Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2002

An appellate court respects case management decisions made on correct principles and with proper consideration of relevant matters. It may intervene where a…

Financial assistance under sections 151 and 152 of the Companies Act 1985 is a commercial concept assessed by the commercial substance and reality of the…

In professional-negligence claims involving loss of a chance to recover damages in earlier proceedings, the claimant must establish the relevant duty, breach…

Assessors appointed under section 67(4) of the Race Relations Act 1976 must assist the judge broadly in evaluating evidence and deciding whether conduct was…

Competition-law defences to patent infringement claims should not be summarily rejected where the pleaded facts have a more than fanciful prospect of…

Under section 26(1)(b) of the Trade Marks Act 1938, “bona fide use” requires use of the mark in the course of trade in relation to the registered goods and an…

In ancillary relief proceedings, considerable weight should be given to the spouses’ own property arrangements during the marriage. Where they have chosen…

A trial judge must decide the case defined by the pleadings and must give adequate reasons for rejecting material evidence, particularly where the rejection…

Section 133(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 is not confined to cases in which factual innocence is proved. A conviction quashed on an out-of-time appeal…

On an appeal against a VAT assessment made to the commissioners’ best judgment, the tribunal must distinguish between the validity of the assessment and its…

Compensation for future career loss depends on a reasoned assessment of the chances of continued employment absent discrimination. Statistics are relevant, but…

For VAT purposes, a transaction involving medical consultation, prescription, provision and administration of a drug may comprise more than one supply. The…

Whether a receipt is capital or income is determined by its commercial reality, assessed from all the circumstances. No fixed rule makes every lump sum for…

Under section 85(2) of the Housing Act 1985, the court may reconsider postponement of possession at any time before execution of a possession order. This…

When deciding whether to extend the limitation period under Limitation Act 1980, section 33, the court must consider all the circumstances and the particular…

Summary judgment is appropriate only where the claimant has no real prospect of success. The court must assume credible facts in the claimant’s favour and must…

A mortgagee or receiver exercising a power of sale owes an equitable duty to take reasonable steps to obtain a proper price. That duty protects the mortgagor…

An Immigration Appeal Tribunal may review an adjudicator’s factual conclusions, but should interfere sparingly with findings based on oral evidence. It may set…

Income Support (General) Regulations 1987, regulation 52, applies only where a claimant and others hold a single beneficial interest jointly. It does not apply…

Mental capacity to conduct litigation is issue-specific. The question is whether the person can understand, with appropriate explanation and advice, the…

The statutory remedy for unfair dismissal does not automatically exclude every common-law claim arising from earlier conduct. The court must determine, on the…

Under Article 13(3) of the Brussels Convention, a consumer contract for services falls within the special jurisdiction rules only where the contract was…

A tribunal may impose conditions on the conditional discharge of a restricted patient under the Mental Health Act 1983 where those conditions do not inevitably…

The anti-avoidance provisions in Part XVII of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 require a wide construction. Their application is not confined to…

A suspended possession order against a secure tenant ends the tenancy when the tenant breaches its conditions, leaving a tolerated trespasser. Later payment of…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where the dispute requires a fact-sensitive assessment of commercial circumstances and the evidence may reasonably resolve in…

Under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, permission to appeal from an arbitral award depends on cumulative statutory criteria. The question must have been…

A completed mortgagee’s sale is not set aside merely because the property was sold at an undervalue. The mortgagor must show impropriety or bad faith in the…

An architect’s duty to a subsequent owner or occupier is ordinarily limited by the architect’s contractual design and supervisory responsibilities. It may…

Article 6(1) applies to a statutory residential-care scheme because decisions about the premises which an individual may occupy as a home, and the terms of…

Authority to transfer client funds may arise from a combination of communications and conduct, even where no single document contains the complete authority…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where deciding whether a company may set aside a transaction would require substantial factual findings or a mini-trial.…

At the permission stage of judicial review, the court determines only whether the proposed challenge is properly arguable. It does not decide whether the…

Where negligence results in the birth of a healthy child, the ordinary costs of upbringing, maintenance and education are not recoverable as damages. This…

For child-support purposes, the question whether a parent provides day-to-day care must be determined under the statutory scheme, not by treating a residence…

Partial revocation for non-use requires a trade mark specification to reflect the proprietor’s actual use, the circumstances of the trade and the way in which…

A contractual injunction is a remedy for preventing future breaches of the contract. It cannot create rights after the contract has ended unless an independent…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal raises something close to a question of principle and has realistic prospects of success.…

In civil litigation, an appellate court will rarely interfere with a trial judge’s assessment of a witness whom the judge saw and heard, particularly where the…

Permission to appeal should proceed on notice where the proposed claim raises genuinely arguable questions about the interaction between alleged judicial…

Where removal is challenged solely because of anticipated treatment in the receiving state, treatment falling short of the serious ill-treatment prohibited by…

An unincorporated international treaty does not confer enforceable rights on individuals or govern the exercise of statutory powers unless domestic law gives…

For the purposes of a forfeiture notice, the relevant lessee is the person who, as against the lessor, is bound to remedy the breach or pay compensation. A…

A Part 36 offer is made when it is communicated in writing to, and received by, the offeree. Formal service under Part 6 is not required. Even if the method of…

After six years, permission to issue a writ of execution under Order 46 rule 2(1)(a) will ordinarily be refused. The judgment creditor bears the burden of…

Judicial review of an Immigration Appeal Tribunal’s refusal of permission to appeal is confined to public-law error. The reviewing court does not re-try asylum…

For capital allowances under Capital Allowances Act 1990, the inquiry is directed to the trader who incurred expenditure on plant or machinery. Subject to the…

Under section 212(3)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a week counts towards continuous employment only where an arrangement or custom causes both parties…

A warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 authorising the search of premises did not, without express inclusion, authorise stopping or searching people…

Misfeasance in public office may arise where public officers knowingly exceed their powers and act with subjective recklessness as to the probable injury…

Whether procedural unfairness at the first tier of a statutory decision-making process is cured by an appeal depends on the statutory scheme as a whole. Under…

Where a share-sale agreement requires the purchaser to pay the company’s net assets without qualification, a tax repayment right which accrued by the valuation…

An interim care hearing must remain confined to protecting the child until the court can conduct the essential final hearing. It must not determine long-term…

A statutory prohibition on corporal punishment by teachers did not violate the appellants’ Convention rights. The religious objective asserted could be pursued…

An oral maintenance agreement may remain enforceable for equipment supplied after a later written agreement where the writing is confined to scheduled…

Where an option is exercised, the acquisition of the option and the acquisition of the underlying asset are treated as a single transaction for capital gains…

Where a trial judge’s factual conclusion depends centrally on the date and significance of a contemporary document, the judge must confront that issue and make…

In assessing compensation under a criminal injuries scheme, different multipliers may properly be used for future care costs and future benefits. A reduced…

The procedural regime governing an election petition has a strict hierarchy. Part III of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the rules made under it…

An informal social arrangement may create contractual obligations once acted upon in a way that would lead reasonable people to expect legal obligations. Where…

In a civil claim alleging serious wrongdoing, the standard remains the ordinary balance of probabilities. The seriousness and inherent improbability of an…

Judicial review must be directed to a particular decision. It cannot be used for free-ranging complaints based on later events that do not undermine that…

A claimant is barred by public policy from recovering a head of damages only where that part of the claim depends substantially on the claimant’s own unlawful…

For VAT purposes, the negotiation of credit includes a distinct act of mediation or introduction which is preliminary to, and directly connected with, the…

For the capital gains tax share-reorganisation provisions to apply, a new holding must result from arrangements which would, without the statutory treatment…

Section 66(2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 confines an appeal against removal directions to the question whether there was power to give directions…

A party’s procedural right is to have a matter listed at a notified time with an opportunity to attend and make oral representations. A hearing remains valid…

An order made after a party fails to attend trial may be set aside only if all three requirements in rule 39.3(5) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 are…

Customs must prove objectively reasonable grounds for a stop and search under sections 163 or 163A of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. A later…

Appellate interference with a contact order made in the exercise of a broad discretion is limited. An arguable error of principle concerning excessive…

Where a partnership deed defines the basis for calculating a retiring partner’s entitlement, the calculation must follow the contractual formula and the…

In a psychiatric-injury claim, the relevant question is whether the defendant’s negligence caused or materially contributed to a recognised illness, including…

In assessing whether a person facing persecution by non-State agents requires surrogate international protection, the tribunal must consider whether the home…

Section 95(13) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 does not exhaustively limit the powers conferred by Schedule 9. An interim asylum-support scheme may…

In a secondary-victim claim for psychiatric injury after negligent medical treatment, the required horrifying event may comprise a seamless series of directly…

A contractual licence for agricultural use falls within section 2 of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 only if it can be modified into a yearly tenancy…

A misrepresentation remains material where it is relevant to the claimant’s decision to contract and forms part of the information relied upon, even though…

Forcible medical treatment of a detained psychiatric patient must be in the patient’s best interests and must be convincingly shown to be medically necessary…

A statutory agreement settling a VAT appeal requires a genuine consensus between the taxpayer and the Commissioners. The court should apply ordinary principles…

In an application for permission to appeal in a Hague child-return case, a possible alternative view of the evidence is insufficient. The applicant must…

Permission to sue a court-appointed receiver should be granted only where the proposed claim is genuine and calls for an answer. Where a draft pleading is…

A planning permission is construed as a public document, giving it the meaning that a reasonable reader would derive from the permission, its conditions, its…

A trial judge need not accept one party’s account in full and reject the other’s in full. The judge may accept parts of each account, reject other parts and…

The court’s general discretion as to costs under Part 44 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is not fettered merely because a party made an informal offer which…

On an appeal against findings of fact, the Court of Appeal reviews the evidence but will interfere only where the decision is plainly outside the range of…

A suitable parent entrusted with a child’s primary care ordinarily has the right to choose where and with whom to live within the United Kingdom. A court may…

In a claim for deceit, a material false representation made with a view to inducing a contract gives rise to a rebuttable inference of inducement when the…

In a permission-to-appeal application, the Court of Appeal may defer determination where the material shows a realistic possibility of compromise and the…

A court may correct an order under CPR 40.12 where the entered wording contains an accidental slip and does not reflect what the court intended. The court need…

A plea of justification succeeds only if the defendant proves by admissible evidence the essential or substantial truth of the defamatory sting. Where the…

The general rule that costs follow the event may be displaced after considering all the circumstances, including partial success and party conduct. Indemnity…

In possession proceedings based on serious anti-social conduct, the question whether it is reasonable to make a possession order is distinct from the later…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the applicant must show an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for…

Permission to appeal from a discretionary family order may be refused where the first-instance judge accepted the evidence, gave reasons for rejecting…

On a second appeal, permission should be granted only where there is a point of general public importance or another compelling reason. A compelling reason may…

On judicial review of a refusal by the Immigration Appeal Tribunal of permission to appeal, the decisive question is whether any reasonable tribunal could have…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no prospect of success. A party seeking to set aside or stay an earlier order must give…

An application for permission to bring a second appeal is subject to a demanding threshold. Permission requires an important point of principle or another…

On an application for permission to appeal, a transcript is unnecessary where the lower court has given full reasons and the transcript would not assist in…

An application to extend time for appealing must be made promptly. A litigant’s mistaken intention to pursue proceedings in a European court does not excuse a…

A material operation starts development only if it is authorised by the planning permission read with its conditions. Work done in breach of a condition…

An application for security for the costs of an appeal should not be determined while there is a credible possibility that the appeal will be abandoned. The…

Where legislation provides that a High Court decision is final, the decision is not appealable to the Court of Appeal unless the statutory context clearly…

In a personal injury claim, accident causation may be established where genuine pain develops from earlier accident-related symptoms, even though its precise…

An application to reinstate an application for permission to appeal may be dealt with in the applicant’s absence where the court has given a fair opportunity…

Fresh evidence will generally be refused on appeal where the evidence, or reasonable steps to obtain it, could have been available at trial. This applies where…

A solicitor’s knowledge that a client is impecunious does not, by itself, make the solicitor’s continued conduct of litigation unlawful maintenance or…

A statutory prohibition on appealing a decision to grant or refuse permission to appeal does not, by implication, oust the High Court’s judicial review…

For landfill tax to arise under section 40(2) of the Finance Act 1996, one particular disposal must satisfy all four statutory conditions at the same time. The…

For indirect infringement under section 60(2) of the Patents Act 1977, the supplied means must be suitable and intended to render the claimed invention…

Family Law Act 1986 section 41 is an internal jurisdictional deeming provision. It applies only for Part I of that Act and cannot determine habitual residence…

Permission for a second appeal requires more than disagreement with the discretionary outcome. The proposed appeal must have a real prospect of success or…

A cyclist and a motorist may each be responsible for a collision where the motorist turns across a cycle lane without checking again, but the cyclist fails to…

When deciding whether to grant permission to appeal, the court must balance proportionality and the costs of further litigation against the importance of…

Dispensing with a parent’s agreement to adoption requires a two-stage assessment. The court must first decide whether adoption serves the children’s best…

On an application for permission to appeal, the court considers whether the proposed appeal against the challenged order has a real prospect of success. The…

Under section 221 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, remuneration varies with the amount of work done only where it varies with the quantity of work performed.…

When awarding interest on costs, the court is not confined to the date on which judgment was given. Under rule 44.3(6)(g) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, it…

A quasi-partnership does not, by itself, give a minority shareholder a right to withdraw at will and require the company or fellow shareholders to purchase the…

A site-specific planning policy must be construed as a whole. A stated floorspace figure may be a ceiling rather than a development target. Development is…

Under section 50(1) of the Mental Health Act 1983, the responsible medical officer must make proper and fair enquiries within the hospital before notifying the…

Where bankruptcy precedes a restraint order under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, section 32(2) prevents the statutory powers from being exercised over property…

In construing a rent review clause, the court must read the language in the context of the lease as a whole. The word before may perform a dual temporal…

For discrimination time limits, an act extending over a period may comprise an ongoing discriminatory situation or continuing state of affairs. It need not…

In matrimonial ancillary-relief appeals, the Court of Appeal may intervene only where the lower court misdirected itself in law, adopted an erroneous approach…

An employer's duty of care extends to foreseeable risks arising from the ordinary hazards of work. The employer must take practicable precautions and provide a…

Permission for a second appeal requires more than an arguable case or a real prospect of success. Under CPR 52.13, permission may be granted only where the…

A trial judge’s costs decision attracts a generous ambit of discretion. The Court of Appeal should intervene only where the decision falls outside the…

A covenant restraining competition is enforceable only where it is reasonable between the parties and consistent with the public interest. Investors in patent…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where deciding the claim would require the court to resolve disputed evidence, assess untested witness statements or conduct…

Under the Family Proceedings Rules, an outcome more advantageous than a settlement offer engages discretionary powers concerning interest and indemnity costs.…

An appeal from the Lands Tribunal lies only on a question of law. Complaints challenging factual findings, the evaluation of comparators, or the weight given…

A tribunal’s procedural error in relying on authorities without inviting submissions does not, without more, establish bias or apparent bias. An appellate…

In wardship proceedings concerning the unilateral removal of children to England, a party did not require the prior permission of the judge to file expert…

Where a child is settled with foster carers and their application to be approved as adopters is pending, the court should consider whether making a final care…

The Court of Appeal will not ordinarily grant permission to appeal against directions orders made to prepare a pending issue for trial, or against orders…

Time limits for appealing should not ordinarily be extended where the applicant deliberately chose to pursue an unsuccessful application under CPR 39.3 instead…

On an application for permission to appeal in a complex dispute, the Court of Appeal may adjourn the application where the applicant is unrepresented and…

Permission to appeal should be granted where it is arguable that a claim was summarily dismissed after material expert evidence on causation was misread…

For the divorce fact under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 1(2)(b), the question is relational and petitioner-specific: whether, in the circumstances…

Under the Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992, regulation 63 permits an authority to require evidence reasonably needed to determine entitlement. A…

Use of a sign identical with a registered trade mark for identical services infringes the mark. Additional matter which does not change the mark’s identity may…

On a second appeal, permission is available only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or there is some other…

On an application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal considers whether there is an arguable appeal from a decision on a point actually decided…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in an asylum and human-rights case, the Court of Appeal will not permit a further factual investigation where…

An appellate court considering an asylum appeal must not conduct a third investigation of facts merely because the claimant advances a reformulated case.…

On a Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 24 application, the court asks whether the claim has a real or reasonable prospect of success at trial. The application…

A case-management decision to refuse an adjournment will be disturbed on appeal only where it was plainly wrong, including through failure to consider a…

An employment tribunal application should be approached as a means of communicating the complaint, rather than as an obstacle course. The relevant question is…

Victimisation requires detrimental treatment because the claimant previously asserted, or engaged in activity concerning, the right not to be discriminated…

The Domestic Violence Concession requires an applicant to establish domestic violence during the probationary period while the relationship subsisted, that the…

On a second appeal, permission should be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice. A renewed application may…

An employer’s duty under regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 and the corresponding 1994 provision is absolute.…

Restrictive covenants in leases may form a letting scheme where the leases show reciprocity of obligation, a clearly defined area and an intention that the…

A court may strike out claims within group litigation as an abuse of process where the litigation is unviable, necessary causation evidence is unavailable…

In a statutory planning appeal, an error in a planning inspector’s report does not justify quashing the decision unless the error is materially capable of…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where the proposed appeal raises an arguable legal distinction material to the outcome. A case concerning a person…

A highway authority with a discretion to submit an opposed public path diversion order must apply its published guidance lawfully. Under paragraph 6(a)…

In framing anti-abuse provisions affecting secure tenancies, Parliament enjoys a wide measure of discretion. A provision terminating secure-tenancy status when…

On an application to commit for breach of a housing injunction, the court may remand the arrested person in custody or on bail under the statutory scheme. The…

An application for permission to pursue a second appeal must satisfy the stringent test in CPR 52.13: an important point of principle or practice, or another…

An occupier who engages an apparently competent building contractor does not control construction work merely because the occupier controls the site generally…

A court has jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Rules to stay proceedings subject to payment into court, including payment relating to past costs.…

Under the common duty imposed by the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 s 2(2), an occupier must take reasonable care, in all the circumstances, to make visitors…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to intervene, under…

In an asylum appeal involving disputed nationality, the claimant bears the burden of establishing the relevant nationality to the lower standard of a serious…

When a party seeks to adjourn family proceedings because of alleged psychiatric incapacity, the court must assess expert evidence alongside the full factual…

An intended appeal from an Immigration Appeal Tribunal will normally end there where the Tribunal has given a properly reasoned and structured decision, unless…

Failure to install a security chain at a workplace door is not, without more, a breach of the employer’s duty of care or applicable workplace safety duties.…

A hearing conducted by a public body need not follow a prescribed form unless legislation requires one. The essential requirement of procedural fairness is…

Permission to appeal against a case-management decision should be refused where there is no realistic prospect of showing that the lower court exercised its…

Permission to appeal in an asylum case should be granted where the proposed challenge raises a properly arguable error of law in findings that may be critical…

Sentences for breach of injunctions must reflect both the seriousness and persistence of the conduct and the need to protect those whom the injunction…

A written interim agreement may have immediate contractual effect where its language objectively records an agreement, instructs performance, identifies the…

Compensation for disadvantage on the labour market requires loss attributable to the defendant’s injury. Where agreed medical evidence establishes that the…

When assessing financial provision after divorce, the court must seek an objectively fair outcome under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.…

A secured creditor does not, merely by valuing its security for an individual voluntary arrangement and accepting a dividend on an estimated unsecured…

Recall of a determinate-sentence prisoner under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 is a protective and preventive process. It assesses current risk to…

Use of land in breach of a criminal statute cannot found a prescriptive vehicular right of way. Section 34(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 applies to land…

A manager appointed under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 acts in an independent, court-appointed capacity. The manager’s right to demand rent and…

In a finely balanced child-contact dispute, an appellate court may adjourn a permission application for an oral hearing where the rejection of an…

For the purposes of paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the question is whether, if treatment were stopped at the relevant…

Where several live actions between the same parties arise from the same tenancy or property, the Court of Appeal may vary an earlier venue order so that the…

Where a client contracts for legal services to be provided by a solicitor, and a firm supplies an unqualified adviser without disclosing that status, the…

An appeal against findings of fact ordinarily proceeds by review. The appellate court must assess whether the findings were wrong, giving weight to the trial…

Parties to public law proceedings under the Children Act 1989 owe the court a duty of full and frank disclosure. Fair trial ordinarily requires relevant…

Permission to appeal a costs order should be granted where the proposed grounds are arguable and have a real prospect of success. That threshold was met where…

Permission to appeal was granted because the case raised an arguable question about the remedy available after repeated defective homelessness reviews. The…

For a second-tier appeal, permission requires either an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear…

On withdrawal of judicial review proceedings, the court retains power to determine costs even where the substantive issues have not been tried. The court…

An appellate court may adjourn an appeal where separate proceedings raise an issue fundamental to the appeal and, if successful, would provide a complete…

Permission to appeal against a quantum assessment should be refused where the proposed grounds merely challenge findings of fact that were supported by the…

Judicial review of a county court order is subject to a very limited jurisdiction. It may be available where the county court acted without jurisdiction or…

Time limits in judicial review must ordinarily be observed, but the court may extend time where the claimant has an arguable case and the overall justice of…

When deciding whether to extend time for setting down an appeal, the court must apply the overriding objective in rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules. It…

An application for a second appeal succeeds only where the statutory threshold is met: an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling…

Adverse possession requires both factual possession and an intention to possess. The intention has subjective and objective elements. It must be manifested so…

A statutory demand founded on a costs order that remains in force should not be set aside merely because the debtor disputes the underlying litigation, has a…

In matrimonial proceedings, a consent order may be set aside for material non-disclosure even where the non-disclosure was not fraudulent. The relevant…

An attendant is not negligent merely because an experienced user, familiar with an automatic access system, enters during a cycle opened for another vehicle…

An order for private examination under section 236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 remains discretionary, even where the proposed examinee is a present or former…

Delegated social security legislation may be invalid for a material failure to follow the statutory procedure governing its enactment, even where both Houses…

A profit-before-tax warranty in a share sale agreement must be assessed at the contractual date and in the agreed accounting manner. Where the warranty refers…

Where property was initially included in an informal joint venture, the party asserting that it later ceased to be included bears the relevant burden of…

On an application to strike out or obtain summary judgment, a court should not determine genuinely arguable factual disputes or require a claimant to prove…

Statutory duties concerning work equipment and workplace safety are assessed in their proper context. Reasonable foreseeability informs whether equipment is…

An application under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 examines the validity of a tree preservation order, not its planning merits. The…

Liability in private nuisance can attach to a person who neither owns nor occupies land where that person has sufficient legal or factual control over the…

In an asylum appeal, an adjudicator’s decision must be read as a whole. An error of law may include an internally irrational conclusion, but a tribunal may…

An apparently absolute statutory duty may be subject to an implied public-policy limitation, but the limitation must be defined narrowly and consistently with…

A valid gift of foreign income or gains completed abroad transfers ownership to the donee. The gifted property then ceases to be the donor’s foreign emoluments…

In assessing compensation for compulsory acquisition, statutory planning assumptions must be separated from valuation effects caused by the acquiring…

An application to reopen or stay divorce proceedings must be made promptly and by the correct procedural route. A stay raising forum non conveniens should…

An appellate court may enforce a direction that a relisted application will be dismissed if the applicant fails to attend on time. Where the applicant does not…

Where an employer contends that employees took over an undertaking before notices of dismissal expired, the employment tribunal must determine whether, when…

Permission to appeal should not be granted merely to reinforce a restricted reporting order that already provides appropriate protection. Whether the order…

In deciding whether to make an occupation order under the 1996 Act, the court must address each of the four criteria in section 33(6) and then exercise an…

An unappealed determination by a mineral planning authority is not immune from later challenge merely because it has become final under the statutory…

A British citizen has no enforceable general right to diplomatic protection against violations of fundamental rights abroad. Government policy may nevertheless…

Article 7 of the Transparency Directive requires Member States to publish objective and verifiable criteria governing restrictions on NHS reimbursement of…

Certification of an asylum claim as frivolous or vexatious may follow consideration of the merits, including a finding that the claimant’s credibility is…

Where an application for permission to appeal is out of time and appears weak or opportunistic, the court may nevertheless grant permission if it raises a…

Costs are a matter of judicial discretion. Although the usual approach is for the unsuccessful party to pay the successful party’s costs, that outcome must not…

An appellate court considering permission to appeal in a child-welfare case does not rehear the evidence or substitute its own view of the witnesses. It asks…

In an income-protection provision, the ability to start any job does not necessarily mean that an employee is able to follow any occupation. The phrase…

In employment law, a post-operative transsexual must be treated as belonging to the reassigned gender unless significant public-interest factors justify a…

A principal may be bound by an employee’s contract through ostensible authority where its conduct has represented that the employee is authorised to contract.…

Discrimination because of sexual orientation falls within article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Statutory protection connected with a person’s…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the court may direct that the application be heard on notice with any appeal to follow where the proposed…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the proposed appeal raises an arguable point but cannot provide the applicants with any practical benefit. The court…

In care proceedings, factual issues should not be summarily excluded merely because the evidence is difficult or incomplete. The court must consider whether…

Permission for a further appeal from a High Court decision made on appeal is governed by Civil Procedure Rules r 52.13. It requires an important point of…

Permission to appeal from an immigration tribunal should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no material point of law. The Court of Appeal will not…

On an application for permission to appeal, it is enough that the proposed appeal has real prospects of success. Permission may be granted on all grounds where…

In an unfair dismissal claim, the question is not whether the employee was in fact guilty of misconduct. The issue is whether the employer genuinely believed…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success. The threshold is high, particularly where the proposed grounds…

Permission to appeal requires an arguable error of law and a real prospect that the point will succeed on a full appeal. A complaint about employment terms…

An immigration adjudicator must give reasons when upholding certification provisions that remove or restrict an asylum claimant’s right to seek leave to…

An application for permission to appeal should be adjourned where the appellate court lacks documents essential to determine a material procedural issue. The…

Appellate courts will not interfere with trial-management decisions unless they are plainly outside the generous ambit within which reasonable judicial views…

Employment litigation must attain finality. Issues already determined are res judicata and cannot be re-litigated. A claimant must generally raise all points…

Genuine ill-health does not give a litigant an indefinite right to adjourn civil proceedings. The court must balance the applicant’s condition against the…

A tribunal is not required to accept psychiatric evidence at face value. It may assess its weight against the report’s methodology and the other evidence…

Land Drainage Act 1991, s.64 confers an independent power to enter land for the purpose of exercising a local authority’s functions under the Act. It is not…

Where a personal injury claimant operates a business through a genuine partnership, recovery for loss of the partnership’s profits is limited to the claimant’s…

Permission to appeal, and an extension of time needed to reopen very old proceedings, should be refused where the proposed appeal seeks to revisit issues…

Damages for breach of warranty of authority are assessed by comparing the claimant’s position after the transaction with the position that would have existed…

An employer is not liable in negligence merely because a workplace assessment would have identified conditions that were less than ideal or created some…

The statutory common duty of care requires reasonable care in all the circumstances to make visitors reasonably safe for the permitted use of premises. It does…

The grant or refusal of relief from an automatic stay is a discretionary case-management decision governed by rule 3.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. The…

In exercising its discretion under CPR 52.9, the court may refuse permission to appeal where the applicant is in deliberate breach of the order under challenge…

Under Civil Procedure Rules r 52.9, the Court of Appeal may make payment of, or security for, a judgment debt a condition of continuing an appeal where there…

A court may stay proceedings where a claimant refuses to undergo a medical examination reasonably required for a fair determination, but only when the stay is…

Permission for a second appeal requires more than a reasonable prospect of success. The proposed appeal must raise an important point of principle or practice…

A judicial review claim requires an identifiable decision amenable to review. A letter acknowledging earlier lack of clarity and explaining steps for the…

The indemnity principle is infringed only where the paying party has no liability, express or implied, to pay the claimed costs in any circumstances. A merely…

Undisclosed earnings are not automatically excluded from a claim for loss of earnings. The court must consider the circumstances and relevant public policy. A…

An advocate may exceptionally be restrained from acting even where no confidential information is involved. The court’s concern is the advocate’s duty to the…

A school’s duty to take reasonable care for pupils’ health and safety may arise while pupils are lawfully on school premises before or after formal school…

A public authority need not invite representations before making a foreign-policy decision that limits the number of available licences. But, once applicants…

Apparent bias is assessed objectively. The question is whether a fair-minded and informed observer, after making reasonable inquiries into the relevant facts…

Permission to appeal may be granted on a discrete contractual issue where there is a real prospect that the lower court misconstrued the obligation in dispute…

On an appeal from an immigration tribunal, the question is whether its conclusion was perverse or one which no reasonable tribunal could have reached.…

When deciding whether use of a variant constitutes use of a registered trade mark under section 46(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994, the decision-maker should…

In a clinical-negligence claim, the claimant must generally prove on the balance of probabilities that the negligence caused the relevant injury or substantive…

Judicial review decisions by bodies such as the GMC’s Preliminary Proceedings Committee generally stand or fall by the reasons in which they are promulgated.…

An application for disclosure supporting a possible application to adduce further evidence on appeal may be refused where it is speculative, premature and made…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. It cannot be granted merely because another…

Permission to appeal in an asylum case should be refused where the specialist fact-finding tribunals have reached detailed, reasoned credibility findings and…

A trial judge may control the scope of a hearing under the overriding objective, including by considering summary disposal during a trial. However, a litigant…

In child-contact proceedings, the children’s wishes are only one element of welfare. The court must separately address expert evidence of psychiatric harm.…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. Complaints that a…

An agreement that property will be shared beneficially may establish a constructive trust or proprietary estoppel where there have been discussions, however…

Permission to appeal may be granted on a limited issue where the proposed ground has a real prospect of success. For statutory detention under section 139 of…

On a proposed second appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Court of Appeal’s role is confined to points of law. An Employment Tribunal is the…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, a proposed contractual ground may proceed where it is at least arguable, without the court determining its…

On a second appeal, the Court of Appeal may entertain only an arguable error of law. It cannot reopen factual findings or the tribunal’s evaluation of the…

In child-care and freeing-for-adoption proceedings, a very substantial extension of time to appeal requires both a very good reason for the delay and a very…

A positive finding that sexual abuse did not occur does not require unsupervised contact. The court must separately determine arrangements in the child's best…

A derogation from Article 5 does not create an implied derogation from Article 14. Foreign nationals liable to deportation but temporarily protected from…

In Children Act private-law proceedings, the general inhibition on costs orders at trial does not extend to appellate proceedings. After an extended trial…

Where a child’s alienation from a parent is apparent, the family court’s quasi-inquisitorial task is to investigate its origins. The inquiry is not confined to…

Under CPR 52.11(2), the Court of Appeal may admit fresh evidence in accordance with the overriding objective of dealing with cases justly. Although the rule…

On a second-tier appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice or another compelling reason. The threshold is high. An application to…

An individual voluntary arrangement may create a trust as well as having contractual force. Whether it does so depends on the intention shown by the…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the court may replace an injunction with an undertaking to the court where that provides an effective…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no real prospect of the Court of Appeal interfering with the trial judge’s…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear the case. The…

For the statutory exclusion of a tenancy under section 3A(2) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, the landlord’s occupation must be assessed when the…

An employment tribunal may warn a party about possible costs where there is a real and sufficient risk of an adverse costs order. The warning must accurately…

On a Part 24 application, the court must ask whether the opposing party has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. It must not conduct a…

An employer responsible for staff working near a known violent and unpredictable patient must take reasonable steps to avoid exposing an employee to a needless…

In deciding whether to extend time for an appeal, the court must weigh procedural default and its effect on the administration of justice against the…

An appellate court should not interfere with a lower court’s discretionary costs direction where the judge had sufficient material to exercise the discretion…

Misfeasance in public office can be actionable where an unlawful exercise of public power is undertaken with subjective recklessness as to both illegality and…

A court should not approve a consent order concerning child contact if its terms may be incomplete, vague or unworkable. An agreement leaving essential…

Where a hearing is listed and prepared as an interim application, a judge should not finally dispose of the substantive application when material issues have…

On an application for summary judgment in a defamation claim to be tried by a jury, the court must not conduct a mini-trial or determine genuinely disputed…

On a second appeal, permission is granted where the proposed appeal raises an arguable point of principle or practice of general importance. In probate…

Permission to appeal is refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason for being heard. A second-tier appeal…

An applicant who cannot attend a permission hearing should notify the court and seek an adjournment. Personal circumstances may explain the absence, but they…

Where a claimant attempted service by a permitted method and the defendant received the claim form within the service period, the court has power under Rule…

An appeal from an Immigration Appeal Tribunal determination lies only to the appeal court designated by paragraph 23 of Schedule 4 to the Immigration and…

A complaint that a judge’s interventions during cross-examination caused apparent bias must be assessed as a claim of actual unfairness where no extraneous…

A person who is incapable in law of consenting to particular acts may nevertheless be capable of consenting in fact. The decision-maker must assess factual…

A green traffic signal does not absolve a driver from taking reasonable care at a pedestrian crossing. Where the driver’s view is materially obscured, the…

Applications for security for costs should be made in good time. The relevant question is whether the appellant will be unable to meet an order for costs when…

A motorcyclist approaching slow-moving vehicles at substantially excessive speed must slow down and anticipate that one may overtake another. Failure to do so…

An appellate court should not order a new trial to enable reliance on expert evidence which could have been available at the original trial, particularly where…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal from a tribunal’s discretionary dismissal of a claim, the applicant must show a sufficient arguable case that…

A legally aided litigant may receive indemnity costs where the applicable legal aid regulations disapply the indemnity principle. Legal aid does not otherwise…

After a court has construed a contract, its jurisdiction when settling the consequential order is confined to giving effect to that judgment. It cannot use the…

Permission to appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal requires identification of a point of law arising from the Employment Tribunal’s decision. The…

Where the viability of proposed appeal grounds depends on the admission of fresh evidence, the court deciding admissibility should also assess the existing…

In a conduct dismissal, fairness under Employment Rights Act 1996 requires an employment tribunal to apply the objective standards of the reasonable employer.…

The Court of Appeal may refuse permission where the proposed appeal has no realistic prospect of establishing that the relief sought is available. A bankruptcy…

In an urgent application arising from adjourned committal proceedings, the Court of Appeal may grant conditional bail pending the next hearing where bail is…

The validity of a contractual notice depends first on its true construction, assessed objectively from the standpoint of a reasonable recipient. The notice…

The Parliamentary Commissioner may investigate only complaints referred by a Member of Parliament. The statutory referral requirement is part of the scheme…

The rule against reflective loss does not bar a beneficiary’s claim against a trustee for profits derived from shares held in trust unless the defendant…

Where a trial judge’s conclusion on a vital issue cannot be understood from the judgment, the appellate process cannot operate satisfactorily. The judge must…

In a medical negligence claim involving uncertain scientific causation, the claimant must prove on the balance of probabilities that the negligent treatment…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of practice or principle, or another compelling reason, under CPR 52.13. A company cannot establish…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success. Time for seeking an oral hearing may be extended where…

Judicial review of an asylum decision should not proceed where the underlying appeal has no real prospect of success, even if an arguable defect exists in a…

An appeal from a Lands Tribunal exercising its arbitration jurisdiction is ordinarily governed by the Tribunal’s appeal procedure and CPR rule 52, rather than…

The reflective loss principle does not necessarily bar a shareholder’s personal claim where the defendant’s wrongdoing itself prevented the company from…

A later claim may constitute an abuse of process even though the issue was never litigated earlier. The question is whether, applying a broad merits-based…

On an application to adjourn an appeal, the court must balance fairness and equality between the parties against the wider interests of justice, including the…

A trial judge deciding a child’s residence is entitled to differ from a CAFCAS reporter’s recommendation, provided the reasons for doing so can clearly be…

On renewal of permission to appeal, permission should be granted where the proposed challenge raises at least an arguable ground for consideration by the full…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no viable basis for appellate intervention. This includes applications seeking to…

On an application concerning a default judgment, the court must assess whether the proposed defence has a real prospect of success. The application should not…

The equitable doctrine of laches may prevent a party from challenging the validity of corporate appointments or acts where delay, conduct and the resulting…

A person affected by a bankruptcy order may apply for its annulment under section 282 of the Insolvency Act 1986, even if that person does not claim to be a…

A settlement agreement is construed objectively, by reference to the language used and the background reasonably available to the parties when the agreement…

In an immigration appeal, credibility, factual assessment, country evidence and evaluation of risk are primarily matters for the adjudicator and the…

In an estate agency dispute, an introduction is assessed by asking which agent was the effective cause of the sale. The relevant question is whether the agent…

On an application to extend time for an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the applicant must explain the default, show that the explanation provides a…

In a planning decision, reasons for rejecting an inspector’s recommendation are adequate where the decision letter, read as a whole and in light of the…

Long delay in seeking permission to appeal will ordinarily prevent an appeal proceeding unless the circumstances are very exceptional. Difficulties caused by…

For a suspended committal order, permission to appeal is not required if the order is properly characterised as an order committing a person to prison…

A libel claim issued outside the one-year limitation period remains statute-barred unless a timely republication is properly established or the court extends…

In a direct equal-pay claim, a woman may compare herself with a single male comparator in the same establishment doing like work. A workforce-wide pool and…

A claimant awarded more compensation than an acquiring authority’s unconditional offer is ordinarily entitled to the costs of the compensation reference.…

Under section 32 of the Limitation Act 1980, time is postponed only until the claimant discovers, or could with reasonable diligence discover, the facts…

An appeal under regulation 16 of the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) Regulations 1989 is confined to certified points of principle of…

Obtaining personal data contravenes section 55(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 only where it is done knowingly or recklessly and without the data…

Where a wife gives security for her husband's business debts, the bank is put on inquiry as to undue influence or misrepresentation. The mere involvement of a…

An adjournment may be refused where the evidence relied on to establish ill-health is inadequate and unconvincing. The court may also consider the nature of…

An application to extend time for an appeal or permission application requires consideration of both the explanation for delay and the apparent merits. For a…

For the purposes of an immigration appeal, a statutory right to appeal against an adjudicator’s determination concerns the result of the appeal, not every…

A contract is void for common mistake only where a shared assumption, for which neither party has assumed the risk, makes performance of the contractual…

An entity is not an administrator of an occupational pension scheme merely because it performs administrative acts connected with the scheme. Under the…

Article 1C(5) of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees applies only after refugee status has been formally recognised by a State or other…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where a proposed defence raises unsettled questions of law and has a real prospect of success. It was arguable that wrongful…

Protection for private information through breach of confidence depends on the nature and significance of the disclosure in its context. A public figure…

Filing a document means delivering it to the court office. Delivery is a unilateral act and requires neither receipt by an officer nor subsequent…

Permission to appeal in child-contact proceedings should ordinarily be refused where the order is limited, cautious and subject to an early review. The trial…

To invoke section 30(1)(g) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, a landlord must establish two matters: a genuine bona fide intention to occupy the premises for…

A court must determine the true substance of an appellate order. A purported refusal of permission which decides that an appeal should succeed in part is, in…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no realistic prospect of success. In a professional-negligence claim, the adequacy of…

An appellate court should not infer that a trial judge overlooked evidence solely because the judgment does not mention it expressly. The court must consider…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. In welfare and contact cases, the trial judge…

On an appeal involving several issues, costs should reflect substantial success rather than be awarded mechanically to the party succeeding on every point. A…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success and must concern a question of law. Where the proposed appeal challenges a discretionary refusal by…

An application for permission to appeal, together with an application for an extension of time, may be refused where the applicant, having received notice of…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed appeal raises arguable issues concerning the interpretation of a conveyance, the assessment of physical…

The court’s power under CCR 29 rule 1(7) to dispense with service requirements is broad and may be exercised retrospectively. The court must exercise it…

An application for permission to appeal against an order previously challenged and refused is liable to dismissal where the renewed application is hopelessly…

The Court of Appeal may refuse permission to appeal where applications challenging the refusal of judicial review permission are conspicuously misconceived. It…

Permission to appeal from an appellate decision is subject to the statutory threshold that the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or…

A valid entire-agreement clause may prevent reliance on antecedent oral or implied representations in a later misrepresentation claim. A claim based on…

Judicial review of an immigration adjudicator’s decision is not an appeal on the facts. A point not raised before the tribunal can be relied on only where it…

For a notice to enfranchise under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, the tenant’s proposed price must make at least a realistic…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the grounds raise a properly arguable issue requiring consideration by the full court. This includes a challenge…

Where an applicant seeks an oral renewal of a paper refusal of permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal may dismiss the application if, despite urgent notice…

For a second appeal, permission may be justified by an important point of principle or practice or by another compelling reason. A very real prospect of…

Summary judgment is appropriate in libel proceedings where a defence has no real prospect of success. A mistaken factual premise in one part of the judge’s…

In child-welfare appeals, the Court of Appeal must respect the trial judge’s assessment of evidence, impressions and discretionary weighing of relevant…

On an appeal concerning a child’s care arrangements, the Court of Appeal should not interfere with a welfare decision based on factual findings, witness…

On a summary judgment application involving foreign law, a claimant may plead and verify its case on the basis that the foreign law has the same effect as…

On an application treated as one for permission to bring a second appeal, the court applies essentially the same test as on applications for second appeals.…

The Court of Appeal will not grant permission to appeal where the proposed grounds disclose no real prospect of success. A trial judge may construe transfer…

An appeal against a discretionary refusal to extend time is not a rehearing. Intervention is justified only where the judge erred in principle, left a material…

Permission to appeal against a purely interim order is granted only rarely. The Court of Appeal respects the broad discretion vested in the trial judge and…

A prescriptive easement does not, merely because it is recognised by the domestic law of prescription, infringe Article 1 of the First Protocol to the…

An emergency vehicle may pass through a red traffic signal only where it is safe to do so. The driver must treat the signal as imposing a give-way obligation.…

Under Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 70(2), a planning authority must have regard to material considerations until the decision notice is issued.…

At the permission stage, the court must consider the ground actually advanced. A challenge is properly arguable where it alleges that a planning decision-maker…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, permission should be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of…

Where a body’s amenability to judicial review is uncertain, the court may refuse permission without deciding that issue if the challenged decision would…

An appellate court will not entertain grounds that were not advanced before the lower appellate tribunal. An employee is not denied a fair disciplinary process…

An application for permission to appeal will be refused where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason justifies…

Permission to apply for judicial review should be refused where the claimant identifies no particular decision for review and the claim materials disclose no…

Under section 146(2) of the Water Industry Act 1991, a water or sewerage undertaker may charge for connecting premises which have not previously been connected…

For the purposes of a transfer of an undertaking, whether an employee is assigned to the transferred undertaking is a question of fact. The tribunal must…

In planning decisions engaging Convention rights, the decision-maker must consider the relevant Convention article and balance the competing interests. The…

In a clinical negligence claim, the claimant must prove an actual breach of duty on the balance of probabilities. It is insufficient to show that the defendant…

Where an insured presents a fraudulent claim, the insurer may avoid the policy and repudiate the whole claim if the fraudulent element is more than de minimis…

Where a trial judge has not adequately explained findings that are vital to the outcome, the appellate court may remit the case to the trial judge for…

An order allowing a professional social-work witness to give anonymous evidence in care proceedings is a discretionary and highly exceptional measure. The…

Serious errors by an employment tribunal do not, without more, establish a real possibility of apparent bias. The court requires clear evidence before…

Judicial review of an Ombudsman’s decision is available only where an error of law is identified. The court must not substitute its own view where the…

Under Schedule 6 to the Road Traffic Act 1991, an application to extend time for serving a statutory declaration requires the court to decide whether, in the…

Permission to appeal is not granted merely because shortcomings in an adjudicator’s or tribunal’s reasoning have been identified. The question is whether there…

The supplied text contains the appellant’s oral submissions and records that judgment followed, but it does not include the Court of Appeal’s reasons or…

Permission to appeal a costs order requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. The discretion to decide costs…

The principle in Henderson v Henderson prevents a party from reopening an issue which could properly have been raised in earlier proceedings, including a later…

Permission to appeal from an Employment Appeal Tribunal decision may be granted only where the proposed appeal raises a question of law with a real prospect of…

Where costs are sought against a publicly funded party in children proceedings, the trial judge determines whether the funded litigant’s conduct justifies an…

An appellate court will not interfere with a trial judge’s discretionary refusal to adjourn unless the decision was plainly wrong. This applies where an…

Rectification of a will requires proof of the testator’s intention, that the will fails to give effect to it, and that the failure resulted from a clerical…

An employer’s duty to take steps to protect an employee from stress-related harm is triggered only where indications of impending harm are sufficiently plain…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no realistic prospect of success. An appellate court will not interfere with a trial…

Where a proposed appeal is a second appeal, permission should be granted only where it raises an important point of principle or practice, or another…

Promotional material describing payment of expenses up to a stated limit does not, without more, create a separate contractual promise by an organisation to…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed argument was not advanced below and raises a substantial point of statutory validity affecting a number…

For a certificate of inadequacy under section 17 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, the applicant bears the burden of proving, on the balance of probabilities…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed challenge has no realistic prospect of showing that an adjudicator acted beyond jurisdiction. An…

Permission to appeal should be granted only where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success or there is another compelling reason for it to be heard.…

In assessing damages for negligent financial advice, a claimant’s later gain does not automatically reduce the loss. The question is whether the breach caused…

An appellate court should not reopen a trial judge’s findings of fact or practical inferences drawn from evidence merely because a party advances a competing…

In a human-rights appeal concerning removal, the tribunal may assess whether removal materially interferes with the individual’s ability to manifest religion…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no real prospect that the appellate court would interfere with the decision below.…

A jury verdict cannot stand where compelling and unchallenged expert evidence makes the claimant’s account of the mechanism of injury untenable. Where an…

A decision whether to adjourn a civil trial is discretionary. The Court of Appeal should intervene only where the discretion was exercised in a clearly wrong…

On a proposed second appeal, the Court of Appeal should use its resources sparingly. Permission should be granted only where the case raises an important point…

The court gave procedural directions rather than finally determining the construction of the Supply of Beer (Loans Ties, Licence Premises and Wholesale Prices)…

Under section 16 of the Transport Act 1985, a licensing authority may limit hackney carriage licences only if satisfied that no significant demand for taxi…

For Insolvency Act 1986 purposes, whether a transaction is at an undervalue is assessed immediately before the transaction by comparing the value of all…

Where entitlement to disputed sale proceeds depends on an unresolved preliminary issue, the court should preserve the funds until that issue has been…

An application to relist an application disposed of in a party’s absence is governed by the same considerations as setting aside an order made at trial under…

Permission to appeal from a specialist social-security tribunal should be granted cautiously. The Court of Appeal should recognise the Commissioners’ expertise…

An appeal fixture should be vacated only where that course is necessary to do justice. The illness or unavailability of leading counsel does not, by itself…

Habeas corpus is inappropriate where the applicant is not detained. A person who is not subject to detention cannot obtain that remedy merely by challenging…

The appeal was dismissed. The application to commit the defendant was remitted to a High Court Judge of the Chancery Division sitting in Birmingham. The court…

On an appeal from an employment tribunal, the appellate court may intervene only for an error of law. It cannot retry the facts or substitute its own…

An employee may establish constructive dismissal where the employer’s conduct, viewed cumulatively, amounts to a fundamental breach of the implied obligation…

Distinct claims may arise from an employer’s appraisal system and pay system, but whether they do is fact-sensitive. Where an appraisal system is accepted as…

There is no single, clear test determining when a corporate opportunity must be treated as belonging to a company. The strict fiduciary rule against placing…

Where an immigration tribunal accepts the substance of an applicant’s account and appears to accept that the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on…

Whether treatment is degrading under Article 3 or sufficiently severe to constitute persecution is a question of degree. Reasonable decision-makers may reach…

There is no special costs principle for proceedings in which a bankruptcy order is annulled. Costs remain governed by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. On a…

On an application for permission to appeal, permission should be granted where a proposed ground has a real prospect of success. Challenges concerning the…

An appellate court will interfere with a discretionary refusal to extend time only where the decision is plainly wrong or affected by a manifest defect of law.…

A last-minute adjournment request in permission-to-appeal proceedings may be granted where unresolved public-funding arrangements affect the applicant’s…

An appeal from an Employment Tribunal lies only on a question of law. The Court of Appeal will interfere with a discretionary case-management decision only for…

Permission to appeal should be granted where an important and unresolved point of statutory construction is suitable for consideration by a full court, even…

On a second appeal, permission should be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or there is another…

In deciding whether to release a discretionary life prisoner, the Parole Board must address the proper construction of Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, section…

Where the lower court has proceeded on a misunderstanding of the relief sought, the appellate court may determine the properly defined application and…

A tribunal deciding a case after the commencement of the Human Rights Act 1998 is not required to confer Convention rights retrospectively in respect of…

An out-of-time application for permission to appeal should be assessed by reference to both the delay and the merits. The court may examine the proposed appeal…

Judicial review of County Court orders is a wholly exceptional remedy. It is appropriate only in very rare circumstances, such as where the order is made…

Improper or unreasonable treatment of an employee does not, without more, establish direct racial discrimination. An inference of racial discrimination may…

The court may strike out any civil process that is abusive, including an originating summons seeking to reopen earlier orders. There is no special entitlement…

Duress requires coercion of the claimant’s will which vitiates consent. Improper conduct, including withholding documents, is insufficient unless it caused the…

A discretionary case-management decision should be disturbed on appeal only where it falls outside the generous ambit of reasonable disagreement or is plainly…

On an application for permission to appeal, the appellate court examines the lower decision for misdirection or error. Where the applicant identifies no such…

An application for permission to appeal should be refused where it has no realistic prospect of success. The Court of Appeal will not reopen long-concluded…

Under section 54(4) of the Access to Justice Act, the Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from a refusal of permission to appeal.…

An appellant challenging a discretionary costs order faces a high hurdle. Permission may nevertheless be granted where a material factual misunderstanding may…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds raise arguments with a realistic prospect of success and are not fanciful. This applies where…

Permission to appeal may be granted where a proposed challenge raises an arguable issue about whether a public authority revived a dormant statutory…

A planning inspector’s conclusion whether a mobile home has sufficient permanence and attachment to constitute a building is a matter of fact and degree. An…

An interlocutory court may refuse an interim costs payment where a permission application or appeal is due to be heard shortly, the sums are not substantial…

A person arrested under a power of arrest must be brought before the court within 24 hours, and a custody remand under Family Law Act 1996 schedule 5 may not…

Where a company’s claim or counterclaim has been struck out because it was not represented at trial, the court should not assume that the merits are hopeless…

For an approved pension scheme, retirement ordinarily means cessation of service as an employee. A company director who gives up executive duties but remains a…

Permission to pursue judicial review may be refused where the proposed claim is substantially out of time and has no reasonable prospect of success. A…

A second appeal to the Court of Appeal requires a matter of general public importance or another special reason. A challenge to the underlying tax assessment…

Section 69 of the Solicitors Act 1974 should not be applied with unnecessary technicality. It protects a client’s opportunity to have bills assessed and…

At the strike-out stage, an arguable issue about the admissibility of evidence supporting a pleaded claim should not ordinarily be finally resolved where doing…

Permission to appeal is refused where proposed grounds seek to re-argue factual findings made on preliminary issues and disclose no question of law. A party’s…

A public authority’s decision about its private-law response to a damages claim is not amenable to judicial review. Judicial review cannot be used years later…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an arguable material point has not been addressed by an appellate tribunal. This is particularly so where a later…

The character of proceedings for jurisdictional purposes depends on the nature of the underlying decision challenged. A challenge to the Criminal Cases Review…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal distinguished between a second appeal concerning pleadings and an unreviewed costs order…

In a professional negligence claim against solicitors, withdrawal shortly before trial is not negligent where there is good cause, the court approves the…

A practising solicitor who successfully conducts litigation through the firm in which he is a partner may recover the firm’s profit costs from an unsuccessful…

A permission application cannot be used to introduce a new allegation of negligence that was not pleaded or tried below. Any complaint that solicitors caused…

When exercising discretion to extend a limitation period under Limitation Act section 33, the court must consider all the circumstances and the matters…

Permission to appeal may be granted where proposed grounds have a real prospect of success, even though overturning witness-based factual findings is…

Permission to appeal against a discretionary family order may be refused where the available contemporaneous record sufficiently demonstrates that the order…

An application for permission to appeal may be adjourned where the court has a strong preliminary view that the case is unsuitable for the Court of Appeal but…

Permission to appeal from a strike-out for non-compliance with a peremptory disclosure order should be granted where there is an arguable issue about whether…

On a second appeal, permission should be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or there is another…

A stay of execution pending an application for permission to bring a second appeal is discretionary, not automatic. Each case must be assessed on its merits…

Permission to appeal may be granted on a preliminary issue where the first-instance reasoning is persuasive but reasonable arguments exist for the alternative…

The retention of fingerprints and DNA material lawfully taken during a criminal investigation engages Article 8(1), but the interference is justified under…

When considering whether a contract has been varied, the parties’ objectively ascertained intention may be relevant not only to whether a variation occurred…

On an application for permission to appeal against a decree nisi, permission requires a real prospect of success. An appellate court will generally not…

On a second appeal, permission is available only where there is an important point of practice or principle, or another compelling reason. Appellate courts…

An application for permission to appeal may be adjourned for hearing on notice where the factual and legal issues require fuller consideration than is…

In family fact-finding proceedings, a court may choose between competing periods of opportunity without identifying the individual perpetrator. A finding that…

In ancillary relief proceedings involving complex family wealth structures, the court may draw heavy inferences against a respondent whose evidence and…

An appeal from a small claims arbitration is confined to a question of law. Where conflicting evidence supports a finding that a seller was acting as a trader…

In family proceedings, an appeal from a district judge’s order proceeds as of right under the family proceedings rules; permission is not required. The…

Where an application for permission to appeal is withdrawn and discontinued, the court may dismiss the application. The dismissal disposes of the application…

Where a first-instance judge has resolved narrow child-welfare issues in the exercise of a broad discretion, permission to appeal should not be granted unless…

An application for permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no realistic prospect of success. A parent subject to a Children Act…

A renewed application for permission to appeal may be refused where the decision challenged is clearly right and the application is wholly without merit. Where…

Permission to intervene is discretionary. The central question is whether the intervention would provide significant assistance in resolving the issues raised…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s evaluation of evidence, apportionment of responsibility or assessment of damages where the judge…

On an application for permission to appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Court of Appeal may interfere only on a question of law. Complaints about…

For discrimination claims, the relevant act is the employer’s discriminatory act, not the claimant’s subsequent awareness of it. The statutory discretion to…

Permission for a second appeal from a specialist tribunal will ordinarily be refused where the tribunal identified the applicable legal principle, found the…

A conditional fee agreement in the Law Society model form covered costs-only proceedings as an integral part of the claim, although those proceedings were not…

Permission to appeal should be granted only where the proposed ground has sufficient prospects of success. An issue may meet that threshold where the…

On an appeal from an employment tribunal, complaints about factual findings, the evaluation of misconduct, or the reasonableness of dismissal do not ordinarily…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where a lower court’s judgment fails to address a significant argument going to the basis of its decision, and its…

An appellate court should adjourn an appeal where proceeding in the appellant’s absence creates a real risk of injustice and the appeal papers are not in a…

Security for costs must give the opposing party practical protection, not merely represent an asset with a possible value. Alternative security is permissible…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear the case. A…

A court may enforce a Tomlin order when an agreed payment obligation is unconditional and overdue. Alleged breaches of other settlement terms do not justify an…

For the purpose of determining whether an appeal lies under section 18(1)(a) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, the relevant question is whether the judgment under…

A tribunal deciding whether to reduce compensation for contributory conduct must explain why the reduction chosen is justified. A complete extinction of a…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds raise issues fit for consideration on a full appeal and there is a real prospect of success.…

Distress experienced by a witness during cross-examination is not, without more, a ground for appellate intervention. The question is whether the circumstances…

For the purpose of determining jurisdiction, a judicial-review challenge is characterised by the underlying order sought to be reviewed, rather than by the…

Time for lodging an appellant’s notice may be extended where the delay is short, no prejudice is apparent, and the proposed appeal has a real prospect of…

A boundary agreement may settle or forestall uncertainty about the precise line of a boundary. It does not require an existing dispute. Where title documents…

On an application for permission to appeal, dissatisfaction with a trial judge’s evaluation of conflicting oral evidence is insufficient. An appellate court…

Under section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court may order the compulsory winding up of a company where winding up is expedient in the public interest…

Where a party does not attend a hearing, the court may proceed in that party’s absence under the Civil Procedure Rules. An adjournment is not required merely…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success. A litigant’s ability to use assets for legal representation…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds are arguable and have more than a fanciful prospect of success. In an apparent-bias…

An appellate court will not interfere with factual findings reached by a trial judge who heard the witnesses unless there is a proper basis for doing so. A…

When determining a dispute about a child’s schooling, the court must apply the welfare principle and assess the children both individually and collectively by…

An all monies guarantee remains a continuing security while money is owed by the principal debtor, despite payments reducing the overdraft, even where those…

A local housing authority may remove an applicant from its housing register where it reasonably regards refusal of suitable accommodation as unreasonable, but…

In family proceedings, an application for permission to appeal may be adjourned to a larger constitution where there is an arguable case that the decision…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear the case. A…

Meeting the threshold for care does not, by itself, establish that adoption is necessary. Permanent removal of a child from the birth family is a drastic…

An allegation of apparent or perceived bias requires a credible evidential foundation. A judge’s apparent responsiveness to advocacy, together with an…

Where a litigant in person seeks permission to appeal and the court cannot reliably establish the basic facts, issues, or effect of the order under challenge…

Permission to appeal and permission to adduce late evidence are discretionary matters governed by the overriding objective. Evidence tendered during trial…

A solicitor is not negligent merely because a client later considers counsel’s advice to have been wrong. Where the legal issue is difficult and uncertain, the…

For a second-tier appeal, permission under CPR Part 52.13 requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A real prospect…

A costs order is not shown to involve an error of principle merely because another judge might have apportioned the costs differently. Permission to appeal…

In assessing whether an asylum claimant faces persecution or treatment contrary to Article 3 on return, an appellate tribunal must consider the relevant…

On an application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal may grant permission on specified issues while expressing a provisional view that another…

A company cannot be required to purchase its own shares outside the statutory framework governing such purchases. A court order under the unfair-prejudice…

In granting permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal held that it was arguable that a representative’s ostensible authority in Employment Tribunal proceedings…

The fair-minded and informed observer test requires an objective assessment of whether there is a real possibility of bias. The observer is assumed to make…

A second appeal from a decision of the High Court on an appeal may proceed only where it raises an important point of principle or practice, or where there is…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where an important Convention issue requires authoritative determination, even though the underlying challenge…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in judicial review proceedings, the Court of Appeal adjourned the application so that the proposed respondent…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds raise properly arguable issues concerning the construction and effect of contractual payment…

An appellate court should not re-try facts found by an Employment Tribunal. Intervention is justified only for an error of law or perversity. For a contract of…

A property adjustment order under section 24(1)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 may confer an immediate equitable interest in identified property once…

A mortgagee’s power of sale may remain exercisable despite collateral contractual obligations connected with the mortgaged property. Where the parties…

For non-party disclosure under CPR 31.17(3)(a), likely means may well. It does not mean more probable than not, although it requires a higher threshold than a…

An important point of principle requiring authoritative guidance may justify permission to appeal even where the prospects of success are real but modest. The…

A complaint that an employment tribunal was biased or acted improperly must be raised through the procedure in paragraph 9 of the Practice Direction…

In school exclusion proceedings, a failure to object promptly to a potentially disqualified committee member may justify refusing an extension of time for…

Permission to appeal is subject to consistent procedural standards. A challenge to factual findings made after a long county-court trial will ordinarily be…

An application for permission to appeal or for relief from an order may be refused where the applicant does not attend to pursue it. A consent order need not…

When deciding whether to grant leave under section 10(9) of the Children Act, the court must give proper recognition and weight to Parliament’s statutory…

A permission application challenging a county court finding of fact should be refused where the judge’s reasons sufficiently identify the considerations…

Final financial remedy orders may be reopened only in exceptional cases. An applicant must identify either a fundamental defect in the original process or an…

For the purposes of section 4(1)(a) of the Race Relations Act 1976, “arrangements” has a broad meaning. It includes an employer’s participation in an…

A litigant cannot require an application to be heard by the full Court of Appeal where legislation permits a single Lord Justice sitting in open court to…

Waiver by estoppel requires a clear and unequivocal representation that a party will not insist upon a legal right, together with reliance which makes…

Under CPR 25.13(2)(c), the court first considers whether there is reason to believe that the party against whom security is sought cannot pay the applicant’s…

Rent accruing during the currency of a partnership is a partnership debt, not solely the liability of one partner. It should be reflected in the dissolution…

A contractual procedure for selling shares issued in satisfaction of a purchase-price instalment is not ordinarily a condition which extinguishes the…

A children and family reporter investigating private law proceedings may communicate child-protection concerns directly to the relevant local authority or…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the court has doubts about the appeal’s prospects but considers that there is a compelling reason for the point to be…

A mortgagee’s sale of the mortgaged property does not extinguish an accrued right to recover the mortgage debt under an express covenant in the mortgage deed.…

A libel award may reflect the gravity and prominence of the publication, its effect on the claimant, aggravating and mitigating conduct, partial justification…

A respondent who seeks only to uphold the result below on alternative grounds is not appealing and ordinarily does not require permission. The appellate…

A stay imposed by the High Court affects proceedings in that court. It does not, without more, stay an appeal already before the Court of Appeal, because the…

Under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the existence of a risk must be assessed by reference to the task, workplace and employee, rather than…

A sale, leaseback and option transaction is not necessarily a mortgage merely because it produces economic consequences similar to secured lending. The court…

A court has no power under section 85(2)(b) of the Housing Act 1985 to postpone the date for possession after a former secure tenant has given up possession.…

When deciding whether a party had a “good reason” for failing to attend trial under rule 39.3(5), the court must identify the genuine reason from all the…

Compensation under section 10 of the Local Land Charges Act 1975 is ordinarily assessed by reference to the date of breach. That rule is not conclusive where…

When deciding costs, a court should reflect success and failure on distinct issues. Pursuit of a hopeless issue may justify an adverse order both to deter…

Infringement of design right under Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 226(2), requires comparison between the alleged infringing article and the…

For VAT, non-monetary consideration must be valued by reference to the particular transaction. The relevant inquiry is the value attributed to the…

A judge’s earlier refusal of permission to appeal on the papers does not, without more, create a real possibility of apparent bias if permission is later…

A claim containing a process feature must be construed according to the monopoly it defines. A product claim may be limited to products made by a specified…

Dismissal for refusing to perform duties falling within an employee’s contract is a conduct dismissal, even where the refusal follows trade union advice. It is…

On judicial review of a development plan, an irregularity invalidates the decision only where it may materially have affected the outcome or substantially…

Judicial review is concerned with remedying real unfairness, not technical complaints or procedural games. Where the alleged unfairness is a failure to allow…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in an asylum case, it is arguable that an appellate tribunal must give adequate reasons for rejecting…

The Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to admit fresh evidence and address an allegation that a first-instance judgment was procured by fraud. It should…

At the permission stage, an appeal should not proceed where the trial judge’s essential findings provide no reasonable prospect of reversal or retrial, even if…

On a second appeal, permission should be granted only where there is an important point of principle or another compelling reason. The Court of Appeal will not…

A claim for repayment based on mistake, quasi-contract or unjust enrichment requires a proper allegation that the defendant received or enjoyed the benefit of…

At the permission stage, an arguable complaint that a judge conducted a mini-trial of issues unsuitable for determination under Part 24 may justify permission…

On a second appeal from a County Court decision concerning homelessness assistance, permission should be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an…

Where a party seeks to rescind a deed for misrepresentation, that party bears the burden of proving the misrepresentation. A trial judge’s credibility-based…

On an appeal from an Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Court of Appeal may interfere only on a question of law. Whether language expresses gender stereotyping is…

Where a mortgagee sells repossessed property in breach of its duty to obtain the best price reasonably obtainable, damages are prima facie the reduction in the…

In assessing whether an asylum appeal has a real prospect of success, the appellate tribunal must engage with the individual circumstances accepted by the…

For a voyage marine insurance policy incorporating a warehouse-to-warehouse clause, the extension of cover to the goods before shipment does not alter the…

Where a claimant discontinues judicial review proceedings after obtaining the principal relief sought, the court may nevertheless apportion costs by reference…

Supplementary planning guidance may supplement an adopted local plan where it is consistent with the plan and operates within the flexibility allowed by its…

A trial judge may, in exceptional practical circumstances, entertain a submission of no case to answer without requiring the defendant to elect not to call…

Equity will not enforce a transferor’s alleged beneficial interest where establishing that interest requires proof of an agreement designed to conceal it from…

A landlord’s longstanding practice of renewing leases at a ground rent does not, by itself, create an expectation that renewal will continue indefinitely.…

Where a purchaser and mortgagee require NHBC protection as a condition of a new-build purchase, a conveyancing solicitor must take reasonable steps before…

A custodial sentence for contempt will stand on appeal where it falls within the broad ambit of the sentencing judge’s discretion and is not manifestly…

An appellate court may determine an appeal in the appellant’s absence where the circumstances show that further time would not advance a fair hearing and the…

An application for permission to appeal may be adjourned where an unrepresented applicant’s complaint is unclear and a short further hearing with pro bono…

Under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993, certification has two stages. The Secretary of State certifies the asylum…

Accord and satisfaction requires both an agreement and satisfaction of the agreed performance. Where a creditor agrees to accept a lesser sum and the…

On an application for permission to appeal, the question is whether there is a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. An appellant faces a…

In a capability dismissal, a prior warning is normally required, but it is not an inflexible legal prerequisite. The question is whether, in the circumstances…

Permission to raise a fundamentally new legal case on appeal will not ordinarily be extended where the point falls outside the permission previously granted…

On a second appeal, permission should be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or there is another…

An appellate court should be slow to interfere with a trial judge’s assessment of competing expert evidence on nursing care and its cost where the judge has…

In a boundary dispute, the paper title is not displaced by trivial or equivocal conduct between neighbours. Boundary presumptions are rebuttable, but must be…

A claimant seeking a beneficial interest in land under a constructive trust or proprietary estoppel must show detrimental reliance or a significant alteration…

For collective enfranchisement, the valuation date is fixed when it is determined, by agreement or by a leasehold valuation tribunal, what freehold interest in…

Residence orders should reflect the practical reality of a child’s living arrangements. Where homes are proximate and the child moves relatively fluidly…

On a summary judgment application, the court must address the claim as pleaded, including any amendments previously permitted. Where the lower court decides…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the proposed appeal has no realistic prospect of success, even if there is some force in complaints about the lower…

An application for permission to appeal may properly be adjourned where the proposed grounds raise procedural and substantive matters requiring fuller…

Where an application to appeal out of time raises a potentially arguable defence and the explanation for delay requires further investigation, the court may…

In care proceedings, the local authority retains the legal burden of proving facts relied on under Children Act 1989. A parent's need to offer an explanation…

For Article 3 claims involving ill-treatment by private persons, the relevant question is whether the state has taken reasonable measures to provide sufficient…

At the preliminary stage of an employment appeal, a proposed ground should proceed to a full hearing if it raises a reasonably arguable point of law. This…

A procedural irregularity in committal proceedings does not invalidate a committal order where the alleged contemnor has had a fair trial and has suffered no…

Under Regulation 11 of Civil Legal Aid (General) Regulations 1989, the duty to report a financial change depends on whether objectively justified grounds…

A local authority’s housing policy is ordinarily a guide to the exercise of discretion, not a rigid rule. The court will intervene where evidence shows that…

An employment incentive clause must be construed as a whole and against its admissible factual background. The commercial context, the employee’s role, the…

Article 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees applies to the historical class of Palestinian Arabs receiving UNRWA protection or…

For deceit, a claimant must prove a material false representation of existing fact, fraudulent knowledge or recklessness, an intention that the representation…

A local authority may obtain an anti-social behaviour injunction under section 152 of the Housing Act 1996 only where the statutory threshold is met and the…

Employment tribunals have broad control over evidence and procedure, but each party remains entitled to adduce evidence and conduct cross-examination on…

Under section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, impairment bears its ordinary and natural meaning. A tribunal may consider expert medical evidence…

An adjournment may be refused where the applicant gives no valid reason for non-attendance and no sufficient explanation for failing to send a representative.…

A county court has no jurisdiction to set aside a decree absolute of divorce. The relevant power lies only in the Court of Appeal and is subject to statutory…

On an appeal concerning costs, the Court of Appeal may interfere with a discretionary costs order where the judge erred in principle, omitted a material…

For an application under section 282(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court must ask whether, on grounds existing when the bankruptcy order was made, the…

On a second appeal, permission is available only where the appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or where another compelling reason…

A regulator responsible for professional standards may impose a condition on a practising certificate to protect the public and the profession while…

An appellate court should distinguish questions of law from case-management decisions. Whether evidence is relevant and admissible is a question of law. Where…

In welfare decisions concerning contact with a child, the Court of Appeal will not interfere merely because it might have evaluated the evidence differently.…

A direction to remove a person from the United Kingdom is a decision relating to that person’s entitlement to enter or remain for the purposes of section 65(1)…

A negligent failure to diagnose dyslexia or to provide appropriate educational help may found a claim for personal injuries where it causes emotional or…

Protection under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 depends principally on the agreement, not merely on the physical characteristics of the structure at a later date.…

Under the proviso to section 54(1) of the Land Registration Act 1925, a cautioner must obtain the registrar’s consent to lodge a caution where the relevant…

An appellate court may uphold a trial judge’s factual conclusion based on correspondence, subsequent conduct and inherent probabilities, even where the primary…

A professional administrator must exercise the care and skill expected of an experienced solicitor. The duty is one of diligent administration, not exceptional…

A claim should not be struck out where the legal issue is uncertain or developing, or where the pleaded facts raise a serious issue requiring evidence. The…

For specimens listed in Annex C to the Regulation, an export permit is issued in accordance with the Convention if it satisfies the Convention’s formal…

On an application for permission to appeal a discretionary child-residence decision, the appellate court must ask whether the judge directed himself correctly…

In ancillary relief litigation, a capital-division order is essentially final and is not ordinarily open to variation unless an extraordinary circumstance is…

In a proposed international relocation case, the child’s welfare remains paramount. The judge must examine the applicant’s motives and practical proposals…

In an asylum claim, future persecution risk must be assessed by reference to all past, present and future evidence having a real bearing on the issue. Earlier…

Permission to appeal against factual findings will be refused where there is no real prospect that the appellate court would interfere with findings based on…

Where a litigant in person misses a hearing because of an apparently genuine illness, the court should exercise caution before deciding the matter in their…

Case management decisions are matters for the trial judge’s discretion. There is no general rule that qualified privilege must be tried as a preliminary issue…

An amendment that raises a claim above the normal £15,000 fast-track limit does not automatically remove the claim from that track or deprive a district judge…

An easement may entitle neighbouring owners to use land as a communal garden for recreational and amenity purposes. A prescriptive easement need not have the…

An occupier who invites the public to use potentially hazardous entertainment remains under the common duty of care even where the equipment is supplied and…

For a further appeal to the Court of Appeal, an applicant must show reasonable prospects of success and, additionally, an important point of principle or…

In construing a compromise reached through correspondence, the court must examine the correspondence which may contain or evidence the agreement, including…

When reviewing an order concerning an injunction under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Court of Appeal determines the decision made…

Appeals from employment tribunals are confined to questions of law arising from the proceedings or the tribunal’s decision. Fresh evidence, without an…

An appellate court may set aside a child residence decision where the judge materially misunderstands or fails to evaluate crucial evidence. Particular care is…

Permission to appeal from a specialist tribunal should be approached with appropriate modesty where the proposed appeal is confined to a point of law. A…

A party may be penalised in costs for refusing mediation without good reason, although mediation is not compulsory. The absence of any realistic prospect of…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules, the rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs is a starting point, not an overriding principle. The…

Where an appellate court cannot properly assess an application for permission to appeal because the first-instance judge gave no, or inadequate, reasons, it…

The Court of Appeal may refuse permission to appeal to the House of Lords even where the proposed appeal raises interesting issues of law, if it considers the…

A housing allocation scheme must confer a real and identifiable reasonable preference on applicants within the statutory categories. It cannot permit…

Under Regulation 16(5) of the Working Time Regulations 1998, contractual remuneration can discharge statutory holiday-pay liability only where it was paid in…

A director who is personally responsible for acting beyond limits imposed by the company’s constitution cannot invoke Companies Act 1985, section 35A to…

Under section 119 of the Highways Act 1980, a council has discretion whether to make a public path diversion order, even where diversion appears expedient in…

Where an appeal has already been heard in the court of trial, permission to appeal requires an important point of law or principle, or another compelling…

An employment tribunal may find a dismissal unfair because of procedural failures while concluding that proper procedure would have produced the same result.…

An appellate body should interfere only on limited grounds with a tribunal’s case-management discretion to grant or refuse an adjournment. The threshold is…

Permission to appeal under section 69(6) of the Arbitration Act 1996 is generally unavailable as of right and should be granted only in exceptional cases. A…

An interlocutory appeal concerning discovery will ordinarily serve no useful purpose once the substantive action has been tried and determined. Permission to…

Confiscation enforcement under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 does not oust or take priority over the court’s jurisdiction to adjust matrimonial property under…

An employer is not generally required to remove or dismiss an employee who knowingly chooses to continue work that is ordinarily safe but carries a personal…

An appellate court should not interfere with first-instance factual findings where the judge was entitled to accept one witness’s evidence and reject…

An appellate court considering alleged procedural injustice should examine the outcome and ask whether it might have been different because of the challenged…

In an immigration removal challenge brought in the interests of a child, the court must not assume that a settled parent and child will follow the removed…

A renewed application for permission to appeal may properly be adjourned for oral consideration where further argument warrants review by a differently…

At an interim care hearing, the court’s task is to establish a holding position pending a final hearing. It should avoid determining disputed facts finally…

Permission to amend pleadings at the start of a trial remains a matter for the trial judge’s discretion. The appellate court will interfere only in limited…

Under CPR 52.9, the Court of Appeal may strike out an appeal notice and set aside permission to appeal only where there is a compelling reason. An appeal…

On an application for permission to appeal, procedural handling may justify permission where the Immigration Appeal Tribunal arguably treated the scope of…

On judicial review of an immigration adjudicator’s decision, the court must respect the adjudicator’s role as primary fact-finder. The court should not demand…

A statutory deeming provision must be applied in accordance with the legislative purpose it was enacted to achieve. It should be carried as far as necessary to…

A transfer of an undertaking under the Acquired Rights Directive 77/187/EEC may take place over a period, including several years. It need not occur at a…

Past conduct and treatment may be important, and usually necessary, evidence when assessing an asylum seeker’s future risk, but absence of past persecution is…

Grievances or monetary claims against a local authority do not entitle a taxpayer to withhold Council Tax or set off those claims against the tax demanded. The…

The power under rule 52.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules to set aside permission to appeal is reserved for rare cases involving something in the nature of an…

An appellate court should not interfere with a tribunal’s assessment of whether a locality is a claimant’s home area unless the conclusion crosses the…

An application for permission to appeal will fail where the lower court properly identifies and determines the live legal issue, and its factual findings are…

For permission to appeal, a real prospect of success means a realistic prospect rather than a fanciful one. Permission may be granted where an unusual…

In a libel action in which there is a right to jury trial, summary judgment is available only where the evidence, taken at its highest for the claimant, could…

The court may make an order requiring payment into court which is tantamount to security for costs outside Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 25. The power must…

In introductory-tenancy possession proceedings, the court must consider whether the statutory procedure and Convention rights have been respected. If the…

Country material concerning the treatment of suspected supporters of an unlawful organisation must be considered in an asylum claim. It may support an account…

A draft judgment circulated before formal hand-down may be recalled and reconsidered before the order is perfected, including on the substance and in light of…

Permission to appeal requires a reasonable prospect of persuading the Court of Appeal to reverse the decision under challenge. An appellate court should be…

A court may set aside a default judgment conditionally where the defendant’s conduct justifies requiring security before granting leave to defend. The…

Whether a proposed activity falls within a use class depends on the wording of the relevant entry in the Use Classes Order. Where the entry describes use as a…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success. A claim against solicitors acting for an opposing party…

A second appeal requires permission under Access to Justice Act 1999, section 55(1), and Civil Procedure Rules, rule 52.13. Permission may be granted only…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of practice or principle, or another compelling reason, rather than merely an arguable disagreement…

The appellate route in contempt proceedings depends on the order appealed from and whether the appeal is a first or second appeal. A committal order made by a…

A building contract may arise even where the parties have not agreed the whole scope of work, a final price or a formal document. An instruction to do work and…

In a renewed application for permission to seek judicial review, a current and convincing medical certificate may justify taking the hearing out of the list…

A finding that the parties had a contract to perform work for reward can materially change the legal basis of a building dispute from restitution to contract.…

Permission to appeal should be refused where a proposed appeal has no reasonable prospect of overturning detailed factual findings reached after careful…

At the permission stage, a direct race discrimination claim need not necessarily depend on an actual comparator. It may be arguable that the claimant was…

Permission to appeal will be granted only where the proposed appeal discloses an arguable error of law. This may include the absence of a fair trial or a…

A lawyer who acted in an arbitration is not, merely by that role, a legal representative authorised to accept service of a separate court claim seeking…

A contractual claims-notification clause requiring particulars of a claim within a specified period and proceedings within six months prevents a claimant from…

On a second appeal, permission requires either an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear the…

An appellate court should not determine a reserved discretionary issue where the material needed to evaluate it is unavailable. Where the first-instance judge…

An appellate tribunal may interfere with an adjournment decision where the tribunal took an irrelevant consideration into account. Determining relevance is…

Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol to the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement does not itself create a right of establishment or residence. It does…

A copyright owner may recover compensatory damages for every infringement. Lost profit is the appropriate measure for sales the owner proves would otherwise…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success. An application to adduce fresh evidence on appeal will ordinarily fail unless the evidence could not…

For inappropriate development in the Green Belt, the decision-maker must ask whether very special circumstances overcome the general presumption against it and…

Permission to appeal may be justified where an issue retains residual importance, particularly where first-instance authorities disagree and the courts below…

Rape and other serious criminal violence do not, without more, establish persecution for a Refugee Convention reason. A claim based on membership of a…

A trial judge may find negligence on a pleaded failure to conduct an adequate risk assessment where the evidence supports that allegation, even if the…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success or where some other compelling reason justifies a hearing. The…

A settlement offer which includes a term about costs falls outside the scope of a Part 36 offer. The mandatory costs consequences of acceptance under Part 36…

On an application for permission to appeal against refusal of permission to seek judicial review, the Court of Appeal applies the CPR test of whether the…

For section 30(1) of the Local Government Act 1974, a Local Commissioner conducts an investigation only where it is taken to completion. A report of its…

In a quasi-partnership company, the articles may be qualified by an understanding that equal participants alone will determine management. Where it is…

A contractual obligation to communicate proprietary improvements may cover plant-specific design modifications developed from operational experience.…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed appeal is reasonably arguable, even though the judge considers that it is unlikely to succeed. The…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds merely challenge the trial judge’s assessment of facts and disclose no arguable basis that…

A decision of the High Court made under the statutory case-stated appeal provisions is final under section 28A(4) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, subject to the…

A company within section 726 of the Companies Act 1985 is in principle vulnerable to an order for security for the costs of an appeal. Prospects of success are…

A seller may recover the price under section 49(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 only where the contract makes payment due on a certain day irrespective of…

A combination of known features is not necessarily obvious. The statutory question is whether the combination would have been obvious to the skilled person…

A general settlement release is construed objectively in its factual and contractual context. It may release claims unknown to the parties when the language…

A transfer of the legal estate in land does not necessarily transfer the beneficial interest. The court must construe the transaction in its factual context.…

A highway may already be maintainable at public expense under the transitional provisions of the Highways Act 1980, by reference to its status under the…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed challenge has a real prospect of success. That threshold can be met by an arguable case that a claimant…

Security for costs may be ordered where the evidence establishes a real risk that an unsuccessful party will not meet a costs liability or may evade payment. A…

An employee can be dismissed only once on a single occasion, even where the dismissal is alleged to have occurred on several grounds. Compensation for the…

Permission to appeal should be granted where there is a properly arguable contention that the lower court misunderstood the effect of a material House of Lords…

On an application for a stay of execution pending appeal, the court must make the order that best accords with the interests of justice. Where either course…

A prerogative decision granting remission for assistance after sentence is reviewable on ordinary public law principles, assuming that the Divisional Court’s…

An appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal lies only on a question of law. The appellate court cannot reopen factual disputes or permit witnesses to be…

Pleadings define the issues for trial and the extent of the dispute. A party cannot rely on a materially specific allegation under a general pleading where the…

An issue-based approach to costs is inappropriate where the issues argued and decided at trial do not match the issues formally ordered for determination.…

An appeal should not be stifled by requiring an impecunious appellant to make a payment which cannot be funded from his own resources. Where the appeal is also…

Where a bank is on inquiry about possible undue influence in a mortgage transaction, it may ordinarily rely on written confirmation from a solicitor acting for…

Permission to appeal may be granted on a renewed application where the proposed grounds disclose an arguable defect in the first-instance judge’s reasoning on…

A party who signs a written contract incorporating standard terms is ordinarily bound by those terms, whether or not they have read them. That principle does…

The insolvency moratorium on other proceedings covers legal and quasi-legal proceedings against a company or its property. It does not generally extend to a…

An undertaking restricting the use of documents obtained through compulsory disclosure may be varied only in special circumstances and where release will not…

Appellate courts should not interfere with findings of fact, particularly credibility findings based on seeing and hearing witnesses, unless compelling…

A procedural defect in a misconduct dismissal does not automatically make the dismissal unfair. The Employment Tribunal must assess the dismissal as a whole…

In costs disputes arising from permission-to-appeal and extension-of-time applications, the court may adopt the broad-brush approach encouraged by Civil…

Where a tenancy is determined for limitation purposes under Schedule 1 to the Limitation Act 1980, a former tenant who remains in possession will normally be…

Where solicitors are on the record for an appellant but are unwilling to act until outstanding costs and expenses have been paid, the Court of Appeal may…

When an application to extend time depends on uncertainty about whether a paper refusal and a short renewal period were communicated, the court may allow a…

On a second appeal in bankruptcy, permission should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success. A general disagreement with the…

Summary judgment may be granted in trademark infringement and passing-off proceedings where company names, viewed with the available evidence, are instruments…

For possession proceedings relying on ground 10 in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985, the suitability of alternative accommodation is assessed by reference to…

The slip rule may correct an obvious clerical error in recording the order actually made, including a costs order. Where the mistake is clear from the…

Where an equipment lease is terminated for repudiatory breach and the agreement provides a self-contained termination sum, contractual interest on future…

When assessing an applicant’s ability to pay under a hardship or settlement scheme, a panel may consider relevant past financial dealings as well as present…

Permission to appeal requires both a question of law arising from the tribunal’s decision and a real prospect that the appeal will succeed. An appellate…

Permission for judicial review may properly be refused where the alleged defects are substantively trivial and any reconsideration would inevitably produce the…

The usual costs order is assessment on the standard basis. Indemnity costs require circumstances taking the case outside the norm, including conduct warranting…

A consultancy success fee calculated by reference to the value of grants offered per project is ordinarily measured by the benefit received by the client, not…

Where applications have already been adjourned and further delay would prejudice ongoing proceedings, the court may grant one further adjournment while making…

An unexpected tyre blow-out in a motorway fast lane must be assessed in the circumstances confronting the driver at the time. Negligence is not established by…

Contributory negligence is assessed by comparing both causation and blameworthiness. There is no presumption that responsibility is equal merely because both…

A challenge to a public authority’s allegedly unlawful decision is ordinarily a matter for judicial review where the court must first determine whether the…

A statutory parking-enforcement scheme is compatible with the fair-trial guarantee where it provides a procedure for contesting the charge and an appeal to an…

Under Manual Handling Directive 1990, an employer must use an organisational measure or means that is appropriate and capable of avoiding or reducing a…

Removal engages the absolute protection of Article 3 only where substantial grounds show a real risk of prohibited ill-treatment. Its high severity threshold…

Under the Housing Act 1988, a possession order cannot be made unless the statutory ground relied upon is established. The court must investigate that issue…

In an Article 3 protection claim, the burden remains on the applicant, although the applicable standard is a low one requiring a reasonable degree of…

Where a defendant contests a claim for specific relief and concedes that relief in full only at or shortly before trial, the claimant should normally be…

Where related applications for permission to appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal raise novel or complex questions of statutory construction or…

Permission to appeal against a case-management decision refusing disclosure should be granted only where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of showing…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success. An appellate court will interfere with a discretionary…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where separate actions involve substantially common facts and issues, so that the appellate court can consider…

Sentencing for contempt of court serves two purposes: marking the gravity of the proved conduct and marking the deliberate breach of a court order. Although…

In forfeiture proceedings for non-payment of rent, a tenant cannot resist possession by claiming expenditure on repairs unless the landlord was under a legal…

In exercising its discretion on costs, the court may adopt a broad-brush approach where several parties and issues are involved. It may make a single order…

Termination of direct contact is a drastic remedy. The court must assess the child’s welfare, the seriousness and consequences of domestic violence or…

Permission to appeal will be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and raises no compelling reason for further consideration. A…

A determinate custodial sentence imposed under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 section 2(2)(b) is a single sentence fixed by the sentencing judge. It is not…

Section 69 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 preserves a default of jury trial for libel, but permits a judge-alone trial where the statutory test concerning…

A person who slanders another may be liable for increased damage caused by a third party’s further publication. Liability requires proof that the defendant…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, permission should be refused where reconsideration of the papers discloses no reason to alter an earlier…

In adoption proceedings, the court must assess whether a proposed placement can protect the child from disruption and unwanted contact. Anonymity may be…

A court may make an interim reduction in child contact where a parent’s conduct risks exposing the child to hostility, criticism or emotional conflict. Contact…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, the deemed date of postal or fax service is fixed by rule 6.7. Evidence that the defendant actually received the claim…

An agreement by a person providing services ancillary to litigation is not champertous merely because payment is contingent on success or calculated as a…

A bankruptcy petition may be based on a debt that is not provable, although the court will ordinarily decline to make a bankruptcy order on that basis. An…

Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is an exceptional defence to prompt return. A parent cannot rely on…

After a possession order and judgment for rent arrears, a voluntary arrangement to pay the arrears does not ordinarily create a new tenancy or waive the…

An extension of time for a renewed application for permission to appeal is inappropriate where the delay is substantial and unexplained. The position is…

A family judge remains responsible for deciding a child’s welfare and may depart from expert opinion on placement, management and attachment. A judge cannot…

An application for permission to appeal made about five years out of time, and which is transparently misconceived, will be dismissed. An interlocutory…

The court may dismiss an application where the applicant has been duly notified of the hearing but does not attend. Independently, an application challenging a…

On an appeal from a professional regulator’s character-and-suitability decision, the court asks whether the procedure was unfair and whether the decision could…

A public authority’s decision affecting private-law property rights may, in principle, be amenable to judicial review. The scope for intervention is, however…

Article 14 requires a claimant first to identify a Convention right whose enjoyment is affected by the alleged discrimination. The claimant must then show that…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds merely challenge factual findings and the applicant has no real prospect of success. An…

A hazard being an ordinary feature of life does not by itself exclude negligence. Employers and occupiers may still owe a duty to take precautions where the…

Under paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, a stay of matrimonial proceedings depends on the balance of fairness…

The parol evidence rule does not automatically exclude evidence of an oral contractual term merely because the parties later record related arrangements in a…

Under the Arbitration Act 1996, permission to appeal under sections 67, 68 or 69 may be granted only by the judge below. Where that judge refuses permission…

Permission to appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal requires an identifiable point of law. A challenge to the scope of disclosure ordered for an appeal…

Pending an appeal against regulatory conditions on a solicitor’s practising certificate, the court may grant interim relief where necessary to protect existing…

An appellate court should interfere with a trial judge’s case-management discretion only where the judge failed to address the overriding objective properly.…

A barrister’s failure to address the legal merits of a claim may support a prima facie case of negligence for the purposes of a wasted costs application. That…

On an application for permission to bring a second appeal, the Court of Appeal has no power to grant permission unless the further appeal raises an important…

A court may find for a claimant where the claimant’s account is broadly reliable but includes inaccurate, embellished or rejected detail. The court must…

A renewed application for permission to appeal should address the reasons for any earlier refusal and provide relevant, balanced evidence, including…

A party should present its whole case at the first reasonable opportunity, including alternative contentions. This is a principle of substantive justice. On…

Under the Pointe Gourde or no-scheme rule, compensation must disregard increases in land value attributable to the scheme or project underlying the compulsory…

A court may stay a Mental Health Review Tribunal discharge decision pending judicial review, even after it has been implemented. The power must be exercised…

Under Article 4(2) of the Rome Convention, a commercial contract is presumed most closely connected with the country of the characteristic performer’s…

Detention under paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 3 to the Immigration Act 1971 is lawful only while used for deportation, for a reasonable period and with reasonable…

A written note signed by only one party cannot form a contract for the sale or disposition of an interest in land where statutory formalities require…

On an appeal against a sentence for contempt, the question is whether the sentence is clearly excessive, rather than merely severe. The appellate court should…

Permission to appeal in public-law children proceedings is subject to a high threshold. A recent change in a parent’s circumstances will not ordinarily justify…

Applications challenging case-management decisions and a freeing order will be refused where the lower court acted within its discretionary ambit, properly…

Article 4 of the Rome Convention requires a purposive and internationally uniform approach, distinct from the former common-law enquiry into the proper law of…

Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, an occupier who knows of a concealed structural danger must warn an experienced independent contractor where the…

Where a planning proposal may be approved either on its ordinary planning merits or as enabling development, the planning authority must identify and decide…

Permission to appeal from an Employment Appeal Tribunal decision should be limited to grounds raising a point of law with a real prospect of success or another…

Where a relationship of trust and confidence and a transaction calling for explanation establish a presumption of undue influence, the donee must prove that…

Contractual language is not confined to operating as a warranty merely because it is proposed during negotiations and incorporated into the final agreement. It…

A stay in family proceedings, particularly an international children case, will rarely be granted merely because a party intends to seek permission to appeal…

A disclosure order will normally accompany a worldwide freezing order because disclosure enables the order to be policed effectively. The court may stay…

A court may make a summary assessment of a defendant’s costs without separate evidence of the precise internal arrangement between each represented defendant…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the proposed appeal is wholly hopeless and the lower court’s orders were soundly based, properly reasoned and…

Teachers organising school skiing trips owe the care expected of a reasonably careful parent experienced in skiing and school trips. The standard depends on…

A client’s refusal to waive legal professional privilege cannot support an adverse inference about the advice received. Where a professional undertakes, for…

In ancillary relief proceedings, conduct may justify a substantial departure from equal division where it would be inequitable to disregard it. The court must…

In child-contact proceedings, an appellate court should be slow to interfere with an urgent discretionary order made by a trial judge who knows the case and…

On an application for permission to appeal an ancillary relief order, permission may be granted where substantial components of the award are reasonably open…

In care proceedings, positive developments or fresh evidence arising after the disposal hearing do not, without more, justify permission to appeal or reopening…

A contractual instrument must be construed according to its substance. Where its terms impose primary liability and expressly preserve the creditor’s freedom…

The High Court, when sitting as an appellate court, has an inherent residual jurisdiction to reopen its final decisions to prevent real injustice in…

An appeal panel deciding an infant class-size appeal must assess the particular refusal to admit the particular child. Under paragraph 12(a) of Schedule 24…

The question whether residents form a single household is one of fact and degree. There is no conclusive indicium or required relationship which applies in…

An occupier must take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that visitors are reasonably safe. The duty may extend to a danger which…

A parent with a residence order is ordinarily free to choose where to live and exercise parental responsibility. The court should restrict that choice only in…

Permission to appeal is granted sparingly. An applicant must show a real prospect of success or another compelling reason. For a case-management appeal, the…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of success. That is especially so where the challenge seeks to overturn…

An appeal withdrawn in accordance with the applicable rules leaves no extant appeal for the tribunal to determine. A presenting officer’s consent cannot confer…

Contractual liability must be determined from the agreement read as a whole and against the admissible factual background known to the parties. Evidence of…

Where a tenancy was originally granted for mixed business and residential purposes, cessation of the business does not by itself make the premises let as a…

Permission to seek judicial review may properly be refused where granting relief would serve no practical purpose. This may be so even where the proposed…

In proceedings for breach of a non-molestation injunction, the complainant must prove the breach to the criminal standard. A judge may dispense with or deem…

An extension of time to appeal will be refused where the delay is very substantial and the applicant provides no adequate justification, whether the asserted…

Permission to appeal in a planning judicial review should be refused where the proposed grounds are arguable but lack a real prospect of success. The court…

A workplace policy may become an implied contractual term through custom and practice where, viewed objectively and in all the circumstances, the employer has…

A tribunal does not err merely by failing to consider evidence that was never before it, and information held by an officer dealing with another benefit is not…

Where an applicant is absent because of a misunderstanding about the hearing date, the court should not determine the application in the applicant’s absence.…

Where fresh evidence shows that a material trial finding was wrong, the appellate court must consider its effect on the reliability of the evidence and on the…

A regulatory body investigating professional misconduct does not generally owe the complainant a private law duty of care. Its investigative function…

Costs decisions are matters of judicial discretion. The court must consider all the circumstances of the case, including whether attendance by the opposing…

Cause of action estoppel is not applied mechanically whenever an employment tribunal claim is withdrawn. The court must examine the surrounding circumstances…

Permission to appeal from an employment tribunal decision should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and no other compelling…

Permission to appeal should be granted where a public authority’s subsistence policy appears confused and the adequacy and rationality of the resulting support…

On an application for permission to appeal, permission should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and no other compelling…

An appellate court will ordinarily respect a trial judge’s findings of fact where the judge considered the evidence, heard the witnesses and reached findings…

For summary judgment, the claimant must show that the defendant has no reasonable prospect of successfully defending the claim. Permission to appeal requires a…

A refusal of permission to appeal on the papers may be revisited through renewal. A later appellate decision materially changing the law on public-law time…

In a malicious prosecution claim, malice does not by itself establish a want of reasonable and probable cause or an absence of honest belief. The judge…

On an interlocutory application for permission to appeal in children proceedings, the Court of Appeal adjourned the application for an oral hearing on notice.…

Permission for judicial review may be granted where an arguable error of law is identified, even though the claimant has no general right to an oral hearing. A…

For group relief, the surrendering company’s profits must be determined under section 403(8) of Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 without regard to…

Where an applicant knowingly fails to attend a permission hearing, the court may proceed in the applicant’s absence. Permission to appeal should be refused…

An application for permission to appeal may be refused where it is brought substantially out of time and the only asserted change of circumstances was already…

When considering whether to continue a practising-certificate condition, the Law Society’s reasons must fairly represent whether reports are due under the…

For the purpose of section 111(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a complaint sent by post is not presented until it arrives at the tribunal. A claimant may…

An appellate court should intervene only rarely in a discretionary decision identifying the appropriate forum. A procedural error in an order permitting…

An advocate’s advice on settlement is negligent only if it falls below the standard of reasonably competent counsel. A mistaken opinion is not itself…

When a financial order is returned to the first-instance judge after permission to appeal has been refused, the task is to ensure that the order reflects the…

An appellate application should be dismissed where intervening events have made the issue academic and no practical relief remains. A concern about prejudice…

In children proceedings, disclosure of documents and reports relating to a child is a matter for the trial court’s discretion. A party has no automatic…

Permission to appeal against a tribunal’s costs order should be refused where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of success. A costs decision is not…

A renewed application for permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no reasonable prospect of success. A trial judge’s adverse…

An appellate court should not interfere with a case-management decision to refuse an adjournment merely because another decision might have been possible. The…

Judicial review is not the appropriate means of challenging orders made by a county court acting within its jurisdiction where Parliament has provided a…

An appellate court should uphold a lower court’s case-management decision unless it was clearly wrong, involved an error of law, or was affected by a serious…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no realistic prospect of success. In a fact-sensitive negligence case, an appeal…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the lower court’s reasoning arguably involved a material misdirection, where the evidential basis for a significant…

In an application made substantially out of time, the court considers both the explanation for delay and the proposed appeal’s merits. An unsatisfactory…

The scope of an employer’s duty towards an employee suffering stress-related illness is fact-sensitive. In a difficult management situation, the duty may…

A service agreement must be construed as a whole, but clear wording in a fee clause is not displaced by concepts appearing elsewhere in the agreement. Where a…

On a second appeal, permission requires both a real prospect of success and an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. Under…

Under Insolvency Act 1986, section 252(2), making a charging order nisi absolute is a continuation of execution. It requires the court’s leave where an interim…

In a second-tier appeal, permission may be refused for a respondent to raise a further point at the conclusion of its reply where the respondent knew of it at…

At the permission stage, an arguable challenge that a first-instance judge inadequately analysed an application to remove a child from the jurisdiction may…

Permission for a second appeal requires the high threshold in the Access to Justice Act 1999, section 55: an important point of law or principle, or another…

In ancillary relief proceedings, permission is not required for an appeal from a District Judge to a Circuit Judge. Where permission is wrongly treated as…

In a child-relocation application, the welfare analysis must address the effect of the primary carer’s emotional condition on her ability to parent and the…

Where a planning delegation permits an officer to approve an application despite written objections only if the proposal does not conflict with agreed…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of practice or principle. The court may also refuse permission where pursuing the appeal would…

In a compulsory purchase valuation appeal, a tribunal does not make an error of law merely by adopting a sensible, approximate valuation method, particularly…

Judicial review of an Immigration Appeal Tribunal’s refusal of permission to appeal does not involve retrying the asylum claim or reviewing factual findings as…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success, meaning that the proposed appeal is not fanciful. An apparent material mistake in identifying or…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed grounds raise a real prospect of success, even though the appeal remains difficult. A court should…

In an equitable account between co-beneficial owners, a party who improves trust property is not automatically entitled to a further credit for work funded by…

Directions governing the exchange of evidence do not replace the separate procedural requirement to prepare and file manageable, indexed hearing bundles. Under…

A national court may determine alleged breaches of directly effective ECSC Treaty provisions despite earlier Commission decisions which do not conclusively…

A procedural rule is not ultra vires merely because it facilitates the removal of unsuccessful asylum appellants, provided that it is capable of lawful…

An appellate court should not interfere with a first-instance welfare decision unless the judge made an error of law or exercised the discretion in a way that…

A second appeal to the Court of Appeal is subject to the particularly stringent test in section 55 of the Access to Justice Act 1999. It is not an appropriate…

An appellate court should not revisit a deliberate order made after considering the parties’ positions merely because a party later wishes to advance a point…

A consent order must be construed as a whole. Parties may agree that liability for future disease is admitted, while leaving particular causation issues open…

Where a claimant fails to beat a defendant’s Part 36 payment, the normal post-payment order under the Civil Procedure Rules is for costs on the standard basis.…

Under section 4 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, substitute support and care received after a parent's death may be a benefit arising from that death. It must…

Where a tortious accident may have accelerated an injury arising from a claimant’s pre-existing vulnerability, the court must assess, on the balance of…

An internet service provider may enforce a contractual condition prohibiting material which is defamatory or which, in its judgment, causes annoyance…

A compromise agreement is construed as a whole, having regard to the nature of the claims compromised and the ordinary and natural meaning of its provisions in…

A qualifying disclosure under section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires information which the worker reasonably believes tends to show, among…

An appellate court may correct a drawn order which fails to reflect its intention that a lower court’s costs order should stand. A reduction in the amount…

For the purposes of Capital Allowances Act 1990, s 35(2), “hiring” is construed from the statutory language and context. It includes an intermediate hiring…

An appellate court may set aside an Employment Tribunal’s factual decision as perverse only where an overwhelming case establishes that no reasonable tribunal…

Prison authorities owe prisoners a duty to take reasonable care for their safety, including protection from foreseeable violence by other prisoners. Decisions…

A payment may constitute remuneration even where no specific agreement fixes its amount or provides a formula for calculating it. Remuneration is consideration…

In a negligence claim concerning harm inflicted by a third party, foreseeability of harm and knowledge of a grave danger do not, without more, establish a duty…

An option covenant requiring a planning application for development of defined land ordinarily requires an application directed to the site as a whole, not…

Causes of action vested in a trustee in bankruptcy cannot be pursued personally by the bankrupt. Where the trustee declines to pursue the proceedings, and the…

For the employer’s reasonable-steps defence under section 32(3) of the Race Relations Act 1976, the primary focus is on measures taken before the…

The threshold for a second appeal under Access to Justice Act 1999, section 55, is stringent. Case-management decisions concerning requests for further…

A landlord’s contractual right to enter a demised flat to carry out “repairs or work” must be construed with the tenant’s covenant for quiet enjoyment and the…

When prospective adopters use the confidential serial-number procedure, neither disclosure nor anonymity has automatic priority. The court should apply the…

When judicial review proceedings are resolved without a trial but costs remain disputed, the court must apply ordinary costs principles. Under section 22 of…

On an application to rule upon a pleaded defamatory meaning, the court must identify the range of meanings reasonably available to the ordinary reasonable…

For discretionary and automatic life prisoners, the expiry of the tariff does not itself make detention unlawful under article 5(1). It does, however, trigger…

Where a company has undertaken to withdraw from active management and appoint another as managing director, those obligations may continue and constrain powers…

An appellate court considering a stay pending appeal must assess whether the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success; a fanciful prospect is…

In child-protection fact-finding, a judge must evaluate expert medical evidence and lay evidence together. Uncontroverted expert evidence may be rejected only…

In determining vulnerability for statutory homelessness purposes, a local housing authority must ask whether, when homeless, the applicant would be less able…

Where a privileged document is inadvertently made available for inspection, the court must decide under CPR rule 31.20, and in its equitable jurisdiction, what…

A court asked to recognise a judgment under the Brussels Convention should apply a strong, but rebuttable, presumption that the procedures of another state…

A statutory immunity which defines the absence of civil liability is a rule of substantive law. It does not engage Article 6 merely because a claimant cannot…

On an application for permission to pursue a second appeal, the court identified the central question as whether the proposed appeal had real prospects of…

Whether a driver should slow down or take precautionary action in a pedestrian accident depends on a fact-sensitive assessment of the whole situation.…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no reasonable prospect of success. That conclusion may be reached where the trial decision…

Section 15 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 uses the expressions “removed” and “required to leave” as immigration-law terms of art. Its prohibition is…

Under Arbitration Act 1996 section 67(4), the same expression, the court, refers both to the court which made the section 67 decision and to the court whose…

An appellate remittal must be confined to the issue identified in the appellate judgment. A lower court may investigate the precise nature and approximate cost…

An appellate court reviewing a specialist trade-mark hearing officer’s multifactorial evaluation should show real reluctance to interfere. It may correct a…

On a second-tier appeal, permission should be granted where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or where another compelling…

Relief from a procedural sanction must be decided by considering the relevant criteria in Civil Procedure Rules 3.9 in context. A judge need not address every…

Inconsistent decisions by separate public bodies do not, without more, create an estoppel in favour of a claimant. Where a competent tribunal has already…

A doctor who negligently fails to warn a patient of an inherent risk may be treated as having caused the resulting injury where the patient would otherwise…

Permission to issue execution process is required under Rules of the Supreme Court Order 46 only where six years or more have elapsed since the judgment or…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal cannot be said to have no real prospect of success. The scope of section 133 of the Criminal…

In an asylum claim based on persecution by non-state agents, the question is whether the home state operates a practical system of protection. The standard is…

In assessing damages for wrongful exclusion from a tenancy, a claimant is not ordinarily required to bring fresh proceedings against a subsequent purchaser to…

On an appeal from a district judge to a circuit judge, the appellate court reviews the decision below and does not ordinarily hear fresh evidence. A challenge…

Costs are not determined by identifying a single winner or by treating multi-issue litigation as a draw. Under CPR 44.3(4)(b), the court must consider all the…

Summary judgment is appropriate where a defamation claim has no real prospect of success and no evidence could properly support malice defeating qualified…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the underlying application has no realistic prospect of success. An adjournment requires sufficiently reliable and…

A purposive construction gives effect to Parliament’s purpose only where the statutory language permits competing meanings. It cannot remove express limits…

In an application for permission to appeal out of time, the court considers both the explanation for delay and the merits of the proposed appeal. An…

Refugee status requires both a current well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason and inability or unwillingness to avail oneself of national…

Under the Land Registration Act 1925, a beneficiary’s equitable interest under a bare trust of registered land is a minor interest, not land for the statutory…

In an employment contract, wages and work ordinarily go together. An employee claiming salary must show that he or she worked, or was ready and willing to…

For a late expert report, the prima facie proportionate sanction is that the defaulting party cannot rely on the report. Debarring a party from defending an…

The equality principle in the common organisation of agricultural markets requires comparable producers and situations to be treated fairly, subject to…

Where a Part 36 costs issue depends on the eventual reduction of a certificate for recoverable social security benefits, the Court of Appeal should ordinarily…

Permission to appeal should be refused where there is no prospect of a successful appeal and no proper basis to interfere with a first-instance judge’s…

Where an applicant misses a listed permission hearing for a proper reason, the court should provide an opportunity to present the application in person where…

Permission to appeal on costs alone is granted only in rare cases. Costs remain a matter primarily within the discretion of the judge making the order. Where a…

Under section 40 of the County Courts Act 1984, the High Court may transfer proceedings that should have been brought in the county court. It may strike them…

The Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to hear an application for permission to appeal from a lower appeal court which has itself refused permission to…

In a professional negligence claim, a claimant’s failure to accept terms offered by a third party does not necessarily break the causal chain. The court must…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. An appellate court must respect a…

A statutory process guidance note is not unlawful merely because it recommends a condition capable of being imposed under more than one statutory power, or…

Where a claimant bears the burden of proving causation, a judge need not make a positive finding identifying the precise cause of symptoms. It is legitimate to…

An assured shorthold tenancy under the pre-amendment Housing Act 1988 required satisfaction of the statutory conditions, including service of the prescribed…

A bank does not assume an advisory duty merely because it requires insurance as a condition of lending. A requirement imposed for the bank’s own security does…

In assessing damages for future loss of earnings, a claimant’s failure to mitigate loss does not eliminate the claim. The defendant must establish what…

A court may stay proceedings where a claimant refuses a medical examination reasonably required for the fair, just and proportionate determination of the…

In apportioning responsibility for a road accident, a pedestrian who has consumed alcohol is judged by the conduct that caused the danger. Intoxication may…

For child-support purposes, where boarding school removes some of a child’s nights from parental care, the relevant inquiry is the hypothetical position: what…

An appellate court may adjourn a case where a pending decision of the European Court may materially affect the issues and the parties disagree about its likely…

A solicitor who holds confidential information obtained from one client cannot disclose it to another client without consent. If the information is relevant to…

A fear of persecution may satisfy the Refugee Convention where one effective motive is a political opinion imputed to the applicant, even if the persecutor…

An arbitration agreement may be repudiated separately from the main contract. A party’s unequivocal denial of any contractual relationship, made after requests…

Where psychiatric injury has several intertwined causes, the court must make a sensible attempt to apportion responsibility where the evidence permits.…

Service of a notice under section 17(2) of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 is a pre-condition of a former tenant’s liability for a fixed charge. A…

Where two planning permissions concerning the same land are inconsistent and one has been implemented, the other remains effective unless the authorised…

In determining contact between a child and a parent, the court must evaluate the expert evidence accurately and give proper weight to the benefits and risks of…