Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 1996

The Court of Appeal may refuse leave to appeal where, having considered the applicant’s grounds and the material placed before it, it is satisfied that the…

At the leave stage in a defamation claim, a court should not resolve a disputed distinction between pleaded meanings under Order 82, rule (3)(a) where the…

Where a lease makes a break right personal and provides that it ceases on an assignment, “assignment” ordinarily means an assignment of the legal estate…

The statutory discretion to grant rights of audience to a person who does not otherwise possess them must be exercised within the framework established by…

Refusal of leave to amend pleadings is a discretionary case-management decision. The appellate court interferes only if the judge applied a wrong principle or…

For refugee status based on membership of a particular social group, a family may qualify as such a group. The feared persecution must nevertheless be because…

A referee who owes a player a duty of care must exercise the care and skill appropriate to all the circumstances. The practical content of that duty reflects…

In large group litigation, access to the courts is fundamental but subject to the court’s inherent duty to prevent abuse and injustice. The court may assess…

For the purposes of section 14 of the Limitation Act 1980, a suspicion that a birth injury may have resulted from hypoxia does not necessarily amount to…

Where a defendant pays £2,500 or less into court, the payment is exempt under the Social Security Administration Act 1992. It is not equivalent to a payment…

For VAT construction zero-rating, the question is whether works are properly described as conversion, reconstruction, alteration or enlargement of an existing…

Under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958, the court represents beneficiaries who cannot consent. It does not act as a settlor or preserve the settlor’s wishes.…

In proceedings concerning children, the ordinary practice is to make no order as to costs, but that practice is flexible rather than absolute. Costs may be…

For compulsory motor insurance purposes, a “road” is not confined to a conventional carriageway or to a place commonly called a road. Under the Road Traffic…

The shareholder reflective-loss principle does not bar a holding company from suing an auditor where the auditor assumed a separate duty directly to the…

On an application under section 34(9) of the Children Act 1989 to discharge leave previously given under section 34(4), the court must treat the child’s…

A complaints body may conclude that no censure is warranted without deciding whether a technical breach of its code occurred, where its task is substantive and…

A disciplinary tribunal does not have to permit an unappealed criminal conviction to be challenged afresh. Although section 11 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968…

An appellate court should interfere with a judge’s discretionary decision on amendment of pleadings only where the decision was wrong in principle or plainly…

The court has a residual common-law jurisdiction to postpone delivery of possession for a short period where statutory mortgage-relief powers are unavailable…

Once a health authority decides to inform patients of a remote medical risk, it must take reasonable steps in all the circumstances, having regard to the…

Words such as subject to licence do not automatically prevent a landlord’s written consent from taking effect. The document must be construed in its legal and…

Whether conduct amounts to persecution is ordinarily a question of fact, applying the ordinary meaning of the word and considering all relevant circumstances…

Under section 1(1) of the Defective Premises Act 1972, a claimant need prove that defective work caused the dwelling to be unfit for habitation. The work need…

For parking penalties, the registered keeper is presumed to be the owner. That presumption is rebutted only by establishing one of the statutory grounds in…

When the inherent jurisdiction is invoked to decide whether a child should receive medical treatment, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must make an…

Damages recovered for negligent or reckless underwriting by Lloyd’s managing agents fall within a premiums trust deed covering money payable in connection with…

To set aside a regular default judgment, an applicant must show both a defence with a reasonable prospect of success and a proper case for exercising the…

Planning inspectors must give intelligible reasons addressing the primary issues raised by the evidence and applicable policies. Their reasoning is read…

A court has ancillary jurisdiction to require a party subject to a Mareva injunction to be cross-examined on an affidavit disclosing assets where this is…

In asylum appeals, anxious scrutiny and the duty to detect obvious risks of injustice do not require the Immigration Appeal Tribunal to search for points never…

Where mortgage possession proceedings include an unresolved claim for sale and related proceedings concerning the same property are pending, the Court of…

In malicious prosecution, malice, absence of honest belief and absence of reasonable and probable cause are distinct questions. Malice does not establish lack…

When a local planning authority considers objections to a local plan, it must engage thoroughly, conscientiously and fairly with the objections, the…

A purchaser’s lien for deposits may arise even where the contract is conditional or concerns a lease yet to be granted. It is sufficient that the purchaser has…

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988, a landlord must consent to a proposed underletting unless refusal is unreasonable. Consent subject to an unreasonable…

On an application to vary a periodical payments order, the court has jurisdiction under section 31 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 without requiring…

Statutory qualified privilege for a fair and accurate report of a public inquiry is construed purposively. The inquiry’s final report may form part of…

In deciding residence, each child’s welfare must be assessed individually. Siblings should ordinarily be raised together, but that is not an absolute rule. The…

The question whether words are capable of being defamatory is a legal threshold, but courts should be slow to withdraw it from a jury. The assessment is…

Under section 57 of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978, the employer must establish the facts or beliefs causing dismissal and show that they…

An article becomes a fixture when the objective circumstances show both sufficient annexation to the land and an intention that it should form a permanent…

A supplier remains contractually bound to provide software capable of performing the function required by the contract, even where the system is still under…

For statutory domicile within a part of the United Kingdom, residence means that the place is a settled or usual place of abode. This requires some degree of…

Immigration rules conferring a deportation discretion may be supplemented by policy guidance, but the policy must not be applied so rigidly that it fetters the…

English courts must apply domestic statutory law to ancillary relief once jurisdiction is assumed, even where a foreign jurisdiction is also available. Under…

A bank may be fixed with constructive notice of undue influence when it takes security from a junior employee for an employer’s debts and the transaction is…

Under section 19 of the Immigration Act 1971, an appellate authority may examine whether an entry-clearance refusal was in accordance with law, including…

At the interlocutory stage, a commercial agent seeking a Mareva injunction need only show a good arguable case for substantial compensation and a clear risk of…

Absolute immunity for parties and witnesses extends beyond evidence given in court. It covers statements, evidence preparation and conduct forming part of the…

In a compulsory winding up, unsecured creditors whose interests are prejudiced by an undervalue sale are persons aggrieved and may ask the court to undo the…

When determining under section 1(3)(e) of the Children Act 1989 whether a child has suffered, or risks suffering, harm, the court must decide disputed facts on…

Under Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, a valid purchase notice imposes a duty on the new landlord to give effect to the tenants’ right to acquire…

For a statutory new lease of a flat, an area need not form part of the flat itself in order to be included as an appurtenance. Where property belongs to, or is…

An adjudicator who reaches a conclusion differing from earlier adjudicators must consider the material before him and explain his own conclusion. Earlier…

Under the Law of Property Act 1925, a lease covenant breach is capable of remedy where compliance after notice, within a reasonable time and with any…

Under the Law of Property Act 1925, s 146, a breach of a lease covenant is capable of remedy when the harm or mischief caused by it can be removed. Complete…

Under section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, as extended by section 8 of the Administration of Justice Act 1973, suspension of a mortgage…

For a loan repayable on demand, the common-law rule is that the debt is immediately due; demand is not a condition precedent to suing. Under the Limitation Act…

A duty of care depends on reasonable foreseeability of a risk of personal injury, not foreseeability of the precise disease later suffered. In asbestos cases…

Passing off protects goodwill attached to goods or services, rather than conferring a monopoly over a name or get-up. The claimant must prove goodwill or…

When considering compassionate leave outside the immigration rules, the decision-maker must take account of the position and legally relevant interests of a…

A secondary victim who proves a recognised psychiatric illness caused or materially contributed to by witnessing a horrifying event may recover damages.…

At the leave stage of a judicial-review claim concerning immigration bail, the statutory scheme gives a Special Adjudicator discretion to grant or refuse bail.…

In determining a child’s upbringing, the child’s welfare remains paramount. The court must nevertheless begin with a strong supposition that, other things…

In an asylum claim, the applicant must place before the adjudicator the evidence and arguments relied on to show that internal relocation would be…

On a renewed application for leave to move for judicial review, the Court of Appeal may adopt the lower court’s reasoning where it agrees with it in full.…

For an out-of-time discrimination complaint, the decision to extend a statutory time limit on the just and equitable ground is primarily for the employment…

An unregistered estate contract must be registered to bind a later purchaser of a legal estate for value. Payment of the price and possession may make the…

For statutory motor insurance, arising out of vehicle use extends beyond direct or proximate causation but still requires a causal nexus. A person may be using…

A statutory restraint and receivership regime permits control of a defendant’s realisable property, but it does not itself confer jurisdiction to appoint a…

The remedy for proprietary estoppel must represent the minimum equity required to do justice. The claimant’s encouraged expectation sets the maximum extent of…

On an application to join a person in possession to possession proceedings, the court should consider possession, non-party status, legitimate purpose and a…

In financial-relief proceedings involving jointly owned matrimonial assets, equality may be adopted as a starting point where both spouses have worked, but it…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the court must decide objectively whether the deceased’s disposition produces an…

A court controlling group litigation may impose cut-off dates to secure fair, economical and efficient progress. Failure to comply may exclude a claim from the…

Whether residential occupation is a tenancy or a licence depends on the true contractual arrangement. Following [1985] AC 809, exclusive possession for a term…