages for repudiation of a charterparty. The charterpary had been intended to continue until 2005. The charterer repudiated the contract and that repudiation was accepted, but before the arbitrator could set his award, the Iraq . .
Cited – Watts and Co v Morrow CA 30-Jul-1991
The plaintiff had bought a house on the faith of the defendant’s report that there were only limited defects requiring repair. In fact the defects were much more extensive. The defendant surveyor appealed against an award of damages after his . .
Cited – Joyce v Bowman Law Ltd ChD 18-Feb-2010
The claimant asserted negligence by the defendant licensed conveyancers in not warning him of the effect of an option in the contract. He had been advised that it would allow him to choose to buy additional land, but it was in fact a put option. The . .
Cited – Bacciottini and Another v Gotelee and Goldsmith (A Firm) CA 18-Mar-2016
A property subject to a planning condition was purchased by the appellant under the advice of the respondent, who failed to notify him of the existence of a planning condition. The judge had awarded the claimant pounds 250 being the cost of the . .
Cited – Downs and Another v Chappell and Another CA 3-Apr-1996
The plaintiffs had suceeded in variously establishing claims in deceit and negligence, but now appealed against the finding that no damages had flowed from the wrongs. They had been sold a business on the basis of incorrect figures.
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.181194
A solicitor failed in 1983 to advise a purchaser of the fact that premium she was paying on purchasing a leasehold flat was unlawful under the Act, and would be unrecoverable on the sale. Before trial however, in 1989 the law changed and the premium would now be recoverable.
Held: It was wrong to assess damages mechanistically, and though the usual rule would be to test the damages at the date of loss, it was right to include an assessment at the date of trial if that gave a better view of the actual loss.
Nourse LJ said: ‘the damages are to be assessed in the real world. Compensation is a reward for real, not hypothetical, loss. It is not to be made an occasion for recovery in respect of a loss which might have been, but has not been, suffered.’
Lord Justice Nourse, Lord Justice Ward and Lord Justice Schiemann
Gazette 01-May-1996, Times 05-Apr-1996, [1997] 2 EGLR 137
England and Wales
Cited – County Personnel (Employment Agency) Ltd v Alan R Pulver and Co (a Firm) CA 1987
The claimant sought damages after his negligent solicitors had saddled him with a ruinous underlease. They had had to buy themselves out of the lease. The court considered the date at which damages were to be calculated.
Held: The starting . .
Cited – Livingstone v Rawyards Coal Co HL 13-Feb-1880
Damages or removal of coal under land
User damages were awarded for the unauthorised removal of coal from beneath the appellant’s land, even though the site was too small for the appellant to have mined the coal himself. The appellant was also awarded damages for the damage done to the . .
Cited – McKinnon and another v E Survey Ltd (formerly known as GA Valuation and Survey Ltd) ChD 14-Jan-2003
The claimants purchased a house relying upon a survey by the defendants. Although the defendants reported long standing movement of the property, the defendants failed to report that to be saleable, a long investigation would be required, reducing . .
Cited – Bacciottini and Another v Gotelee and Goldsmith (A Firm) CA 18-Mar-2016
A property subject to a planning condition was purchased by the appellant under the advice of the respondent, who failed to notify him of the existence of a planning condition. The judge had awarded the claimant pounds 250 being the cost of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.82731
The council served a stop notice. The company sought compensation. The council replied that the company had no legal or equitable interest in the land affected.
Held: The company had occupied the land under a licence. A contractual licensee on land may be, but is not necessarily, an occupier.
[2004] EWCA Civ 288, Times 01-Mar-2004
Town and Country Planning (General) Regulations 1992 2, Town and Country Planning Act 1990 186
England and Wales
Per incuriam – Pennine Raceway Ltd v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council CA 1983
The claimant had been granted a contractual right to use an airfield for arranging motor racing events. The planning consent was revoked, and compensation was claimed under s164 as ‘a person interested in the land’ which ‘is a section designed to . .
Cited – Plimmer v Mayor, Councillors and Citizens of the City of Wellington PC 1884
(New Zealand) Mr Plimmer had occupied land under a revocable licence from the Corporation’s predecessor-in-title and at their request had made extensive improvements to it. He sought compensation when the land was to be vested in the defendant. The . .
Distinguished – Stevens v Bromley London Borough Council 1972
The court referred to the extent of interest in land required by caravan dwellers to support payment of compensation on the issue of enforcement notice.
Held: Salmon LJ said: ‘I agree that the interest referred to in section 45(3)(b) is . .
Cited – Madrassa Anjuman Islamia of Kholwad v Municipal Council of Johan-Nesburg PC 1922
‘The word ‘occupy’ is a word of uncertain meaning. Sometimes it denotes legal possession in the technical sense, . . At other times ‘occupation’ denotes nothing more than physical presence in a place for a substantial period of time, . . Its precise . .
Cited – Tre Traktorer Aktiebolag v Sweden ECHR 7-Jul-1989
An alcohol licence for a restaurant was withdrawn with immediate effect because of financial irregularities, with the result that the restaurant business collapsed.
Held: ‘The government argued that a licence to sell alcoholic beverages could . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.194672
Hooper J
[2004] EWHC 243 (Admin)
England and Wales
Cited – In re McFarland HL 29-Apr-2004
The claimant was convicted, imprisoned, and then his conviction was overturned. He sought compensation. He had pleaded guilty after being told by counsel to expect an adverse direction from the magistrate, following a meeting in private between . .
Cited – Raissi, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department Admn 22-Feb-2007
The claimant sought judicial review of a refusal to make an ex gratia payment for his imprisonment whilst successfully resisting extradition proceedings. Terrorist connections had been suggested, but the judge made an explicit finding that at no . .
Cited – Raissi, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 14-Feb-2008
The claimant appealed against refusal of his request for judicial review of the defendant’s decision not to award him damages after his wrongful arrest and detention after he was wrongly suspected of involvement in terrorism. He had been discharged . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 09 June 2022; Ref: scu.193506
The claimant had been found to be subject to unlawful sex discrimination, but had had an award of nil damages. She appealed.
Mitting J
[2003] EAT 0295 – 02 – 1504, [2003] UKEAT 0295 – 02 – 1504
England and Wales
Updated: 08 June 2022; Ref: scu.189346
[2003] EWCA Civ 1687
England and Wales
Updated: 08 June 2022; Ref: scu.188133
The ‘Somatra’ was lost at sea. The insurance claim had been refused on the basis that the ship was unseaworthy. The owners came to instruct the appellant solicitors to represent them in the insurance claim. Having lost confidence in the solicitors, they had to change solicitors shortly before the trial, and said they were unable to claim the 75% of their claim they would have settled for at trial. The solicitors appealed against an award of the difference between that sum and the sum actually received.
Held: The appeal failed. There had been a clear chance of settling at the figure claimed.
The judge was entitled to make the award of costs he had ordered because of his findings as to the behaviour of the solicitor-partner involved.
Schiemann, Tuckey, Longmore LJJ
[2003] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 855, [2003] EWCA Civ 1474
England and Wales
Cited – Assicurazioni Generali Spa v Arab Insurance Group (BSC) CA 13-Nov-2002
Rehearing/Review – Little Difference on Appeal
The appellant asked the Court to reverse a decision on the facts reached in the lower court.
Held: The appeal failed (Majority decision). The court’s approach should be the same whether the case was dealt with as a rehearing or as a review. . .
Cited – ABCI v Banque Franco-Tunisienne and others CA 27-Feb-2003
‘The thinking behind the CPR was that they would speak for themselves and that courts would not have to refer to an ever increasing body of authority in order to apply them.’ . .
Cited – Home Office v Lownds (Practice Note) CA 21-Mar-2002
The respondent had been ordered to pay costs of over pounds 16,000 in an action for clinical negligence where the final award was only pounds 4,000. The Secretary of State appealed claiming that the costs were disproportionate.
Held: In such . .
Cited – Somatra Ltd v Sinclair Roche and Temperley CA 28-Mar-2003
. .
Main Judgment – Sinclair Roche and Temperley (A Firm) v Somatra Ltd (Documents) CA 23-Oct-2003
The court refused an application for further documents to be disclosed, the application being made on the day before the hearing of the appeal. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 08 June 2022; Ref: scu.187061
A claimant who sought damages for injuries suffered by the ingestion of asbestos whilst working for one employer, but had also worked for other periods for other employers where similar activities had been involved, had the onus in the claim to prove causation. It might be impossible to apportion the damage exactly, but he must demonstrate a substantial contribution from the defendant. Having been found responsible in this way, the employer would be responsible only to the extent of his contribution to the asbestosis. Each tortfeasor should be responsible only for the proportion which its exposure contributed to the damage.
Lord Justice Stuart-Smith Lord Justice Mummery Lord Justice Clarke
Times 12-Apr-2000, Gazette 11-May-2000, [2000] EWCA Civ 111, [2000] 3 All ER 421
England and Wales
Applied – Thompson v Smiths Shiprepairers (North Shields) Ltd QBD 1984
The test to be applied in determining the time at which an employer’s failure to provide protection constituted actionable negligence was what would have been done at any particular time by a reasonable and prudent employer who was properly but not . .
Cited – Environment Agency v Ellis CA 17-Oct-2008
The claimant was injured working for the appellants. The appellants now appealed the finding that they were responsible saying that other factors contributed to the injury, and in particular that he had fallen at home. The claimant said that that . .
Cited – Horsley v Cascade Insulation Services Ltd and Others QBD 18-Nov-2009
The claimant sought damages after contracting asbestosis through employment exposure with the defendants. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 08 June 2022; Ref: scu.185908
Lord Justice Clarke, Lord Justice May, Lord Justice Simon Brown <
[2002] EWCA Civ 1803
England and Wales
Updated: 06 June 2022; Ref: scu.178450
The claimants were the children of the deceased, seeking damages following the death of their mother. At the time of the death they were not living with their father but moved to live with him after the death. They claimed damages for the services provided by the father and his new wife.
Held: The new support accrued as a result of the accident and was to be disregarded under the section. However the trust under which any damages were paid would be unlikely to be enforced, that is the father would not ask for payment for the services, and following Hunt, if the terms of the trust seemed unlikely to be fulfilled then the court awarding damages should take steps to avoid the outcome.
Lord Justice Kennedy, Lord Justice Tuckey and Mr Justice Jackson
Times 03-Jul-2002, Gazette 08-Aug-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 792, [2002] 3 WLR 1179, [2003] QB 965
England and Wales
Cited – Hunt v Severs CA 13-May-1993
The plaintiff was injured by the negligence of the defendant. The defendant provided gratuitous nursing care and other assistance to the plaintiff. They married each other.
Held: Where the Plaintiff was voluntarily cared for by the Tortfeasor, . .
Disapproved – Bordin v St Mary’s NHS Trust QBD 2000
The claimant’s mother had died as a result of the negligence of the respondent.
Held: The calculation of past and future dependancy should refer to the care whether paid or unpaid actually provide or expected to be provided by the deceased. . .
Cited – Knauer v Ministry of Justice SC 24-Feb-2016
The court was asked: ‘whether the current approach to assessing the financial losses suffered by the dependant of a person who is wrongfully killed properly reflects the fundamental principle of full compensation, and if it does not whether we . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 06 June 2022; Ref: scu.172267
The court was asked: ‘What has to be proved by the claimant in a case where the negligence of his solicitor has consisted of the failure to give him proper advice, in order to establish a sufficient causal link between the solicitor’s negligence and the loss which he has sustained and thus entitle him to substantial damages?’
Held: Sir Christopher Slade said: ‘It is by now trite law that it does not suffice for a claimant who seeks to recover substantial damages arising out of his solicitors’ failure to give him proper advice as to the risks of a proposed transaction to show that such failure occurred and that he suffered loss under the transaction. In such a case, it cannot be presumed that the negligent solicitor caused the loss. The claimant has to prove a connection, sometimes called a ‘causal link’, between the negligence and the loss which justifies making the solicitor pay substantial damages. Simple logic requires that, to show such causal link, he must first satisfy the court as to what action, if any, he would have taken to avoid the loss if proper advice had been given. If he fails to satisfy the court on this point, he can recover no more than nominal damages. Even if he satisfies the court that, in the events which happened, the loss would have been avoided if relevant advice had been given, the court will still have to decide whether the loss suffered was in fact caused by the failure to give such advice.’
Mummery, Latham LJJ, Sir Christopher Slade
[2002] EWCA Civ 593, [2002] Lloyds Reports PN 449
England and Wales
Cited – Orientfield Holdings Ltd v Bird and Bird Llp ChD 26-Jun-2015
The c;aimant alleged breach of contract and or professional negligence by the defendant solicitors when acting for it in the purchase of land. Contracts had been exchnged but on the discovery of proposed development nearby, they had failed to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 06 June 2022; Ref: scu.171244
Appeal against award of only nominal damages after allegation of insurance fraud.
[2002] EWCA Civ 143
England and Wales
Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.167933
[2001] EWCA Civ 1785
Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 1(1)
England and Wales
Cited – Royal Brompton Hospital National Health Service Trust v Hammond and others HL 25-Apr-2002
The claimants sought damages against the defendants for their late delivery of a building. The contractors sought to share the damages with the architects who had certified the delays, defeating their own claims.
Held: The Act sought to extend . .
Cited – Charter Plc and Another v City Index Ltd and others ChD 12-Oct-2006
An employee of the claimant had fraudulently spent several million pounds of the claimant’s money on personal bets through the defendant company. The claimant said that the defendants knew the origin of the funds and were liable to repay them. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.167829
Loss of profit claim allowed if substantial not speculative possibility.
Times 15-Dec-1993
England and Wales
Updated: 05 June 2022; Ref: scu.84409
The contractor undertook to dredge a stretch of river. Due to its failure to investigate properly, the result was the release of substantial volumes of silt into the estuary, to the damage of other river users and frontagers. The act amounted to a nuisance and a public nuisance. Could damages be recovered where the claimants had been unable to quantify their losses? However difficult that question, it was reasonable for the contractor to have taken steps to mitigate the potential loss.
Held: The deposit of silt was a form of physical interference with the third parties’ land. The claimant was liable in nuisance because HWT had a right to be left to use its nature reserve for breeding purposes without having to worry whether the silt, which the claimant by its negligence had put there, would interfere with their breeding programme; that worry could only be avoided either by carrying out a study, as was in fact done, and finding out that there was no need to do anything, or by dredging out the silt; the property was physically significantly affected in as much as large amounts of salt were deposited on it; and HWT suffered further damage by reason of the claimant’s activities in as much as HWT paid for the investigation.
Schiemann LJ said: ‘The underlying policy of the law is to protect a claimant against what Markesinis and Deakin in their book on Tort Law (4th ed, 1999) describe at p.422 as ‘unreasonable interference with the claimant’s interest.’ Phrases such as ‘physical damage to land’ are portmanteau phrases which embrace the concept of land being affected and this resulting in damage to the economic interests of another’.
Schiemann LJ, Hale LJ, Rix LJ
[2002] EWCA Civ 209, [2002] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 583, [2002] Lloyd’s Rep IR 589, [2002] 1 All ER (Comm) 767
England and Wales
Cited – Tate and Lyle Industries Ltd v Greater London Council HL 24-Mar-1983
The plaintiff had constructed and used two jetties, and dredged a channel down to the Thames for their use. The Council constructed two terminals nearby, the result of which was to cause a build up of silt blocking the channel.
Held: The . .
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 – Cambridge Water Company v Eastern Counties Leather Plc HL 9-Dec-1993
The plaintiffs sought damages and an injunction after the defendant company allowed chlorinated chemicals into the plaintiff’s borehole which made unfit the water the plaintiff itself supplied.
Held: The appeal was allowed. Liability under . .
Cited – Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty (The Wagon Mound) (No 2) PC 25-May-1966
(New South Wales) When considering the need to take steps to avoid injury, the court looked to the nature of defendant’s activity. There was no social value or cost saving in this defendant’s activity. ‘In the present case there was no justification . .
Cited – Regina v Shamrock CACD 1994
. .
Cited – Attorney-General v PYA Quarries Ltd CA 1957
In a relator action, an injunction was sought to prevent the respondent from emitting quantities of dust from their quarry. The court had to decide what were the constituents of the offence of a public nuisance, and how this differed from a private . .
Cited – Benjamin v Storr 1874
The plaintiff’s coffee house was badly affected by the defendant’s wagons standing for long periods in the narrow street outside for the purposes of loading and unloading goods. The wagons blocked his light and the frequent stabling of the horses . .
Appeal from – Jan De Nul (UK) Ltd v NV Royale Belge ComC 31-Jul-2000
Contractors’ liability insurance – contract for capital dredging of main shipping channel in Southampton Water – deposit of silt outside limits of dredged channel – whether insured negligent – whether silt interfered with navigation – whether . .
Cited – D Pride and Partners (A Firm) and Others v Institute for Animal Health and Others QBD 31-Mar-2009
The claimants sought damages after the loss of business when the defendants’ premises were the source of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The organism had escaped from their premises via a broken drain.
Held: Much of the damage claimed . .
Cited – Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williams and Another CA 3-Jul-2018
Japanese Knotweed escape is nuisance
The defendant appealed against an order as to its liability in private nuisance for the escape of Japanese Knotweed from its land onto the land of the claimant neighbours. No physical damage to properties had yet been shown, but the reduction in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.166543
[2001] NIECA 26
Northern Ireland
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.166311
Litigation had followed an accident. The claimant, a passenger, sought and won damages for personal injuries. He had taken out legal expenses insurance, and at dispute was the recovery of the cost of that insurance. He had been unaware of having the insurance and had also paid out for after the event insurance. He sought to recover the costs of the legal expenses insurance. A challenge of a judge’s award in costs only proceedings should only rarely succeed. In such questions, the danger of conflicts of interest between the various insurance companies is real, and had been provided for in the regulations. Solicitors should inspect the client’s various policies to clarify what legal expenses insurance was available. The need to provide free choice of solicitors did not override common provisions for small cases referring such matters to insurance panel solicitors. In a case where a passenger sued his driver, it was not appropriate for his choice of solicitor to be determined by the defendant’s insurers, and after the event legal expenses insurance was a proper and reasonable expense and should be recoverable.
Judge Halbert, District Judge Wallace
Times 11-Oct-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 1401, [2002] RTR 12, [2001] 4 All ER 541, [2002] 1 WLR 125, [2002] 1 Costs LR 37, [2002] Lloyd’ Rep IR 126, [2002] PIQR P15
Insurance Companies (Legal Expenses Insurance) Regulations 1990, Conditional Fee Agreements Regulations 2000, Civil Procedure Rules 44.12A
England and Wales
Cited – Callery v Gray (No 2) CA 31-Jul-2001
A plaintiff could recover the costs of insuring himself against the risk of having to pay the other sides costs, and finding his own costs irrecoverable (after the event or ATE insurance). The earlier case had decided that such premiums may be . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.166184
The Fund sought summary relief against the use of the sign ‘WWF’ by the defendants, in breach of a contract. The defendants urged that the contract operated in restraint of trade. There had been long running and widespread trade mark disputes, resolved eventually by an agreement where the defendants undertook not to use the initials. That agreement came to be ignored by the defendants, and eventually the plaintiffs began this action. They argued that any contract in restraint of trade was void unless shown to be reasonable, and that in this case there was no prospect of confusion. The agreement was void. Arguments as to restraint of trade in intellectual property disputes must show some real and unreasonable fetter on trade. In this case though the Fund showed a reasonable need for such restraint. The court thought it would be odd if breach of an ordinary restraint of trade covenant (not to work in a defined area at a defined job for a defined time) did not attract an account, whereas breach of a lesser restraint (not to use a trademark in a trade otherwise permitted) did, and refused an account.
The Hon Mr Justice Jacob
Times 13-Nov-2001, [2002] FSR 32, [2001] EWHC Ch 482
England and Wales
Cited – Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Harper’s Garage (Stourport) Ltd HL 1968
Agreement in Restraint of Trade Unenforceable
The defendant ran two garages under solus agreements with the plaintiffs who complained when the defendants began to purchase petrol from cheaper alternative sources. The House was asked whether the solus agreements were be regarded in law as an . .
Doubted – Experience Hendrix LLC v PPX Enterprises Inc and Another CA 20-Mar-2003
The claimant had obtained an interim injunction against the defendant for copyright infringement, though it could show no losses. It now sought additionally damages. The defendant argued that it could not have both.
Held: The case arose form . .
Appeal from – WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund); World Wildlife Fund Inc v World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc CA 27-Feb-2002
The claimant sought enforcement of a contract restricting the use by the appellant defendant of the initials ‘WWF’ in their trading. The agreement had been reached in settlement of an action for breach of the claimant’s trade mark rights. The . .
First Instance – Liability – WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and Another v World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc CA 2-Apr-2007
The parties had disputed use of the initals WWF, with a compromise reached in 1994 allowing primary use by the Fund with restricted use by the Federation. The Federation now appealed an award of damages made after a finding of a breach of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.166235
Equitable compensation for breach of fiduciary duty was the actual loss suffered. Would he have acted differently but for the act? Where bad faith or worse shown any contribution of fault by the claimant would be disregarded.
Gazette 03-Mar-1999, Times 01-Mar-1999, [1999] EWHC 844 (Ch)
England and Wales
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.84234
Appeal against award of damages for hire of vehicle by claimant after road traffic collision.
Henry, Chadwick, May LJJ
[2000] EWCA Civ 8, [2001] 1 WLR 1509
England and Wales
Updated: 31 May 2022; Ref: scu.147041
Dispute about the amount of damages to be awarded against surveyors who made a negligent overvaluation of a house for mortgage purposes on which the purchasers also relied. The surveyors expressed the opinion that the value of the house was in the region of andpound;90,000, whereas its actual value was andpound;65,000. The purchasers say that the house was uninhabitable and, further, that they were unable to resell it.
Nourse, Ward,Mantell LJJ
[1999] 1 WLR 1792, [1998] EWCA Civ 1734
England and Wales
Updated: 30 May 2022; Ref: scu.145213
The issue was as to the recoverability, in personal injury proceedings, of the wife’s medical expenses which had been paid for by the husband out of the joint account. After referring to the findings which a court may be driven to make in relation to a joint account as between husband and wife where the marriage has ended by death or divorce: ‘But what is to happen to the balance in the joint account when the marriage breaks up is a very different question from that of the mutual rights of the parties in relation to the account while the marriage is still subsisting. As I have said, I do not think that such an arrangement between husband and wife is meant to be attended with legal consequences as between the two spouses while the marriage is still subsisting. Mrs Gage’s right to draw upon the joint account was subject to no legal limitation . .
Diplock J
[1961] 1 QB 188, [1960] 3 All ER 62
England and Wales
Cited – Sandra Estelle Fielding v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc CA 11-Feb-2004
The husband and wife had signed a bank mandate allowing the bank to act upon the authorisation of either of them. The wife complained that the bank should not be able to recover from her any sums expended by the husband.
Held: The mandate . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 29 May 2022; Ref: scu.194783
COMPENSATION – compulsory purchase – dwelling house – untraceable owner – valuation of freehold interest – compensation assessed at andpound;95,000
[2010] UKUT 52 (LC)
England and Wales
Updated: 26 May 2022; Ref: scu.415002
The court considered the awards of damages for personal injury as it may be affected by the operation of section 21 of the 1948 Act.
Pill, Longmore, Scott Baker LJJ
[2004] EWCA Civ 1370
National Assistance Act 1948 21
England and Wales
Updated: 26 May 2022; Ref: scu.219144
Compensation for miscarriage of justice is payable to natural persons only.
Times 10-Mar-1997
England and Wales
Updated: 26 May 2022; Ref: scu.87832
The claimant sought damages from the defendant after the death of her father in the Potters Bar rail crash. The defendant applied for summary judgment saying that English law did not recognise a claim by a family member of a deceased save through the claim of the estate itself. The claimant said that this would deny her human rights, and sought a declaration of incompatibility with regard to s1A of the 1976 Act.
Held: ‘It is within the reasonable margin of appreciation of the State to limit those who are entitled to claim compensation to those who are financially dependent on the deceased. Who otherwise should say where the line should be drawn between those who may claim from those who may not? ‘ The claimants had also lost any possibility of a claim through limitation.
Times 14-Jun-2006, [2006] EWHC 1133 (QB)
Railways (Safety Case) Regulations 2000, Human Rights Act 1998, Fatal Accidents Act 1976 1A, Railways Act 1993
England and Wales
Cited – Takoushis, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Coroner for Inner North London and others CA 30-Nov-2005
Relatives sought judicial review of the coroner’s decision not to allow a jury, and against allowance of an expert witness. The deceased had been a mental patient but had been arrested with a view to being hospitalised. He was taken first to the . .
Cited – Middleton, Regina (on the Application of) v Coroner for the Western District of Somerset HL 11-Mar-2004
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.
Cited – Foster and others v British Gas plc ECJ 12-Jul-1990
The defendants (BGC) were nationalised suppliers of gas. BGC was by statute a body with a legal persona operating under the supervision of the authorities. Its members were appointed by the Secretary of State, who also determined their remuneration. . .
Cited – Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley, Warwickshire v Wallbank and another HL 26-Jun-2003
Parish Councils are Hybrid Public Authorities
The owners of glebe land were called upon as lay rectors to contribute to the cost of repairs to the local church. They argued that the claim was unlawful by section 6 of the 1998 Act as an act by a public authority incompatible with a Convention . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 21 May 2022; Ref: scu.242210
The Kate was totally lost in a collision with the defendants’ ship, whilst on the ballast leg of a charterparty. The issue was whether in a case of total loss as opposed to partial loss of a ship without a cargo, the plaintiffs could recover only the market value of the ship at the time of the loss (as the defendants contended) or the profit lost under the charterparty as well (as the plaintiffs contended).
Sir Francis Jeune P laid it down that the general principle which governs the assessment of damage is ‘restitutio in integrum qualified by the condition that the damage sought to be recovered must not be too remote.’ and also said: ‘Sir Robert Phillimore states that the value should be taken as at the end of the voyage, and therefore lets in freight or interest as an additional compensation . . The present case, which is that of a vessel without cargo, but under charter, being totally lost, is not exactly that contemplated by Sir Robert Phillimore; but it appears to me to follow from his judgment that the value of the vessel may in such case be taken as at the end of her voyage, and something allowed in respect of the period between the time of collision and the end of the voyage . . the profits under the charterparty should take the place of interest, as more accurately representing the loss to the owner, and may fairly be considered to be the equivalent of freight when a cargo is on board. Indeed I can see no distinction in principle between the case of freight when a cargo is on board and . . a charterparty under which cargo is to be taken.’
[1899] P 165
England and Wales
Cited – The ‘Columbus’ 9-Mar-1849
Where a vessel is sunk in a collision, and compensation is awarded by the Court of Admiralty to the full value of the vessel as for a total loss, the plaintiff will not be able to recover anything in the nature of a demurrage for loss of the . .
Cited – Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Another v The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime ComC 12-Sep-2013
In the lead case, Sony’s warehouse at Enfield had been severely damaged in what were said to be riots in August 2011. The court considered preliminary issues as to whether the events constituted a riot within the 1886 Act, and the extent of damages . .
Cited – Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Others v Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime CA 20-May-2014
The appellant had suffered damage in a riot, and, under the 1886 Act, the respondent was liable to pay compensation.
Held: The MOPC was liable to pay compensation by way of indemnity. Analysis of section 2(1) suggested compensation for loss . .
Cited – The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime v Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Others SC 20-Apr-2016
The Court considered the quantification of damages to be awarded to a business suffering under riots under the 1886 Act, and in particular whether such recoverable losses included compensation for consequential losses, including loss of profits and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.608294
A jet ski is neither a boat nor a vessel. The maritime limitation rules did not therefore apply to an accident involving a jet ski. The applicant could therefore claim full damages.
Gazette 06-May-1992
England and Wales
Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.89518
Documents held by an insurance company after settling a personal injuries claim by the same claimant but as regards a later unconnected claim were admissible, since they went to an issue in the later case, namely the nature and extent of the injury from the first occasion. They were admissible even though they had been used as part of without prejudice negotiations.
Waller, Dyson LJJ
Times 01-May-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 486, [2001] 4 All ER 345, [2002] RTR 2
England and Wales
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.84140
The claimant suffered damages in a road traffic accident in Spain caused by the respondent. A Spanish court would have allowed much lower damages. Such damages should normally be assessed in accordance with the law of the country where the accident happened, but the Act allowed other applicable law to be considered. In this case, both claimant and defendant lived in England, and the majority of damage transpired in England, and the court could and would calculate damages to English standards. The issue was a procedural one, and survived the change in law.
Gartland J said: ‘Even if I had not decided the section 12 point in the claimant’s favour, I would, unless persuaded that Spanish law did not recognise any head of damage recoverable by the claimant, have decided that quantification was purely procedural and should be carried out according to English law in any event.’
Gartland J
Times 21-Nov-2000, [2001] 1WLR 1003
Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 9, 11
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 . .
Cited – Roerig v Valiant Trawlers Ltd CA 28-Jan-2002
The claimant who was Dutch, was a widow of a fisherman who had died at sea. The question on appeal was ‘in assessing damages for loss of dependency should benefits resulting from the loss be deducted from the damages?’ The claimant’s position under . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.80259
Compensation is payable for losses properly anticipating resumption of possession of the land. The principle of equivalence gives rise to the statutory right to interest under section 11(1). The council explained the conceptual foundation of the discounted cash flow basis of calculation: ‘In this calculation the discount rate, or capitalisation rate, comprises the rate at which an amount of money payable at a future date should be reduced to arrive at its present value. Its present value is the price which a person would pay now for the right or prospect of receiving the amount of money in question at the future date. Three ingredients can be identified in the discount rate. One is the rate of return the potential purchaser would expect on his money, assuming that the payment to him at the future date is free of risk. A second ingredient is the allowance the potential purchaser would make because of the likely impact of inflation. He is buying today, in today’s currency, the right to be paid at a future date an amount which, when paid, will be paid in tomorrow’s depreciated currency. The third ingredient is the risk factor. The greater the risk that the purchaser will not receive in due course the future payments he is buying, the higher the rate of return he will require.’
Lord Nicholls, Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Mustill, Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Lloyd of Berwick
Times 27-Feb-1995, [1995] 2 AC 111
Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 11(1)
Cited – Halstead v Council of City of Manchester CA 23-Oct-1997
Land had been compulsorily purchased, and the compensation agreed, but after long delays in payment, not as to the calculation of interest.
Held: Interest would be payable from the date of entry. The limitation period arose only once the . .
Cited – Mohammed Aslam v South Bedfordshire District Council CA 21-Dec-2000
The claimant appealed an award of the Lands Tribunal of compensation for an order discontinuing his use as a slaughterhouse of premises of which he held a long lease. The tribunal had applied a discount for wastage on sheep carcasses of 25%, but had . .
Cited – Faraday v Carmarthenshire County Council CA 10-May-2004
The claimant appealed against an award of compensation on the compulsory acquisition of his land by the defendant.
Held: The award was incorrect. The authority had wrongly deducted a sum in respect of ‘freed up time’ – which would have allowed . .
Cited – Ryde International Plc v London Regional Transport CA 5-Mar-2004
The landowner had developed land which was then made the subject of compulsory purchase. The court was asked how the compensation was to be calculated. The landowner expected to sell the development as a whole. The respondent argued that the profit . .
Cited – Moto Hospitality Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport CA 26-Jul-2007
The company sought damages to its business on a motorway service station when works closed an access road.
Held: The Secretary of State’s appeal succeeded. A claim for compensation under section 10 had not been established, at least in respect . .
Cited – Star Energy Weald Basin Ltd and Another v Bocardo Sa SC 28-Jul-2010
The defendant had obtained a licence to extract oil from its land. In order to do so it had to drill out and deep under the Bocardo’s land. No damage at all was caused to B’s land at or near the surface. B claimed in trespass for damages. It now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.79977
An award of exemplary damages without at the same time making an award for compensatory damages was perverse.
Gazette 22-Feb-1995
England and Wales
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.79705
No defence of contributory negligence was to be allowed against a claim involving an allegation of corruption by means of bribery. The defendants had bribed one of the plaintiff’s employees. The plaintiff claimed restitution, and an account from the defendants as constructive trustees for profits. The defendants wanted to assert that there was an equivalent to contributory negligence within the law of equity. There was no proper reason for distinguishing deceit by bribery from other forms of deceit. There had to be something to have put the plaintiff on notice of the deceit, and that was absent here.
Gazette 13-Dec-1996
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.79515
A large interim award of damages can be proper if it is less than the likely damages which would be awarded at trial despite their remaining outstanding issues of fact to be decided.
Times 15-Mar-1996
See Also – Chiron Corporation and Others v Murex Diagnostics Ltd CA 14-Oct-1994
ECJ judgments make a UK court functus officio only after their full judgment has been delivered. Where judgment had already been given, it was no longer possible for the defendant in an action to seek a reference to the European Court on refusal of . .
See Also – Chiron Corporation v Organon Teknika (No 2) CA 1993
Section 44 could be used in a patent contract dispute even though the patent at issue was governed by the law of a foreign state which would not itself have applied that section. . .
See Also – Chiron Corporation v Organon Teknika Ltd; Same v Murex Diagnostics (No 7) ChD 17-Feb-1994
The issue of loss in a prior patent challenge is res judicata in later proceedings despite the presence of experimental difficulties leading to ipossibly severe time limits. A patent applicant has no duty to inform the Patent Office of matters . .
See Also – Chiron Corporation and Others v Murex Diagnostics Ltd CA 14-Oct-1994
ECJ judgments make a UK court functus officio only after their full judgment has been delivered. Where judgment had already been given, it was no longer possible for the defendant in an action to seek a reference to the European Court on refusal of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.79096
A 26 year old man who had no pre-existing condition sustained damage to his lumbar spine in a fall. He suffered from constant lumbar pain and also sudden shooting pains through his left buttock and thigh to his knee. He developed an abnormal pain disorder, and was forced to retire from work on medical grounds about nine months after his accident.
Held: Where an accident victim had a pre-disposition to suffer pain and inability to work despite absence of actual physical cause, the psychological damage was claimable in damages.
Times 08-Jun-1998, 1999 SLT 539
Cited – Iseabal Emslie v Anne Bell OHCS 12-Aug-2004
The defender had driven into the back of the pursuer’s car, causing the injuries. She claimed that the accident had aggravated a pre-existing slight injury to her knee.
Held: The pursuer’s accounts of her injuries had not been entirely . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.78751
It was appropriate to reduce the interest discount rate used to calculate damages awards in personal injury cases for future losses, from 3 per cent to 2 per cent. This reflected the general reduction in such interest rates since the Act came into effect. The House of Lords had set down guidelines for the discount rate to be applied on the award of damages for future losses. The decision had been expressed to apply only until the Act was put into effect. The parties sought to argue that they were not bound since the limitation was not essential to the decision, and the Lord Chancellor was thought to be about to announce a rate under the Act. The Court of Appeal stated that whilst guidelines were not immutable principles of law, they were clearly to be applied, and the time scale, set down in the judgement, was just as much part of the guidelines as the rate.
Hnry, Judge, Hale LJJ
Times 03-Apr-2001, Gazette 01-Jun-2001, [2001] EWCA Civ 433
England and Wales
Appeal from – Barry v Ablerex Construction (Midlands) Ltd QBD 22-Mar-2000
After a delay of delay 5 years, the judge deducted two years interest from the award to reflect the plaintiff’s delay. . .
Cited – Wells v Wells; Thomas v Brighton Health Authority; etc HL 16-Jul-1998
In each of three cases, the plaintiffs had suffered serious injury. They complained that the court had made a substantial reduction of their damages award for loss of future earnings and the costs of future care.
Held: The appeals succeeded. . .
Cited – Eagle (By Her Litigation Friend) v Chambers CA 29-Jul-2004
The claimant had been severely injured, and a substantial damages award made. Cross appeals were heard as to the several elements awarded. The claimant sought as part of her award of damages for personal injuries the fees she would have to pay to . .
Cited – Tortolano v Ogilvie Construction Ltd SCS 21-Feb-2013
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.78259
The court considered the method of calculation of compensation payable to a commercial agent on termination of the agency. The directive provided that the agent should be compensated, not indemnified, and the way an English court calculated compensation need not follow other European jurisdictions. A tariff system would be unfair, and the court must make allowance for the amounts expended by the agent. Accordingly it would be unjust to base the compensation on the gross return, but it should rather be based upon the net income of the agency.
Bowers J
Times 15-May-2001, [2001] EWHC QB 462, [2001] EuLR 567, [2001] All ER (D) 78
Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 No 3053
Cited – King v T Tunnock Limited IHCS 2000
The pursuer had been employed as a commercial agent by the defendant which carried on business as a baker. The pursuer sold only the defendant’s cakes and biscuits. The defendant decided to close its bakery business. The claimant sought compensation . .
Cited – Lonsdale (T/A Lonsdale Agencies) v Howard and Hallam Ltd HL 4-Jul-2007
The claimant sought compensation after his commercial agency was terminated. The court had found that the agency was declining in turnover, and reduced the compensation accordingly. There had been no written agreement for the agency, and six months’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.78249
Where a tribunal looked to assess compensation for unfair dismissal, and issues of causation arose, the tribunal should take a broad approach looking fairly at what was just and equitable looking at the claimant’s loss and the extent to which the loss was attributable to the employer. It would normally be wrong to seek to apply considerations appropriate in other contexts such as forseeability, and remoteness of damage.
Times 25-Jan-2000
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.78126
Denning J
[1947] KB 250, [1946] 2 All ER 719
England and Wales
Cited – Heskell v Continental Express Ltd 1950
The court discussed how a warranty of authority could arise in an agent: ‘An agent who warrants that he has authority need warrant no more than the bare fact. In the absence of special circumstances, he makes no warranty or representation about how . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.617224
The claimant, her brother and her parents had lived in a detached house before the relevant negligence occurred, but thereafter had moved into a bungalow purchased and adapted to meet her needs. The defendant sought to deduct, during the period (to the age of 25 years) for which the claimant was expected to share the house with her family, the value to the claimant’s parents of having a house provided free of charge for the whole family.
Held: The argument was rejected: ‘I come back to the basic proposition, which is that this is a compensation claim made on behalf of M. It is intended to compensate her for the effects of her disability. While she, for the purposes of this calculation, notionally lives at home with her parents until the age of 25, it seems to me that she is in no different position from any child who could not reasonably be expected to go out into the market place and buy accommodation.’
The defendant argued also for a deduction of the value of the property that, if the claimant had not been injured, she would have been likely to have purchased herself when she left home. Sullivan J accepted that such a deduction was appropriate from the time when the claimant could have been expected to leave the family home and acquire her own accommodation.
Sullivan J
[2002] PIQR Q46
England and Wales
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.567516
Court of Appeals of New York. A building contract specified that the plumbing should use a particular type of piping. In fact the builder used a different type of piping. Cardozo J. stated: ‘In the circumstances of this case, we think the measure of the allowance is not the cost of replacement, which would be great, but the difference in value, which would be either nominal or nothing . . It is true that in most cases the cost of replacement is the measure . . The owner is entitled to the money which will permit him to complete, unless the cost of completion is grossly and unfairly out of proportion to the good to be obtained. When that is true, the measure is the difference in value. Specifications call, let us say, for a foundation built of granite quarried in Vermont. On the completion of the building, the owner learns that through the blunder of a subcontractor part of the foundation has been built of granite of the same quality quarried in New Hampshire. The measure of allowance is not the cost of reconstruction. ‘There may be omissions of that which could not afterwards be supplied exactly as called for by the contract without taking down the building to its foundations, and at the same time the omission may not affect the value of the building for use or otherwise, except so slightly as to be hardly appreciable.’
Cardoza J
(1921) 230 NY 239
Cited – Ruxley Electronics and Construction Ltd v Forsyth HL 29-Jun-1995
Damages on Construction not as Agreed
The appellant had contracted to build a swimming pool for the respondent, but, after agreeing to alter the specification to construct it to a certain depth, in fact built it to the original lesser depth, Damages had been awarded to the house owner . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.526102
Bucknill LJ
[1949] P 10
Appeal from – Workington Harbour and Dock Board v Towerfield (Owners) (‘The Towerfield’) HL 1951
The occasions upon which the master is called upon to exercise his reserve of authority either by interfering with the conduct of the ship or by taking the navigation out of the hands of a competent pilot are rare and should the master exercise that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.410697
Harman LJ described the section as ‘monstrous legislative morass’ and ‘a Slough of Despond’.
Harman LJ
[1964] 3 All ER 390, [1964] 1 WLR 1218
Appeal from – Davy v Leeds Corporation HL 1965
The Corporation declared an area in which the appellants owned some slum houses to be a slum clearance area and made a compulsory purchase order. Compensation was to be assessed under the 1919 Act and the 1959 Act. The appellants were entitled to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.372347
[1862] EngR 825, (1862) 2 B and S 760, (1862) 121 ER 1254
England and Wales
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.286991
The EAT considered the deduction of sickness benefit from the compensatory award. Arnold J said: ‘The appellants before us say that that amount of sick ness benefit should be deducted from the amount awarded within the compensatory award for the 13 weeks of pay between the date of dismissal and the date of new emp loyment. The matter for consideration seems to us to depend upon whether the amount of the loss sustained by Miss Fitzjohn in consequence of her dismissal was the whole amount of lost pay or was the amount of lost pay less the sickness benefit. If the applicant was entitled to retain the sickness benefit to which she was justly enti tled, so long as her employment continued, in addition to receiving her pay, the loss would in our judgment be the net pay lost without any deductions; but if either she was obliged to accept some reduced amount of pay by reference to the sickness benefit she had received or so long as she was being paid under a continuing contract of employment was disentitled from receiving sick benefit at all, then in either of those cases it seems to us that the compensatory award for lost pay should be reduced by the amount of the sickness benefit which she received. It is not contended by the appellants that so long as her contract of employment continued she would have been obliged to accept any deduction from her wages by reference to the amount of sickness benefit she had received or otherwise obliged to account to her employers for the amount of that sickness benefit. They do however submit that the applicant was not in fact entitled to receive sickness benefit so long as her contract of employment continued and that therefore all that she lost, if she had received no more than she was justly entitled to, would have been the net pay and it would follow from that that, since during the period of unemployment she received in fact sickness benefit, then her loss would be the amount of net pay less the amount of sickness benefit. For this proposition the appellants rely on the language of s.14(1)(b) of the Social Security Act 1975; the relevant part of the sub-section reads thus:
‘A person shall be entitled to unemployment benefit in respect of any day of unemployment which forms part of a period of interruption of employment and to sickness benefit in respect of any day of incapacity for work which forms part of such a period’
and they point out that ‘such a period’ plainly means a period of interruption of employment. So they say she is entitled to sickness benefit only during a period of unemp loyment since this is what ‘interruption of employment’ means, so that if she had continued to be employed by the appellants she would not, so long as that employment con tinued, notwithstanding that she was off work for sick ness, be entitled to sickness benefit. The answer to that proposition is in our judgment plainly contained in the definition which is to be found in s.17(1)(c) of the Social Security Act 1975, which provides that the expression ‘day of interruption of employment’ means a day which is a day of unemployment or incapacity for work. It follows from this, in our judgment, that where a person suffers from an incapacity for work such as that from which Miss Fitzjohn suffered during the relevant period it matters not that she has the benefit of a current contract of employment, in relation to her entitlement to sickness benefit.
Arnold J
[1979] IRLR 154
Cited – Puglia v C James and Sons EAT 24-Oct-1995
The EAT considered the effect of the receipt of benefits during a period of sickness when calculating loss of earnings, and whether a hearing was properly conducted without the presence of the parties.
Held: There is no procedural irregularity . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.278237
Leave to amend was given to the defendant to add a claim for a contribution. It was not an issue of fact. The statute did not imply any assumption that the defendant would would not maintain a defence. Matters of foreign law were not part of the facts of a case.
Chadwick J
Times 17-Jun-1993, [1993] CLY 3134
Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 1, Supreme Court Act 1981 69(5), Rules of the Supreme Court Ord 18 r 7(1)
Updated: 17 May 2022; Ref: scu.77849
Damages in favour of a corporate body in defamation cases are limited to financial damage.
[1945] KB 364
Cited – Adelson and Another v Associated Newspapers Ltd QBD 19-Dec-2007
Applications were launched with in defamation proceedings to seek to recover damages for parties who had not previously been part of the proceedings.
Held: The amendments were refused. The new claimants were now out of time, and it was clear . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 17 May 2022; Ref: scu.263552
