Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2003

Testamentary capacity requires an ability to understand the nature and effect of making a will, the extent of the property disposed of, and the claims which…

When transferring a substantial trial, the court must apply the overriding objective and give proper weight to convenience, expense and prejudice, including…

A trial is unfair where a judge, without warning, adopts an unpleaded case of bad faith as a critical explanation of events and then uses that finding to…

In an appeal arising from repeated breaches of a domestic injunction, the court upheld the contempt finding but reduced an eight-month sentence to six months.…

A respondent entitled to its costs should ordinarily receive them in full. The court may, however, limit the costs payable to another respondent where the…

On an appeal involving liability, contributory negligence and damages attributable to the spread of a fire, the court dismissed the liability appeal but…

Judicial review corrects errors of law. It does not provide a further appeal on credibility where the original fact-finding tribunal has rejected an asylum…

The interpretative obligation in section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 does not alter accrued substantive rights or immunities arising before that Act…

On an application to set aside a statutory demand founded on a judgment, a counterclaim must present a genuine triable issue and must equal or exceed the debt…

A public right of navigation cannot be lost through disuse. Clear statutory authority is required to extinguish it. A long-standing, consistent practice by a…

Whether parties created a contract of service depends on the substance and combined effect of their arrangements, not merely on the labels used in separate…

A party need not be the ultimate beneficial owner of misappropriated funds to have standing to seek declaratory relief concerning property acquired with them.…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where material questions of fact, causation or foreseeability require evidence at trial. A claim for loss to an associated…

A party seeking release from an express undertaking given as part of a consensual settlement must establish special circumstances. Those circumstances must be…

Whether rights under a joint life policy are joint or several is determined by construing the policy, not by assuming that persons named together as…

For section 3(4) of the Trade Marks Act 1994, registration is barred only to the extent that use of the mark is prohibited by UK law or Community law. The…

For environmental impact assessment development, the relevant decision under regulation 3(2) is the written grant of planning permission, rather than the…

For the purpose of section 18(1)(a) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, a court must characterise the underlying proceedings as a whole. It should not classify each…

Suitability under regulation 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 requires a qualitative, context-sensitive assessment. The court must…

Detention following recall during the extension period of an extended sentence must receive judicial review under article 5(4). The sentencing court has…

An architect responsible for refurbishing premises must take reasonable steps to ascertain the activities carried on in areas where cooking occurs and assess…

A reserved judgment supplied in draft to the parties has not been given or made. Before formal hand-down, a judge who concludes that the draft is wrong must…

In construing a farm business tenancy, user restrictions must be read together and against the material background known to the parties when the agreement was…

Where an insurer becomes insolvent, the full indemnity required by section 6(4) of the Policyholders Protection Act 1975 extends to liabilities under a…

Extrinsic evidence is inadmissible to construe a land transfer unless the relevant provisions are uncertain, contradictory or ambiguous. A court should…

Applications for a care order and an order freeing a child for adoption are separate. The care application is primary and must be determined first, including…

An amendment removing an express reference to expert determination does not necessarily exclude that mechanism. The contract must be construed as a whole.…

An appellate court may increase a sentence for contempt only where it is unduly lenient, not merely lenient. The power must be used sparingly. Any increase…

Under section 11(2)(c) of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, where a tort’s elements occur in more than one country, the court…

An application to lift an automatic stay imposed by transitional procedural rules must be determined under the relief-from-sanctions framework. The court must…

For the settlor-interest charge under section 77 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, derived property remains tied to property originating from the…

On an application for permission to appeal, an adverse resolution of disputed facts does not necessarily amount to a positive finding of dishonesty. Nor does…

A tax credit conferred on a non-resident company by a double taxation agreement remains available according to the agreement’s conditions, even where domestic…

An adoption agency does not generally owe prospective adopters a duty of care when deciding what information about a child should be disclosed, nor do…

Under Civil Procedure Rules r 44.3, the general rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs may be displaced only after considering all…

A lawful arrest under section 24(6) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 requires genuine suspicion, objectively reasonable grounds for that suspicion…

On an Article 8 appeal, an adjudicator and the Immigration Appeal Tribunal have wide powers to assess facts and human-rights issues. Where the essential facts…

An insurer seeking to avoid a policy for material non-disclosure must prove that the non-disclosure induced it to contract on the relevant terms. The…

A proviso following a contractual revenue definition may qualify the machinery for calculating rent rather than impose a separate tenant covenant. Its effect…

Under the Consumer Credit (Exempt Agreements) Order 1989, the 12-month exemption period includes the date of the agreement and permits payment at its final…

Negligence is not avoided because the precise accident was unusual. A driver reversing at night in a constricted, ill-lit road must take particular care to…

An implied contract inferred from conduct requires necessity. Conduct equally consistent with work being done without a contract is insufficient. Where a…

A party is entitled to a fair hearing before an Employment Tribunal. Every tribunal member must remain alert and concentrate throughout the hearing. A member…

Section 73 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 prevents abuse of the appellate system after an earlier appeal has been finally determined. Where a fresh…

A landfill includes an identifiable underground geological formation into which waste is brought for disposal and remains after injection. The definition…

In a civil trial without a jury, a judge should rarely, if ever entertain a submission of no case to answer at the close of the claimant’s evidence without…

In an asylum claim, sufficiency of State protection must be assessed in the circumstances of the particular applicant. General country conditions cannot be…

A controlling shareholder or director is not necessarily an employee of the company. Employment under a contract of service depends on all the circumstances.…

Where a costs dispute concerns clearly distinct issues, the court may allocate costs issue by issue, having regard to their relative importance in time and…

The construction of a conveyancing plan is a question of law. The plan must be construed objectively against facts known to the parties, including relevant…

A court has jurisdiction under its general case-management powers to stay proceedings on terms requiring payment into court as security for future costs. That…

A court or tribunal may refuse an adjournment sought on medical grounds unless the applicant proves a genuine inability to attend. A medical certificate does…

The Court of Appeal may protect its process against persistent and vexatious litigation by requiring related future applications to be considered on paper by a…

Appellate case-management requirements must be complied with. A litigant cannot decide unilaterally which documents requested by the court are relevant.…

On a submission that there is no case to answer, a court must distinguish between an absence of evidence and evidence which is disputed, incomplete or…

For an automatic stay, the court must identify the scope of the application and consider all relevant circumstances under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 rule 3.9…

For the statutory upper age limit, an employee in a unique position can have a normal retiring age even though there are no comparable employees. Where the…

For relief from procedural default under rule 3.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, deliberate non-compliance is materially more serious than a mistaken…

For contractual purposes, required work is not confined to work imposed expressly by the contract or by managerial order. Work may be required where it is…

Where a public authority landlord has an unqualified domestic-law right to possession following valid termination of a tenancy, Article 8 cannot provide a…

For service of a contractual counter-notice, knowledge acquired by a tenant’s solicitor in the course of the retainer, and which the solicitor must…

Article 8 cannot be used as a defence to possession proceedings where a local authority has an ordinary domestic-law right to immediate possession, even if the…

For service of a claim form on a corporation within the jurisdiction, the relevant place must be one where it carries on activities or has a place of business.…

At the permission stage, an applicant need show a reasonable prospect of success on at least one principal contention. Permission should not be dismissed…

Detention pending immigration removal must comply with both the statutory power and the Secretary of State’s published policy. A policy may rationally treat…

A domestic provision implementing the Council Directive 77/187/EEC must, so far as its language permits, be construed consistently with the Directive. The…

A costs estimate under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is not a costs cap. A substantial difference between an estimate and the costs claimed calls for an…

Where a composite foreign judgment contains both multiple damages and separately quantified compensatory damages, section 5 of the Protection of Trading…

A subject-access request under the Data Protection Act 1998 gives access to personal data, not to documents merely because they mention the requester or…

In a section 73 planning application, the decision-maker must assess the facts and planning policies current at the date of decision. An earlier section 106…

Affidavits purporting to comply with undertakings supporting a suspended committal order do not become ineffective merely because the deponent declines…

For business property relief under section 105(3) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, whether a business consists wholly or mainly of holding investments is an…

The validity of a statutory notice depends on the construction of the relevant provision within the statutory scheme. A court should distinguish substantive…

A contractual right of pre-emption requires a positive offer where the offer is essential to make the right effective. Under a lease clause requiring the…

A lender is put on inquiry about possible undue influence according to its knowledge of the purpose of the advance. A joint loan for an apparently joint…

The power to make a foreign lawyer’s registration subject to conditions under paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 14 to the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 is…

Where conditions for zero-rating an intra-Community supply are not met within the prescribed period, VAT becomes payable for the relevant accounting period.…

The scope of a solicitor’s duty depends on the purpose of the advice, its content and the surrounding circumstances. The decisive question is whether the loss…

Where a trial judgment is inadequately reasoned, the appellate court should examine the evidence and submissions to determine whether the basis of the decision…

Contributory negligence depends on whether the claimant ought reasonably to have foreseen that acting as he did might cause injury. An appellate court may…

Where a death in custody requires the state to discharge its procedural duty under Article 2, the inquest must provide a full and effective public inquiry. If…

Contract formation is assessed objectively from all relevant words and conduct. A separate agreement may incorporate clearly identified terms of a model…

Under a voyage charter, a charterer has an absolute and non-delegable duty to procure cargo that is available for loading within the contractual laytime. A…

Under Article 18 of the Brussels Convention, a defendant preserves a jurisdictional objection by raising it no later than its first defence on the merits. It…

Section 279(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986 permits an interim order suspending a bankrupt’s automatic discharge before the substantive hearing, provided the…

An amendment adds a new claim for limitation purposes only if it adds or substitutes a new cause of action. A further head of loss does not become a new cause…

Where land in a transfer is defined exclusively by red edging on an attached plan, that plan is the dominant description of the parcel. A wall or fence erected…

On an application for permission to appeal, a later decision on a legal issue remains relevant to an earlier tribunal decision only if it demonstrates that the…

Under sections 216 and 217 of the Insolvency Act 1986, a former director may incur criminal liability and personal liability for a company’s debts where its…

When exercising the costs discretion under the Civil Procedure Rules, the court must begin with the general rule that the unsuccessful party pays the…

In clinical negligence claims, causation must be determined on the balance of probabilities by considering all relevant evidence, including evidence particular…

In a small-claims hearing, a lay representative has the broad meaning given by the applicable Practice Direction. A corporate party may therefore be…

The construction of an exclusive requirements contract determines whether the customer may voluntarily reorganise its business so that performance becomes…

When a judge delimits the meanings which allegedly defamatory words may bear, the judge may exclude a meaning only if no reasonable reader could adopt it and a…

In a claim arising from an allegedly wrongful arrest, the claimant must establish that the defendant’s breach of duty was a material cause of the arrest. The…

A claimant seeking compensation under section 7(2) of the Party Walls Etc Act 1996 on the footing of an easement must prove that easement. A vague assertion…

An appellate court will not normally interfere with a discretionary costs order unless the judge adopted a wrong approach or made an order which was plainly…

An acknowledgment under Limitation Act 1980 section 30(1) is signed where the maker’s name or mark is attached in a manner which objectively indicates approval…

When permission to appeal is sought after a very substantial and culpable delay, the court must balance the length and effects of the delay against the merits…

Temporal proximity may support an inference of causation where the later damage is of the kind naturally expected from the earlier work. Expert speculation…

An adjudicator’s decision cannot be summarily enforced where the defendant has a properly arguable jurisdictional objection with a realistic prospect of…

In a fatal-accident dependency claim, the choice between a multiplier calculated from death or trial is a question of legal principle, not one for actuarial…

A provision triggered by breach may be an unenforceable penalty where it cannot be justified as a genuine pre-estimate of the innocent party’s net loss. In…

Contractual language must be given its ordinary and natural meaning in its factual and commercial setting. Context assists construction, but cannot be used to…

Illegality in the performance of a lawful employment contract does not automatically make the contract unenforceable. The employer bears the burden of proving…

In contract formation, a later offer to the same offeree does not automatically revoke an earlier offer. The effect depends on the nature of the offers and the…

Section 16(1)(a) of the State Immunity Act 1978 creates a jurisdictional bar to employment proceedings concerning members of a diplomatic mission where it…

Personal-injury damages are assessed globally where multiple injuries produce a composite effect. The judge may consider each injury, then stand back and test…

In a relationship-based undue-influence claim, the evidential burden shifts to the donee where the donor reposed trust and confidence in the donee, or the…

Whether a passenger is contributorily negligent in accepting a lift from a driver who has consumed alcohol is a question of fact and degree. The inquiry is…

For input VAT to be deductible, the input must have a direct and immediate link with a taxable output transaction. The expenditure must form part of that…

When designating the local authority under a care order, periods during which a child is provided with local authority accommodation are ordinarily…

A claim may be struck out even within a developing area of law where it is plainly hopeless. A claimant relying on possible legal development must show at…

On an application to extend a term order for periodical payments, the court must consider whether continuing financial responsibility can be terminated without…

The unambiguous impropriety exception to without prejudice privilege is confined to a clear abuse of the privileged occasion. An admission made in genuine…

A letter authorising building work may create an immediately binding lump-sum contract although the parties contemplate executing formal documents later. The…

An appellate immigration tribunal may interfere with an adjudicator’s factual decision only where the decision is wrong on analysis. It cannot do so merely…

In committal proceedings for breach of an injunction, the sentence must be proportionate to the breach proved or admitted before the court. A judge must…

On a first appeal, the appellate court must identify a proper ground for intervention before reversing a trial judge’s decision. It is insufficient that the…

In an intermittent private nuisance, the absence of the nuisance during an isolated inspection does not establish that it has ceased. The court must assess the…

When hearing an asylum appeal, the Immigration Appeal Tribunal must take relevant evidence of changed country conditions into account under section 77(3) of…

The exclusion from an Employment Tribunal's contractual jurisdiction for a claim for damages or a sum due in respect of personal injuries is broad. It includes…

Where realisable property is inadequate to meet a confiscation order, Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 section 14(1) requires a certificate of inadequacy.…

Insurance-policy wording must be construed objectively in the context of the policy document and its commercial purpose before resort is made to the contra…

Housing, Grants (Construction and Regeneration) Act 1996 s.111(1) is a cash-flow measure. It requires prompt payment of a sum which has become due under the…

A restriction requiring leave before further applications under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 is not justified merely because future litigation…

Under the European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children, the grounds…

In removal cases, the assessment of a real risk of treatment contrary to Article 3 and of a well-founded fear of Convention persecution is broadly the same.…

In construing a commercial agreement securing future indemnity claims, the court must read the words in their factual and commercial context. A reserve…

CPR 32.3 gives the court a case-specific discretion whether to permit evidence by video-conference link. Where the application is made from abroad to avoid…

A contract falls within the extended statutory meaning of employment only if it obliges a contracting party personally to execute work or labour and that…

A conveyancing solicitor must understand and explain the legal effect of compulsory purchase notices affecting land. Once a Notice to Treat and Notice of Entry…

An appeal from an Employment Tribunal through the Employment Appeal Tribunal remains confined to questions of law. The Court of Appeal may analyse alleged…

Allegations of fraud and deceit must be distinctly pleaded. A court should not uphold a finding of dishonesty based on an allegation which was neither pleaded…

An appellate court should avoid determining a construction issue where the decision would not bind or resolve the rights of the persons who are the real…

An occupier’s statutory occupancy duties under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 do not displace its common-law activity duties. An occupier which permits a…

Appeal rules require careful compliance, but they do not impose cast-iron rigidity. Under CPR 3.10, a court may remedy or waive an irregularity, including…

A mortgagee’s power of sale is exercised for its own benefit and, subject to the mortgage contract, the mortgagee may choose when to sell without prioritising…

An exact boundary between neighbouring residential properties is determined by the whole evidential picture, not simply by an old conveyance plan or an…

A further appeal from the Immigration Appeal Tribunal to the Court of Appeal is not an appeal under Part IV of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1999. It is…

Under article 5(4), continued detention after the punitive tariff of a mandatory life sentence raises fresh questions of lawfulness where dangerousness or risk…

In a chain of leases involving plant or machinery used by a non-resident, the lease relevant to the finance-lease conditions in section 42(3) of the Capital…

A settlement of a child’s claim has no legal effect unless and until the court approves it under rule 21.10 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. Until approval…

A patent claim lacks novelty where a prior publication, read by the skilled person with the relevant common general knowledge, gives clear and unmistakable…

An appellate court should be slow to disturb factual findings, particularly after a trial judge has inspected the relevant premises. It may intervene where a…

A finding that an intervening act breaks causation is an evaluative judgment about the defendant’s legal responsibility, not a purely factual finding. The…

An appellate court should not interfere with an assessment of damages unless the award falls outside the permissible range and is palpably wrong. A claimant…

An option to purchase mortgaged property granted at the same time as security is not automatically a clog on the equity of redemption. The court must determine…

A screening direction by the Secretary of State conclusively determines whether proposed development is environmental impact assessment development. It remains…

Article 5(1)(a) of the Convention does not ordinarily require the Secretary of State to provide offending-behaviour treatment to life prisoners. Their…

Where an European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Article 3 removal claim rests on the conditions generally faced by a…

The Court of Appeal considered that its judgment had resolved any doubt on the point in issue. Although the issue was important to mortgagees, mortgagors and…

A directly applicable EU regulation does not require domestic implementing legislation unless its language makes national measures necessary. Point 10 of Annex…

Regulation 5(6) of the Street Works (Charges for Unreasonably Prolonged Occupation of the Highway) (England) Regulations 2001 is confined to remedial works…

Unregistered design right may subsist in any recognisable aspect of the shape or configuration of the whole or part of an article. A claimant may prevent exact…

An administrator appointed under the Insolvency Act 1986 owes no general common-law duty of care to unsecured creditors concerning the conduct of the…

In assessing damages for severe and multiple personal injuries, the court must consider the overall effect of the injuries and whether the global award…

Under Limitation Act section 33, the court must assess all the circumstances, including delay, evidential cogency, defendant conduct, disability, promptness…

A corporation’s valid sealing of a deed does not, under section 74(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925, dispense with the separate requirement of delivery.…

Permission to amend a served statement of case is discretionary, but the discretion must be exercised according to principle and the overriding objective under…

A second doctor is not necessarily negligent by failing to investigate or repeat advice already given by an apparently competent doctor. The position is…

Where an examination-in-public panel recommends that local plans identify suitable locations for a particular use, a planning authority cannot satisfy that…

Contract formation and contractual obligations are determined objectively. In a financing transaction, invoices addressed to the finance company may constitute…

A right of common pasture entitles the commoner’s animals to eat the grass on the common. It does not entitle the commoner to bring supplementary feed onto the…

An appeal under the Arbitration Act 1996, section 69, is confined to the questions of law defined for the court, but the judge is not confined to the parties’…

The indemnity principle permits a successful litigant to recover only legal costs which the litigant has paid or become liable to pay, subject to statutory…

Section 103(2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 confers a stoppage appeal only where support under section 95 has first been provided and is then stopped…

Where damage may have been caused concurrently by neighbouring trees and other vegetation, the claimant need not prove that the defendant’s trees were the…

Consent to a reduced Employment Appeal Tribunal panel must be informed consent. A party must know that the ordinary statutory constitution provides equality…

A solicitor administering an estate may, absent agreement, calculate remuneration by time, by value, or by both methods. A separate percentage charge for value…

For Article 1 of the First Protocol, the court must respect the State’s judgment about what is necessary in the public interest, while examining whether the…

A bankrupt appellant who has no present interest in a provable debt or in property vested in the trustee ordinarily lacks standing to continue an appeal. Where…

Where a party seeks production of documents claimed to be privileged, the Court of Appeal cannot compel production except on terms to which the privilege…

An appellate court should not overturn findings of primary fact merely because it might have assessed the evidence differently. The plainly wrong test remains…

Accommodation for an asylum-seeker’s household is “adequate” only if assessed by reference to the individual needs of every household member, including a…

An inspection company which issues a certificate to enable payment under a letter of credit may assume responsibility to the buyer for the accuracy of every…

The provision of temporary accommodation by a public authority may involve conditions affecting an applicant’s freedom to stay elsewhere without engaging the…

Secondary evidence may be admissible where original documents have been lost. Its admissibility does not determine its weight. Where an institutional creditor…

On an appeal from an adjudicator, the IAT may reconsider errors of fact, including documentary country evidence, but it is not a tribunal of first instance. It…

Section 208 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 exempts corporation tax directly chargeable on company distributions and prevents distributions being…

A local authority’s claim under section 33 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 is made when non-business VAT is included in the VAT return in the prescribed…

In a claim for long-term loss of earnings following personal injury, the claimant must prove on the balance of probabilities that the injury caused a…

Under section 2(1)(a) of the Rent Act 1977, a statutory tenancy continues only while the former protected tenant occupies the dwelling-house as his residence.…

An adjudicator’s ruling on a jurisdictional issue is temporarily binding if the objecting party agreed both to submit that issue for decision and to be bound…

Correct transposition of a directive does not prevent direct reliance on it where the national authorities misapply the implementing law. A directly…

A mortgagee may decide whether and when to sell mortgaged property in its own interests. It has no duty to postpone sale, obtain planning permission, grant a…

In a civil road-traffic claim involving conflicting accounts, a judge should ordinarily analyse all available evidence and decide which account is more…

An exclusion clause must be construed in its contractual setting and, if genuinely ambiguous, against the party relying upon it. Clear language may…

A local planning authority's decision whether a Schedule 2 project is likely to have significant environmental effects is a planning judgment. It is reviewable…

Article 8 can exceptionally require welfare support, particularly to preserve family life involving children, but creates no general right to housing or…

A contractual premium review clause has no effect merely because a triggering event occurs. The party relying on it must invoke the clause by notice. The…

In a removal case based on mental ill-health, Article 8(1) requires substantial grounds for believing that removal presents a real risk of serious harm to…

In assessing a lump-sum award for future pecuniary loss in a personal injury claim, future inflation is reflected through the multiplier and the prescribed…

Removal of a seriously ill person engages Article 3 on account of inadequate medical resources in the receiving country only in an extreme and truly…

When deciding whether to impose restrictive conditions on a solicitor’s practising certificate, the decision-maker must act fairly and proportionately.…

In apportioning liability between an occupier and building contractors, an appellate court may intervene where the responsibilities are plainly unequal.…

A right to receive goods or services for an amount stated on a voucher falls within paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to the Value Added Tax Act 1994 only when that…

A planning authority will normally assess a planning application on its own merits. Where the proposal accords with policy and causes no planning harm, the…

A claimant does not satisfy a requirement to claim asylum “on arrival” merely because a delay resulted from following the instructions of an agent whom the…

On a summary-judgment application, the court may examine witness statements, other evidence and reliable contemporaneous documents, rather than being confined…

A tenancy is surrendered by operation of law where the landlord and tenant perform unequivocal acts which estop either from asserting that it continues. Their…

In construing a transfer of land by reference to a plan, the plan must be considered with the surrounding physical circumstances. A plan drawn to a very small…

A telephone-directory threshold is administrative guidance, not a substitute for the statutory assessment of whether a surname mark can distinguish goods.…

In judicial review alleging fraudulent entry, the Secretary of State bears the burden of proving illegal-entry status to a high degree of probability. The…

Where state agents potentially bear responsibility for a death in medical care, article 2 requires an effective, independent and public judicial investigation…

Prison authorities may require prior clearance of legal documents before a prisoner’s legal visit where the requirement qualifies, but does not negate…

Differential treatment engages article 14 only where the claimant and comparator are in sufficiently analogous circumstances to require objective…

Under the Value Added Tax Act 1994, a lease may disapply the statutory rule that VAT increases the consideration only through a contractual provision…

Absolute privilege extends to communications made in proceedings before a tribunal where, viewed cumulatively, the tribunal and its procedures are sufficiently…

Where a debtor has held himself out under the name used in a bankruptcy order, and the creditor intended to contract with and bankrupt that person, the court…

A tribunal assessing compensation for injury to feelings caused by direct discrimination may take account of consequential distress. The additional matters…

A civil court has no power to grant a litigant a right to publicly funded legal representation comparable to that available in criminal proceedings. Article…

A demand guarantee is autonomous from the underlying contract, subject to fraud, and its operation is not ordinarily defeated because the principal has…

A person approaching the nearside of a vehicle is not, without more, negligent, whether the engine is running or a reversal may later be anticipated. A…

For summary disposal under CPR Part 53, the claimant must show that the defence has no realistic prospect of success. The court should avoid a mini-trial where…

At the permission stage, the Court of Appeal considered it arguable that the concept of termination in Regulation 17 of the Commercial Agents (Council…

A winding-up petition may be restrained where its presentation or advertisement would constitute an abuse of process, including where the petition debt is…

Article 3 protection in an asylum-support case depends on the overall circumstances and the severity of their effect on the individual. No simple rule…

Where an appeal has already been heard within the court of trial, a further appeal faces the substantial barrier imposed by Access to Justice Act 1999, section…

Permission to amend pleadings after expiry of limitation involves jurisdiction and discretion. Under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 r 17.4(2), the new claim…

An appellate court may allow an appeal under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 CPR 52.11(3)(b) only where a serious procedural irregularity has made the lower court’s…

In a procedural application concerning a disputed costs order, the Court of Appeal may adjourn permission to appeal where the application is out of time…

An assault on a court officer in the execution of duty is treated as contempt and engages the court’s responsibility to protect its officers and safeguard the…

A planning permission must be construed according to the substance of what the instrument grants, rather than the heading under which its terms appear. A…

Section 41(2) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 is a general deeming provision applying to Part II, including the police provision in section 17(1). It does…

In contempt proceedings, a notice to show cause does not reverse the burden of proof. The applicant must establish the breach before the alleged contemnor is…

A PAYE code may take account of a tax relief only where the employee is entitled to the relief for the relevant year and that entitlement has been established…

On a second-tier appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason, under CPR 52.13. A litigant in person…

The three-month period for seeking judicial review is not absolute, but an applicant must explain delay. Prolonged inactivity, particularly where the applicant…

An appeal from an Employment Tribunal lies only on a question of law. It is not a retrial or a rehearing of factual disputes. Findings about the reason for…

A local authority may obtain an anti-social behaviour injunction under Housing Act 1996 section 152 only where the protected person falls within the statutory…

For limitation under the Limitation Act 1980, a nominal claimant suing in his own name on a subrogated claim is treated as having the knowledge of the insurer…

Under section 204(3) of the Housing Act 1996, an appeal court is not confined to quashing an unlawful homelessness decision and remitting it. In highly…

Recall from release on licence during a determinate sentence does not create a fresh deprivation of liberty. Detention after revocation remains detention…

An order committing a person for contempt may be set aside where the procedure fails to protect a fair trial, even if the underlying conduct may have been…

Occupation under a six-month assured shorthold tenancy is capable of breaking the causal link with earlier intentional homelessness. Such a tenancy does not…

Proprietary estoppel may arise where an assurance about property induces conduct causing detriment, even in a quasi-matrimonial relationship. The assurance…

An area identified as a potential Special Protection Area remains a proposal until formally classified. Its treatment must reflect the relevant ornithological…

Publication of a covert recording of a private conversation concerning private matters is prima facie a breach of confidence. The recording is protected…

The three-month period for objecting to overhead telecommunications apparatus under paragraph 17(2) of Schedule 2 to the Telecommunications Act 1984 begins…

A late application to amend a pleading made during trial, before judgment has been delivered, is governed by the overriding objective and ordinary…

In a fact-sensitive clinical negligence appeal, a judge must assess a witness’s account against contemporary documents, independently established facts and the…

Where a contract identifies the currencies in which payment must be made, section 48(4) of the Arbitration Act 1996 does not give arbitrators a free-standing…

The without prejudice rule may rest on public policy, an implied agreement, or both. Public policy alone cannot justify an English court restraining the use of…

In child-protection decisions, the common law may recognise a duty of care to the child, but not to a parent whose interests may conflict with the child’s…

A statutory definition of a dependant as a person’s spouse bears its natural meaning. A court may imply a proviso only where that is necessary to give effect…

Under standard plant-hire conditions, an owner’s acceptance of liability for loss arising during the erection of plant may extend beyond its initial assembly.…

Rule 33 of the Immigration and Asylum (Procedure) Rules 2000 requires an appellate authority to exercise judgment when deciding whether procedural default…

A trial judge must address a material defect supported by evidence and not abandoned by the party alleging it. The judge cannot adopt an expert’s proposed…

A foreign governmental act cannot alter rights in movable or intangible property situated in England merely because that act reflects the foreign state’s…

For patent obviousness, the state of the art is the material against which the claim must be assessed. An acknowledgement in a patent that earlier disclosure…

Employment status depends on the true contractual relationship, assessed objectively. Where an arrangement is genuine and not a sham, its terms provide the…

A warrant under section 135 of the Mental Health Act 1983 may validly identify conditions governing its execution, including the particular approved social…

In an application by a primary carer to relocate with children, the court must evaluate not only practical arrangements and contact, but also the effect of…

Where holders of parental responsibility disagree about immunising a child, the dispute belongs to the small group of important decisions which require either…

A legal representative does not incur wasted-costs liability merely by pursuing a hopeless case. Under section 51 of the Supreme Court Act 1981, negligence has…

The relevant date for goodwill and reputation in a passing-off claim remains the date when the defendant begins the conduct complained of. The filing date of a…

For the social-security exclusion created by the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and the social-security regulations, “lawfully present” is a single…

For Article 7, a sentence is assessed by its practical effect, not merely its nominal term or the purpose of a post-release regime. Where legislation makes…

A financial regulator may use its prohibition powers in response to past misconduct where that conduct indicates that an individual is not fit and proper and…

The value of a company for an inquiry into damages following a freezing injunction is assessed by asking what an informed and prudent purchaser, after…

On an appeal from a discretionary costs order, the appellate court asks whether the order falls outside the wide range of latitude allowed to the…

A freezing injunction requires a good arguable case, solid evidence of a real risk that the respondent will dissipate assets so that a judgment will go…

A pension-scheme forfeiture clause directed at dealings with benefits may be confined to future pension payments. It does not extend to an absolute right to a…

A contractual right of first refusal may be defined by a stated maximum road distance from the relevant premises. Where parties objectively agree a later…

Costs in ancillary relief proceedings remain governed by CPR 44.3 together with rules 2.69, 2.69B and 2.69D of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991. Calderbank…

In Children Act proceedings, publication under section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 and section 97(2) of the Children Act 1989 is not confined…

On discharging future periodical payments under section 31(7A)–(7B) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the court must substitute fair provision for the…

A company director who obtains an unauthorised profit through a transaction with the company must account for it unless the director has made the disclosure…

Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 14(2) establishes a general standard of intrinsic quality, judged by the reasonable person in light of the goods’…

Expert evidence must be restricted to what is reasonably required to resolve the proceedings. Although the vast majority of cases should involve no more than…

A person may satisfy the statutory definition of a commercial agent by having continuing authority to negotiate sales for a principal, even though that…

An ordinary covenant for quiet enjoyment is prospective and ordinarily protects against interruption by the lessor or those claiming under the lessor. Where…

In a costs judgment following a successful Part 20 claim, the successful party should receive the costs of the Part 20 appeal and the lower-court hearing…

A claim against a negligent solicitor is not barred merely because the loss would not have occurred but for the claimant’s fraud on a third party. The decisive…

On a summary judgment or strike-out application concerning a complex professional negligence claim, the court should not resolve disputed, fact-sensitive…

Every court has inherent power to protect its processes and scarce resources from persistent applications or proceedings which are totally devoid of merit. Any…

A court considering summary judgment must not resolve disputed evidence or conduct a mini-trial. It may dismiss a claim only where, taking the claimant’s case…

For the capital rules governing income-based jobseeker’s allowance, a Jobseekers Allowance Regulations 1996 dwelling occupied as the home may, in appropriate…

Section 62 of the Law of Property Act 1925 converts qualifying quasi-easements into legal easements when part of commonly owned land is conveyed, unless a…

An employer may owe an implied contractual duty to take reasonable steps to inform an employee of a valuable pension option where the employee cannot…

An offer for the sale of land expressed to be subject to contract remains non-binding unless that condition is waived or formal contracts are exchanged. This…

Trade mark distinctiveness requires a mark to identify goods as originating from a particular undertaking. The assessment depends on the goods and the presumed…

In a work-related psychiatric injury claim, foreseeability must be tied to the particular injury, causal mechanism and timing, rather than expressed at the…

A signed document can create an immediate binding contract when, construed purposively against its factual background, it manifests an intention to be…

A tribunal’s reliance on an authority not raised with the parties does not automatically make the hearing unfair. The authority must first have played a…

Under the Limitation Act 1980, the date-of-knowledge test requires separate consideration of whether an injury was significant and whether it was attributable…

For limitation purposes, a claimant's knowledge is knowledge of the material facts of injury and its cause, not knowledge that those facts give a legal cause…

Reasonableness of internal relocation under the Refugee Convention requires comparison between conditions in the claimant’s place of habitual residence and…

For Refugee Convention purposes, internal relocation is assessed by comparing conditions in the claimant’s habitual residence with those in the proposed safe…

A reference to a document in a party’s witness statement is a statement that the document exists. It is therefore disclosure within CPR 31.2, even if the…

An interim contract may be inferred where the parties’ conduct, commercial circumstances and agreed changes show that earlier agreements were terminated by…

Under section 1(1) of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, a court must make a just and equitable comparison of the claimant’s and defendant’s…

The Court of Appeal may use its general case-management powers to stay an appeal or make its continuation conditional on payment of outstanding costs. Those…

A party may be liable for misrepresentation where contractual obligations and earlier representations create a duty to correct the other party’s material…

On an application to strike out a professional-negligence claim, the court should not decide a developing and fact-sensitive duty-of-care question summarily…

Automatic disqualification for presumed bias arises where a judge is a party or has a relevant financial, proprietary or other interest in the cause. An…

A covenant implied on an assignment of registered leasehold land under Land Registration Act 1925, section 24(1)(b), is an independent indemnity, not a…

Assessment of damages for loss of a chance may require a broad, evidence-based estimate rather than exact arithmetic. A judge may choose a top-down valuation…

Where the existence or timing of an alleged dismissal depends on disputed evidence about the parties’ conduct, the issue should not be determined at a…

Relief from sanction under CPR 3.9 depends on all the circumstances, including the party’s history of compliance with court orders. Repeated defaults, attempts…

In a solicitor-negligence claim for loss of a litigation chance, the court must first decide whether the lost claim had real and substantial value. A claim is…

Material supplied by an instructing party as the basis on which an expert is asked to advise forms part of the expert’s “instructions” for the purposes of…

An interlocutory costs order made before trial must be assessed by reference to the circumstances existing when the order was made. The later result of the…

Parol evidence may identify the subject matter of a contract or the shared meaning of an uncertain expression. It must be considered as a whole. A party…

Similar fact evidence in civil proceedings is admissible where it is logically probative of an issue and sufficiently related to the evidence in the case.…

In a commercial supply contract, whether a warranty creates continuing daily breaches depends on construction. The majority held that a warranty concerning the…

In unfair-dismissal proceedings, a submission of no case to answer at the end of the claimant’s evidence is exceptional. The employment tribunal should…

Where an appeal involves a discrete issue on which one party succeeds, the ordinary approach is to award that party its costs unless very special circumstances…

Where an appeal from an Employment Appeal Tribunal preliminary hearing raises procedural arguments which have not been examined in contested proceedings, the…

At the permission-to-join stage, the question is whether the claim has a realistic prospect of success. An insurance or reinsurance broker, sub-broker, or the…

An application for leave to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal includes an ancillary application to extend time. The tribunal must give reasons, however…

For partnership liability under sections 5 and 10 of the Partnership Act 1890, it is not enough to label an act as belonging to a solicitor’s general business.…

A private body’s decision is amenable to judicial review where the nature of the power or function, considered with all relevant circumstances, gives the…

A notice seeking possession of a statutory periodic assured shorthold tenancy under section 21(4)(a) of the Housing Act 1988 must specify the last day of a…

A person undergoing gender reassignment is protected from discrimination at every medically supervised stage. That protection does not, however, automatically…

Where a claimant has brought a timely personal-injury action and it has later ceased to exist, the primary limitation period does not itself cause the…

Under section 20 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, a nominee purchaser must, within 21 days, take positive steps in good faith…

An injunction under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is granted under an original, discretionary jurisdiction. The court must decide…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where an assurance of continued occupation and detriment arising from conduct at the promisor’s request are reasonably…

For the statutory exclusion from unfair-dismissal protection based on normal retiring age, the contractual retiring age is not determinative in every case. It…

In construing occupational pension rules, retirement at the employer’s request does not naturally include an enforced dismissal. Compulsory redundancy…

A party cannot rely on a force majeure clause requiring an event to be beyond its control where it instigated the governmental request said to excuse…

Under US patent law, prosecution history estoppel is assessed by comparing the literal scope of original and amended claims, element by element. A narrowing…

A statement of truth does not invariably prevent a party from pleading inconsistent factual alternatives supported by evidence. A claimant may dispute an…

Section 81 of the Housing Act 1996 prevents a landlord of residential premises from exercising re-entry or forfeiture for unpaid service charges unless the…

Where a party has notice of proceedings and has participated in them, failure to notify that party of the trial date does not give an automatic entitlement to…

Seclusion of a detained psychiatric patient is lawful only where reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it is used. It cannot be used simply to manage…

A contractual deed may take retrospective effect where that is the parties’ express or implied common intention. A prior contractual relationship is not an…

For refugee-status purposes, internal relocation is reasonable only where the proposed safe haven is a viable and realistic alternative to the area in which…

Where an immigration appellate tribunal has power, at the permission stage, to set aside a determination and direct a rehearing, an exceptional failure to…

Costs in multi-issue litigation remain a matter of judicial discretion. A claimant who succeeds overall may recover costs of the successful claim, but the…

Where internal flight or relocation is materially raised in an asylum or human-rights protection claim, and is a critical issue, the decision-maker must…

An Act of Parliament is not rendered unenforceable merely because it was enacted without a prior referendum or electoral mandate in a party manifesto. The…

For the incidental-inclusion exception in section 31(1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the question is why the protected work was included in…

Where a claimant’s actual pre-accident receipts are depressed because labour was devoted to creating a capital asset, damages for past earnings loss may…

Where substantive issues are compromised without trial, the court retains a discretion whether to make a costs order. It should not undertake that exercise…

Where school disciplinary proceedings determine an allegation which amounts to a criminal offence under the general law, the head teacher and governing body…

A bailee must prove that it took reasonable care of goods, or that any failure to take such care did not cause the damage. The bailee need not identify the…

In deprivation-of-capital cases, whether a claimant acquired a personal possession or parted with capital for the purpose of securing income support is a…

The High Court’s protective jurisdiction permits it to restrain reporting which would harm a child, including reporting of related criminal proceedings. The…

An assignee of accrued rent arrears takes the assigned debt subject to equities available against the assignor. This includes an equitable set-off for…

An application to vary or discharge an existing management order under section 24(9) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 is a distinct statutory exercise. The…

In an asylum appeal, a special adjudicator’s case-management powers are procedural. Rule 30 of the Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules 2000 does…

Section 21(1)(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948 is not confined to applicants whose disability creates a care need that itself calls for residential…

A mortgagee’s sale of charged property at an undervalue is actionable by a person interested in the equity of redemption who is prejudiced by the sale. The…

In a contract for tug services, a clause stating that owners of substitute tugs receive the same benefits and obligations as the contracting company can show…

In determining costs, the court may consider the parties’ conduct and the reasonableness of their behaviour. An early reasonable offer which accords with the…

A deed must be construed as a whole, according to its natural meaning and in the light of the background knowledge reasonably available to the parties when it…

For inventive step under the Patents Act 1977, obviousness is a legal standard applied to facts. The four-stage Windsurfing analysis is appropriate, but the…

A housing authority has a wide discretion under section 202(3) of the Housing Act 1996 to extend the period for requesting a homelessness review. It may…

Where participants in a land development proceed on the common assumption that access rights accord with an agreed plan, each may be estopped from asserting…

An amendment to a statement of case is not barred merely because limitation may have expired. Under CPR 17.4, the court must ask whether the proposed pleading…

The ordinary rule under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 38.6(1), that a claimant who discontinues pays the defendant’s costs does not dictate the order where…

A bill of lading may incorporate a written and readily ascertainable charterparty recorded in a recap telex. The omission of the charterparty date is not…

The tort of malicious procurement of a search warrant requires a successful application, absence of reasonable and probable cause, malice, and resulting…

Where an application concerns implementation of a specified part of an earlier order and the parties agree the basis of compliance, the court should confine…

A contractual quotation is construed in its commercial context. Where a substantial item is not described or priced, references to related work may leave an…

A challenge to a settlement reached during existing proceedings may be dealt with within those proceedings; fresh proceedings are not legally required. The…

For Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention, an accident is an unusual, unexpected or untoward event or happening external to the passenger which causes the…

Issue estoppel does not prevent a later broker-negligence claim merely because an earlier preliminary-issues trial decided that insured plant had not attached…

An employer may be vicariously liable for an employee’s intentional and criminal assault where the assault is so closely connected with the employee’s…

A wasted costs order requires improper, unreasonable or negligent conduct by a legal representative, causation of unnecessary costs, and a conclusion that…

Where non-accidental injury is proved but the perpetrator cannot be identified on the balance of probabilities, the court must determine whether there is a…

A High Court decision on a non-criminal appeal by way of case stated from a magistrates’ court is final under section 28A(4) of the Supreme Court Act 1981.…

For priority need under section 189(1)(d) of the Housing Act 1996, the event causing homelessness must be both an emergency and a disaster similar in nature to…

Article 6 does not ordinarily require an oral hearing of an application for permission to appeal against an arbitral award. The court must examine the nature…

Following a contested oral permission hearing, the permission rule does not impose an inflexible bar on reliance upon a ground previously refused. The High…

In a negligence claim against solicitors, limitation runs from the claimant’s first real and compensable damage caused by the breach. Damage may arise before…

Where excise goods leave an authorised warehouse lawfully under duty suspension for export, a later unauthorised diversion and domestic consumption does not…

An application made after expiry of time to serve particulars of claim must be determined within the structured checklist in Civil Procedure Rules r 3.9. The…

An insurable interest is identified by construing the policy and examining the insured’s relationship to its subject matter. The concepts of subject matter…

On a post-judgment costs and permission ruling, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and apportioned costs by reference to the issues lost, abandoned and…

In complex appellate litigation warranting full investigation, unsuccessful arguments should not lead to an issue-based reduction in costs unless the points…

A party seeking proprietary estoppel or other equitable relief must come with clean hands. Where the asserted equity depends upon expenditure and the claimant…

Patent claims are construed from their words, read with the specification and drawings, using the middle ground required by the Protocol on Article 69: fair…

Novelty under sections 2(1) and 2(3) of the Patents Act 1977 involves one statutory question: whether the claimed invention was made available to the public. A…

A court may correct an obvious drafting error in delegated legislation where it is abundantly sure of the provision’s intended purpose, the draftsman’s…

A court may correct an obvious drafting error in a statutory instrument only when it is abundantly sure of three matters: the provision’s intended purpose, an…

When determining costs, the court should identify the party who succeeded overall, while reflecting any major issue on which that party failed. Where…

On an application for financial provision for a child under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989, the court must assess all the circumstances, including the…

Employment Tribunals have a wide discretion when an applicant fails to attend or be represented at a hearing. Under rule 9(3), the Tribunal may adjourn…

The unqualified discretion to extend time for an Employment Appeal Tribunal appeal must be exercised judicially. The tribunal must weigh all relevant…

In a cohabitation dispute, an express agreement, arrangement or understanding that property is to be shared beneficially may establish a constructive trust…

A trial decision that money was not a loan and that the parties formed a partnership does not necessarily determine how the money must be treated in the…

A human rights claim may be certified as manifestly unfounded only where it is bound to fail before an adjudicator. A claim which is likely, or even very…

For planning law and policy, gypsy status depends on a functional assessment of whether the applicant has a nomadic habit of life at the date of the planning…

An appellate court may adjourn where, having regard to the issues and the parties’ representation, it is unrealistic to proceed without risking fragmented…

Where an immigration appeal has been rejected on a procedural basis because of an unchallenged but erroneous understanding of the facts, the Administrative…

In deciding whether an endowment policy is jointly beneficially owned, the court must distinguish the policy’s beneficial ownership from the use of its…

The Commissioners’ care and management power permits pragmatic tax administration and concessions where they facilitate the overall task of tax collection and…

Article 14 may be engaged by unequal gender treatment in bereavement benefits. A claimant becomes a victim when he clearly claims the benefit. An oral claim…

A director who transfers company assets without the authority required by the company’s constitution acts in breach of fiduciary duty. The transaction is…

An extant award of a non-contributory benefit becomes payable when the statutory inhibition caused by an overlapping contributory benefit ends. Restoring…

A promise by one public authority cannot create a legitimate expectation binding another authority unless the first had actual or ostensible authority to speak…

An asylum and Article 3 removal claim requires an individual assessment of whether the particular claimant faces a real risk of persecution or serious…

In family proceedings concerning contact with teenage children, the court’s central task is to promote welfare and, where feasible, facilitate a lasting…

Costs normally follow the event, but Part 44 gives the court a broad discretion to make a different order. The court may consider the parties’ conduct before…

A person who signs a commercial contract in their own name and without qualification is prima facie contracting personally. The signature has predominant…

For the purposes of rule 36.21, a claimant’s concession confined to uplift interest is not part of the offer against which the judgment is compared. This…

Article 14 applies to discrimination within the ambit of another Convention right. The claimant must show different treatment from persons in an analogous…

The regulatory jurisdiction over substandard professional services extends to services connected with a matter in which the solicitor or firm have at any time…

A person who lacks leave to enter or remain will ordinarily be required to leave the United Kingdom and seek entry clearance from abroad, even where a genuine…

In an asylum or human-rights appeal, an appellate tribunal must identify why the individual claimant, rather than a disadvantaged group generally, faces…

In compulsory acquisition, statutory and contractual elements may coexist. An agreement must be construed according to its terms. A contractual promise by an…

Specific performance of a land contract requires the claimant to show that he is presently ready, willing and able to complete, including payment of the price.…

For a transitional tax provision, “policy or contract for any life assurance business” naturally includes a reinsurance treaty unless the statutory context…

Under Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982, section 25, an English court considering interim relief in support of foreign proceedings must first ask…

Under Civil Procedure Rules Practice Direction 51, a final judgment on a distinct claim ends that claim’s status as existing proceedings for transitional stay…

A party waives privilege where it deploys the contents of a privileged communication to advance its case. A bare reference to the communication or its effect…

In clinical negligence, support from a responsible body of professional opinion does not end the inquiry. The opinion must withstand logical analysis…

Judicial review will ordinarily be refused where an adequate alternative statutory appeal is available to address the complaint. A court should not intervene…

An appellate court will be slow to interfere with a trial judge’s findings of fact, particularly where the judge reconstructed physical features and…

In direct race discrimination claims, a tribunal must apply the statutory comparator test to the facts. It is not enough to recite the correct test and then…

Where negligent legal advice deprives a claimant of the opportunity to serve a contractual completion notice, damages are assessed by reference to the…

A court may permit a party to replace an unsatisfactory medical expert, but it must guard against expert shopping and unnecessary further examination of the…

In civil proceedings, a will may be proved by circumstantial or hearsay evidence, and the ordinary balance of probabilities applies. A fraud allegation may…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success. A challenge to a default judgment based on non-receipt will not meet that threshold where the…

Sealing an appellate order does not necessarily prevent the Court of Appeal from determining unresolved ancillary Part 36 relief. Where the court remains…

An arbitrator does not breach the statutory duty of fairness merely by analysing evidence in a manner which neither party specifically advocated. The decisive…

Where civil proceedings are settled before trial and costs remain disputed, the court has power to make a costs order. The overriding objective is to do…

Where a court directs the use of a single joint expert, each instructing party may give instructions under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 35.8. The court…

At the permission stage, permission should be granted where the court cannot be sure that an appeal has no realistic prospect of success and no sufficient…

In a claim for psychiatric injury caused by workplace stress, the employer’s duty is triggered by reasonably foreseeable injury to health, not by foreseeable…

Where a conveyance contains both express parcels and a plan stated to be for identification only, the parcels prevail over an inconsistent plan. The plan may…

In assessing whether scarring creates a real risk of persecution on return, the decision-maker must consider the nature of the scars together with the…

An employment tribunal’s power to review a decision on the grounds of non-attendance and the interests of justice is distinct from its power to review for…

An adjournment of a permission-to-appeal hearing may be refused where the applicant has had ample time to prepare but delayed obtaining transcripts or…

When deciding whether to adjourn a permission-to-appeal hearing, the court must balance fairness to the applicant and respondents with the need to deal with…

Where a protection claim depends entirely on a risk said to affect a general class, the conventional test remains whether there is a reasonable degree of…

For mandatory life prisoners, the interval before the next automatic review is not subject to a fixed period and need not be set by a court. Under Article 5(4)…

For conversion, an auctioneer’s good-faith receipt of goods from their apparent owner, followed by simple redelivery when the goods remain unsold, is…

By a majority, the Court of Appeal held that a highway authority need not design a junction to guard against conduct falling outside the negligence that…

The discretion under the Limitation Act 1980, section 33, is an equitable and composite exercise. The court must weigh the balance of potential prejudice in…

On a human rights appeal under section 65 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, where the essential facts are undisputed, the appellate authority must…

A regulatory statutory scheme does not ordinarily create a private damages action against the regulator without clear statutory words. That does not…

An unappealed and unquashed enforcement notice cannot be challenged in later injunction proceedings on grounds which could have been advanced on a statutory…

A conditional fee agreement is not rendered unenforceable by every technical departure from a requirement made under section 58 of the Courts and Legal…

Communications made in a genuine attempt to compromise a dispute are generally inadmissible. The exception for perjury, blackmail or other unambiguous…

Materiality in insurance non-disclosure is assessed at placement by reference to information then known to the assured, including credible intelligence or…

Crossing the statutory threshold for an interim care order does not itself justify making the order. The court must then consider the available options…

For a self-employed claimant, “compensation for earnings lost” in Schedule 2 to the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997 is not confined to lost net…

A creditor’s estimate of the value of existing security permits presentation of a bankruptcy petition unless the debtor challenges it. Once challenged, the…

Under section 10(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994, use in trade of a sign identical to a registered mark on identical goods infringes where it affects, or is…

An appellate tribunal may establish country-wide background conditions as a factual precedent for later asylum appeals, while retaining a duty to consider…

A landowner who keeps animals must take reasonable precautions, assessed in all the circumstances, to prevent their escape and foreseeable damage. Negligence…

An exclusive agency or distributorship agreement of indefinite duration is not ordinarily terminable at will. In the absence of an express term or repudiatory…

Under section 17 of the Legal Aid Act 1988, the court must assess what amount of costs is reasonable in all the circumstances. The legally assisted party’s…

Article 33 of the Geneva Convention protects refugees who are outside their country from expulsion or return to a place of threatened persecution. It does not…

Listed-building enforcement is distinct from criminal liability. Under section 38 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, a current…

Under Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the court has a discretion over sale of trust land. It must consider the specified matters in…

Article 6 does not apply to every claim brought by a public servant. Under the functional approach in Pellegrin, employment disputes fall outside Article 6(1)…

In a contributory-negligence assessment involving seat-belt non-use, a court may separate injuries where their effects can be identified and assess the…

A restrictive covenant must be construed according to its language and the particular instrument. Where its duration is expressed by reference to land forming…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A finding that an applicant has been…

In Green Belt planning cases, very special circumstances require a clear and cogent assessment showing that the harm from inappropriate development, and any…

On an appeal from findings of fact, the Court of Appeal must make due allowance for the trial judge’s advantages, particularly in assessing oral evidence. It…

Where employment terms provide that pay will normally follow National Joint Council rates, each national pay award does not require prior positive approval…

Under an excess-of-loss aggregation clause covering losses arising from one event, a plurality of losses may be treated as one only where each has a…

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 permits the licensing of IVF treatment and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis where the activities appear necessary…

Protection of journalistic sources is a strong public-interest principle. Under section 10 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and Article 10, disclosure is…

Under section 102(5)(a) of the Finance Act 1986, the gifts-with-reservation regime is displaced where the disposal is an exempt transfer under section 18(1) of…

Article III Rule 6 of the Hague Visby Rules requires limitation to be assessed by reference to actual delivery where the goods are delivered, rather than…

An indirectly discriminatory requirement is not an act extending over a period merely because it remains available for application to others. Where a…

A legal representative acting for one side in litigation owes no duty of care to the opposing litigant. The abolition of advocates’ immunity from suit by their…

Where an operative planning condition identifies several alternative sites for mitigation, the authority deciding subsequent details may treat the…

In an unfair-dismissal case, an employment tribunal must apply the British Home Stores v Burchell inquiry: whether the employer genuinely believed in the…

Where service is to be effected by the court, CPR 7.6(3)(a) covers every failure by the court to serve in time, including a failure caused by oversight. The…

In an unfair dismissal claim following a takeover, the wish of new shareholders to establish a new board may constitute some other substantial reason for…

A court considering whether to reinstate an application dismissed after the applicant failed to attend exercises a general discretion under Civil Procedure…

A trial judge’s evaluation of conflicting expert evidence should be upheld where the findings are available on the evidence and the judgment adequately…

An appellate court should be very slow to interfere with a trial judge’s finding of fact based on oral evidence. It should intervene only where the finding is…

On an appeal concerning a freezing injunction, the Court of Appeal will not interfere with the first-instance judge’s discretionary decision merely because…

In an insurance policy covering permanent total disablement from the occupation of professional footballer, the occupation is not confined to the level or club…

An absolute duty to maintain personal protective equipment under regulation 7(1) requires the protection to remain effective against the identified risks for…

Where an alleged Convention breach arises solely from treatment likely to occur in the receiving state, and the treatment falls below the severity required for…

For apparent bias, the question is whether a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, would conclude that there was a real possibility…

In an Article 3 removal case, the tribunal must assess both the seriousness of the prospective harm and the likelihood of its infliction. The claimant must…

The absence of an order allocating proceedings to the small claims track does not prevent the court from assessing costs consistently with the small claims…

On an application to postpone tax under the Tax Management Act 1970, the Commissioners must evaluate whether there are reasonable grounds for believing that…

Under C.P.R. 31.17, third-party disclosure requires documents which may well assist or undermine a party’s case and which are necessary for fair disposal or…

For specialist medical qualifications outside automatic mutual recognition, Article 8 of Directive 93/16/EEC provides a route to the host State’s…

An estate agent may introduce a purchaser to the sale transaction by supplying property particulars. The purchaser’s later direct approach to, and negotiations…

A court must not finally dismiss a nuisance or negligence claim by concentrating only on whether the nuisance can be wholly removed in future. It must also…

A reviewing housing authority may provide later evidence identifying material considered and elucidating its stated reasons. The evidence must confirm or…

A breach of statutory safety duty may give rise to a private action for damages where, on construction of the legislation, Parliament intended to protect a…

For limitation purposes, knowledge of injury and its attribution to a defendant’s act or omission must be assessed separately from knowledge of negligence.…

Section 32 of the Limitation Act 1980 requires deliberate concealment of a fact relevant to the claimant’s cause of action. A pre-accident disclaimer, without…

In a personal injury claim based on an alleged mechanical defect, proving that a defect existed does not establish that it caused the accident. The claimant…

For tortious destruction of a chattel, damages are prima facie measured by its market or resale value in its existing condition, regardless of whether the…

An immigration tribunal is not bound by another tribunal’s country findings, and those findings do not establish rules of law. Where recent decisions of the…

For the purposes of Part XI of the Housing Act 1985, a building originally constructed as a single-family house remains capable of being a house and a house in…

An Inspector may form an independent view of the evidence and take account of site-visit observations. However, where the Inspector adopts a material line that…

In ancillary relief proceedings, spouses who both work and contribute what they can to a joint enterprise may be treated as having contributed equally, despite…

A claimant may prove medical causation on the balance of probabilities by diagnosis by exclusion where other possible causes have effectively been excluded and…

Section 19 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 authorises an enforcement notice only where the officer is concerned with a person who is presently a…

In a negligence claim for psychiatric injury caused by workplace stress, liability depends on more than proof of unfair, oppressive or unreasonable treatment.…

A straight bill of lading may be a bill of lading or similar document of title within the Hague and Hague-Visby Rules despite lacking negotiability. A named…

For enfranchisement under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, the court must determine whether the relevant building is a house reasonably so called and then apply…

A recalled prisoner is “at large” for sentence-calculation purposes whenever he is not detained in lawful custody pursuant to a sentence, even if he is…

A payment arrangement under which a contractor is paid from a controlled account does not, without more, create an equitable charge over the account or a…

An employer is liable for psychiatric injury caused by disciplinary conduct only where such injury was reasonably foreseeable in the light of the information…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal may, at a preliminary hearing, permit an appeal to proceed on some grounds while dismissing others. However, caution is required…

An automatic strike-out order should not be made on an application treated as without notice where service was required and the parties were in dispute. The…

A contractual time bar must satisfy the statutory requirement of reasonableness by reference to the circumstances known or contemplated when the contract was…

In judicial review proceedings, an applicant must identify and evidence the case advanced, particularly where inconsistent alternatives are relied on. A point…

Entitlement to a social-security benefit ordinarily depends on a claim being made in the prescribed manner and time, unless regulations provide for a claim to…

Section 63 of the Mental Health Act 1983 authorises compulsory medical treatment only for the classified mental disorder or disorders supporting the patient’s…

In an equal pay claim based on indirect sex discrimination, the claimant bears the initial burden of proving disproportionate adverse impact. A credible…

Under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, a homeless applicant is entitled to suitable accommodation, not a particular property. Where an authority discharges…

For statutory annual leave, the calculation method in sections 221 to 224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 applies where the worker has no normal working…

A floating vessel may form part of a rateable hereditament with land covered by water although it remains a chattel. The question is whether the vessel and…

An unfair dismissal claim is personal to the employee and does not vest in the employee’s trustee in bankruptcy. Its essential character differs from a…

For income support, income bears its ordinary and natural meaning. A loan is not invariably capital. Regular payments made to meet recurrent living expenses…

A refusal to restore goods or a vehicle seized for customs or excise purposes does not, without more, determine a criminal charge under Article 6. The…

VAT exemptions under the Sixth Directive Article 13B are construed strictly, but not through a rigid or artificially narrow formula. A single economic supply…

For the progressive-condition protection in paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 1 to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, an impairment may result from the condition…

A contractual notice provision requiring at least eight working weeks’ notice of the date by which specified obligations will have been performed requires the…

Future earnings are normally assessed by selecting a career model that provides a realistic baseline and applying the multiplier and multiplicand method. A…

Sections 151 and 152 of the Companies Act 1985 must be applied by examining the commercial substance of the transaction and the parties’ legal rights.…

Before deciding whether an individual supplied through an employment agency is an employee, a tribunal must determine whether an express or implied contract of…

Clear contractual language governs even where its practical effect appears commercially unlikely. Background material assists in identifying the meaning of the…

An appeal may be dismissed while decisions on leave to appeal and costs are reserved. The court may defer costs where the proposed order depends on unresolved…

The absence of a Refugee Convention ground does not automatically prevent a claim under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, where…

Under Civil Procedure Rules Part 24, summary judgment is appropriate where a claim has no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for…

The de facto doctrine can confer legal judicial authority, rather than merely validate individual acts. It applies where a person is generally reputed, and…

Where a binding appellate decision determines the governing Convention issue, an appellant cannot obtain costs for pursuing arguments that merely repackage the…

A tribunal does not display apparent bias merely by expressing strong provisional views after hearing most of the evidence. The objective question is whether a…

Transitional provisions for entry on a specialist register must protect doctors who were consultants, or were qualified for consultant appointment, under the…

Care proceedings are a single civil inquiry into the condition and future of the child, although fact-finding, threshold and welfare issues may be determined…

A long-residence policy may be applied by analogy to port refusal cases where the Secretary of State accepts that approach. The policy does not create an…

An Immigration Appeal Tribunal must give adequate reasons in its substantive determination. It must identify the issue decided, the evidential basis for its…

A claimant seeking possession need not retain an estate in the land or be in actual occupation. It must, however, possess a subsisting right to possession…

Relief under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 must be construed with the notes to Group 5 of Schedule 8. Section 35(4) applies those notes to the statutory refund…

A defendant seeking to set aside a regular default judgment must show a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of successfully defending the claim. The…

An autonomous letter of credit operates according to its terms as between the bank and beneficiary, but that autonomy does not override an express agreement…

In a parent-and-child transaction, trust and confidence and a transaction calling for an explanation may establish presumed undue influence. The transaction…

Before the retrospective statutory amendment, an unlawful entrant could not remain on temporary admission where removal was no longer realistically pending…

Legal advice privilege protects confidential communications between a client and its legal advisers, and evidence of their contents. It does not protect an…

Where neither European Union law nor rights under the European Convention on Human Rights are engaged, the legality of an administrative decision remains…

Unauthorised deck stowage in breach of a carriage contract does not automatically deprive a carrier of the package limitation in Article IV rule 5 of the Hague…

Unless clear language makes it unavoidable, legislation, including subordinate legislation, is not construed retrospectively so as to impair a vested private…

An appellate court may admit apparently credible fresh evidence where it shows that the factual basis on which an immigration tribunal proceeded was simply…

A consent order staying a compromised action does not terminate the proceedings. They remain technically in being, and a wasted costs application against legal…

Where a builder or developer undertakes further work after completion for the purpose of rectifying defective original work, section 1(5) of the Defective…

An easement for vehicular access cannot be acquired by prescription or lost modern grant through use criminally prohibited by statute. Driving a motor vehicle…

Where medical evidence establishes that several tortious events cumulatively caused a chronic condition, each event may constitute a material contribution to…

As a matter of general practice, judicial review of an Immigration Appeal Tribunal decision arising from an adjudicator’s determination in Scotland should be…

In a professional negligence claim, a tort cause of action accrues when the claimant first suffers actual, measurable financial damage. Where negligent advice…

A person with substantial goodwill in their name and image may restrain a false representation that they have endorsed another’s business. Whether a…

Where a lender is put on inquiry because a surety’s relationship with the debtor is non-commercial, it must take reasonable steps to satisfy itself that the…

A director’s fiduciary duty to avoid conflicts of interest is not confined to the misuse of company property or to a "maturing business opportunity". The…

A fair hearing requires the court to understand the case advanced by a litigant in person, allow a proper opportunity to present material evidence, and treat…

On an appeal confined to a question of law, the court will not overturn concurrent specialist decisions on the suitability of an operating centre merely…

Permission to appeal is issue-specific. A challenge to a factual finding may properly be refused where the evidence amply supports the finding and there is no…

In patent litigation, costs generally follow the event under Civil Procedure Rules 44.3(2). The court may nevertheless award costs to a party successful on a…

An injunction binds the defendant, not independent third parties, unless its wording clearly provides otherwise. A reference to licensees does not impose…

In an environmental impact assessment screening decision, the decision-maker must assess the whole proposed project, including remedial measures that form an…

The successful party for costs purposes is identified by the practical outcome of the litigation, rather than merely by the party in whose favour a monetary…

In housing benefit overpayment cases, the local authority’s choice of the person from whom it will seek recovery is a decision under Housing Benefit (General)…

A contractual claim for reasonable remuneration is not unenforceable merely because its performance involved a separate dishonest arrangement by which an agent…

On restoring a company to the register, the court has jurisdiction under section 653(3) of the Companies Act 1985 to suspend limitation in the company’s…

An Employment Tribunal originating application should be read broadly and untechnically, but it remains a form of pleading. It must sufficiently notify the…

Costs between co-defendants are not determined solely by the proportions in which liability or damages are ultimately divided. The court must consider the…

An occupier’s home may engage Article 8 even where the occupier has no tenancy, but Article 8 does not itself confer a right to be provided with a home. An…

On an appeal against committal for contempt, the fact that counsel may have missed evidential opportunities or made forensic choices which could have been made…

Under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the employer must prove the reason, or principal reason, for dismissal before the tribunal considers…

CPR 1.3 requires parties and their legal advisers to assist the court in achieving the overriding objective, including by making proper use of court resources.…

Registration of an external confiscation order under section 97(1)(c) of Criminal Justice Act 1988 turns on whether enforcement in England and Wales would…

Trial and appeal proceedings are separate for the purposes of Part 36. A pre-trial Part 36 offer does not protect a claimant during an appeal. A further offer…

In a secondary-victim psychiatric injury claim, the claimant must have a close tie of love and affection with the primary victim, proximity to the accident in…

Where a registered title plan is subject to the general boundaries rule and is not precise, the conveyed boundary must be determined by construing the…

An easement does not ordinarily impose on the servient owner a duty to repair or maintain facilities needed for its enjoyment. Such a positive obligation must…

The statutory entitlement to a jury in specified Queen’s Bench claims is subject to a practical exception. A judge may refuse a jury where the trial requires…

For the ten-year inheritance-tax charge, separate discretionary trusts which each satisfy the statutory definition of a settlement remain separate settlements.…

Under article 13(b) of the Hague Convention, the risk must be grave and the threatened harm serious. Clear and compelling evidence is required. The exception…

A claimant’s inability to prove financial loss does not necessarily confine contractual damages to a nominal sum. Where a defendant has deliberately obtained a…

An immigration appeal is limited to the grounds permitted by the applicable statutory scheme. Although paragraph 21(1) of the fourth schedule to the…

Whether a settled parent has had sole responsibility for a child’s upbringing under paragraph 297(i)(e) of the Immigration Rules is a fact-sensitive question…

An appellate court may reassess the effect and inferences arising from witness and expert evidence where a trial finding is not open on the evidence. That is…

An appellate court should not alter a first-instance award for pain, suffering and loss of amenity unless it is manifestly too high or too low, or an error of…

Under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, a local housing authority’s decision not to refer a homelessness application under section 198 is not reviewable under…

A shared residence order must reflect the reality of the homes in which children live, but it does not require an equal division of their time or regular…

A life award of Disability Living Allowance is not immune from review. An adjudication officer may reconsider entitlement where the claimant expressly applies…

A contractual long-term disability benefit is not made conditional on the employer’s insurance recovery unless the contract clearly incorporates the insurance…

An employee is not contributorily negligent merely for failing to anticipate an unexpected obstruction in a familiar workplace access route. The standard of…

Under section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, reasonable practicability depends on both the practical opportunity to claim asylum and…

In traditional qualified privilege cases, a relevant communication made within an established relationship attracts privilege irrespective of whether the…

Future loss of earnings should not be calculated by the multiplier/multiplicand method unless supported by reliable evidence of pre- and post-accident earning…

In costs-only proceedings, an offer under rule 47.19 to settle the costs of the proceedings giving rise to the assessment concerns the costs of resolving the…

An uncleared cheque delivered to a landlord before a possession hearing is conditional payment from delivery where the landlord accepts it, or is already bound…

In race discrimination and victimisation claims, direct evidence is uncommon. An Employment Tribunal must make clear findings of primary fact and assess the…

On an application for an interim injunction enforcing a post-termination restraint, the court should determine the covenant’s proper construction unless…

An appellate court should not interfere with findings based substantially on witness credibility where the trial judge heard and saw the witnesses, even where…

A statutory right to British citizenship arising automatically from established facts is determined by the courts, not by the Secretary of State. The court may…

An appellate court should be very reluctant to reverse an interlocutory ruling that words are capable of bearing a pleaded defamatory meaning. It must…

A negligence claim arising from solicitors’ delay accrues when the client first suffers real, financially assessable and legally relevant damage. Where the…

In a patent damages inquiry, causation and the scope of liability ordinarily depend on the pleaded facts and the purpose of the liability. A court should not…

Where a failure to attend or to provide a required declaration triggers cessation of jobseeker’s allowance, the cessation event and the effective date of…

Under regulations 4 and 5 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, suitability and maintenance concern the physical condition of equipment…

Under the Mental Health Act 1983, the requirement that at least three members may exercise the hospital managers’ discharge power is not merely a quorum. Where…

Article 105 of the Community Trade Mark Regulation (Council Regulation 40/94/EEC) coordinates concurrent and successive infringement actions based on Community…

For a statutory rent-referral procedure, “refer” means that the prescribed application must be received by the rent assessment committee before the new rent…

After an election result has been declared, an informal count of overlooked ballot papers should not take place because electoral secrecy and integrity must be…

A continuing act of discrimination requires evidence of an employer’s practice, policy, rule or regime governing the conduct alleged. A later discriminatory…

Findings and conclusions in an earlier civil judgment are not admissible as evidence of the facts found in later proceedings between different parties.…

Under Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 14(2), satisfactory quality is judged objectively by reference to the description, price and all relevant circumstances.…

A rugby referee owes a duty of care to players, including in amateur matches. The voluntary and inherently dangerous nature of rugby does not make it fair…

In a letter of undertaking given in return for cargo interests refraining from arrest, “competent court” means a court with jurisdiction to entertain the…

A claimant is entitled to define the monetary claim brought before the court. The court cannot increase the claim’s financial value by adding losses that the…

A contractual compulsory share-transfer mechanism must be construed as a coherent whole. An offer notice is valid only if its terms permit completion in…

To oppose the renewal of a business tenancy because the landlord intends to occupy the premises for a business, the landlord must show both a genuine, settled…

An arbitration agreement in a club constitution may govern a challenge to the validity of a membership-termination decision, not merely the merits of whether…

A wasted costs order against a legal representative requires a breach of duty to the court. Negligence alone, however serious, does not suffice. The conduct…

On a summary judgment application, a claim may be dismissed where the available material shows that it has no real prospect of success. A claimant cannot…

In commercial reinsurance, agreement on the wording of a treaty is not necessarily assent to be bound by it. Even without express subject-to-contract language…

Ratification of an international treaty operates on the international plane. It cannot alter United Kingdom domestic law unless Parliament incorporates it. A…

A party who agrees to mediation should ordinarily proceed with it. An unexplained withdrawal shortly before the mediation may materially affect the court’s…

Fitness for purpose is ordinarily a question of fact, but an appellate court must decide whether the finding is the correct inference from the evidence. It…

Fraud against one creditor in a single transaction may constitute fraudulent trading under section 213 of the Insolvency Act 1986. It does so only where the…

Environmental impact assessment requires the decision-maker to assess every likely significant environmental effect and the effectiveness of proposed…

Where arbitration is commenced against the original contractual party, confusion about its trading name or a later business reorganisation does not necessarily…

In an Article 3 asylum appeal, the tribunal must assess the real risk of ill-treatment on the evidence as a whole. It must consider whether the appellant is…

A licence granted to an intending purchaser who enters into possession without a completed sale ends when it is no longer required because the parties are no…

Where a party relies on a witness statement as hearsay and does not call its maker, CPR 33.4(1) permits the court to allow another party to call and…

A judgment summons for arrears of periodical payments requires proof of wilful neglect, not merely proof of non-payment. Before committal, the court should…

A contractual machinery clause requiring a tenant’s contribution to expenditure to be determined by the landlord’s surveyor must be observed. A landlord cannot…

On a removal appeal involving mental illness and self-harm risk, Article 3 requires treatment reaching a minimum level of severity, assessed in all the…

For local connection under Housing Act 1996 s199(1)(a), normal residence and residence of the applicant’s own choice are separate requirements. Accommodation…

A change-of-control clause must be construed as a whole and in its commercial setting. Where it is triggered only if control passes from the persons exercising…

An agreement to negotiate the sale of a business is not made enforceable merely by describing the proposed sale as an “offer”. Construction depends on the…

An occupier’s Leakey duty to take reasonable steps to prevent a hazard on land causing damage to a neighbour extends to floodwater flowing naturally. The law…

Under CPR 44, where parties succeed on separate and significant issues, costs should ordinarily be allocated by reference to the relative importance and…

An employment tribunal may make a broad assessment of future loss, including pension loss. An appellate court should interfere only where the tribunal applied…

Missing a turning on a roundabout is not, without more, negligent. A driver who remains in the same lane and avoids a sudden or violent manoeuvre may still owe…

When removal interferes with family life, the court must assess whether a fair balance has been struck between the individual’s rights and effective…

Loss of a replacement job does not automatically make subsequent loss too remote or self-inflicted where the original employment was lost because of a tort.…

Under section 1(3) of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984, an occupier’s duty to a non-visitor is owed to the individual claimant in the circumstances existing…

Where Article 2 requires an effective investigation into a death in custody, a coroner should permit the jury to add a rider of systemic neglect if such a…

A claim served outside the jurisdiction must fall within the jurisdictional ground identified by the originating process and supporting evidence. A claimant…

Whether work is “time work” under regulation 3(a) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 depends on the contractual basis for determining remuneration.…

An estate agent's terms may be accepted by conduct even where the client does not sign them. The question is objective: the conduct must show final and…

Section 58(9) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 operates automatically where a Part 4 appeal, other than one under section 69(3), is pending and the…

An employer responsible for a workplace where employees regularly face volatile and aggressive children must take reasonable steps to make that workplace safe.…

A challenge under section 23(2) of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981 concerns procedural validity and the adequacy of the decision-making process. It does not…

For an insurer to avoid liability under section 151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, section 152(1)(a) requires notice of the bringing of proceedings before, or…

A long delay in enforcing a valid demolition notice does not, by itself, make enforcement unlawful. Relevant considerations include whether the authority…

Under Planning Policy Guidance Note No 3, the presumption that previously developed sites should be developed before greenfield sites is not an absolute…

A breach of the peace is not an offence for the purposes of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Arrest and detention for an actual or threatened breach…

Under the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991, depreciation is measured by comparing the market value of the particular damaged property with its value if…

An express right of way is construed by reading the conveyance together with relevant surrounding circumstances where its wording is not unambiguous. Prior use…

In an asylum and human-rights appeal, a document alleged to be forged must be assessed as part of the evidence as a whole. The issue is whether the claimant’s…

For pension purposes, overtime is excluded from remuneration only when it is non-contractual overtime. Whether overtime is contractual depends on the true…

Costs are discretionary, but the discretion must be exercised on principled grounds. An appellate court should not substitute its own view unless the lower…

Fees authorised by section 70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 are not confined to applicants who ultimately receive a vehicle…

An open-market valuation assumes a hypothetical willing seller and willing buyer. The statutory hypothesis removes the seller’s disinclination to sell and the…

Section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 creates a statutory right to recover benefit overpayments only where there has been a material…

Police may transfer lawfully seized property to an agent for safe custody without committing conversion. The statutory power to retain property may continue…

Case-management courts should manage proceedings towards the fixed trial window or trial date. When late expert evidence threatens that timetable, the court…

A power of attorney is a form of agency. It does not transfer a litigant’s personal statutory rights of audience or to conduct litigation to the attorney.…

Under section 28(3) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, an unmarried, non-genetic partner is treated as a child's father only if the embryo…

A claimant’s Part 36 offer made for the trial at first instance does not automatically govern the costs of a subsequent appeal. To obtain the costs protection…

In a causation dispute, the claimant ordinarily bears the burden of proving that the defendant’s wrongdoing caused the loss. Where the claimant shows that the…

A reasoned merits decision by a criminal court not to recommend deportation is a relevant consideration in a later decision under section 3(5)(a) of the…

Section 11(3) of the Copyright Act 1956 does not require contributors to intend to become joint authors. It requires collaboration in producing the work and…

For retail planning guidance, “within an existing centre” is not confined to a town centre in the strict sense. It can include a neighbourhood or local centre…

Articles of association are commercial documents. They should receive a construction which gives them reasonable business efficacy, where the language permits…

A claimant cannot recast a distinct breach of duty occurring after an original accident as an aggravation of the injury caused by that accident. Each breach…

When assessing compensation after an unfair dismissal, an employment tribunal must consider not only what would probably have occurred at a hypothetical…

In a civil jury trial, the court must guard against pressure on jurors to reach a majority verdict. The Watson approach requires the judge to emphasise the…

For an arrest under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, reasonable suspicion requires both a genuine suspicion in the arresting officer’s mind and…

In assessing damages for professional negligence based on a lost litigation chance, the court must assess the real prospects of success on the evidence. It…

Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994, risk assessments must be reviewed when information makes an earlier assessment…

A decision finally determining that a claimant did not suffer from a prescribed disease binds later decision-making on another industrial-injuries benefit…

A planning authority must determine the legal meaning of the categories of development governed by environmental impact assessment legislation. That question…

A patentee’s damages are not invariably confined to a reasonable royalty. The patentee may recover all loss caused by the infringement which is not too remote…

Money paid to an express trustee under a contract devised solely to obtain it by fraud does not become beneficially owned by a participant in that fraud.…

A partnership is bound by a partner’s act done for the purpose of partnership business. Where the partnership has entered into a contract in the course of its…

An appellate court may interfere with a costs order only where the basis on which the judge exercised the discretion is shown to be flawed. Under the Civil…

Article 21 of the 1968 Brussels Convention requires a stay only where proceedings in different Contracting States involve the same cause of action and the same…

Article III r.2 of the Hague Visby Rules regulates the manner in which cargo functions undertaken by the carrier are performed. It does not require the carrier…

Under paragraph 9(2) of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1999, an adjudicator’s agreement with a certificate removes any further appeal to the Immigration Appeal…

An agreement may be legally binding even though the parties intend later to record it in a formal document, unless the agreement is expressly made subject to…

Under section 12(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998, prior restraint of publication requires a convincingly established real prospect that the applicant will show…

Communications made pursuant to a reciprocal duty and interest attract qualified privilege. The privilege is not lost merely because part of the publication…

Knowledge of childhood abuse does not necessarily establish knowledge of significant injury under section 14 of the Limitation Act 1980. Significance requires…

Transfer of a bill of lading to an agent under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 transfers the contractual rights of suit. It does not automatically…

An appeal confined to review is not a rehearing. Under Part 52.11 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, the Court of Appeal asks whether the judgment below was…

Prisoners retain a fundamental right of meaningful access to the courts, subject only to restrictions imposed by lawful imprisonment. That right requires more…

On an application for service out of the jurisdiction, the court need only decide whether the pleaded claim has a good arguable prospect of success. It should…

A sum described contractually as an after-the-event insurance premium is recoverable under section 29 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 only to the extent that…

A voucher accepted as part payment is non-monetary consideration. Its monetary equivalent is the consideration obtained by the supplier for issuing it, rather…

An acquiring authority which lawfully takes possession under compulsory purchase legislation obtains a possessory title. If the landowner then dispossesses it…

In a private nuisance claim, liability depends on proof that water originated on the defendant’s land, the defendant knew or ought to have known the relevant…

In construing a conveyance, the court reads the instrument as a whole. A plan attached for identification only normally cannot override an express measurement…

A prospective application under rule 3.1(2)(a) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is governed by the overriding objective. It is neither an application for…

Under the CMR, liability for loss does not extend under Article 23.4 to every financial consequence of losing goods. A payment under a guarantee securing tax…

Formal corporate procedures may be dispensed with where all members who could exercise the relevant power unanimously assent to the substance of the act. The…

A document may be admitted to prove that it was made and contained particular statements, even where it is not relied upon to establish the objective truth of…

In an asylum appeal, an appellate tribunal’s failure to address a particular argument will not invalidate its determination where the omitted reasoning rested…

Under an express transit policy clause providing that cover attaches when the assured accepts delivery, insurance can begin when goods are received into an…

Liability under the oil-pollution compensation scheme is not a general but-for guarantee for every economic consequence of contamination. The statutory causal…

Failure to establish a Convention reason for an asylum claim does not answer a separate Article 3 claim. The tribunal must consider independently whether…

An expert arbitrator may use knowledge which a person possessing the contractually required expertise and local experience could reasonably be expected to have…

A contract expressed to be subject to veterinary inspection and approval of x-rays may be binding from the outset, subject to a condition precedent that the…

The exception in section 60(5)(d) of the Patents Act 1977 protects a foreign vessel using a patented feature exclusively for its needs while temporarily or…

Where a claimant makes an effective Part 36 offer which the defendant does not accept and then obtains a more advantageous judgment, the court should…

When a litigant seeks a substantial adjournment to obtain legal representation, the court must decide what outcome best serves the interests of justice. It…

A restriction preventing a debtor from dealing with a specified fund does not, without more, give the creditor an equitable charge. A charge requires an…

The Court of Appeal retains an inherent residual jurisdiction to reopen an appeal after its order has been perfected, whether the order followed a hearing or…

The High Court has an inherent power to detain a person accused of contempt in the face of the court beyond the end of the court day where a short delay is…

Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 is to be construed strictly. It permits urgent provisional or protective measures by a court which lacks…

Rule 297(iv) of the Immigration Rules is not confined to the physical condition of accommodation. Whether a child is accommodated adequately by a parent…

Condemnation proceedings under Schedule 3 to the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 are civil, rather than criminal, for the purposes of article 6 of the…

An ancillary relief order requires reconsideration where a later judgment establishes a substantial liability contrary to a fundamental assumption underlying…

An appellate court should not interfere with a family judge’s broad discretion over residence and contact unless the applicant shows that the judge was plainly…

A court exercising its discretion to exclude otherwise admissible evidence must balance the public interest in determining litigation on the truth against the…

A tribunal’s rejection of an out-of-time application for permission to appeal counts as a refusal for the purpose of a statutory provision permitting a renewed…

Article 5(5) of the 1988 Lugano Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters requires a factual nexus between a…

When deciding whether an individual operator has lost the good repute required by Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, a traffic commissioner must…

An existing benefit award may not be reduced or withdrawn by a superseding decision unless a prescribed condition for supersession has been established in…

For the purpose of the standing authorisation in Chapter 4 of the Immigration Directorates’ Instructions, a person granted leave to enter as a student remains…

A trade mark may possess distinctive character even though it also conveys a descriptive meaning. Sections 1(1) and 3(1)(a) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 impose…

For the care component of Disability Living Allowance under the Social Security (Contributions Benefits) Act 1992, immediate and essential cleaning-up after…

Section 371 of the Companies Act 1985 gives the court a discretionary procedural power to enable company business to proceed where a meeting is impracticable…

When a landlord serves an unqualified written notice refusing consent under section 1(3) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988, the landlord brings the statutory…

A statutory pre-action notice is a condition precedent to a procurement claim where the governing regulation requires it. The notice must identify both the…

A bankruptcy order should not be annulled under section 282(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986 by consent and without factual investigation. The court must…

Long user cannot found a prescriptive easement or lost modern grant where each act is prohibited by a statute enacted for public benefit. The lost-modern-grant…

In an asylum claim, internal relocation must be assessed on the evidence and by asking whether relocation would be unduly harsh. There is no guideline or rule…

On a strike-out application in a discrimination claim, the question is whether the claim is bound to fail, not whether it is weak or tenuous. Discrimination…

A court must decide the issues raised by the parties. It should not determine a case on an unpleaded alternative which is inconsistent with the pleaded case…

Lease covenants must be construed so far as possible to operate together. A landlord’s repairing obligation and the tenant’s covenant for quiet enjoyment…

Proceedings may be commenced against the estate of a deceased person under the CPR before personal representatives are appointed. However, an in personam…

Under Police Act 1996 s.88, liability is not avoided merely because a constable was off duty, acted without authority, or acted unlawfully. The decisive…

A breach of a statutory speed limit does not, without more, establish negligence or create a private civil remedy under road-traffic legislation. It may…

A written child-maintenance and housing agreement made following the breakdown of a relationship may be enforceable where it represents a compromise of the…

Updated country evidence on the general position of failed asylum seekers must be applied to the claimant’s individual circumstances. General improvements in a…

An intervention in a solicitor’s practice under Solicitors Act 1974, Sch 1 must be assessed by the statutory scheme and the public-interest balance which that…

A certification that an asylum or human-rights claim is clearly unfounded is governed by an objective test. The claim must not be certified if it may succeed…

A Court of Appeal consent order cannot be challenged in the same court merely by alleging that it was procured by fraud or false evidence. Where the proposed…

The meaning of occupation in a lease covenant depends on the lease, its permitted use and the circumstances. There is no universal business-based test. For a…

An employment tribunal has a broad discretion to extend the three-month time limit for a racial discrimination complaint where that is just and equitable in…

A later action is not necessarily an abuse of process because its claims could have been brought in earlier proceedings. The court must make a broad…

Committal for contempt is quasi-criminal. A judge must not indicate before the evidence is complete that imprisonment will follow if the alleged breach…

Standard-form marine insurance clauses intended for international use must receive a businesslike and contextual construction. Their meaning is not confined by…

Post-contractual words or conduct cannot be used to construe the agreement made at the time. They may, however, establish a later contract or variation.…

A court may adjourn contempt proceedings where fairness requires, but an adjournment against the applicant’s wishes to an uncertain or potentially nonexistent…

Under Part II of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, a tribunal must determine whether a reasonable-adjustment duty arose, whether reasonable steps were…

A binding oral commercial contract requires objective proof that the parties reached agreement and intended to create legal relations. The presumption…

The common law rule against double jeopardy applies only to successive proceedings before courts of competent jurisdiction. It does not bar disciplinary…

A notice under section 20 of the Housing Act 1988 complies with the prescribed Form 7 if, despite errors or omissions, it is substantially to the same effect…

A right of way granted over a defined track may carry, by necessary implication, a right of access to retained land where otherwise the grant would be…

Where a building contract expressly links a contractor’s liability clause to an employer’s obligation to insure existing structures under a joint-names policy…

A construction adjudicator’s decision, made within jurisdiction, is binding and enforceable until the dispute is finally determined by litigation, arbitration…

Article 8 imposes no absolute requirement that protected family life be located in the United Kingdom. The initial questions are whether family life exists and…

Fresh evidence in asylum and human-rights appeals is governed by the wider interests of justice. The ordinary requirements for admitting fresh evidence do not…

An appellate court should not decide a new legal issue where the lower fact-finding tribunals have made no relevant findings. The issue should ordinarily be…

A statement of special educational needs must identify the provision to be made with enough clarity to show what has been decided, but it need not prescribe…

The duty to specify special educational provision requires a statement to identify provision appropriate to the individual child’s needs and objectives.…

At the first stage of an application for wasted costs, the court must be satisfied both that the available material would, if unanswered, be likely to justify…

A decision by a statutory public body is not amenable to judicial review merely because the body performs public functions or because the affected…

An applicant for housing accommodation makes a continuing representation about information material to the authority’s decisions. The applicant must notify a…

For statutory purposes, “payment” of advance corporation tax means actual payment, not a notional or equitable set-off, unless the legislation clearly provides…

A tramway promoter’s specific duties concerning rail level and adjoining road maintenance can give an injured road user a private right of action. The duty in…

A public body making a discretionary funding decision should give reasons which are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. The required detail…

An employer’s duty is to guard against foreseeable dangers to which an employee may be exposed. The foreseeability of an accident of a particular type, and…

An application under paragraph 9 of Schedule 13 to the Environment Act 1995 is not ordinarily a nullity merely because its proposed conditions extend or…

An appeal constitutes separate proceedings for the purposes of the statutory costs-protection regime. Once the appeal has been finally determined, the court…

A contractual payment on default is unenforceable as a penalty where, construed at the time of contracting, it is intended to deter breach rather than to…

Appellate jurisdiction depends on the substance of an application, not the description given to it in a county court order. A circuit judge asked, in…

Apparent bias is determined objectively. The court must ascertain all circumstances bearing on the allegation and ask whether a fair-minded and informed…

A decision made under section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996 may be appealed only with the permission of the judge who made it. That restriction applies to…

A contractual retention mechanism requiring a written opinion from experienced counsel operates as a filter or certificate for a notified warranty claim…

At the permission stage, an appeal should proceed where it has a real prospect of success and raises important issues of principle. Very substantial costs…

The passenger exception in the Motor Insurers’ Bureau agreement is construed narrowly. A passenger does not fall within it merely because a reasonable person…

In a flying freehold, the owner of the upper premises owes a measured duty in nuisance and negligence to take what is reasonable in all the circumstances to…