Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2007

Interim relief restraining the conclusion of a public procurement process is governed by the ordinary principles applicable to interim injunctions. A serious…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal an interlocutory injunction decision, the applicant must show an error of law or that the judge reached a…

Under the statutory scheme for confiscation orders, the amount recoverable is ordinarily the full value of the defendant’s proceeds of drug trafficking. A…

In an Article 8 removal case, the threshold for engagement under Article 8(1) is not especially high. Once engaged, the decisive question is proportionality…

On an application under section 42(6) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the child’s welfare is relevant but is not paramount. The court must consider…

A personal claim in knowing receipt which seeks to make good the claimant’s loss may fall within the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978. It is a claim for…

Article 2 requires the state to take reasonable operational measures to protect a person whose life is at real and immediate risk and whose risk the…

A foreign State may sue in conversion where the law of the place in which antiquities were found vested the State with ownership or an immediate right to…

A formal contract should be given its ordinary meaning where that meaning is coherent in the contractual and factual context. Commercial difficulty does not…

A contractual entitlement to reasonable extra costs of construction work requires proof that the claimed costs arise from work within the contractual…

Police and prosecutors generally owe no duty of care in negligence to victims or witnesses when investigating crime or deciding whether to prosecute. The…

Where a vehicle under a defendant’s management leaves its carriageway or enters the path of oncoming traffic, that occurrence may provide prima facie evidence…

Separate representation for a child in Hague Convention return proceedings may be required where materially new information reveals exceptional circumstances…

In a claim for harassment, damages may reflect the continuing effect of the original tort on the claimant’s recovery. Later conduct during litigation may be…

For input-tax purposes, the court must identify the payment and ask whether the taxpayer obtained goods, services, or a right to have goods or services…

The statutory scheme does not require a landfill permit application to encompass every closed cell that may be affected by a proposed landfill. A proposed…

Under Rule 297(v) of the Immigration Rules, a child seeking entry to join a parent must be maintained by that parent without recourse to public funds. Genuine…

Damages for deceit compensate all financial loss flowing directly from the claimant’s alteration of position in reliance on the fraud. A claimant induced to…

A designated statutory operator reviewing student complaints performs a public function and is amenable to judicial review. Judicial supervision is…

Where a contract requires a party to use reasonable endeavours while taking account of specified criteria, the absence of an express reference to a particular…

A prenuptial agreement cannot oust the court’s duty to determine financial provision under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. It may nevertheless…

In an Article 8 proportionality assessment, the conclusion is primarily evaluative and will not ordinarily be disturbed unless legally flawed. However…

In asylum cases, procedural delay may be excused where the court must remain attentive to the United Kingdom’s international obligations to determine claims…

A Norwich Pharmacal order may in principle be made against a bank whose account arrangements have unwittingly facilitated an alleged conversion, even where the…

For VAT purposes, a transaction marketed as including free insurance does not necessarily contain a separate insurance supply. The court must examine the…

A mortgage indemnity guarantee or insurance policy taken out for a lender’s benefit does not reduce the borrower’s debt when the guarantor or insurer pays the…

Under section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, damages for breach of a repairing covenant are capped by the diminution in the value of the reversion.…

A housing authority's duty under the Housing Act 1996 s 184 is to make inquiries necessary in the circumstances. A reviewing officer may ordinarily rely on a…

A buyer cannot invalidate a notice to complete merely by alleging a breach by the seller. The buyer must identify a legally operative contractual obligation…

An immigration officer deciding whether an asylum claim is suitable for fast-track detention must ask whether, on the information reasonably available at…

A conditional fee agreement qualifies as a “CFA Lite” where, apart from the permitted defaults in regulation 3A(5), the arrangement removes the client’s…

An appellate court may admit evidence not before the trial judge only with permission under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 52.11(2). The discretion is…

Under section 198(6)(b) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the exemption from a tree preservation order applies only if and so far as operations on the…

Fees charged for work delegated by solicitors to independent costs draftsmen are base costs where the work is solicitors’ work and the solicitors retain…

Where a claimant’s account is materially inconsistent and a defence alleges a fabricated road traffic accident, the court must assess the combined effect of…

The death of a partner dissolves the partnership unless the partners agreed otherwise. A later partnership formed by the surviving partner and the deceased…

In Hague Convention return proceedings, the presence of a public law element is a material consideration when deciding whether a child should have separate…

In an employment claim, the proper respondent is the employer or a person against whom a separate statutory basis of liability is actually advanced. A director…

An appellate court may hear an appeal whose immediate subject has become academic where there is a concrete decision, consequential costs, and a continuing…

A charging order may attach to an interest in land held by a judgment debtor as trustee where the relevant costs orders were made against him in that capacity.…

A claimant who recovers damages against a defence denying all entitlement is ordinarily the successful party for costs. Recovering less than claimed does not…

In a “destitute plus” case under the National Assistance Act 1948, the authority must first decide whether the applicant satisfies section 21(1)(a), and then…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, an arguable failure by an immigration tribunal to confront materially relevant authority on revocation of a…

An appeal is confined to the issue that was actually before the lower court. A first-instance judge’s consideration of an additional submission beyond the…

In civil proceedings conducted alongside criminal proceedings, a protective ring-fencing order may adequately address the risk that evidence will be used in…

At the permission stage, permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed grounds make it reasonably arguable that the lower court should not have…

A contractual deemed-service clause must be read as a whole and given effect according to its express terms. Where it requires notice to be sent to the…

In an Article 8 immigration case, administrative delay is a relevant factor in assessing proportionality. Where an applicant has a potential right to enter…

An important and disputed question about the scope of a statutory accommodation duty may justify general permission to appeal and an expedited substantive…

A planning inspector is not required to investigate an alleged health risk from interference with medical equipment merely because it is asserted. Under PPG 8…

A change in rent or a landlord’s direct receipt of payments from an additional occupier does not, by itself, establish a surrender of a tenancy and a regrant…

Removal of a person who can be kept alive and well by medical treatment does not breach Article 3 merely because treatment will be unavailable on return and…

A creditor’s promise to accept a joint debtor’s proportionate share of an existing debt does not create a binding compromise without fresh consideration.…

A policy ordinarily creates a legitimate expectation that it will be applied to persons within its scope, while cases outside it must still receive due…

A tribunal hearing social-security proceedings while related criminal proceedings are pending retains a real discretion whether to proceed or adjourn. It must…

The refusal of entry clearance may fail to respect family life where it prevents a dependent adult child from joining parents with whom a strong family life…

For deemed consent under regulation 6(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992, an advertisement must first fall within…

A determination under section 71(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 creates a statutory liability to repay the full amount of an overpaid…

An application to adjourn for illness is an exercise of case-management discretion. The applicant bears the burden of establishing a genuine inability to…

Where negligence by a lead road user creates an immediate emergency, a following road user’s instinctive reaction may be a causally effective response, even if…

In collective redundancy consultation, where appropriate employee representatives are already in place, a complaint about a failure relating to those…

In an application for permission to appeal in an asylum case, complaints about adverse factual findings will ordinarily fail where the findings were open to…

A successful claimant is ordinarily entitled to the whole of the costs of the claim. A court may reduce those costs for dishonesty or conduct that…

In an Article 8 immigration appeal, the absence of a true exceptionality test does not remove the need for a proper proportionality assessment. The claimant…

A negligence claim based on allegedly inadequate security in communal accommodation must assess the system as a whole and in its factual context. The claimant…

An appeal serves no practical purpose where the order challenged has been overtaken by subsequent events. On a renewed application for permission to appeal…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, permission should be granted where the proposed grounds raise a point of sufficient…

An appellate court reviewing an interim discretionary order should not make findings of fact or resolve competing accounts where the case requires assessment…

Priority need under Housing Act 1996, s.189(1)(c), requires a composite assessment on the assumption that the applicant is homeless. The decision-maker must…

A local authority’s decision to recover possession may be challenged on conventional public law grounds, but the defence will be seriously arguable only in a…

Under the Housing Act 1988, a possession order for nuisance or annoyance requires consideration of whether possession is reasonable. The court must assess the…

For rights-of-access enforcement under Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, the relevant judgment is the original decision determining the rights, not a later…

On an application to relocate children abroad, their welfare is paramount and no presumption favours the applicant parent. The court must scrutinise the…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the first-instance assessment of conflicting evidence is arguably unsafe, even though the prospects of success are…

A local authority is not ordinarily liable in negligence to a parent suspected of abusing a child where establishing liability requires proof that social…

Priority given to a first mortgagee’s power of sale may make performance of a leaseback obligation impossible, but it does not without clear words discharge…

An initial notice for collective enfranchisement under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 is a substantive offer, not merely an…

In an Article 8 immigration case, administrative delay may be considered but does not, of itself, determine the claim, even where earlier action might have…

Where an appellate hearing has been determined in the absence of a litigant because material evidence supporting an adjournment request was not communicated to…

An error of law must be material to the outcome before it can support an appeal from an immigration determination. A credibility assessment should be read as a…

In a personal injury claim, the claimant must prove on the balance of probabilities that the claimed consequences were caused by the accident. The absence of…

A residential assessment under Section 38(6) may be extended where it remains necessary to obtain material information for the final welfare decision…

When removal would affect the family life of an overstayer and a settled spouse, proportionality under article 8 must be assessed objectively on all available…

A promise is supported by consideration where the promisee’s cooperation is given in return for it. The promisee need not consciously identify the detriment…

In a clinical negligence appeal, the claimant must establish on the balance of probabilities that the breach caused or materially contributed to the injury. An…

An immigration appeal is procedurally unfair where the judge decides the case on a new point raised on the judge’s own initiative without giving the affected…

For an application under paragraph 289(A)(iv) of the Immigration Rules House of Commons Paper 395, evidence of domestic violence is not confined to the…

At the permission stage, an error of law must be shown before a tribunal’s determination can be reconsidered. An expert tribunal need not expressly cite every…

A spouse’s statutory right to seek financial provision or a property adjustment on divorce constitutes consideration for an order made in satisfaction of that…

In proprietary estoppel, a clear assurance about land does not by itself entitle the claimant to the promised property. The court must identify the equity…

A contractual choice of England as the seat of an arbitration ordinarily means that challenges to an award may be made only through the remedies permitted by…

An entry clearance appeal under paragraph 297 of the Immigration Rules must be determined by a rational evaluation of the evidence against each requirement. A…

On an appeal from an asylum reconsideration, the court must identify the actual legal error said to have vitiated the tribunal’s decision. It should not…

In an Article 8 removal appeal, a tribunal must identify the nature of the interference with private or family life and ask whether its consequences are…

A shareholder cannot recover personally for loss suffered by a company merely because the alleged harm was intentional. The claim belongs to the company…

In an asylum claim involving return to Eritrea, a comprehensive rejection of the claimant’s account may justify a finding, on the whole evidence and…

In an asylum claim involving return to Eritrea, a tribunal may assess whether departure was unlawful by considering the whole evidential picture. Where the…

Accommodation available to a homelessness applicant must be disregarded if it would be unreasonable for the applicant to occupy it for a continuing period.…

In appeals concerning leasehold enfranchisement, the Court of Appeal agreed with the Lands Tribunal’s conclusion based on section 9(1D) of the Leasehold Reform…

Permission to appeal requires an arguable material error of law in the decision under challenge and a real prospect that an appeal would succeed. The appellate…

An appellate court will not ordinarily entertain an appeal between private parties once it has become academic. It may do so where hearing the appeal is in the…

A renewed application for permission to appeal in judicial review proceedings should be refused where it reformulates issues already raised, or which could and…

For a child who has not suffered past harm, the threshold under section 31(2)(a) of the Children Act 1989 requires a child-specific assessment of future risk.…

Specific performance may be ordered against a contracting vendor who has transferred the land to a third party if the vendor retains power to procure that…

In an Article 8 immigration case, a policy indicating that removal will normally be inappropriate after seven years’ residence by a child does not create an…

A contracting authority may reserve a power to amend a public contract. The principle of transparency is not, however, satisfied merely because the contract…

Permission to appeal against findings dismissing a personal-injury claim should be refused where the trial judge had evidence supporting the factual…

For statutory priority purposes, a charge engages the relevant provisions if it was floating when created. It need not remain floating when possession is taken…

An employer was liable for bladder cancer where its employee had been exposed, in breach of common law and statutory duties, to carcinogenic aromatic amines…

An appellate court should not displace a decision favourable to a party acquitted of fraud except on the clearest grounds. Greater caution is required where…

For child-support purposes, a periodical drawdown or repayment from a parent’s capital is not income merely because it is received regularly. Paragraph 15 of…

When exercising the discretion under section 33(6) of the Family Law Act 1996, the court must give proper regard to the parties’ materially different housing…

Disability Living Allowance may be taken into account when deciding whether an entrant spouse can be maintained adequately without additional recourse to…

An insurance policy may distinguish burglary cover from robbery cover. Theft falls within cover for violence or threat of violence only where the theft…

A later claim is not automatically an abuse of process merely because it could have been raised in earlier proceedings. The court must make a broad…

At an inquest, a coroner may admit hearsay evidence at common law. However, Rule 37 of the Coroners Rules 1984 is a complete code governing the admission of…

When assessing an asylum claimant’s risk on return, a tribunal must make precise findings about the information likely to reach the authorities at the airport…

Permission to appeal should be granted where a proposed ground has a real prospect of success. A tribunal assessing an asylum claim must engage with material…

A retention of title clause does not, without more, prevent the buyer from having authority to resell goods. The finance agreement must be construed in its…

A contractual provision for transmission charges must be construed in the context of the agreement and its commercial purpose. A supplier’s costs and expenses…

In a convoy collision, an emergency stop followed by a rear-end collision does not, without more, establish negligence or liability. A driver may reasonably…

Under Highways Act 1980, a claimant must prove that the highway was dangerous, that the dangerous condition resulted from failure to maintain or repair it, and…

When further representations are assessed as a possible fresh claim, the Secretary of State must address both whether the relevant conditions are met and…

Rule 52.9 permits the Court of Appeal to make payment of existing costs orders a condition of pursuing an appeal where compelling reasons exist. Relevant…

Interim injunction applications must be decided and explained promptly, particularly where an appeal may follow. An order must be confined to the relief…

Section 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 does not impose an absolute duty to identify or consult a newborn child’s father or extended family before…

At the permission stage, general adverse credibility findings do not prevent an appeal from being arguable. Permission may be granted where a tribunal may have…

Under a standard-form claims co-operation clause in liability reinsurance, “loss” means actual loss rather than an alleged or potential loss. It need not…

Compensation is an income receipt where it replaces profits lost through the temporary interruption of a capital asset’s use, even if later market changes make…

In a mesothelioma claim involving exposure by several employers, the modified causation approach does not relieve the claimant of proving the defendant’s…

A public authority exercising statutory powers does not owe a common law duty of care merely because its carelessness may cause foreseeable financial loss. The…

A failure by a local planning authority to give adequate reasons for granting planning permission does not require the court to grant permission for judicial…

A local education authority may name a parent’s preferred school in a statement of special educational needs on condition that the parents meet transport…

An owner may serve more than one purchase notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, but the Act confers no right to amend a notice. Whether a later…

A defendant contending that late service means the court should not try a claim must use the procedure in rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Rules. After…

In sentencing for admitted breaches of an injunction restraining antisocial behaviour, seriousness must be assessed in its factual context. Relevant…

For indefinite leave to remain under paragraph 289A of the Immigration Rules, an applicant must establish a subsisting relationship at the beginning of the…

On an appeal alleging errors of law in an asylum determination, the appellate court must not reassess the merits. It asks whether the decision below was lawful…

An employer responsible for a hospital recovery system must take reasonable steps to protect staff as well as patients where post-anaesthetic confusion may…

Section 6 of Statute of Frauds (Amendment) Act 1828 does not preclude a deceit claim where a fraudulent representation concerning a company's ability to pay is…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981, a transferred employee retains acquired contractual rights and cannot waive…

Under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, a manager’s functions must have a causal link or nexus with qualifying premises containing two or more…

A decision whether to provide exceptional public funding for advocacy at an inquest is a discretionary spending decision. A court should therefore exercise…

A defect exclusion in a contractors all risks policy turns on whether the insured property was in a defective condition when the fortuity occurred. It does not…

A presumed resulting trust arising from a financial contribution to the purchase of property may be rebutted by evidence that the contributor intended an…

In a costs appeal, the appellate court should not interfere with a discretionary costs order merely because it might have exercised the discretion differently.…

An appellate court should be slow to interfere with an immigration judge’s assessment of credibility, particularly where the decision depends on the specialist…

For statutory service, an address specified by a person as the place for receiving notices may be treated as his proper address even if it is not his home or…

On an application for permission to appeal in judicial review proceedings, arguability of some grounds does not justify permission where an independent issue…

The meaning of a lease term such as building depends on the context and the physical subject matter at the date of the lease. A permanent structure with a…

Following a full judicial review hearing, an undifferentiated costs order in favour of a successful defendant includes reasonably incurred pre-permission…

The test for apparent bias is objective: would a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, conclude that there was a real possibility of…

An arbitral agreement which incorporates an appointment statute requires material compliance with the safeguards prescribed by that statute. A commercial party…

A collateral negligence claim against solicitors may proceed after earlier litigation where it alleges that negligent conduct caused an adverse result. It is…

A non-party costs order under section 51(3) depends ultimately on a broad, fact-sensitive discretion. Control or funding of a company’s litigation does not…

When deciding whether to extend time for an appeal, the court applies the relief-from-sanctions considerations in rule 3.9 to the circumstances as a whole. A…

Country guidance must ordinarily be followed, but it may be treated as inapplicable where the facts differ, or reconsidered where circumstances have materially…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an asylum tribunal arguably gives legally inadequate reasons for rejecting an account, or arguably treats unavoidable…

Where Parliament has prescribed a ministerial rule-making procedure subject to negative resolution, without an express duty of prior consultation, courts…

Case-management decisions should stand unless arguably flawed and offering a real prospect of successful appeal. A court may refuse amendments which would…

A care or placement decision should not rest materially on allegations that emerged during trial as untested hearsay, particularly where the alleged maker was…

Denial of nationality can amount to persecution under the Refugee Convention only where it is actuated by a Convention reason. A mistaken interpretation of…

A civil claim under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 requires a course of conduct of sufficient gravity to sustain criminal liability. The statutory…

Interim relief under section 25 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 must be framed by reference to the foreign substantive proceedings and their…

An employer may rely on section 98(2)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 only where continued employment would actually contravene a statutory duty or…

In possession proceedings against a successor secure tenant under Ground 16 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985, the tenant’s family composition and housing…

For the statutory delay consequences under Housing Act 1985 to arise, the tenant must serve an operative notice of delay in the prescribed form. An ineffective…

Compensation under section 84 is assessed by reference to loss caused to the objector’s property, including diminution in value or enjoyment, rather than loss…

A contractual term requiring charges to be paid without deduction or set-off excludes set-off against those charges. A later agreement may suspend that term…

In an asylum appeal, a tribunal assessing risk on return must consider every matter reasonably relevant to that risk. This includes alleged ill-treatment…

On a permission application, the court should avoid allowing its decision on permission to prejudge whether a reference to the European Court of Justice is…

The court may restrain a foreign arbitration under section 37 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 where the respondent is subject to its jurisdiction and an…

In asylum and immigration proceedings, fairness requires an appellant to have a reasonable opportunity to answer significant adverse concerns on which the…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, an arguable error of law arises where a later tribunal reaches a different Article 8 proportionality…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed grounds are properly arguable. At that stage, the court need not predict the ultimate outcome. Alleged…

Under the Employment Tribunal's Regulations 2001, a costs decision involves two stages: first, deciding whether the party's conduct or proceedings meet the…

A tenancy granted by a local housing authority in pursuance of any function under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 is not a secure tenancy under paragraph 4 of…

The refusal of an adjournment by an employment tribunal is a discretionary case-management decision. An appellate court may intervene only for an error of law…

A contractual mobility clause may be invoked to move employees when the employer chooses to avoid dismissals on grounds of redundancy. The existence of a…

An habitual residence rule applying to British citizens outside the Common Travel Area does not become indirectly racially discriminatory merely because…

Once error or fresh evidence reopens the discretion in an ancillary relief appeal, the appellate court must assess the resulting order as a whole. It may…

A planning authority is not required to refuse permission merely because an alternative scheme could produce similar benefits with less harm. It must assess…

An appeal concerning an interim injunction becomes otiose where the respondent gives an undertaking providing all the relief that the injunction application…

A court deciding whether to suspend a possession order against a secure tenant who has committed criminal offences at the property must exercise the broad…

In an asylum appeal, the Court of Appeal held that a failure to raise an unreported or non-country-guidance tribunal decision does not automatically establish…

An appeal against a decree nisi is overtaken by events once the decree has been made absolute; any challenge should then be directed to the decree absolute. A…

Ground 14(b)(ii) of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 is not confined to conduct occurring during the current tenancy. It applies where a tenant is convicted…

After a parent establishes a change of circumstances under section 24 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the court retains a discretion whether to grant…

In an Article 8 family-life claim, a third party’s refugee status may support the conclusion that the person could not reasonably be expected to return to the…

Goodwill belongs to the business that generates it, and may be separate from the lease of the premises in which the business operates. A director who…

When deciding whether to stay or suspend execution of a possession order, the court has an unrestricted discretion, exercised judicially and with particular…

Where an adjudicator determines whether an asylum claimant can internally relocate, the conclusion must be supported by evidence and adequate reasons. A bare…

In fact-finding proceedings involving serious allegations, the judge must assess the evidence as a whole against the civil standard. A respondent’s denials may…

On a summary-judgment application, a respondent must provide sufficient evidence to show a real prospect of success. A bare assertion that further evidence may…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981, regulation 5(1) preserves existing contractual rights and continuity of service…

In a suicide-risk removal case, Article 3 may be engaged only where there are strong grounds for believing that return creates a real risk of inhuman or…

In an asylum appeal, an appellate tribunal may interfere with an adjudicator’s credibility findings only for a material error of law. An adjudicator is not…

Section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 permits the family court to restrict specified applications for orders under the Act. It does not authorise an order…

A minor Union citizen’s right to reside under Article 18 EC arises only after the conditions imposed by the relevant directives have been met. A necessary…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an asylum tribunal’s adverse credibility finding arguably rests on a misreading or incomplete treatment of objective…

A court exercising its inherent jurisdiction in care proceedings may permit a child in care to be interviewed by the solicitors of parents facing criminal…

In statutory valuations for collective enfranchisement or lease extensions, hope value cannot be added separately to the landlord’s share of marriage value.…

Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, section 561(2), imposed a mandatory duty to issue a tax certificate when the statutory conditions were met. It did not…

Where separate asylum or human-rights claims arise from the same factual matrix and involve a material overlap of evidence, the Devaseelan guidance is…

Where a formally executed will gives rise to suspicion that the testator did not know and approve its contents, the person propounding it must prove knowledge…

Provisional inclusion on a vulnerable-adult protection list engages Article 6 where it has the potential to cause serious and irreversible employment…

When reviewing imprisonment for breach of a protective injunction, the court must consider complete and accurate information about the offender’s…

In an immigration reconsideration, a second-stage tribunal should ordinarily confine itself to the errors of law identified at the first stage and should not…

In an alleged oral agreement arising from a social bingo outing, enforceability depends on whether the parties made a sufficiently certain agreement with an…

An English court may enforce an arbitration award even where the underlying transaction involved intended tax evasion, if the award does not require…

State liability for failure to implement a directive does not arise merely because implementation would have benefited the claimant or because the directive…

Whether a pay disparity has a disparately adverse impact on women is primarily a question of fact, bounded by logic. There is no rule requiring an employment…

A contractual duty to exercise reasonable care in providing holiday facilities does not ordinarily require a tour operator to protect a person of full capacity…

Costs are governed by the court’s broad discretion and the general rule that the unsuccessful party pays, but the result cannot be determined solely by asking…

For added matter, the court must compare the application as filed with the proposed amendment through the eyes of the skilled addressee. The comparison is…

Relief from a procedural sanction is not automatic merely because the default was wholly that of a party’s legal representative. Nor does the fact that…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in an asylum case, a tribunal conducting a second-stage reconsideration must address the material issue…

In an application for permission to appeal a child-relocation and contact decision, the Court of Appeal held that a proposed move abroad is not necessarily…

A minister of religion is not subject to a general presumption that arrangements with a church lack legal effect. Whether there is a contract of employment…

Gaming Act 1968 section 16 regulates civil as well as criminal consequences of credit for gaming. Its limited cheque exceptions validate the cheque and…

For VAT purposes, a customer loyalty scheme does not reduce the consideration for fuel merely because qualifying purchases later entitle the customer to a…

Patent claims are construed by asking what the skilled person would understand the patentee to mean, read in the context and purpose of the patent. For a claim…

The standstill clause in article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol to the Ankara Agreement cannot be relied upon for abusive or fraudulent ends. A person may be…

Goods sold in the course of a business satisfy the statutory standard of satisfactory quality if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would regard…

Under section 33 of the Arbitration Act 1996, an arbitral tribunal must give each party a reasonable opportunity to address material issues. If arbitrators…

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by a majority. The judges agreed that an award creditor should not be required to give security for the costs of an…

A court should not make a declaration where an unresolved abuse-of-process issue may dispose of the proceedings. Nor should it make a declaration when the…

Statutory overcrowding, even where continued occupation constitutes an offence, does not of itself make it unreasonable for an applicant to remain in the…

Under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, an employer’s duty is operation-specific. Where risky manual handling cannot reasonably practicably be…

A landlord’s power to regulate traffic under a right-of-way clause must be exercised reasonably and for traffic management. It does not authorise closing or…

On an appeal from an immigration tribunal limited to points of law, the tribunal must give reasons sufficient to explain its conclusion. Appellate scrutiny…

An appeal from a special educational needs tribunal is confined to questions of law and ordinarily reviews the decision under appeal. A party cannot introduce…

On a second appeal in ancillary relief proceedings, an argument that established principles were wrongly applied to the facts is not, without more, an…

Police may curtail the lawful activities of innocent third parties to prevent an imminent breach of the peace only in truly extreme and exceptional…

When deciding whether to award a second set of costs to an interested party in a statutory appeal, the court must exercise its discretion having regard to all…

Permission to appeal may be granted where a substantive issue has a real prospect of success. An issue concerning loss of earnings is arguable where the trial…

In deportation cases, the seriousness of offending must be assessed in its particular circumstances. Dishonesty and property offences cannot be treated as…

Reportage is a narrow form of qualified privilege. It protects a fair and neutral report of attributed allegations as allegations, not a publication that…

Under the Housing Act 1996, a shared residence order does not by itself establish priority need under s.189(1)(b). The housing authority must make its own…

A binding promise to provide money on death is enforceable against the promisor’s estate where the promisee has furnished consideration and completed the…

Whether a trader may use a competitor’s well-known mark in a truthful comparison list, without confusion or harm to the mark’s origin function or reputation…

Section 610 of the Housing Act 1985 creates a broad but judicial discretion to vary restrictive covenants where planning permission has been granted for…

For infringement of a registered Community design, the question under Article 10(1) of Council Regulation EC 6/2002 is whether the accused design gives the…

In care proceedings, a welfare decision may be finely balanced without being erroneous. The trial judge must decide which side of the balance best serves the…

In ancillary relief proceedings, an appellate court may revisit an order founded on a materially false factual assumption that already existed at the original…

Section 35 of the Limitation Act 1980 can permit substitution of a defendant after expiry of the ten-year long-stop period for product-liability claims. This…

An appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is not properly instituted where the appellant supplies only part of the document containing the employment…

For qualified privilege in a defamation claim, the words and their context must be considered together. Where reference to the claimant depends on the…

Where legislation restricts county court litigation to one level of appeal, judicial review of a circuit judge’s decision granting or refusing permission to…

Permission to appeal is appropriate where proposed grounds are arguable and have a real prospect of success. A challenge to first-instance apportionment may…

For VAT purposes, one transaction may comprise separate supplies to different recipients. A supplier may supply goods or services to the final customer and…

Permission to appeal against findings of fact should be refused where the trial judge gave careful reasons and the findings were supported by evidence.…

A company recovering money paid to a director need only establish, on the balance of probabilities, that the payment was not one to which he was entitled. The…

An appellate court should interfere with a discretionary order only where the judge was plainly wrong, meaning that the decision fell outside the generous…

In discrimination proceedings, strike-out is appropriate only where the claim is plain and obvious. Detriment is assessed primarily from the perspective of the…

Where an appeal has become moot on the merits because liability is accepted and only costs remain, the Court of Appeal may confine itself to a brief review of…

Article 3(2)(b) of Directive 2004/38 of the European Community does not confer an automatic right of entry on an unmarried partner in a durable relationship.…

In reviewing an asylum tribunal’s credibility assessment, alleged errors must be considered in the context of the determination as a whole. A tribunal must not…

For equal pay purposes, a job evaluation study does not prevent comparison with a male comparator whose job received a lower value, where the claimant’s job…

Where separate applications for permission to appeal arise from the same facts, and one issue necessarily depends on the outcome of the other, it is ordinarily…

Permission to appeal and permission to adduce new evidence are matters for the appellate court’s discretion. Although the court has moved beyond the former…

In a public law fact-finding hearing, a judge may properly decline to exonerate either of two possible perpetrators of a particular injury, even where the…

Where an education appeal panel rejects the justification for a pupil’s exclusion, reinstatement should ordinarily follow. Under the Education (Pupil…

Windfall provisions forming a fundamental part of a wider family-business reorganisation create binding obligations between the parties. They are not confined…

Loss of use of a negligently damaged vehicle is compensable. Where the claimant reasonably needs and obtains a replacement vehicle, damages may ordinarily be…

Where a child has been wrongfully removed and a discretionary defence is established under the Hague Convention, the court retains a discretion to order…

In economic-loss claims arising from inaccurate information, a special duty of care depends on an objectively inferred assumption of responsibility for the…

For compulsory purchase powers under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, the statutory description of the order land is assessed by…

Damages for late redelivery of a time-chartered vessel are governed by the general principles of remoteness. The conventional market-rate difference for the…

On a second appeal, the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or there is another…

When considering whether to extend time and grant permission to appeal against possession and strike-out orders, the appellate court may consider reliable…

In sentencing for repeated deliberate breaches of a non-molestation order, the court must mark its disapproval and promote future compliance, but the sentence…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal an asylum decision, the Court of Appeal will not re-examine a tribunal’s credibility and evidential findings…

A family judge may form, and even express, a provisional view during the hearing that a child should return to the family or be placed for adoption. That does…

A lessee who knows that the reversion has been assigned but continues to treat the former lessor as landlord, while receiving services from it, may be estopped…

Relief from a sanction for non-compliance with a court order requires an overall assessment of the factors in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR) 3.9 and all…

In child welfare proceedings, a discretionary residence decision may be set aside where the judge’s method of evaluation vitiates the exercise of discretion. A…

Contractual adjustment provisions must be construed from the words used and the parties’ shared factual background. Evidence of industry practice is…

On an application for permission to appeal in care and adoption proceedings, the Court of Appeal may intervene only where there is an arguable case that the…

Under Rule 364, a decision-maker may first determine whether offending crosses the deportation threshold, then weigh factors against deportation. Asking…

In an Article 8 case affecting family life, the relevant question is proportionality, not whether the circumstances are exceptional. Where indefinite leave to…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal against an Employment Appeal Tribunal’s discretionary refusal to extend time, the Court of Appeal will not…

An appeal against an interim care order which has expired may properly be dismissed without determination of its merits where the current interim arrangement…

When deciding whether to extend time for an employment appeal, the appellate tribunal must consider the broad merits of the proposed appeal. An extension…

Article 8 does not require a claimant to show truly exceptional circumstances. The correct approach is proportionality. Even where a tribunal may have used the…

Permission to appeal may be granted where criticisms of an asylum determination are sufficiently numerous and well founded to make it possible that errors of…

On an application for summary judgment, the court may determine an estoppel claim on the assumption most favourable to the claimant’s opponent. Acts ordinarily…

Where an application for permission to appeal concerns a potentially decisive authority awaiting House of Lords review, and a related case raises further live…

An enforcement notice which has taken effect cannot later be challenged in civil or criminal proceedings on a ground available in the statutory appeal process.…

In committal proceedings, the court must apply the criminal standard of proof, but procedural and drafting imperfections do not automatically defeat a…

Interim relief on an unfair-prejudice petition remains governed by the ordinary American Cyanamid approach. The court must identify a serious issue and…

In a finely balanced child-contact case involving a seriously disabled child, the court should proceed cautiously where the evidence is tentative or…

At the permission stage, it was arguable that a claim form could be amended after expiry of limitation where the claim form and documents served with it, read…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of overcoming decisive difficulties and would fail even if part of the…

The Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal and allowed the appeal to the stated extent. It made a conditional unless order requiring full compliance with…

In construing a patent claim, a term without a technical meaning is given its proper ordinary meaning as a matter for the court. A device does not satisfy a…

In ancillary-relief proceedings, a request to adjourn for alleged ill-health is a matter for case-management discretion. The judge must assess the request in…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal challenges a binding order for which the court below had jurisdiction and the challenge has no…

A guarantee securing a buyer’s payment obligations remains effective where financing arrangements transfer title in goods to finance companies and those…

The statutory prohibition on parking with wheels on an urban road other than a carriageway is construed by reference to the provision as a whole and the…

An employer’s formal procedure for investigating workplace complaints will usually become contractually binding where it has been published and implemented…

A clear disclaimer in a syndication information memorandum may define the limited scope of any representation made by its arranger. Where it states that the…

In care proceedings, a split hearing must have a clearly defined purpose, issues and proposed relief. A court must distinguish a final threshold inquiry under…

Arbitrary executive deprivation of nationality on a Convention ground can itself constitute persecution. Removing identity documents to prevent proof of…

An employer’s responsibility for an employee’s ill-health is a relevant circumstance when deciding whether dismissal for incapability is fair. It may require…

The duty under section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 is imposed only on specified bodies responsible for the relevant health services. It is not…

In an Article 8 case, proportionality is the legal question; an applicant need not separately show that the circumstances are truly exceptional. The rarity of…

An interference with private or family life must be real to engage article 8, but the threshold is not specially high. Once engaged, the question is whether…

Compensation for unjustifiable trade-union discipline under the statutory “just and equitable” standard is not subject to an additional foreseeability…

On an appeal from the Special Immigration Appeals Commission limited to a question of law, the likelihood of treatment on return is a question of fact. Whether…

An appellate court considering permission to appeal should not reopen findings of dishonesty absent a real prospect of showing factual or legal error. The…

Detention pending deportation must serve the statutory purpose and continue only for a period reasonably necessary to achieve it. Its reasonableness depends on…

Whether a former natural watercourse has become a sewer is a question of fact and degree, assessed by reference to the particular stretch in issue. The court…

For Schedule 2 development under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999, the prescribed threshold…

Section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925 does not ask whether a proposed use is simply in the public interest. It asks whether the restrictive covenant, in…

The tort of misfeasance in public office applies only to a public officer vested with governmental or executive authority. Commercial self-regulation, even…

Beneficial interests in jointly acquired property must be quantified by determining the parties’ actual common intention, or the intention inferred from their…

Untested and uncorroborated hearsay is not subject to an absolute rule preventing a court from giving it weight. The court must assess reliability on all the…

A published housing-transfer manual may state the Secretary of State’s policy even though it has no statutory force. The Secretary of State must have regard to…

A bill of lading which incorporates the Hague-Visby Rules only where they are compulsorily applicable does not incorporate them merely because the port of…

A statutory demand should normally be set aside where the debtor has a counterclaim, set-off or cross-demand equal to or exceeding the debt, or disputes the…

An appellate court should not interfere with an employment tribunal’s case-management decision unless it involved an error of legal principle or was plainly…

An employment tribunal cannot infer that a body imposed a discriminatory requirement or condition without analysing the merits of the underlying claim and the…

A stage 2 tribunal reconsideration will ordinarily proceed on the original findings, unless they were affected by the identified error of law. It may revisit…

A tribunal may refuse an adjournment where existing evidence and the hearing itself enable it to assess whether a vulnerable witness understands the…

In an appeal concerning an untraced-driver compensation scheme, a distinction must be drawn between an accidental failure to carry out a compliant…

A claimant seeking permission to serve out a claim to enforce a foreign judgment need not establish that the judgment debtor has assets in England and Wales.…

Delay in determining an immigration application does not itself create a substantive right to remain or convert a weak Article 8 case into an exceptional one.…

On an application for pre-action disclosure, the general rule is that the respondent receives its costs. The rule recognises that a person outside existing…

A local authority cannot avoid its duty under section 20(1) of the Children Act 1989 by directing a child in need towards homelessness assistance and arranging…

In an appeal concerning discretionary child-welfare orders, permission should be granted only where there is an arguable case that the judge was plainly wrong.…

A contractual entitlement under a company voluntary arrangement to recover litigation funding costs is governed by the arrangement’s terms. It is not enlarged…

For statutory winding-up priorities, “entitlement to payment” may exist where a pension is already in payment or the member has a right to demand immediate…

Under section 10 of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965, the works may include the whole project authorised by a composite package of statutory orders, including…

An official entrusted by the Immigration Rules with deciding an individual application must exercise that judgment personally. The Secretary of State may issue…

A court has jurisdiction under the Children Act 1989, section 8, to make a specific issue order about whether, when or how a child should be told the truth of…

An appellate court does not normally decide an academic statutory question once an appeal can be dismissed on another basis. It may do so where the issue is…

Under Housing Act 1996, intentional homelessness requires deliberate conduct causing the applicant to cease occupying accommodation that was available and…

In an Article 8 removal case, proportionality is assessed on the facts and evidence as they stand when the claim is decided. An earlier administrative mistake…

Questions arising under removal powers may be both appealable and reviewable. The High Court should calibrate its discretion to entertain judicial review…

A Country Guidance determination has special status because it is produced by a specialist tribunal following review of the available country material. A court…

The Court of Appeal remains bound by one of its decisions unless a later House of Lords decision enunciates a clear principle plainly inconsistent with that…

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 may provide a defence to possession proceedings even where the occupier has lost security of tenure and the court…

On an application to increase nominal periodical payments, the court’s overriding objective under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 section 31 is a result fair to…

In a private-law dispute about a child’s upbringing, the court must conduct the welfare assessment required by Children Act 1989, section 1. It must compare…

The expression civil and commercial matters in the Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 has an autonomous meaning. The court must examine whether a public authority…

An appellate court may interfere with a costs order only after concluding that the trial judge’s exercise of discretion was flawed. The starting point under…

Where a person dies or suffers life-threatening injury in state custody, Article 2 requires the State to commence an effective investigation by an investigator…

For an interim receiving order, the Director must show a good arguable case that property was obtained through an identified kind of unlawful conduct, or…

A solicitor’s duty is defined by the retainer and the circumstances, rather than by a general obligation to insure a client against legal or commercial risks.…

An employee’s salary forms part of a reciprocal employment relationship and depends on performing, or being willing to perform, contractual work. An employee…

A court should restrain a primary carer from relocating with a child within the United Kingdom only in a truly exceptional case. The principles governing…

Article 9 permits interference with religious manifestation where the public-health objective is properly identified and the interference is proportionate.…

For post-28 February 1997 assured tenancies, the Housing Act 1988, section 19A, creates an assured shorthold tenancy by default unless an exclusion in Schedule…

A legally qualified panel member who decides whether a social security appeal is out of time or outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction acts as the Appeal…

In care and adoption proceedings, an appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s welfare evaluation merely because the evidence is finely…

A partnership requires an agreement between the alleged partners. The agreement may be express or implied from conduct. Where the parties have expressly…

On a trustee in bankruptcy’s application for sale of land held on trust for sale, the jurisdictional question is whether the bankrupt could have applied for…

Standard disclosure in a patent action involving obviousness must be determined under the ordinary Civil Procedure Rules. There is no presumptive rule…

The discretion to extend the time for a disability-discrimination complaint is wide, but an extension is exceptional. The claimant must show that, in all the…

Registration as a citizen obtained under a false identity is a nullity where the registration was intended for another person. The person who used that…

An exclusive English jurisdiction clause covering proceedings relating to a contract is wide, but it does not encompass proceedings brought under a foreign…

Orders under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 are exceptional, but may be made without a fixed end date and may last until the child reaches 18. Orders…

A financial order providing for remaining claims to be dismissed upon full payment of a lump sum does not dismiss those claims before payment. They remain…

An easement may be implied on a conveyance where the parties had a common intention that the land granted or retained would be used in a definite and…

A VAT arrangement constitutes an abusive practice where, despite formal compliance with the applicable provisions, it produces a tax advantage contrary to…

For a deceit claim, time under section 32(1)(a) of the Limitation Act 1980 begins when the claimant discovers, or could with reasonable diligence discover, the…

On a supplementary appeal, the Court of Appeal must confine its order to issues properly before it and ensure that the relief gives effect to its judgment. It…

Transitional protection requires a new tenancy to follow immediately after the earlier protected or statutory tenancy. A party cannot introduce a materially…

A local planning authority may decide that an environmental impact assessment is unnecessary only where it can make a firm, rational judgment that the proposed…

Whether to defer a decree absolute pending an outstanding foreign jurisdiction appeal is a matter of judicial discretion. There is no automatic requirement to…

An appellate court may, while an appeal remains pending, refer a contingently relevant issue back to the trial judge under the Civil Procedure Rules, Rule…

An Immigration Judge is not generally required to address separately every credibility point in a refusal letter which the presenting officer has not actively…

An incentive or bonus agreement forms part of an individual contract of employment where it adds to or varies the terms governing the employment relationship.…

Where a care judge postpones final disposal to give parents a further opportunity to demonstrate improvement, the court must retain effective judicial control.…

Reportage is a form of Reynolds qualified privilege. It applies where the publication, viewed objectively and as a whole, neutrally reports the fact that…

In a solicitor-negligence claim arising from advice in possession proceedings, causation and the measure of loss depend on the facts and common sense. There is…

An insurance broker who has placed original insurance and back-to-back reinsurance may owe each client a post-placement duty to identify and draw attention to…

The protection afforded to a serving foreign head of state by Article 29 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, as applied by section 20 of the…

In construing a commercial participation agreement, a stated basic allocation of benefits and burdens is the starting point. A substantial departure from that…

On a second appeal in ancillary relief proceedings, the Court of Appeal may take account of a materially changed evidential position where the proposed order…

Damages for breach of a repairing covenant are capped by the diminution in the value of the reversion under section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927.…

A conditionally discharged restricted patient may be recalled where the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds, based on up-to-date medical evidence, to…

In an internal relocation case, acceptance of risk in the claimant’s home area does not require a finding of risk throughout the country. The decision-maker…

In judicial review of a compensation assessment, the decision must be examined by reference to the material available to the panel. Later evidence cannot…

A confiscation order and imprisonment in default under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 are assessed together as a penalty for Article 7(1) purposes. A regime…

Under regulation 12 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, a floor’s suitability must be assessed objectively in the circumstances of…

Where a lender knows that another lender will advance money only on the belief that it will have first call on the secured property, stands by while the…

In a consequential costs ruling, nominal success on an issue does not justify a costs deduction where that issue was not decided because it was practically…

For the social-security habitual-residence rules, lawful presence in the United Kingdom is not itself a right to reside. An EEA national who is not a qualified…

In a contact dispute, refusal of direct contact may be premature where the assessment has not properly examined practical forms of supervised or supported…

Apparent bias is determined by assessing all relevant circumstances from the standpoint of a fair-minded and informed observer. The question is whether there…

A contractual share option scheme required a two-stage decision when an option holder ceased employment. The remuneration committee first had an absolute…

A construction subcontract expressed as work to be completed for a stated sum, without unit rates, is a fixed-price contract unless a contrary agreement is…

Registration of a judgment under Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 permits protective measures directed at domestic enforcement. It does not confer jurisdiction…

Under a bilateral investment treaty, a tax matter remains within investor–state arbitration where it has a sufficiently broad link with the observance or…

Administrative delay may strengthen an immigrant’s private or family life, but the court does not grant relief to punish departmental inefficiency. Article 8…

Intentional homelessness under section 191(1) of the Housing Act 1996 must be determined from all the circumstances. A family home differs from rented…

A solicitor must consider and advise on legal aid or public funding at the outset of the retainer where the client might be eligible. The duty cannot be…

When the Parole Board considers the re-release of a determinate-sentence prisoner recalled under section 254 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, it acts as the…

In a difficult child-residence case, the child’s welfare remains paramount. The court must address the welfare checklist and any other relevant considerations…

Before invoking common mistake or frustration, a court must construe the parties’ agreement and identify any express or implied allocation of the relevant…

Publication of information relating to proceedings held in private is not, by itself, contempt of court. Under section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act…

A contractual promise to run specified computer models and report their results does not, without more, require delivery of the underlying calculations. The…

At a second-stage reconsideration, the tribunal must accept the adjudicator’s factual findings but independently assess present risk on return using the…

Reopening a final determination under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 r 52.17 requires real injustice, exceptional and appropriate circumstances, and no alternative…

An oral agreement for a proposed business venture is not binding where significant terms concerning finance and the parties’ interests in a company yet to be…

An appeal court may join parties from the lower-court proceedings where they are affected by the appeal, and may permit joinder where their proposed arguments…

Procedural defects in committal proceedings do not automatically invalidate a committal order. The court may waive a defect where the contemnor received a full…

Under section 1(6) of the Equal Pay Act 1970, “common terms and conditions” means terms sufficiently similar for a broad comparison. Employees of the same…

Withdrawal of a pleaded admission requires permission under CPR 17.1(2)(b). The court must consider the CPR 14.1 practice, all the circumstances, the…

For limitation purposes, a claimant has knowledge that an injury is attributable to the defendant’s conduct when the claimant knows there is a real possibility…

The Court of Appeal should set aside a preliminary-reference question only where the lower court took an incorrect view of Community law and the answer is…

For Article 14, other status means a personal characteristic, but the concept is not unlimited. Relevant considerations include analogy with specified grounds…

A post-termination non-dealing covenant must be construed objectively in its commercial and factual setting. A construction that makes the covenant futile…

A compulsory purchase order which deprives a private owner of land requires a clear and compelling public-interest case. The decision-maker must consider…

Under the Waste Framework Directive, material originally discarded can cease to be waste before combustion. The question is fact-sensitive and requires a value…

Delay in preparing or promulgating a tribunal determination does not by itself make the determination unlawful. An appellate court must identify a rational…

Under section 193(7F) of the Housing Act 1996, suitability and the reasonableness of accepting an offer are separate questions. The authority must consider the…

A court should decide a disputed factual issue by examining and evaluating the evidence. It may resort to the burden of proof only where that process leaves it…

In assessing compensation for future loss of earnings, a tribunal should place the claimant in the position they would have occupied absent unlawful conduct.…

For statutory sick pay, agency workers are treated as employees working under contracts of service by the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992…

A judge may form provisional views as evidence unfolds and may disclose them to assist case management. A judge may indicate that one side’s evidence presently…

A housing authority deciding whether a homeless applicant is vulnerable must consider all medical evidence capable of materially affecting the decision. It…

An alleged collateral contract arising from pre-contractual negotiations must be assessed objectively when the principal lease or conveyance is executed. The…

An application for leave to oppose an adoption order under section 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 is a decision relating to adoption. The child’s…

Further submissions amount to a fresh claim under Rule 353 of the Immigration Rules only where they contain material not previously considered and, with the…

For the purposes of intentional homelessness, later accommodation is settled only where the occupier has solid grounds reasonably to expect that occupation…

The taking of accounts between co-owners of land is governed by sections 12–15 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, rather than the…

Section 13(1)(b) of the Housing Act 1988 excludes an assured periodic tenancy from the statutory rent-increase procedure where a binding contractual provision…

The Solicitors Regulation Authority may impose conditions on a practising certificate in its regulatory jurisdiction, even where the Solicitors Disciplinary…

A coroner deciding whether to leave an unlawful-killing verdict may assess whether the evidence could safely support that verdict. The coroner must respect the…

In a clinical negligence claim, an admitted breach does not establish causation unless the claimant proves what information competent further inquiries would…

In a defamation claim, the meaning of the words must be identified before deciding whether the defence of fair comment applies. Whether words are fact or…

Patent obviousness should be assessed by identifying the skilled person and common general knowledge, identifying the claim’s inventive concept or construing…

Evidence that women are regarded as sexually available, face discrimination, or may need to exchange sex for employment does not, without more, establish a…

An asylum tribunal must approach an adjournment application by asking whether the appeal can otherwise be justly determined under the Asylum and Immigration…

Under a JCT building contract, an employer’s right to deduct liquidated and ascertained damages crystallises when the contractual conditions are satisfied and…

On an appeal concerning a housing authority’s review decision, the court’s task is supervisory. The court may intervene where the decision is legally flawed…

The Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction to reopen a concluded appeal is exceptional. Rules of court regulate, but cannot enlarge, the court’s underlying…

A discontinuance order may be confirmed under Town and Country Planning Act 1990 where the decision-maker applies the statutory question of whether…

The Bonnard rule against prior restraint where a defendant proposes to justify an alleged defamation does not, as such, govern a genuine trade mark…

Under section 98(1) of the Rent Act 1977, possession of a protected tenancy requires suitable alternative accommodation and a reasonable possession order.…

A national car-user allowance scheme may give a local authority power to determine the allowance band by reference to duties and appropriate engine capacity…

A public authority does not owe a common law duty of care where that duty would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme governing its functions. The Child…

In an Article 3 suicide-risk case, the claimant must establish a causal link between return and any enhanced risk of suicide. The tribunal must apply the…

A public authority unlawfully fetters its discretion if it defers a whole class of applications solely to meet an administrative target, without a principled…

For section 18(2) of the Capital Allowances Act 1990, “a part of a trade” bears its ordinary meaning. A commercially distinct activity may be such a part even…

A transfer of a child’s residence because of a resident parent’s obstruction of contact is an exceptional response. It may nevertheless be justified where…

For a certificate of lawful use, the question is whether the building has been changed to use as a single dwelling house. That requires an assessment of both…

At the leave stage under Part III of the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act 1984, the court asks only whether there is substantial ground for a…

In an asylum appeal, the tribunal must relate the claimant’s particular activities to the objective country evidence and explain how those activities create a…

An appellate court will not disturb a trial judge’s fact-finding conclusions where they were open on the evidence, particularly where they rest on assessed…

A housing authority reviewing the suitability of accommodation must make sufficient enquiries to discharge its statutory function properly, having regard to…

An antisocial behaviour injunction obtained under section 153A of the Housing Act 1996 cannot generally be treated as waived merely because a person protected…

An appellate court should defer to an expert asylum tribunal’s assessment of country evidence and the safety and reasonableness of internal relocation. A…

An appellate court will not entertain an arguable point that was not raised before the AIT and does not concern a Robinson obvious issue. Such a point cannot…

In an asylum appeal, a tribunal which finds a material error of law may confine reconsideration to specified issues. The second-stage tribunal must follow the…

Under the pre-POCA restraint-order regime, release of restrained assets for legal expenses remains a matter of judicial discretion. The court must respect the…

On an application under Part 24 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the court should determine a short point of law or contractual construction where all necessary…

An appellate court has discretion to admit fresh evidence under the Civil Procedure Rules, exercised in accordance with the established Ladd v Marshall…

Under the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997, a “locality” for determining local reference rent must comprise at least two adjoining…

On an application for an assessment under section 38(6) of the Children Act 1989, the court must assess whether the proposed assessment can assist the…

Frustration requires a multi-factorial assessment of whether a supervening event has made performance radically different from that undertaken. Relevant…

An assessment under section 73(1) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 determines the net amount of VAT due. Its input-tax and output-tax components are not…

A contractual requirement for prior consent to subcontracting or delegation is distinct from retrospective forgiveness or waiver. Acquiescence after…

A protective costs order is an exceptional form of relief, and every applicable criterion must be satisfied. The criteria include whether the issues have…

In an international child-relocation application, the practicalities required of the relocating parent are fact-sensitive. The evidential threshold is lower…

A fact-finding tribunal that has heard the witnesses need not explain why it rejects every inconsistent answer when it clearly accepts one witness’s evidence.…

Section 193(5) of the Housing Act 1996 is not confined to temporary accommodation. It may apply when a homeless applicant refuses suitable permanent…

A tribunal may order an unsuccessful claimant to pay costs where claims are misconceived. The Court of Appeal will interfere only for an error of legal…

A challenge to a trustee in bankruptcy’s refusal to investigate or pursue an alleged claim is properly made under section 303 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Rule…

The common law does not impose a duty of care on public authorities or their employees to parents honestly suspected of abusing their children when…

For an appeal from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, the period for filing an appellant’s notice runs from service of written notice that permission to…

Permission for a second appeal may be granted only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice or there is another compelling…

Committal proceedings for breach of a family injunction are akin to criminal proceedings. Before imposing custody, the judge must address legal representation…

The Civil Division of the Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to entertain a second appeal in an extradition matter from the Divisional Court. Extradition is a…

Adoption should not displace placement with a natural parent unless there are compelling reasons. The risk of harm must be so high that the child’s welfare…

When deciding whether removal creates a real risk of suicide sufficient to engage the right to respect for private life, a tribunal must make a single, rounded…

Ancillary relief requires computation of financial resources before their fair distribution through needs, compensation and sharing. Discretionary trust assets…

The without prejudice rule may protect genuine settlement negotiations before proceedings have begun or been threatened. The decisive question is not temporal…

Part II of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protects pre-commencement performances even where the performer died before the Part came into force.…

A head lessee of a building containing flats and common parts is not generally a qualifying tenant entitled to an individual lease extension under the…

An appeal tribunal must identify and consider issues that are clearly apparent from the evidence, consistently with its inquisitorial function. It need not…

Paragraph 7 of Schedule 20 to the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 can authorise interference with an easement where its statutory conditions are…

An exercise of the royal prerogative through an Order in Council is amenable to judicial review where its subject matter is justiciable. Its formal source in…

A retrospective extension of time for serving a claim form under rule 7.6(3) is available only if the claimant took all reasonable steps to serve within the…

Article 12 permits proportionate measures directed at preventing marriages of convenience used to obtain immigration advantages. It does not permit a scheme…

Where a contract requires a seller to use all reasonable endeavours to obtain a specified section 106 agreement, the obligation is a single composite…

Reinstatement after school exclusion restores the legal relationship between pupil and school and revives the school’s statutory and common-law obligations. It…

Under section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, a court must be satisfied that a mortgagor is likely, within a reasonable period, to pay the sums…

On an application for permission to appeal, the court is concerned with whether the proposed grounds cross the threshold of arguability, rather than…

For intentional homelessness, an earlier deliberate departure from reasonable accommodation remains causally effective unless a sufficiently settled later…

On an application concerning permission to seek contact, the court is not required to make a residence order of its own motion. A residence order which would…

An FOB sale contract containing a laycan must be construed as a whole. If the buyer may present its vessel until the final moment of the laycan, the delivery…

The privilege against self-incrimination does not prevent disclosure to the police of real, pre-existing evidence discovered while a lawful civil search order…

Without-prejudice privilege is not waived merely because settlement discussions are mentioned in an internal grievance process, even where participants include…

For fixing rent under section 34(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the passing rent and rent payable for a comparable adjoining property are relevant…

Sections 102 and 103 of the Housing Act 1985 form a complete code for varying secure tenancies. A local authority may vary terms by agreement, under limited…

Permission to appeal may be granted where authorities on the enforcement of an unregistered option against a third party disclose a genuine tension requiring…

The exemption in section 11(2) of the Public Order Act 1986 is not determined merely by a procession’s fixed starting point, time or collective intention. A…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal against an immediate possession order under ground 14 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, an arguable…

On an application for permission to appeal, permission may be confined to grounds disclosing a reasonably arguable error of principle. Grounds challenging…

Before ordering an insurer to pay the costs of litigation in which its insured was unsuccessful, the court must undertake a two-stage inquiry. It must first…

In professional negligence, a court should not reject a responsible body of professional opinion unless it lacks a logical basis. Bolitho permits that…

Where a landlord validly starts proceedings for a new business tenancy and the tenant acknowledges that it seeks a tenancy on different terms, the tenant’s…

In appeals arising from costs applications after a consent order, the court must first determine whether the order, construed as an agreement, permits an…

In child-contact litigation, an appellate court should respect the trial judge’s evaluation where the judge has maintained continuity, considered the relevant…

Where permission to appeal has been granted but the appellant has missed the time for lodging the appeal through no personal fault, the court may extend time.…

Where a traditional “unless” order prescribes dismissal or striking out, any material non-compliance automatically produces the stated sanction. No further…

For capital gains tax, a unit trust scheme is treated as a company and unit holders’ rights as shares. The computation is asset-specific: the relevant asset…

A court may substitute a successor to a party’s interest under rule 19.2 of the Civil Procedure Rules after judgment. Substitution does not itself establish…

In asylum and human-rights claims, tribunals need not recite familiar authorities as a formula. The question is whether they addressed the correct issue…

Whether a control order deprives a person of liberty under article 5 depends principally on physical liberty assessed in the person’s concrete situation. The…

On reconsideration of an asylum appeal, findings and conclusions unaffected by the identified error of law should ordinarily stand. They may be reopened only…

An easement is annexed to the dominant land, rather than necessarily to a particular estate in that land. Merger of a leasehold estate into the freehold…

An immigration judge considering deportation under section 3(5) of the Immigration Act 1971 may treat the seriousness of offences as part of a wider evaluative…

In child-protection fact-finding proceedings, the clinical investigations required for a child’s treatment are matters for doctors. The evidence required for…

In care proceedings, permission for further expert evidence may properly be given where a parent advances a materially changed proposed care arrangement which…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in an asylum and family-reunion case, the Court of Appeal held that a tribunal conducting reconsideration may…

Where a statutory time limit for retrospective benefit claims runs from receipt of a notification, and the later provision refers to the notification required…

The prohibition on financial assistance requires attention to commercial realities and the company’s purpose. Its penal character means that it should not be…

Under regulation 12(a) of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations 1990, the Law Society has a general discretion to determine which heads of the Qualified…

Evidence is not fresh on an appeal where the applicant knew the relevant matters before trial and could have obtained and used the evidence with reasonable…

The threshold under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 may be crossed where proven child-related domestic violence and parenting difficulties create a real…

Registration of a foreign judgment should not proceed where the evidence leaves uncertain the legal nature of its enforceability in the state of origin. It is…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal held that several issues concerning an employer’s common-law and statutory duties were…

The appeal was allowed. Paragraphs 2 to 5 of the High Court order were set aside, including the dismissal of the Part 20 claim. The costs directions were…

A finding that a claimant relied on a particular misrepresentation may stand where the evidence, viewed in context, makes that inference open, even if the…

In ancillary-relief proceedings, equal division is not an automatic starting point where the principal assets were brought into the marriage by one spouse…

For a reputed trade mark, use of a later mark for dissimilar goods or services is not caught merely because it brings the earlier mark to mind. A qualifying…

A novation requires a contract between the original contracting parties and a third party, with the consent of all three. A conditional acceptance does not…

A judge’s earlier criticism of a party does not, without more, establish apparent bias in later proceedings involving that party. The recusal question must be…

An application made before existing leave expires may engage the statutory continuation-of-leave provisions in the Immigration Act 1971. It may therefore be…

Under clause 8(1) of the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, an adjudicator lacks jurisdiction to determine more than one…

In care proceedings, an appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s evaluation of parental capacity and expert evidence unless the conclusion was…

On a tribunal reconsideration, earlier factual findings may be reopened where an identified error of law affects an account whose elements are inseparable from…

The expression “in connection with” must be construed in its statutory context. It ordinarily encompasses direct and indirect connections. The same payment or…

When further asylum or human rights submissions are considered under Immigration Rules rule 353, the decision-maker must ask whether an independent tribunal…

A court considering return under the 1980 Hague Convention must respect the high threshold for Article 13(b), but may refuse return in an exceptional case…

An appeal court may require an appellant to pay the judgment debt into court, or provide security, only where there are compelling reasons under CPR rule 52.9.…

Where an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal has granted permission to appeal, an appellant should not be deprived of that opportunity solely because lawyers…

Whether an apparent resignation is in law a dismissal depends on what caused the termination. A resignation can be genuine where the employee makes a free and…

A finding that proceedings breached Article 6 because they exceeded a reasonable time does not automatically make a fair trial impossible or require the…

For the purposes of section 13(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, wages are "properly payable" only after considering all express and implied contractual…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where the lower court’s reasons are materially obscure on whether it found a proprietary estoppel or constructive…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A procedural disagreement does not satisfy…

In a planning decision engaging article 8, proportionality does not require rigid application of the two-stage procedure formulated for direct state…

Material new evidence unavailable at trial, which casts a fundamentally different light on evidence central to the decision, can alone justify allowing an…

In a personal injury claim, a judge must identify the findings that determine the claimed loss and explain why the losing party’s evidence is rejected. Later…

Where the fixed-success-fee scheme for road traffic accident claims applies, a claim concluding at trial attracts the prescribed 100% increase in solicitors’…

The requirement for an employee to set out a grievance in writing is statutory and need not involve formal invocation of an employer’s internal grievance…

A determinate sentence is not outside Article 5(4) merely because its nominal term is fixed. Where domestic law or established practice provides early-release…

For a claim under Part I of the Land Compensation Act 1973, a highway is maintainable at the public expense at the relevant date if it falls within section…

Judicial or quasi-judicial immunity protects disciplinary-board members from suit or compulsory process for conduct in proceedings. It does not make the…

An extension of time under rule 10(5) requires special circumstances making refusal unjust. That criterion is distinct from the exceptional-circumstances test…

Where a joint venture agreement refers to a related facility letter, the documents must be construed together, whether they constitute one composite agreement…

A driver turning right from a minor road onto a major road must exercise great care, but negligence remains a fact-sensitive question of reasonable…

A Smith v Manchester award compensates the risk that residual accident-related disability will cause future unemployment or lower-paid employment, despite the…

Where children living primarily with one parent are retained by the other parent after staying contact, the principled order is their peremptory return.…

An appellate court should not interfere with a family judge’s findings of fact where the judge has heard the principal witnesses, considered the relevant…

In fixing an uncertain boundary, the court must ascertain the parties’ common intention from the conveyance, its plan and the relevant surrounding evidence.…

Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, SOCA must not withhold consent to a bank’s dealing with suspected criminal property without good reason. That obligation…

Wilful misconduct for the purposes of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road requires more than a conscious but…

An assured tenancy does not necessarily continue until possession is actually delivered after a possession order. Where the court makes an immediate order, the…

In an application to discharge or modify a restrictive covenant under section 84 of the Law and Property Act 1995, a building scheme does not create a…

Direct discrimination requires a factual inquiry into why less favourable treatment occurred and whether the operative ground was racial. The decision-maker’s…

An appellate tribunal must engage with material evidence capable of affecting its findings on risk. Background evidence need not be cited expressly if it can…

Permission to appeal in care proceedings requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason. Bare denials of earlier findings, unsupported by new…

On an application to extend an interim restriction on medical registration, the court acts as the primary decision maker. The General Medical Council must…

In a confined asylum reconsideration, an Immigration Judge may treat a disputed fact as established for the purpose of considering the issue remitted, where…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in judicial review proceedings, allegations of clinical risk which had already been independently…

A supplemental agreement varying an existing construction subcontract must be construed according to its wording and the retained subcontract terms. A…

In a clinical-negligence claim based on an omission, causation first requires a factual finding, on the balance of probabilities, of what would have happened…

Whether residential occupation creates a tenancy depends objectively on the purpose, terms and surrounding circumstances. Exclusive possession is necessary but…

Rectification for mutual mistake requires convincing proof of a common intention that continued to the instrument’s execution. A prior accord does not suffice…

An appeal may be disposed of by consent where the Court of Appeal approves the parties’ agreement. On allowing the appeal, the court may set aside the lower…

In clinical negligence, a recognised surgical complication does not itself establish substandard care. The court must determine, on the balance of…

Under paragraph 289A(iv) of the Immigration Rules HC 395, the Secretary of State acts as the decision-maker in each individual case. The provision does not…

An appeal which has become academic will ordinarily be disposed of without a substantive judgment where no useful purpose would be served by determining the…

A conditional promise to transfer an interest in land will not support proprietary estoppel or a constructive trust where the conditions are not performed…

A defamation claim should not be summarily dismissed merely because the claimant may have misidentified the employee who published or caused publication of the…

Under regulation 8(2) of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999, further representations are required only where the…

Where a first-instance judge determines a challenge to an arbitral tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 and refuses…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in an Article 8 case, a decision-maker must consider whether later developments create a genuinely new issue…

Whether an adult enjoys family life with an adult relative for the purposes of article 8 depends on the circumstances of the particular case. The relationship…

In an Article 8 immigration case, proportionality is determined by weighing all relevant considerations against the seriousness of the interference with…

Where a claimant obtains a money judgment exceeding a defendant’s Part 36 payment, the claimant is ordinarily the successful party and should receive costs…

A final, unappealable judgment that a patent is valid and infringed conclusively determines the parties’ rights to financial relief for the infringements…

An easement of necessity is implied from the circumstances and construction of a grant. It is not a free-standing rule of public policy. The classic case is…

A bailee or other person holding another’s goods must normally deliver them forthwith on demand. A genuine doubt about the claimant’s entitlement permits only…

A public-policy bar to ancillary relief after a void marriage is confined to culpable conduct. A second marriage during the subsistence of a previous marriage…

Pending an appeal, a court may grant an injunction to preserve the position where necessary to prevent prejudice if its order is reversed. In an arbitration…

In a homelessness review, the reviewing officer must decide the facts and exercise of discretion independently. The officer may consider an earlier housing…

Where evidence supports two competing explanations for an accident, the court must identify and balance the facts supporting each. A finding of lack of…

Article 2 may require the police to take preventive operational measures to protect an identified person from criminal acts by a third party. The obligation…

Relief from forfeiture should not be refused merely because a tenant lacks immediately available cash. The court must consider whether the evidence shows that…

A claim involving a lump sum or property transfer falls within “maintenance” under the European jurisdiction regime according to its purpose, not its domestic…

An error of law is material unless the decision-maker must have reached the same conclusion without it. It is therefore material where the decision-maker might…

A secure tenancy ends on the date fixed by a possession order under section 82(2) of the Housing Act 1985. Payment of the sums required by the order does not…

In a discrimination claim, the claimant must first establish facts from which a reasonable tribunal could conclude, on the balance of probabilities and without…

For TUPE purposes, a share sale and resulting change in corporate control do not themselves transfer a business. Parent-subsidiary control alone is also…

A prior reasoned judgment rejecting a defence of justification may provide some vindication of a defamation claimant’s reputation. The tribunal assessing…

Where contempt in the face of the court is serious, premeditated and disruptive, the custody threshold may be passed. If imprisonment is imposed, the term…

In sentencing for repeated breaches of protective injunctions, imprisonment should be no longer than necessary in the circumstances. The court may assess…

A regulated consumer credit agreement must contain correctly stated prescribed terms within the agreement itself. The prescribed repayment term permits…

When deciding whether Schedule 2 development is likely to have significant environmental effects, a planning authority must examine the actual characteristics…

Internal relocation under the Refugee Convention requires a comparison between conditions in the claimant’s habitual residence and those in the proposed safe…

In negligence, a duty cannot be analysed as a bare yes-or-no question. Its scope must be related to the damage claimed, with attention to foreseeability…

An order under section 364 of the Insolvency Act 1986 may justify coercive detention under article 5(1)(b), rather than punishment. Notice is not invariably…

A failed asylum-seeker who needs care and attention and satisfies section 21(1) and (1A) of the National Assistance Act 1948 must look first to the local…

Substantial payments towards a property do not, without more, establish a beneficial interest under a common-intention constructive trust. The inquiry is…

When a party seeks an adjournment of a long trial on medical grounds, the court must assess the quality and likely impact of the medical evidence and consider…

In a libel claim, the cause of action accrues on publication. A claimant’s lack of knowledge of the defamatory publication or of the publisher’s identity does…

Rectification of a voluntary settlement is available only to correct a document which, through a mistake in its drafting, wording or meaning, fails to record…

In country-guidance asylum appeals, risk on return must be assessed on the individual facts and circumstances. Guidance factors are non-exhaustive and must not…

An immigration fact-finder must assess credibility without assuming that a person who continues to oppose persecution is acting implausibly. Such an assumption…

A confidential relationship does not make every item of information obtained during it private. A reasonable expectation of privacy must be assessed separately…

Whether a group of employees is an economic entity is a question of fact. The tribunal must assess the relevant circumstances together using a multifactorial…

Compensation for a statutory electricity wayleave is assessed on the general principles governing compulsory acquisition. Market value will ordinarily reflect…

After a split trial, the court retains a broad discretion under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 44 to reserve costs until an outstanding inquiry into…

Under the Rome Convention, the law chosen to govern a contract must be the law of a country. A non-national system of religious law cannot itself be the…

In an appeal against a trial judge’s factual finding in a medical-negligence claim, the Court of Appeal must evaluate the competing expert evidence and…

Where an appellate judge has failed through administrative oversight to consider documents supplied pursuant to an invitation given at a reserved hearing, the…

A party abuses the court’s process where, viewed broadly and on the merits, it seeks to advance a claim which it could and should have advanced earlier, having…

Interlocutory appeals should be managed alongside any substantive appeal where their relevance depends on the outcome of an impending strike-out decision. A…

Permission to appeal may be rescinded after fuller consideration where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success. An appeal should not proceed on an…

A commercial agreement must be construed from its language, nature and relevant background. The inclusion of an operative clause ordinarily indicates that the…

A contract governed by English law must be construed according to its terms. A collaboration agreement does not create a partnership where the parties…

A uniformly applied sick-pay scheme may place a disabled employee at a substantial disadvantage under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The…

A freezing order does not require proof that the claim is more likely than not to succeed. A good arguable case is assessed flexibly, with the strength of the…

In civil proceedings, fraud and other discreditable conduct are proved on the balance of probabilities. The seriousness and inherent improbability of an…

In an Article 8 immigration appeal, the appellate authority must decide whether refusal of leave, where family life cannot reasonably be enjoyed elsewhere…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed appeal has a realistic prospect of success. That threshold may be met where an immigration tribunal…

In care proceedings, a court considering future harm must separate the likelihood of each stage in a chain of contingent risks from the seriousness of the harm…

Where fresh expert evidence has significant relevance to an assessment and was unavailable to the first-instance judge, the Court of Appeal may allow an appeal…

In urgent child-protection proceedings, urgency does not justify dispensing wholesale with ordinary procedural safeguards when considering an interim care…

Article 1 of the First Protocol protects existing and vested assets. It does not protect a professional’s unmarketable personal capacity to earn future income.…

An appellate court will not interfere with a first-instance welfare decision merely because it might have assessed the evidence differently. In the absence of…

For jurisdiction under the Judgments Regulation, a good arguable case requires the court to be as satisfied as the interlocutory process permits that…

The Data Protection Act 1998 does not convert every human decision based on computer-held information into automated processing. Manual selection and analysis…

Copyright in a literary work protects its original expression, including the selection, arrangement and development of material. It does not confer a monopoly…

In proceedings for the summary return of a child, article 11(2) of the Brussels II Revised Regulation imposes an obligation on the court to give the child an…

In proceedings for the return of a child under the Hague Convention of 1980 and the Brussels II Revised Regulation, hearing the child and making the child a…

A contractual notice clause may protect a landlord from liability for failure to repair, but it does not determine whether the repairing covenant has been…

In Hague Convention return proceedings, a child’s objections require a three-stage inquiry: whether the child objects to return, whether age and maturity make…

A trial is not rendered unfair merely because a judge asks leading or probing questions. The relevant question is whether the intervention descended into the…

The absence of an employment relationship does not, by itself, determine whether a duty of care exists. A duty may arise from the circumstances of a visit…

Where later civil proceedings challenge findings made in earlier tribunal proceedings, abuse of process is not established merely because the issue could have…

A notification under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 need not use prescribed words. It must, however, objectively communicate an address at…

For statutory homelessness, ownership or another interest in accommodation does not by itself prevent a person being homeless. The accommodation must also be…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in an asylum case, the applicant had to show a real prospect that the tribunal’s decision was perverse. A…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where an immigration tribunal fails to address a material contention which was argued before it and that issue has…

In child-contact proceedings, a judge has a broad discretion to choose a procedure suited to the issues and evidence. Contact applications may be determined…

Committal proceedings in family cases determine a criminal charge for article 6 purposes. A person at risk of imprisonment is ordinarily entitled to legal…

The exceptional jurisdiction to reopen a final appeal requires more than evidence suggesting procedural corruption. Under the jurisdiction associated with…

In child-contact proceedings, the practical significance of refusing contact must be assessed realistically. A decision described as temporary may in substance…

Under article 8 of the Regulation Brussels II Revised, where a child has remained in England well beyond the three-month period following arrival under a…

Permission to appeal on factual issues should be granted only where there is a real prospect of showing that the first-instance judge was wrong. That threshold…

For the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980, knowledge does not await a formal dyslexia diagnosis. The question is what a reasonable person in the claimant’s…

Where a statutory anti-money-laundering regime permits an authority to restrict dealings with funds, an arguable property-rights issue may arise if affected…

An academic appeal will generally not be heard merely because the issue may affect other cases. The court should exercise its discretion with caution and…

Under Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, an agreement by an immediate landlord to surrender a headlease in return for a longer replacement lease is a…

Permission to appeal an arbitration-related decision may be refused where the proposed challenge has no reasonable prospect of success and the applicant has…

A decision whether parties have agreed to exclude an appeal on a point of law is a preliminary jurisdictional decision under section 69(1) of the Arbitration…

A contractual arbitration clause in private sporting rules may waive Article 6 rights to a public hearing and a tribunal established by law where arbitration…

Section 4 of the Cheques Act 1957 gives a banker a qualified immunity from strict liability to the true owner of a cheque. The banker bears the burden of…

The court may make a non-party costs order against solicitors who pursue litigation substantially for their own financial benefit. Their formal role as the…

In a boundary dispute, imprecise original plans do not prevent the court from determining the true line by considering the physical situation and reliable…

Where a costs rule gives the court discretion to award interest from a date before judgment, interest may run from the date on which the decision was handed…

Where a commercial guarantee clearly shows an intention to guarantee liabilities but fails to identify the underlying agreement, extrinsic evidence may be…

A community care assessor must consider material which is so obviously relevant that disregarding it would be perverse. Relevant material may reasonably be…

In care and adoption proceedings, a court may decide a placement-order application without directing a late viability assessment of a proposed family carer…

Medical evidence in an asylum appeal must assist the fact-finder by addressing whether the physical or psychological condition is consistent with the account…

A solicitor may receive a substantial suspension for an exceptionally reckless breach of professional duty even where dishonesty was not alleged and no loss…

In care proceedings, the court must rigorously scrutinise the local authority’s care plan and may refuse a care order where the plan does not serve the child’s…

Under Article 9(2)(e) of the Sixth Council Directive on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to turnover taxes (77/388/EEC), where a…

Under section 39(1)(a) of the Patents Act 1977, an employee’s duties must be determined realistically. They may evolve through the parties’ conduct and need…

In boundary disputes, an Ordnance Survey map does not itself fix the legal boundary. Where it is incorporated into a conveyance, the court must ascertain the…

An agreement resolving some disputes does not compromise every connected claim unless the parties objectively reached that wider consensus. For an oral…

Administrative delay does not, by itself, usually make removal disproportionate under article 8. Delay may increase the period in which family or private life…

In an application for permission to appeal, the proposed appeal must raise a point of law and have a real prospect of success. Complaints that challenge…

A series of computer-generated static frames does not become a further unitary graphic work merely because it creates an illusion of movement. Copyright…

On a claimant’s late acceptance of a defendant’s Part 36 payment, the usual order is that the claimant pays the defendant’s post-expiry costs unless that order…

A residential assessment under section 38(6) of the Children Act 1989 may assess a young child together with the parents. It may examine parenting skills, the…

Under paragraph 317(i)(e) of the Immigration Rules HC395, “living alone” was not defined in the abstract. The court declined to prescribe general criteria…

Where a claim is not founded on fraud, dishonesty need not be pleaded merely because it becomes an evidential inference when conflicting accounts are resolved.…

In construing a transfer creating rights of emergency egress, the court must give effect to the words used in their factual and commercial context.…

For adverse possession, the claimant must prove factual possession, an intention to possess, and possession that is adverse because it is not enjoyed under the…

Article 1C of the Refugee Convention contains cessation clauses. It has no role in the initial determination under Article 1A(2) of whether an asylum-seeker is…

A director’s fiduciary duties require loyalty, good faith and avoidance of conflicts, but their application to a retiring director is intensely fact-sensitive.…

A costs-capping order is a prospective case-management device. The court has ample power under the Civil Procedure Rules to make one at any stage, but it must…

Where the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal has granted permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal, there is a presumption that the appeal should be heard. A…

A special guardianship order gives the special guardian parental responsibility which may be exercised to the exclusion of the parents, but it remains subject…

Where ancillary confidentiality provisions serve the same purpose as a principal publication injunction, the applicant must satisfy the same standard of proof.…

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the prohibition on disclosure in section 348 attaches to confidential information obtained from the…

Under section 31(1) of the Highways Act 1980, the presumption that a way has been dedicated as a highway is rebutted by sufficient evidence of the landowner’s…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the applicant does not attend the hearing below, fails to identify the application decided there, and provides no…

For goods first marketed outside the EEA, exhaustion under Trade Marks Directive 89/104 requires the trade mark proprietor’s consent to marketing within the…

An employment tribunal must not strike out a claim for having no reasonable prospect of success where the outcome depends upon a substantial and central…

Permission for a second appeal may be granted under CPR 52.13(b) where there is another compelling reason for hearing it, even without an important point of…

A local authority may help to make a private fostering arrangement before its duty to accommodate arises. It must make the private character of the arrangement…

For a disclosure to qualify for whistle-blowing protection, the worker must reasonably believe that the disclosed information tends to show a relevant…

Where a regulatory compensation scheme provides that a party is under no obligation to compensate a defaulting customer, the natural meaning may be a complete…

For priority under Articles 21 and 22 of the Lugano Convention, the date on which a court is seised is determined by the procedural law of the relevant state.…

Article 2.2 of Regulation (EC) 881/2002 can prohibit funds paid to an unlisted person where, in the circumstances, they are indirectly made available to, or…

A school does not discriminate merely because a disabled pupil is sent home after an accident where its refusal to clean and change him is justified by…

Where rent under a lease is subject to retrospective review, it remains one fixed charge for the purposes of section 17 of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants)…

In an asylum return case, the European Convention on Human Rights Article 3 real-risk inquiry requires the evidence to be assessed as a whole. A claimant need…

A final possession order must be obeyed unless and until it is set aside. A party cannot resist committal for contempt by reopening allegations that the order…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A genuine question may satisfy that…

A rent-review clause ordinarily requires valuation of the whole demised premises, including buildings existing at the review date. That presumption may be…

Under a family-reunion policy, parents and siblings of a minor recognised as a refugee have no entitlement to reunion, but their applications must be…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, a credibility finding will not be disturbed unless no reasonable judge could properly have reached it.…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. An appellate court will not re-hear factual…

A restitution claim for alleged overpayment must identify the mistake relied upon. Merely describing an overpayment as erroneous is insufficient where the…

Under section 1 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, a dependency cause of action arises at death if the injured person then had an existing cause of action for…

A contractual power to approve a proposed sub-licensee must be construed from the wording and context of the licence. Where approval is required only of the…

Negligence requires proof of causative fault. A person who fills a temporary hole is not liable merely because the hole later becomes exposed and causes…

After expiry of the limitation period, a new cause of action may be added only where it arises out of the same or substantially the same facts already in…

The Court of Appeal has a limited role when reviewing findings of fact made by an experienced inferior court following a properly conducted hearing. Permission…

Section 115(7) of the Police Act 1997 permits disclosure of any information which might be relevant to an applicant’s suitability for a sensitive position and…

A landlord’s power under a service-charge lease to include reasonable provision for future expenditure extends only to expenditure likely to arise during the…

A judgment debtor cannot reopen an unappealed costs judgment within later enforcement proceedings. A party alleging that an order was made without notice…

Contractual duties are determined by construing the agreement in its factual and contractual context. A general power to deploy staff for a socially beneficial…

A planning inspector may depart from an earlier decision concerning a materially similar proposal, because each inspector must exercise an independent planning…

For permission to appeal, a trial judge’s separate determination of an issue may constitute an alternative ratio decidendi, even where another finding was…

A post-termination commission clause may cover income from recordings made during the management term where the agreement links commission to the artist’s…

In construing a contract governed by foreign law, an English court must itself construe the contract by applying the foreign law’s principles of construction.…

Proprietary estoppel may arise while commercial parties anticipate a formal contract, although such cases are exceptional. The claimant must establish an…

An insurance broker who places cover owes an independent duty of care to ensure that the proposed policy terms and warranties match the information available.…

At the strike-out stage, a claim under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 should proceed where its success…

Where a defendant satisfies a gateway for security for costs, the court must decide whether an order is just in all the circumstances. A claimant resisting…

An assignment requiring the debtor’s prior written consent is ineffective against the debtor if effected before that consent has been obtained. A consent…

Long-term placement decisions must address whether a proposed placement will meet the needs of all the children within their timescales. A child's wishes and…

In a two-stage asylum reconsideration, whether the original tribunal made a material error of law must ordinarily be determined finally at the first stage. The…

An appellate court may interfere with a costs order only where the basis of the trial judge’s exercise of discretion reveals an error of principle or other…

An appeal from summary judgment is ordinarily a review, not a rehearing, under the Civil Procedure Rules. Review engages the merits, while the degree of…

An agreement conferring jurisdiction satisfies article 23 of the Brussels-I Regulation where a written offer, signed by the offeror, expressly incorporates…

An appellate court may interfere with an award of general damages only where the judge applied a wrong legal principle, misapprehended the facts or made a…

Medical evidence relevant to an asylum claimant’s credibility must be assessed as part of the evidence as a whole. A tribunal must not first make an adverse…

In a statutory right-to-buy dispute, the district valuer determines the value of the dwelling-house, not the extent of the property comprised in the tenancy. A…

On an appeal against a refusal of leave to enter, the tribunal must decide whether a hypothetical removal at the hearing date would breach Article 8. A present…

A housing allocation scheme gives statutory reasonable preference when it provides applicants in the statutory categories with a reasonable head start over…

In family proceedings, an order for indemnity costs is wholly exceptional and requires careful thought and justification. A costs order founded materially on…

On reconsideration under the AIT Procedure Rules 2005, the Tribunal must first decide whether the original decision contained a material error of law. It may…

In an appellate challenge to a first-instance factual decision in a nuisance claim, the critical question is whether the judge’s reasoning, read as a whole…

CPR 52.13 does not directly govern an appeal from a Lands Tribunal decision, even where the tribunal itself acted appellate, because the rule concerns appeals…

Judicial review remains available in principle notwithstanding the statutory-review procedure under section 103A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act…

A driver’s duty of reasonable care is context-sensitive. A driver who knows that children and pedestrians are present near parked vehicles on a busy road must…

A double taxation convention has domestic effect only to the extent provided by Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, section 788. A general…

A court may order a journalist to identify a confidential source only where disclosure answers an overriding public interest amounting to a pressing social…

The proportionality of requiring an immigration applicant to return abroad and seek entry clearance must be assessed in the circumstances of the individual…

In an immigration appeal, apparent bias may arise where tribunal members’ questioning is so extensive and prosecutorial in character that they appear to assume…

An employer may enforce a post-termination non-competition covenant only to protect a legitimate business interest, rather than to prevent competition itself.…

For cross-border group relief, the conditions governing the exceptional availability of relief for a non-resident subsidiary’s losses fall to be assessed by…

Under section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989, the court must distinguish significant harm suffered at the relevant date from likely future significant harm. A…

In an asylum appeal, credibility is for the tribunal, not medical or country experts. An expert’s assessment of risk may depend on accepting the claimant’s…

An appellate tribunal reviewing a credibility decision must assess whether an identified error of law was material in the round. An error in some findings does…

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, an employer is not required to retain an employee in duties which consistent medical evidence establishes that…

Under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, a compulsory charge imposed as a condition of occupying employer-provided accommodation is a charge in…

Where a claimant has a prima facie entitlement to an injunction protecting a property right, the Shelfer checklist is a working rule, not an exhaustive code.…

Statutory vulnerability is assessed when an applicant is actually homeless. The question is whether a particular condition makes the applicant less able to…

In an adverse-possession claim, the court must evaluate the whole course of conduct in context. Individual acts should not be isolated and assessed as though…

Where acceptance of a Part 36 payment gives a claimant costs on the standard basis without an order of the court, a costs order is deemed to have been made. A…

A special guardianship order cannot be made under section 14A(6)(b) of the 1989 Act unless the court has received a report addressing section 14A(8). This…

Under regulation 5(1) of the Social Security (Payments on account etc) Regulations 1988, an overpayment may be offset only against arrears payable under or by…

In a mesothelioma claim involving several possible sources of asbestos exposure, the Fairchild exception relieves a claimant who proves exposure and breach of…

In a professionally drafted technical agreement, construction starts with the document’s language and defined terms. Commercial purpose may assist in choosing…

Clause 6.1(e) of the 1999 Uninsured Drivers’ Agreement must be construed according to its language, read in its factual and commercial context. The expression…

When deciding whether an asylum claimant can safely relocate internally, a tribunal must apply the unduly harsh standard and confront material evidence about…

In an asylum or human-rights appeal, expert evidence is not necessarily decisive merely because the witness has relevant professional expertise. A tribunal may…

In an Article 8 immigration case, an applicant must establish facts showing that circumstances are sufficiently exceptional to prevent a reasonable application…

In an asylum appeal, risk must be assessed by reference not only to a claimant’s actual activities and knowledge but also to what the authorities may perceive…

Personal injury damages administered by the Court of Protection must be disregarded when a local authority decides whether it is necessary to arrange…

A judgment must give satisfactory reasons which make the basis of the decision clear, but the reasons need not address every argument or factual matter. The…

For intentional homelessness under section 191(1) of the Housing Act 1996, the decision-maker must determine whether the applicant’s deliberate act or omission…

In an application by a parent to relocate a child abroad, the child’s welfare remains paramount. The court must give great weight to the relocating parent’s…

An appellate court exercising a supervisory jurisdiction over a tribunal does not rehear the case. Where the tribunal’s decision-making process contains an…

An interlocutory injunction may restrain a contractual suspension from employment. Suspension is not necessarily a neutral act: for a qualified professional in…

Judicial review is not a substitute for an appeal against a county court judgment or case-management decision. Where the complaint concerns how the county…

In claims for psychiatric injury caused by work-related stress, ordinary principles of employer’s liability apply. The employer must act when indications of…

A commercial agreement must be read fairly as a whole, in its documentary, factual and commercial context. Detailed linguistic analysis is unlikely to provide…

A compromise is not vitiated by common mistake merely because the parties materially miscalculate entitlement. The mistake must make the subject matter of the…

On an appeal against an obviousness finding, the appellant must identify an error of principle. The Court of Appeal does not repeat the trial judge’s…

A landlord’s duty under section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 is confined by the scope of the applicable obligation to maintain or repair. A dangerous…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal against a possession decision, the Court of Appeal emphasised appellate restraint. A first-instance judge who…

An Article 3 challenge is arguable where a tribunal appears to require proof of systematic torture or ill-treatment instead of asking whether there is a real…

In choosing between adoption and special guardianship, the court must select the order which, in all the circumstances, best meets the child’s welfare needs…

Special guardianship has not displaced adoption as the appropriate order for permanent wider-family placements. The choice must be determined by the welfare of…

Where adoption and special guardianship are alternative orders, there is no presumption in favour of either. The court must decide which order better serves…

For the purposes of article 14, a facially neutral planning rule that disproportionately burdens residential caravans engages indirect discrimination where…

In an asylum appeal, the decision-maker must assess relevant oral, documentary and objective evidence in the round. A determination is not flawed merely…

Permission for a second appeal requires the high threshold in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 52.13(2): an important point of principle or practice, or…

An adjudicator does not err in law merely because findings could have been fuller. The determination must be read as a whole. A finding that no full-time carer…

Whether it is reasonable to order possession for a secure tenant’s nuisance or annoyance requires a judicial balance under sections 84 and 85A of the Housing…

In a two-stage reconsideration, the tribunal must stay within the issues fixed at the first stage. Where the first-stage decision, read in context, has…

On an application for a stay of execution pending appeal, the court retains an unfettered discretion and must balance the need to avoid stifling a properly…

For excessive-pricing purposes, the economic value of a product supplied by a dominant undertaking is not necessarily limited to its cost of production plus a…

For statutory designation of a National Park, the criterion of opportunities for open-air recreation permits consideration of future opportunities, but…

Premises originally let for mixed business and residential use are not “let as a separate dwelling” within section 1 of the Rent Act 1977. A tenant cannot…

A tribunal need not refer to every piece of evidence. However, it must engage with evidence that is important and central to an individual’s claimed risk. If…

Where an urgent permission application concerns arrangements for children and a material change has occurred since the lower court’s order, the Court of Appeal…

Pre-action disclosure under CPR rule 31.16 requires a jurisdictional gateway and a distinct discretionary assessment. The gateway is met where there is a real…

A conditional fee agreement which defines basic charges broadly enough to include a proper share of work done for several clients permits recovery of that…

A success-fee contract for rating appeals must be construed in its commercial and rating-scheme context. For the current five-year valuation period, the fee…

An action for damages for conspiracy to defraud is not a levy of money for Crown purposes merely because the loss is measured by VAT not paid or wrongly…

In a secure-tenancy possession claim based on nuisance and other breaches, an appellate court should respect the trial judge’s evaluative discretion on whether…

The inherent jurisdiction and the slip rule may correct an order so that it records the court’s original intention. They cannot be used to make a substantive…

When deciding whether removal would be disproportionate under Article 8, a tribunal should not assess the prospects of success of a future application for…

The discretion on costs must be exercised with the general rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party. A successful defendant should not lose…

Internal relocation depends on evidence, not speculation. A finding that a claimant cannot safely relocate because family persecutors will discover her…

A disclosed agent who sells goods for a principal does not incur personal liability for an implied warranty of title. An agent may be liable where the…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal findings in the first limb of care proceedings, the Court of Appeal emphasised that an appellate court does…

On an appeal concerning a dependent child, the tribunal may consider any matter relevant to the substance of the decision, including events after the original…

Part II of the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 provides an expeditious interim adjudication scheme. Courts should protect that purpose…

A transfer of care-home provision from public to private control does not itself diminish residents’ Convention rights or breach article 8. The state need not…

A local authority’s transfer of a care home to private control does not, by itself, breach residents’ Convention rights. Article 8 does not guarantee a fixed…

A second appeal requires permission. The applicant must show an important point of law or practice, or another good reason for the appeal to proceed. The…

An unaccompanied minor remains such notwithstanding adequate reception arrangements in the country of origin. However, the Secretary of State’s policy permits…

The assessment of whether a Pakistani Ahmadi faces a real risk of persecution is individual and fact-sensitive. It cannot be determined solely from the…

Under section 63A(2) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the claimant must first prove facts from which a reasonable tribunal could conclude that unlawful…

In discrimination proceedings, the statutory two-stage burden of proof remains good practice. The claimant should first establish facts from which…

A settlement agreement requiring a party to give undertakings to the court may, on its true construction, also create a contractual obligation owed to the…

In a race-discrimination claim, a difference in race and treatment does not by itself transfer the burden of proof under section 57ZA of the Race Relations Act…

A witness gives factual evidence when stating what that witness personally would have done in a hypothetical situation. This remains factual even where the…

For a preference claim under the Insolvency Act 1986, a company payment may prefer the person whose debt to a third party is discharged, even where the third…

In an asylum appeal, a tribunal must take relevant country guidance into account, even where the omission results from an advocate’s failure to cite it. The…

A transitional rule which confined reconsideration of an immigration appeal to grounds previously permitted by the former tribunal was irrational. It prevented…

A settlement agreement may alter obligations concerning a property’s condition without necessarily waiving an independent condition in a lease break clause.…

For an optional leaseback under Chapter I of Part I of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, a reversioner must state the proposal in…

An age-group sporting guideline qualified by “normally” is not an absolute rule of law, and its breach does not automatically establish negligence. It may…

In an international commercial contract, an arbitration or jurisdiction clause should be construed liberally. Absent clear language to the contrary, it covers…

An unlawful-deduction claim under Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires a legal entitlement to an identifiable sum of wages properly payable on…

Failure to consider a material country-guidance decision or factual precedent may constitute an error of law. A generic risk cannot be established for an…

For section 14(2) of the Limitation Act 1980, the significance of an injury depends on its seriousness, not on its later effect on the claimant’s private life…

For entry under Rule 297(i)(e), sole responsibility requires assessment of who directs and controls the child’s upbringing. Where a natural parent remains in…

A patent claim must be construed purposively through the skilled reader’s understanding of the invention. A requirement that a knife part is associated with a…

A negative declaration in a copyright dispute is available under the court’s inherent jurisdiction, although no statutory right to such relief exists. The…

Rules governing asylum appeals must balance fairness with speed and efficiency. A rule which requires an appeal to be determined in a party’s absence, while…

The scope of a security trustee’s powers before enforcement depends on the contractual security documents. Parties may confer a power to require the exercise…

In care proceedings, a child should not ordinarily be compelled to give oral evidence. Particular justification is required, and such orders will be rare. The…

Title documents are the starting point when determining a disputed boundary. Where their plans do not define the precise line, the court may supplement them…

On remission of an asylum appeal, the tribunal must make clear findings about the extent of the claimant’s credibility where past events are relevant to risk…

When exercising the discretion to stay matrimonial proceedings in favour of a foreign jurisdiction, the court should first assess whether that jurisdiction is…

For the purposes of section 167(2) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, section 286(7) is not confined to the machinery in section 286(5) and (6). It…

Obviousness is assessed by asking whether the claimed invention was obvious to the skilled person, having regard to the state of the art. “Obvious to try” is…

A grant or extension of leave after a conviction does not prevent the Secretary of State from later considering deportation, particularly where the person has…

On a statutory appeal against a medical disciplinary sanction, the High Court must recognise that professional discipline is principally concerned with…

The power under section 51 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 to order a non-party to pay costs is a broad discretion. Earlier authorities identify relevant…

On a Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 24 application, a court may carefully analyse undisputed documents and the transactions they record, provided it does not…

An Employment Appeal Tribunal may strike out an appeal for non-compliance with an order requiring medical evidence where it has given the appellant a fair…

At the permission stage, a challenge to asylum fact-finding may be arguable where the decision-maker may have exceeded the limits imposed by law. Section 8(4)…

An unsuccessful opposition to the registration of a trade mark does not create cause of action estoppel because opposition proceedings involve no cause of…

The prima facie measure for destruction of a chattel is its market or resale value. Cost of replacement or reinstatement may instead be recovered where the…

Under Human Rights Act 1998 section 8, damages for a procedural breach of Article 8 are not automatic. The court must consider all the circumstances, other…