Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 1997

Conversion requires actual possession or an immediate legal right to possession of the chattel. An equitable interest alone does not suffice, although an…

Under the Race Relations Act 1976, a complaint requires comparison with a person of another racial group in the same or materially similar circumstances…

A renewed application for leave to move for judicial review fails if any critical step in an interdependent argument is not sufficiently arguable. A…

A continuing “global” or “umbrella” contract of employment requires some mutuality of obligation throughout the relevant period. The obligations need not…

Under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the period of disqualification is a judicial discretion within the statutory limits. The…

In malicious prosecution, a claimant must prove favourable termination, absence of reasonable and probable cause, and malice. Reasonable and probable cause is…

A tenancy by estoppel of business premises falls within Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 where the parties are estopped from denying the grantor’s…

A local authority may challenge its own planning decision in judicial review through its leader, where the authority cannot itself be both applicant and…

A contractual variation requires an alteration to the plant or work that the contractor is obliged to provide. A direction changing the location of welfare and…

A convicted prisoner retains civil rights unless they are expressly removed or their loss is an inevitable consequence of lawful imprisonment. That principle…

Procedural fairness in the annual review of a prisoner's security category does not ordinarily require disclosure of every report or the identities of those…

On an application to set aside a default judgment, the court should examine both the merits of the proposed defence and the conduct leading to the default.…

An action may be struck out for abuse of process or an improper collateral purpose, and exceptionally where it is conclusively shown to be bound to fail.…

VAT exemptions for the negotiation of credit and arrangements for granting credit are not confined to an intermediary arranging individual loans or specific…

Under section 10(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994, the question is whether similarity between a sign and a mark, together with the identity or similarity of the…

A restrictive covenant in employment is enforceable only to protect a legitimate employer interest, not simply to prevent competition. Protectable trade…

A long-term gas-sale contract must be construed as a whole. Detailed nomination, take-or-pay and seller-reservation provisions may limit the seller’s ability…

Informality in statutory small claims arbitration does not displace the adversarial character of the hearing. The District Judge must allow both parties to…

A guarantee securing repayment of advance payments is ordinarily a risk contract. Frustration is not established merely because war, political change or loss…

Although the grant of exceptional leave to enter or remain is entrusted to the Secretary of State, that discretion does not permit him merely to reassert his…

Under Ord. 6 r. 8(2) of the Rules of the Supreme Court, an applicant must show good reason for extending a writ’s validity in every case, including cases where…

Under section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the effect of a development on neighbouring land may be a material planning consideration. A…

For relief under section 144 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, it is insufficient that an event occurs within two years of death. The event must be one on which…

The tort of malicious prosecution remains confined to the established categories recognised by authority: most criminal proceedings and civil insolvency…

At the strike-out stage, a claim should proceed where duty, breach or causation remains genuinely arguable. Whether a claimant would have acted differently…

Under the Brussels Convention, patent infringement proceedings may generally be brought in the defendant’s domicile or where the harmful event occurred…

The abuse-of-process branch of the Henderson v Henderson rule is not engaged merely because a point could have been raised in earlier proceedings. The court…

In a negligent valuation claim, the claimant proves causation by showing reliance on the valuation in deciding to lend, that it would not have proceeded…

Compensation under section 11(1) of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 carries interest from entry until payment, including where compensation is assessed by the…

An appellate court should interfere cautiously with a first-instance welfare decision reached after careful consideration of all relevant circumstances. This…

On a renewed application for judicial review, the Court of Appeal unanimously refused leave. Where an issue of public importance may warrant guidance, the…

A trustee in bankruptcy who elects to adopt an action vested in him may waive the procedural irregularity caused by the absence of a formal order substituting…

For unfair dismissal, dismissal occurs when the employee’s employment actually terminates, rather than when notice is given. In deciding whether a potentially…

A shareholder cannot personally recover a loss that is merely the diminution in share value caused by misappropriation or other loss to the company. The…

In a negotiated commercial contract, a limitation for consequential loss does not ordinarily cap losses flowing directly and naturally from breach in the…

Time is of the essence for exercising an option to purchase land within a stipulated period. The option must be exercised strictly within that period, both at…

A contractual termination mechanism does not necessarily exclude the common-law right to accept a repudiatory breach. However, a party relying on that right…

For a mandatory interlocutory injunction, the overriding consideration is which course carries the lower risk of injustice if the court is later shown to have…

For a land-sale contract to comply with the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, it is arguable that the contractual terms may be contained in…

The Civil Evidence Act 1995 did not apply retrospectively to proceedings begun before 31 January 1997 where the Lord Chancellor’s commencement order contained…

Section 8(1) of the Lloyd's Act 1982 regulates insurance underwriting at Lloyd’s, not ancillary reinsurance arrangements. Pooling assets to secure or discharge…

Where highway safety and detailed access works are central to a planning application, and the Secretary of State grants permission after fully hearing and…

A third country is not unsafe merely because its interpretation of the Refugee Convention differs from that applied in the United Kingdom. The difference must…

A local planning authority is not generally required to give reasons for granting planning permission where the statutory scheme requires reasons for refusals…

A landlord’s duty not to derogate from a grant is governed by fair dealing and the purpose for which the premises were let. It is not confined to acts making…

An institution is a charity under the Charities Act 1993 only if it is established for exclusively charitable purposes under the law of England and Wales and…

A reliable report from a credible informant can provide reasonable and probable cause for a search warrant. A lack of supporting observation does not…

Judicial review of a modification order under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is confined to legality: whether the order was within the surveying…

A double taxation agreement may exempt interest from United Kingdom corporation tax, but that exemption does not prevent a controlled foreign company charge…

Applications for leave to appeal and for an extension of time should be refused where the alleged miscarriage of justice is unsupported by the trial record and…

A public body may also enter contractual relations conferring private rights on its members. Public-law functions and a public-law issue do not by themselves…

A court should not use its inherent jurisdiction to require security for costs, backed by a stay, where the applicable rules do not permit security and a bona…

Under Schedule 1 to the Rent Act 1977, a same-sex partner cannot succeed as a spouse merely because the relationship is permanent, stable and devoted. The…

In possession proceedings, the proper claimant is the person in whom the immediate reversion is vested. A managing agent acting for the landlord is not the…

A solicitor acting for several clients in one transaction owes retainer duties to each of them. One client cannot, without authority from the others, receive…

Adverse possession requires proof of both exclusive factual possession for the limitation period and an intention to possess to the exclusion of others.…

Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the prescribed sums payable before the return of an abandoned vehicle under section 101 are distinct from the…

At the preliminary stage of an application to modify a definitive map, the question is whether, on all available evidence, a reasonable person could allege…

Appeals from employment tribunals are not a means of reopening findings of fact and credibility. A challenge must disclose an error of law, perversity or a…

The Court of Appeal held that alleged post-death falsification of medical records disclosed no sustainable claim for psychiatric or economic loss. A doctor’s…

The statutory duty to maintain a highway is absolute as to the result required, but it does not require a highway authority to keep every highway continuously…

Section 371 of the Companies Act 1985 provides a procedural remedy for impracticability in calling, holding or conducting a company meeting. It does not…

For highway-tree nuisance, statutory vesting of the highway may give the highway authority sufficient property in a tree to support liability to an adjoining…

Legal advice privilege is not necessarily lost when privileged material is disclosed to a third party. The decisive question is whether the communication…

For applicants who are not spouses, reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 is confined to…

Under the statutory right-to-buy scheme, a landlord must describe structural defects known to it. The duty concerns defects affecting the structure that…

In a libel action, a prima facie right to jury trial is displaced where the court is satisfied that the trial requires prolonged examination of documents which…

Procedural time limits are rules to be observed, but enforcement remains subject to the overriding requirement that justice be done. Where a claim falls…

The court has jurisdiction under Supreme Court Act 1981, section 37, to require a cross-undertaking in damages as a condition of continuing a receivership by…

A residence order should not normally be conditioned on the children remaining at a specified address within the United Kingdom where the parent granted…

An application requiring magistrates to state a case may properly be rejected as frivolous where it is futile, misconceived, hopeless or academic. The power…

The Court of Appeal may permit a respondent to raise a relevant, significant and potentially decisive point by a respondents’ notice served out of time…

Patent obviousness asks whether the claimed technical advance would have been obvious to the person skilled in the art. The inquiry is not whether lawful…

In a small-claims arbitration, a dispute appearing factual may still raise arguable questions of law concerning contractual remedies and ancillary charges.…

An unclear term in a commercial insurance policy should be construed by considering the policy as a whole, its context, scheme, surrounding circumstances and…

An easement granting the free passage of electricity through service installations on servient land does not oblige the servient owner to purchase electricity…

A competent adult has an absolute right to refuse medical treatment, however irrational the refusal and however grave the consequences. The court has no…

A solicitor who enters a financial transaction with a client assumes fiduciary duties of loyalty, full disclosure of material facts, and avoidance of…

Whether a contract arose is judged objectively from the parties’ words and conduct, not from their unexpressed intentions. A contractor’s indication that its…

A court does not begin with a rigid rule that a contemnor cannot be heard. It must exercise a flexible discretion, asking whether justice is better served by…

Where one clause in a building contract imposes unqualified liability for negligent property damage and another requires insurance against specified perils…

A covenant by an agricultural tenant not to share occupation is construed in the factual context of the holding. On an arable farm without buildings or…

For limitation purposes, knowledge that an injury is attributable to an alleged act or omission requires broad knowledge of the essence of the causally…

Patentability under section 1(2) of the Patents Act 1977 depends on the substance of the claimed invention, not the form in which it is claimed. A computer…

Where negligent conveyancing advice deprives an owner of the opportunity to complete a sale before an unregistered land charge is registered, the loss is the…

A possessory lien ordinarily secures the lien-holder’s proper charges, but not a separate claim for keeping the goods after the lien arises, absent an…

In adopting a local plan after a public inquiry, a local planning authority must consider the inspector’s report and recommendations and give proper, adequate…

The destruction of relevant evidence does not create an automatic presumption that every disputed matter must be resolved against the destroyer. The court may…

A private canal Act is construed against the promoters where its language is ambiguous. The word through is not confined to land severed by the canal. It can…

Under section 84(2) of the Housing Act 1985, persistent serious criminal offending at premises let under a secure tenancy will ordinarily make possession…

A claimant alleging injury from a highway defect must first establish that the highway was dangerous to traffic, that the danger resulted from failure to…

Where immigration officers detain a person under statutory powers while investigating whether to grant leave, the statutory relationship alone does not create…

Section 21(1)(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948 is not a general safety net for anyone without money or accommodation. The applicant must need care and…

Section 21(1)(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948 is not a general safety net for anyone lacking money or accommodation. An applicant must need care and…

In patent validity proceedings, anticipation requires a prior publication to give clear and unmistakable directions to the precise claimed invention. A…

A claim for a mandatory injunction to enforce a repairing covenant is not premature merely because the defendant’s liability in damages has not yet accrued. If…

A lease granted by a mortgagor in breach of a mortgage covenant against leasing is void unless the mortgagee waives the illegality. Nevertheless, the tenant…

A former employee has no implied post-employment restraint against canvassing or soliciting the former employer’s clients merely because those clients form…

In planning judicial review, the court distinguishes between the legal meaning of policy guidance and the planning judgment entrusted to the local authority.…

A secure tenancy ends under section 82(2) of the Housing Act 1985 when the date for giving possession under a possession order takes effect. A later stay or…

In regulating a licence-holder, a statutory electricity regulator must consider the overall effect of a proposed licence modification on prices, competition…

After a possession warrant has been executed, the court retains a narrow inherent jurisdiction to intervene where the underlying order is set aside, the…

A claim may be struck out for want of prosecution where delay is inordinate and culpable, it has prejudiced a fair trial, and it is seriously arguable that…

On an application for leave to appeal, permission should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success. An appellate court will…

A rent review clause must be construed as part of the lease as a whole, having regard to its language and commercial purpose. Where the clause indicates a…

A statutory exchange-control direction supported only by criminal sanctions and lacking provision for civil recovery does not ordinarily create a private-law…

Where one spouse’s notice to quit ends a joint periodic tenancy but the other has a realistic matrimonial claim to transfer the tenancy or set aside the…

A transaction which includes the disposition of an interest in land cannot be divided artificially into separate oral agreements to avoid the formal…