Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2012

Where judicial review proceedings end in a compromise which does not reflect the claimant’s pleaded claim, the usual position is no order as to costs. The…

A contract for goods or services is made during a trader’s visit to a consumer’s home if that is where the parties become legally committed. The expression “a…

When a tax authority exercises a statutory discretion to admit a late claim, the decision must be lawful, fair and based on relevant considerations. A…

A family court has wide discretion to control and exclude evidence, but robust case management has limits. A judge must permit a party a fair opportunity to…

Case-management decisions about the sequence of a statutory tax appeal and related judicial review are fact-sensitive. There is no hard and fast rule that…

A Norwich Pharmacal disclosure order may be proportionate where copyright owners show arguable infringement, a genuine intention to seek redress, and the…

An environmental statement need not contain full information about every environmental impact. Serious deficiencies are exceptional; the question is whether…

Relief from an unless order requires the court to consider each factor in CPR 3.9, stand back and assess all relevant circumstances, and decide whether refusal…

The derivative right of residence recognised by the Zambrano principle arises only where removal of a third-country national would, in practice, compel a Union…

A contract of employment depends on the contractual relationship viewed as a whole. Personal service and sufficient control do not compel employee status where…

When deciding whether to deport a Union citizen, proportionality under EU law includes the risk that removal will compromise the citizen’s social…

An appellate court will interfere with a first-instance case-management discretion only for legal error, failure to consider relevant matters, consideration of…

Under paragraph 301(1)(b) of the Immigration Rules, sole responsibility for a child’s upbringing is a broad question of fact. In a two-parent case, the usual…

An agreement compromising litigation may create an equitable interest in identified property where, for valuable consideration, the owner is obliged to sell it…

Under the pre-2008 work permit system, the Immigration Rules could lawfully require an applicant for indefinite leave to remain to have held a valid work…

Under Article 27 of the Regulation 44/2001 of the Council of the European Union, a court second seised must stay proceedings involving the same cause of action…

A winding-up petition founded on an alleged debt must be struck out where the company shows that the debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds, subject…

In a care fact-finding case involving disputed medical causation, the court must allow for the possibility that an injury has an unknown cause. That…

Permission for a second appeal under CPR 52.13 is available only in exceptional cases. The applicant must establish either an important point of principle or…

A court applying the Marleasing principle must interpret domestic legislation, so far as possible, consistently with a directive. That duty does not permit the…

In an Article 8 removal case, the best interests of affected children are a primary consideration, but they do not override the proportionality assessment. The…

Where a litigant is entitled to an oral hearing of a renewed application but cannot attend for good reason, the court may dispense with the hearing and…

A surety may be discharged by an unconsented variation of the guaranteed contract or by advance payment of the agreed contract price that prejudices the…

On an application under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the claimant bears the burden of establishing that it would be equitable to disapply the…

Where a liability policy indemnifies mitigation costs, an indivisible payment reasonably and necessarily incurred to avoid or reduce third-party claims of a…

Under CPR Part 52.9, the Court of Appeal may make an appeal conditional only where there is a compelling reason. The assessment turns on justice in the…

When deciding arrangements for children’s transition between carers, the court must treat their welfare as the paramount consideration. Adult preferences…

An acknowledged factual error in a judgment should ordinarily be corrected after both parties have had an opportunity to make submissions. An appellate court…

For limitation purposes, identifying the complaints made in an employment tribunal claim form is a matter of construction, not a primary finding of fact. The…

Where an Act authorises service by post, section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 supplies the incorporated meaning of service unless the relevant enactment…

Inventive step is determined by the statutory question whether the claimed invention was obvious to the skilled person at the priority date. A structured…

A court may suspend a bankrupt’s discharge under section 279(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986 only for a purpose connected with the bankrupt’s failure to comply…

A loss-of-hire policy responds according to its wording. Once an initial machinery breakdown has prevented the vessel from earning hire beyond the contractual…

Contractual entitlement to commission depends on the objective meaning of the agreement, read as a whole and in its commercial context. Where a potential…

A person who conducts proceedings on behalf of another represents that he has authority to do so. If that authority is absent or has ceased, he may be…

To defeat a registered freehold title by adverse possession under transitional provisions, a claimant had to establish 12 years’ uninterrupted adverse…

Once civil proceedings are underway, disputes about disclosure and inspection are governed primarily by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, not by the Data…

In an Article 8 removal case, a child's best interests are the starting point and a primary consideration. They rank higher than any other single factor, but…

The duty of sincere co-operation is fact-sensitive. It does not automatically require a national competition authority to suspend an investigation whenever the…

Applications for interim care orders require a two-stage analysis. The court must first decide whether the threshold in section 38(2) of the Children Act 1989…

In conjoined appeals concerning adjoining development sites, an inspector may consider common planning issues together, but must assess each site’s planning…

Appellate courts should not interfere with trial case-management decisions unless the decision falls outside the range of reasonable conclusions. When limiting…

In care and adoption proceedings, the Court of Appeal should not substitute its own welfare assessment merely because the case was finely balanced or the…

Defamation proceedings may be summarily dismissed as an abuse of process where changed circumstances leave no real and substantial tort to be tried. The court…

When deciding whether the deportation of a foreign criminal is proportionate under article 8, a tribunal must weigh its consequences against the full public…

Under the Insurance Companies (Legal Expenses Insurance) Regulations 1990, an insured’s freedom to choose a lawyer must be genuine. An insurer may limit the…

A solicitor holding mortgage advance money under the Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook releases it in breach of trust if there is no completion. Compliance…

Obviousness is a single, fact-sensitive statutory question. Matters such as whether a route was obvious to try, the expectation of success, the available…

A claimant seeking permission to serve proceedings outside the jurisdiction must have a sustainable cause of action and must identify expressly each cause of…

In an application to remove children permanently from the jurisdiction, a trial judge is not bound by a Cafcass recommendation. The judge may reject it where…

Permission to appeal against an adoption order should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no reasonable prospect of overturning carefully…

When sentencing for breach of an antisocial behaviour injunction, a civil court should take account of the Sentencing Guidelines Council guidance for breach of…

On an appeal from a discretionary financial remedy order, an error in valuing one asset does not require interference if it did not affect the overall fairness…

Responsibility for special guardianship support depends first on whether the child is looked after. If the child is looked after, the responsible authority is…

An unaccompanied child encountered at the border may be asked the limited questions reasonably necessary for booking in and referral to social services. Urgent…

In an appeal concerning the formal validity of a will, the presumption of due execution does not displace a trial judge’s findings that the statutory…

Where medical science cannot identify whether negligence was the sole cause of an injury, but establishes that it made a contribution which was more than…

A solicitor’s claim for reasonable remuneration is within the phrase “debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim” in section 29(5)(a) of the Limitation Act 1980…

A list of issues prepared at an employment tribunal pre-hearing review is ordinarily a case management tool, rather than an order or final adjudication. An…

Whether a bank-issued payment instrument is a traditional see-to-it guarantee or an on-demand guarantee depends ultimately on the words used, but courts may…

Section 10 of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999 distinguishes between a decision to remove a person and the removal directions implementing that decision. The…

Where a defence has been struck out and judgment entered on liability, the defendant may still contest quantum, but must identify the disputed items clearly.…

An English court should not permit service out of the jurisdiction for declaratory relief unless the declarations have real utility. That requirement applies…

Under the Equal Pay Act 1970, a difference in pay between employees doing like work is not, by itself, proof of indirect sex discrimination. However, a…

The general rule in civil litigation is that costs follow the successful party, but the court may make a different order after considering all the…

In a child-relocation appeal, the appellate court must assess whether fresh evidence could realistically have altered the welfare decision. If it would not…

A Workers Registration Scheme for A8 nationals may be proportionate when assessed as a whole. Requirements to register employment, re-register after changing…

For limitation purposes, the tribunal must identify the substance of the act complained of. A principal’s ban on contract workers is a one-off act, analogous…

On an application for permission to appeal, the court may grant permission for specific arguable grounds while refusing grounds with no prospect of success.…

A trustee or personal representative who seeks directions about bringing, continuing or defending litigation invokes a special Beddoe jurisdiction. The…

An option to extend a lease, and the statutory perpetuity exception for such an option, depend on title to the relevant lease rather than occupation of the…

For VAT purposes, a travel business’s status as principal or intermediary is not settled solely by contractual labels or construction. The tribunal must apply…

Where an appellant has only recently obtained pro bono representation and counsel has not had a proper opportunity to prepare, the interests of justice may…

A county court exercising the committal jurisdiction in section 5 of the Debtors Act 1869 may impose no more than six weeks’ imprisonment for non-payment of a…

A fact-finding judge must keep findings within what the evidence can properly support. Concern about children’s exposure to an unsuitable home environment does…

Claims relate to an individual contract of employment for jurisdictional purposes where there is a material nexus between the claims and that contract. The…

Where a court has found it reasonable to make a possession order for anti-social behaviour, suspension is a separate discretionary question. The tenant seeking…

A court may make more than one direction under section 37 of the Children Act 1989 during private law proceedings. It may renew or extend a direction where the…

The exercise of discretion in a family financial-remedy order, including provision for legal costs and accommodation, is highly fact-sensitive. A party has no…

Compensation under section 107 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires loss or damage to be directly attributable to the revocation or modification.…

A final appellate determination may be reopened only where reopening is necessary to avoid real injustice, exceptional circumstances make it appropriate, and…

In child-contact proceedings, a factual finding made in earlier child proceedings may be relied upon, but there is no strict issue estoppel. The court retains…

A first-instance decision on relief from sanctions is discretionary. An appellate court may intervene only where the judge took account of irrelevant matters…

When the Upper Tribunal considers evidence not placed before the First-tier Tribunal, rule 15(2A) of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 is not…

Follow-on damages claims under the Competition Act 1998 must be founded on a Commission infringement decision binding on the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Where…

For corporation tax purposes, a debt is a loan relationship only where it arises from a transaction for the lending of money. The court must identify and…

For an interlocutory injunction, a rectification claim raises a serious issue to be tried where the evidence is assessed on the whole factual canvas. The…

A judge’s prior determination of contested issues, including findings of contempt and adverse credibility findings, does not by itself create apparent bias at…

Where a party declines to cross-examine an appellant, the appellant’s factual account must be treated as accepted or undisputed. An appellate tribunal must not…

A contractual indemnity for reasonable professional costs of defending or appearing in judicial proceedings may extend to criminal proceedings where the…

Fresh evidence may be admitted on appeal, in the court’s discretion, where it could not with reasonable diligence have been obtained for trial, would probably…

Fairness in a family fact-finding hearing is an objective question. It is not determined by a party’s subjective confidence in the judge or perception of…

Evidence obtained from an overseas authority under a request made pursuant to section 7 of the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 may be used only for…

On remission after an appeal, the original trial judge may continue where economy and familiarity favour that course. Post-trial disclosure does not by itself…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, a serious finding of fraud by recklessness may be arguable where the trial judge has not sufficiently…

Parental consent to adoption may be dispensed with only where the child’s welfare throughout life requires adoption. A need for care, long-term removal or…

Section 100 of the Children Act 1989 prevents the inherent jurisdiction from being used to require a local authority to accommodate, care for or supervise a…

A claimant seeking a beneficial interest in property originally owned solely by another must establish an agreement or representation that she would become a…

A court’s duty to manage proceedings and avoid delay cannot override its duty to secure a fair trial for a litigant whose disability impairs effective…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an arguable error of principle in the Upper Tribunal gives the applicant a real prospect of success and provides a…

Section 12 of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 requires an applicant for Part III financial relief to establish more than a foreign divorce…

For constructive knowledge under section 14(3) of the Limitation Act 1980, the court applies an objective and fairly demanding standard. It asks whether a…

Eligibility for homelessness assistance based on EU worker status depends on whether an interruption in work is temporary. Under Article 7(3)(a) of the…

When deciding beneficial ownership, a trial judge must assess contemporaneous documents, recorded conversations and oral evidence in their factual and cultural…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, permission should be refused where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of showing that the…

In child-care proceedings, an appellate court assesses alleged omissions in a judgment against the issues actually argued at first instance. A judge need not…

Where a co-owner occupies jointly owned property, any occupation rent payable to the other co-owner must reflect the occupying co-owner’s own beneficial share.…

A court may correct contractual language through construction only where it is clear both that the language has gone wrong and what a reasonable person…

Evidence from consumers identified through a statistically unreliable survey is not automatically inadmissible in trade mark proceedings. Permission should…

A decision to deport a foreign national, and the associated decisions to detain that person or grant conditional bail pending deportation, do not determine a…

An employee’s failure to complain about underpayment cannot, without more, create an estoppel preventing recovery of the statutory minimum wage. The statutory…

In an application for permission to appeal seeking to reopen a care fact-finding decision on the basis of developing medical knowledge, a theoretical medical…

Under the common law and the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, an occupier must take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to keep visitors…

The band of reasonable responses test is an objective standard governing every aspect of an unfair dismissal, including the investigation and procedure. It is…

Fresh evidence on appeal is admitted at the Court of Appeal’s discretion. The considerations derived from Ladd v Marshall include whether the evidence was…

An appeal on facts is a review, not a rehearing. The Court of Appeal should be slow to disturb careful findings based on witness credibility and the trial…

A fairness challenge to family proceedings must assess the process as a whole. An appellant cannot obtain permission by isolating individual case-management…

An appeal may be struck out where its prosecution has involved inordinate and inexcusable delay, particularly where the appellate route has remained available…

An appellate court should not allow an appeal against a welfare decision where the available record is materially incomplete and does not establish that the…

Where parental contact has fractured, decision-makers must actively consider options for fostering the relationship and, where appropriate, reunification…

For the former statutory grievance procedure, a statement satisfies paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Employment Act 2002 if, read fairly and in context, it…

Intensification of an existing use constitutes a material change of use only when its nature or degree changes the definable character of the land’s use. The…

Where proceedings are brought against an individual office-holder described as acting as an administrator, that description does not convert the defendant into…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Pt 44.3, the unsuccessful party will ordinarily pay the successful party, but the court may make a different order after…

An order under section 34(4) of the Children Act 1989 empowers a local authority to suspend contact when necessary; it does not terminate contact. The power…

The section 31 significant-harm threshold is fact-specific. It requires harm going beyond ordinary parental inadequacy, but it cannot be exhaustively defined…

A notification regime imposed on convicted terrorist offenders for a fixed period of 10 years may be a proportionate interference with private life under…

Whether proceedings are “related actions” under Article 28(3) of the Judgments Regulation requires a fact-sensitive assessment. Overlap between issues is…

A Quistclose trust requires an objectively ascertained arrangement that money is not at the recipient’s free disposal, but is retained beneficially for the…

For Tier 1 (General) applications, employer pension contributions are not earnings under Appendix A to the Immigration Rules. The term must be assessed by its…

A local authority does not lack statutory capacity merely because, when entering a housing transaction, it failed to consider market rents. A breach of…

The declaration was to refer to the EU fixture lists, rather than fixture lists generally. The claimants’ remaining arguments were rejected. A one-month…

For disclosure purposes, relevance is not confined to documents proving the precise words of a disputed conversation. Documents may be relevant where they…

An express declaration of trust which comprehensively states the beneficial interests in property governs those interests. The court cannot replace it with a…

A trial judge in adversarial civil proceedings may intervene to clarify evidence, protect witnesses, control relevance and repetition, and manage the trial.…

A court may vary or supplement a prior order where necessary to make its meaning and intended effect clear, provided the further order implements rather than…

A trade mark proprietor who elects for an account of profits following infringement through failure to give the required notice of repackaging is entitled to a…

An indemnity covenant covering liabilities arising directly or indirectly in respect of a planning obligation is construed in its commercial and factual…

Appellate restraint does not prevent intervention where a first-instance judgment gives no sufficient explanation for rejecting a materially advanced and…

In committal proceedings for breach of an injunction, the applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the breach was deliberate. The relevant question is…

A human rights claim enables an in-country immigration appeal under section 92(4)(a) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 only if it was made to…

A lawful claim by a local authority to recover housing from an occupier without contractual or statutory protection will ordinarily be proportionate under…

Where professional negligence has demonstrably caused loss, uncertainty in quantification does not prevent recovery. The court must reach the most likely…

A person who falls within the Zambrano principle has an enforceable EU right of residence. Such a person is not subject to immigration control under section…

Fresh evidence must bear on the correctness of the original decision before it can justify appellate review. Later difficulties in implementing or enforcing a…

In complex child-contact litigation, a court should not terminate contact or remove a shared residence order without ensuring procedural fairness, particularly…

Permission to appeal in child-care proceedings should be granted only where there are reasonable grounds giving a realistic prospect of success. On challenges…

A local authority determining entitlement to accommodation under the Children Act 1989 is not bound by an age assessment made by the Secretary of State or an…

Regulation 18 of the Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 disapplies the Regulations as a whole in relation to an…

For deemed consent under Class 13, advertising must have occurred continually for the preceding ten years. Ordinary intervals between advertisements may be…

A landlord’s statutory duty to provide prescribed tenancy-deposit information requires substantial compliance. The question is one of fact and degree, assessed…

Asylum and immigration decisions ordinarily reflect the facts at the date of decision. That principle may require modification where past unlawfulness or other…

For national insurance purposes, the first question is whether an expense allowance is earnings on ordinary principles. Genuine reimbursement of employment…

In an age-dispute appeal arising from an asylum removal decision, the tribunal must decide as a matter of substance whether the appellant was a child at the…

A civil contempt proved by circumstantial evidence must be established beyond reasonable doubt, but every individual evidential fact need not satisfy that…

Under paragraph 2A of Schedule 1 to the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992, a self-employed earner’s child-support…

An appellate court should interfere with a case-management decision only where the judge erred in principle, considered irrelevant matters or was otherwise…

In child relocation proceedings, the court should hold back from joining a child as a party unless the case presents an issue of significant difficulty under…

Where a contract states the price in one currency but requires payment in another, the currency of account measures the obligation. The currency of payment…

Contractual risk-allocation clauses are construed objectively in their commercial setting. The Canada Steamship guidelines assist that exercise but are not a…

A family court may make final orders at an issues resolution hearing in an appropriate case. The procedure must, however, be proportionate to the unresolved…

A statutory power to amend primary legislation by delegated legislation receives a narrow and strict construction. Clear words are required to authorise the…

Compensatory libel damages address injury to reputation, vindication and distress. Their assessment is fact specific and subject to necessity and…

A later will does not revoke an earlier will by implication merely because it appoints a universal or sole heir. Implied revocation requires a logical…

In care proceedings, deciding what assessments and other evidence are required is an evaluative case-management function of the trial judge. An appellate court…

A breach of a commercial agent’s statutory duties under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 is not automatically repudiatory. Regulation…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, a service provision change requires one of the statutory situations and the…

In an encouragement-based proprietary estoppel claim, it is not invariably necessary for the landowner to know the precise works undertaken in reliance on its…

In child-support enforcement proceedings, the statutory gateway to committal or disqualification requires the Commission actually to have sought distress or…

Under section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, the court’s discretion to suspend a mortgage possession warrant has a jurisdictional gateway. The…

An appellate court should exercise considerable caution before interfering with a trial judge’s welfare assessment. Welfare decisions involve numerous factors…

Habitual residence is primarily a question of fact, but residence requires physical presence. A child born abroad who has never entered the jurisdiction cannot…

Section 24(1)(a) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 reaches only property to which the respondent spouse is beneficially entitled. A company’s assets remain…

In a work-stress negligence claim, loss of earnings cannot be cut off on a broad-brush basis merely because a later non-tortious event contributed to…

Immigration detention is assessed by reference to the circumstances and legal position at the time of detention. Where an age-dispute individual has been…

A party may waive an objection based on apparent bias, including where the objection concerns a potentially automatic disqualification. The waiver must be…

Permission to appeal was granted where the proposed appeal had a real prospect of success and raised important points of principle. The modest value of the…

On an appeal from a child welfare decision, the Court of Appeal must not substitute its own assessment for that of the trial judge. It is exceptional to find…

A court order remains binding and enforceable unless set aside on appeal. Repeated attempts to reopen an order using evidence or arguments already available…

When deciding whether to disapply the limitation period for a personal injury claim, the court must determine whether a trial would be fair and just despite…

A national condition governing the parliamentary franchise remains subject to EU free-movement law where it is capable of restricting the exercise of a Treaty…

Recall from a home-detention-curfew licence during the custodial term of a determinate sentence does not, without more, create a fresh deprivation of liberty…

On an appeal from a discretionary financial order, the Court of Appeal should intervene where the judge misdirected herself in law or acted outside the…

A document may be admissible even though its reliability and weight remain disputed. Those matters are for the trial judge to assess in the context of all the…

Under regulation 4 of the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003, victimisation depends on why the alleged discriminator acted. The inquiry…

An instrument assigns a thing in action absolutely, rather than by way of charge only, where its language and commercial context show an intention to transfer…

In a child-relocation case, the child’s welfare is paramount. There is no presumption favouring either a relocating parent or a parent who is currently the…

Under CPR 27.11, a party seeking to set aside a judgment entered in the party’s absence must show a good reason for non-attendance and a reasonable prospect of…

For a transaction to be set aside under Insolvency Act 1986 section 423, the statutory purpose need not be the debtor’s sole or dominant purpose. It must…

For registration as a town or village green under the Commons Act 2006, recreational use must be “as of right” for the statutory period. Use is “by right”…

Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, a structurally detached building is self-contained for right to manage purposes. It need not operate…

An adjudicator’s contractual entitlement to fees depends on the proper construction of the appointment and the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and…

An express contractual provision continuing the terms of an agricultural tenancy may preserve the retrospective effect of an ongoing statutory rent review…

On an appeal from factual findings, the Court of Appeal asks whether the judgment was wrong, rather than whether it would have reached a different conclusion.…

Where deportation may affect unresolved family proceedings concerning a child, the immigration tribunal must consider whether the family court’s findings are…

When a deportation order has invalidated pre-existing leave, revocation of the order removes that continuing statutory consequence and the earlier indefinite…

Under section 31 of the Children Act 1989, the local authority must prove significant harm and the necessary causal connection with unreasonable parental care.…

In a costs appeal, the starting point under CPR 44 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is that the substantively successful party recovers its costs unless there…

Convention jurisdiction under Article 1 remains primarily territorial. Extra-territorial jurisdiction based on state-agent authority and control arises where…

An appellate court may interfere with a costs order where the judge erred in principle, considered or omitted a relevant feature, or reached a wholly wrong…

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has a wide discretion under rule 55(2) when determining costs. It need not adopt the general civil litigation rule that costs…

In a judicial review of an appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive, the court examines legality rather than re-evaluating scientific or planning…

The scope of a registered Community design is assessed by the overall impression it produces on an informed user, taking account of the designer’s freedom. The…

For intentional homelessness under the Housing Act 1996, an honest mistake about a fact is relevant only if it caused the person to surrender accommodation.…

A case-management stay of proceedings properly commenced in England is justified only in rare and compelling circumstances. Reinsurance does not create a…

An intention at formation to perform part of a contract unlawfully does not automatically make the contract unenforceable. The court must examine the…

For returns under the Dublin II Regulation, the presumption that the first member state complies with its obligations may be displaced only by evidence of…

Article 24(5) requires the court to identify the ground of admitted discriminatory tax treatment. Where group relief concerns losses surrendered between two…

A boundary agreement requires a concluded agreement on the boundaries themselves, including precise measurements where small differences are significant. An…

Revocation of a placement order requires the court to decide which arrangement best serves the child’s welfare throughout life. That is a holistic judgment…

Judicial review of an IPCC decision is review only. The IPCC has a discretionary area of judgment, and the court intervenes only where its conclusion was not…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the measure for a dependant is reasonable financial provision for maintenance, not the…

In private-law family proceedings, the judge has an inquisitorial role and must promote the children’s welfare as the paramount consideration. The judge may…

Immigration detention remains lawful only while it satisfies the Hardial Singh principles. A realistic and sufficient prospect of removal may exist even where…

When deciding a child’s future living arrangements, a judge must consider not only the position at the hearing and the desired future arrangements, but also…

An appellate court will interfere with a costs order only where the first-instance judge has acted outside the permissible range of discretionary decisions.…

In insolvency proceedings, the ordinary costs rules apply, subject to the special rules governing a trustee in bankruptcy’s right to reimbursement from the…

The Court of Appeal may refuse permission to amend and dismiss an appeal where the proposed amendment would prejudice a limited damages claim allowed below.…

Permission to appeal out of time may be granted in a child case where the delay is reasonably explained, the applicant has actively pursued the matter, and…

For limitation purposes, a contractual claim for future or accelerated sums accrues when the contractual condition making those sums payable is satisfied. If…

Under rule 39.3(5) of the Civil Procedure Rules, promptness is a mandatory condition for setting aside a judgment entered in a party’s absence. The applicant…

General damages for specified forms of non-pecuniary loss in all civil claims were to increase by 10% from 1 April 2013. The increase covers pain and…

The conventional multiplicand and multiplier method, supported by the Ogden Tables, should normally be used to assess future loss of earnings. A broad-brush…

An appellate court reviewing factual findings must recognise the trial judge’s substantial advantage from seeing and hearing witnesses and understanding the…

Patent obviousness requires an assessment of whether the claimed product or process was obvious to the skilled but unimaginative addressee at the priority…

A contractual reference to monies held to a client’s order concerns money held by the solicitor on trust at the date of the agreement. It does not include a…

In a costs appeal, the usual rule that costs follow the event may be maintained where criticism of a party’s conduct can be addressed during detailed…

For the purposes of section 117(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983, resident does not import the distinct statutory concept of ordinary residence. Its meaning…

For the domestic-worker exemption in regulation 2(2) of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999, the central question is whether the worker is treated as a…

For direct discrimination under section 21D(1) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the claimant must establish less favourable treatment and an…

Strict liability under Rylands v Fletcher requires the escape of the exceptionally dangerous thing brought onto the defendant’s land. The escape of a fire…

When determining a child’s upbringing, the court must assess welfare holistically and over the short, medium and long term. It must respect religious diversity…

A solicitor who properly instructs leading counsel may ordinarily rely on counsel’s settlement advice. The solicitor must nevertheless exercise independent…

In a proprietary estoppel claim based on an assurance of inheritance, the court must assess the assurance, reliance, detriment and unconscionability in their…

A hearing may depart from the principle of open justice only to the extent strictly necessary in the interests of justice. Necessity is determined by weighing…

A dispute concerning recognition of a religious successor and that person's asserted entitlement under charity trust deeds to appoint a trustee may be…

CPR Part 19.2(4) is not the exclusive route for replacing one party with another. Even where its condition that an interest or liability has passed is not…

In a planning challenge, an inspector’s failure to state that substantial weight was given to an accepted unmet need for gypsy and traveller sites may make the…

A collateral warranty may qualify or override terms of a signed contract where an oral assurance induced entry into the contract. Its meaning is determined…

A member of a limited liability partnership who would have been a partner in an unincorporated partnership cannot, by reason of membership alone, be an…

Non-disclosure of material central to child welfare proceedings is exceptional. The court must balance the affected rights, examine the feared harm rigorously…

In competitive public procurement, clarification of a tender is exceptional. It may address an ambiguity or an obvious material error, but cannot reconstruct…

Whether commercial holiday letting of a dwellinghouse amounts to a material change of use is a question of fact and degree. The decision-maker must compare the…

An immigration detention authority (IS91) does not itself make a prisoner statutorily ineligible for Home Detention Curfew under section 246 of the Criminal…

Under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, enhanced protection against expulsion depends on genuine integration during the ten years…

Under Article 104(1) of the CTM Regulation, a stay is the strong default where validity is already being challenged before OHIM. Special grounds are rare and…

Implementation of an anti-competitive agreement made by others can itself amount to a concerted practice contrary to Article 101 where the undertaking acts…

An appeal may be allowed in part where a discrete issue remains dismissed. A cross-appeal may be dismissed and the lower court’s order set aside, with judgment…

An investment adviser who recommends a product must assess its suitability for the particular customer, rather than risk in the abstract. Where statutory…

The Ankara Agreement standstill clause does not disappear merely because an applicant has breached a condition of leave. The application remains governed by…

An investigation into ill-treatment contrary to European Convention on Human Rights article 3 is not automatically required in every prison-assault case. The…

An interim care order requiring a child’s immediate removal from current carers should be made only where the child’s safety demands separation. The court must…

The power to grant a licence for the conservation of badgers under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 is not confined to preventing disease…

Interim contact in care proceedings must be decided without prejudging the final fact-finding or rehabilitation issues. Even in exceptionally serious cases…

For sufficiency, the court must first construe the claim and identify the invention. For a product claim, the central question is whether the product can be…

An appellate court will generally refuse a new point said to be one of law where its resolution could depend on uncalled valuation evidence, factual findings…

A solicitor’s entitlement to a retaining lien depends on how the retainer ended. Where the client terminates the retainer, absent misconduct, the solicitor may…

Appeals against findings made after a fact-finding exercise should be rare and are not encouraged. A trial judge decides between conflicting evidence and…

At the permission stage, the Court of Appeal may extend time and grant permission where proposed grounds disclose sufficient merit for full examination of the…

Where compulsory motor insurance must meet a judgment for an uninsured driver’s liability, the Road Traffic Act 1988, section 151(8), gives the insurer a right…

Under paragraph 83 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, an administration converts into a creditors’ voluntary liquidation when the registrar registers…

A bespoke fire-suppression installation is ordinarily a contract for design skill and reasonable care, not a supply of goods whose quality or fitness can be…

A judgment concerning parental responsibility given in one EU Member State could be denied recognition under article 23(a) of Brussels II Revised only in an…

At an interim care-order hearing, the threshold question is whether there are reasonable grounds for thinking that the conditions in section 31(2) will be…

For an order requiring a third party to give security for costs under CPR 25.14(2)(b), the third party must have contributed, or agreed to contribute, to the…

An extended civil restraint order is not justified merely by applications which are effectively responsive to earlier litigation. The order must be supported…

Fresh evidence may justify appellate intervention where it shows that the first-instance judge would or might have made a different order. In such…

An appellate court does not retry a factual dispute. It reviews the trial judge’s reasoning and intervenes only where the finding is plainly wrong, lies…

Where a Part 36 offer is accepted after the relevant period, the normal costs order applies unless it would be unjust. The court must assess all the…

For a loan to be a restricted-use credit agreement, its stated purpose must amount to a binding contractual term. A shared commercial purpose or intention is…

A contractual requirement that a notice may be served by specified methods is ordinarily permissive unless clear language makes those methods exclusive.…

On an appeal against a competition penalty, the Court of Appeal should respect the expertise of the specialist tribunal. Intervention is justified for an error…

For follow-on damages claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the “decision” under section 47A(6)(d) and (8) of the Competition Act 1998 is the regulatory…

Where Article 8 is engaged, requiring an applicant to leave the United Kingdom and seek entry clearance abroad is disproportionate unless there is a sensible…

For serious operational dishonesty or impropriety by a police officer, a sanction requiring departure from the force will normally follow. A lesser sanction is…

A collective agreement governing musicians’ poor artistic performance must be construed according to its objective protective purpose. Unless the wording…

Where a party makes a successful Part 36 offer, the court should apply the usual costs consequences unless doing so would be unjust. A successful appellant may…

A statutory dispute-resolution power is not implicitly confined to disputes likely to be completed within four months where Communications Act 2003 makes the…

An applicant refused permission by the Upper Tribunal to seek judicial review must first apply to that tribunal for permission to appeal. An application to the…

A statutory corporation’s contractual capacity is determined by the legislation establishing it. Where that legislation defines principal objects and permits…

Negligence requires more than a foreseeable possibility of injury. The question is whether a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would regard the…

A stay pending appeal is exceptional. The applicant must show solid grounds, and the court must balance the risk of injustice on both sides. Whether refusal…

In a statutory challenge to a compulsory divestiture remedy, proportionality must be assessed within the statutory scheme and in light of the public interest…

The Court of Appeal has a continuing responsibility to maintain general-damages guidelines. It may revise them to reflect relevant social and legal change, not…

Passing off requires goodwill, misrepresentation and damage. Mere confusion is insufficient: the claimant must show an operative, non-transitory…

A contractual right granted to a tenant may, where the lease permits or necessarily implies it, be exercised through persons authorised by the tenant.…

An order restoring a company to the register under the Companies Act 2006 retrospectively validates proceedings purportedly commenced by or against the company…

When removal under an unlawful immigration certificate deprives a person of a statutory in-country appeal, that deprivation is the starting point and weighs…

A trial adjournment is a case-management decision governed by the overriding objective and the requirement to deal with cases expeditiously and fairly. The…

A contractual survival proviso must be read with the termination clause and the commercial arrangement as a whole. It should preserve accrued rights and…

An appellate court may adjourn an appeal where substantial procedural grounds are raised at the hearing and require proper formulation and service. Where the…

In children proceedings, a court may make robust arrangements on limited evidence where speed and welfare require it. Before determining substantive residence…

In exercising a discretion concerning indirect contact under the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the child’s welfare and rights must remain central. An order…

A worker absent on long-term sick leave throughout a leave year does not lose the right to paid annual leave merely because no request was made to take it or…

A failure to endeavour to trace the family of an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child may remain relevant after the child turns 18. The duty is positive and is…

For the purposes of Council Directive 2004/83/EC, article 4(4) is engaged only where earlier persecution, serious harm or direct threats are accepted as such.…

When Ofcom resolves a network-access dispute, it acts as a regulator pursuing the objectives of the Common Regulatory Framework, not merely as a commercial…

Direct contact between a child and a non-resident parent should be refused only exceptionally. The child’s welfare remains paramount, but contact is normally…

Where the High Court appoints an arbitrator under section 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the decision is one under that section even if it requires…

A family court has a case-management discretion whether to reopen a fact-finding exercise abandoned or compromised by consent. Serious allegations do not…

A shopkeeper is not strictly liable when a customer slips on produce. Once the claimant shows that an unusual hazard was present where customers were invited…

Relief from sanctions requires evidence addressing the circumstances of the default. The court must assess the matters identified in CPR 3.9, but the absence…

Before deciding under section 52 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that a child’s welfare requires adoption, the court must actively and in detail consider…

A mistaken grant by a public authority does not, without more, entitle its recipient to insist that it continue. Whether correction defeats a legitimate…

Confidential material concerning an account given or retracted by a person outside family proceedings may be disclosed to the parties and the children’s…

In an internal relocation dispute, the child’s welfare remains paramount. A Shared Residence Order, or an effectively shared-care arrangement without an order…

For Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68, merely looking for work does not amount to employment. Worker status requires a real link with the host-state…

An individual may be a worker under section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 despite carrying on business on their own account. The statute imposes…

A party may rely on an unknown repudiatory breach to justify its earlier termination and defeat a claim for wrongful termination. That principle does not…

A passenger cannot claim damages merely because an air carrier breached Article 8 of Regulation EC No. 261/2004. Article 12 preserves compensation rights…

In public law, a fresh application does not permit re-litigation of an issue finally determined by an unappealed judgment where the new application relies on…

The common-law police non-actionability rule concerns the absence of a duty of care, rather than a blanket immunity. It ordinarily bars negligence claims…

In an international insurance dispute, a claimant seeking to continue English proceedings must show that they serve a useful purpose. The court may assess…

A planning decision-maker must consider a previous appeal decision where the cases are materially alike. Consistency promotes fairness and public confidence…

Permission to appeal should be granted where linked immigration appeals raise important points of principle, including the lawfulness of an entry policy, the…

An appellate court may interfere with a discretionary procedural decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal only where the decision is wrong or procedurally…

Under the Criminal Justice Act 1988, abandoning valuable contractual rights may constitute a gift for confiscation purposes. The assessment must reflect…

For a petition under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006, the public availability of company accounts does not impose a duty on a minority shareholder to…

A private nuisance claim turns on fact and degree. The claimant must prove a real interference with the comfort or convenience of living, judged by the…

For the purposes of section 29 of the Access to Justice Act 1999, first-instance proceedings and an appeal are separate proceedings. An after-the-event…

Where an agreement and trust deed provide for two parties to contribute to lending in stated proportions, and require the lender to hold the security and…

Where a party has lost the statutory right to insist on a jury trial in a libel action by failing to apply within the prescribed time, the action is ordinarily…

The law governing an assignment is identified under the applicable conflict-of-laws rules. An express choice is unnecessary where the parties’ choice is…

When a penal injunction prohibits further “caravans”, the term is construed in its ordinary sense and in the factual context of the order, including the type…

A judge of the Family Division cannot use CPR r 3.1(7) to revoke or vary a bankruptcy registrar’s order merely because the judge considers it wrong. That power…

In care proceedings, a judge who has delivered a fact-finding judgment cannot ordinarily reverse findings merely because further reflection has produced a…

For harm caused by a third party, foreseeability and proximity do not alone establish or exclude a duty of care. The governing inquiry remains whether the…

On an appeal against a barred-list decision, the Upper Tribunal may determine whether the decision was irrational or a disproportionate interference with…

In fact-finding proceedings concerning injury to a child, the burden remains on the party seeking the finding, who must prove it on the balance of…

Fresh evidence on appeal should ordinarily be unavailable at trial despite reasonable diligence, probably have materially influenced the result, and be…

Religion does not, by itself, remove a civil dispute from the jurisdiction of the courts. Courts may determine property, contract and statutory rights despite…

Article 56(1) and (2) of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 provides consultative safeguards for cross-border placement. It requires consultation with the…

A sentence varied on a defendant’s appeal is substituted for the Crown Court sentence. It remains, in effect, the sentence of the court below and does not…

A court may draw an inference from circumstantial evidence where the physical facts identify a ready source, alternative explanations have been rejected, and…

A payment made by a participating leaseholder under a freehold-enfranchisement participation agreement is contractual consideration, not a loan, where it funds…

For permission to appeal in a beneficial-ownership dispute, a party cannot introduce after trial a case that was not seriously run below. Such a case is too…

An agent owes a fiduciary duty of undivided loyalty and may not act for competing principals without the principal’s fully informed consent. The limited…

Tree-root disputes are governed by general principles of negligence and nuisance. Liability depends on whether the defendant should have appreciated a real…

From 23 May 2011, a tribunal determining a Points-Based System appeal could consider an appellant’s evidence only within the limits imposed by section 85A of…

A dismissal for some other substantial reason may rest on a breakdown of trust and confidence caused by an official disclosure of unproven allegations. The…

A Country Guidance determination remains authoritative unless and until it is set aside on appeal or replaced by later Country Guidance. A pending application…

On an appeal from the Upper Tribunal, the Court of Appeal may intervene only if the Upper Tribunal’s determination contains an error of law. Where the Upper…

A financial remedy order may be challenged for material non-disclosure either by an appeal to the Court of Appeal or by an application to the first-instance…

On an application for security for costs, the court must balance the claimant’s injustice if prevented from pursuing a proper claim against the defendant’s…

A school is not negligent merely because a supervising teacher cannot observe every action of every pupil. The adequacy of supervision must be assessed in…

Vicarious liability is not confined to a contract of employment. It may arise where the relationship between the defendant and the tortfeasor is sufficiently…

On a second appeal, a party must show both a real prospect of success and either an important point of principle or practice or another compelling reason. A…

A finding of forgery based on written expert reports must follow a careful and balanced analysis of all material evidence. The judge must address material…

Proof of negligence and foreseeable psychiatric deterioration does not establish causation where the causal link depends on showing that the claimant would…

To recover contractual damages, the claimant must show that the breach was the effective or dominant cause of the loss. Causation is assessed by common sense…

Where a vehicle is removed under a newly introduced parking scheme, the relevant question is whether the claimant received, or ought reasonably to have…

An immigration tribunal must consider the best interests of children affected by its decision, where necessary of its own motion. Failure to do so is an error…

Whether a later damages claim is an abuse of process after unsuccessful judicial review requires a broad, merits-based assessment of all the circumstances.…

For goods bought for resale, contractual fitness for purpose is assessed objectively by asking how a reasonable buyer, credited with the relevant facts, would…

An issue judicially determined by an unappealed order cannot be reopened at a later trial. The later judge is bound by the earlier ruling and may decide only…

For capital gains tax purposes, a pre-ordained series of interdependent, self-cancelling transactions must be viewed as a whole where the statutory purpose…

Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 2 requires a variation of a land contract to be recorded in a signed document containing all…

On a second-stage appeal, permission requires a strongly arguable case and circumstances justifying further appellate scrutiny, including serious consequences…

On an application for permission to appeal, the court should refuse permission where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of success and could not affect…

A contractual indemnity must be construed with the agreement as a whole. Where provisions governing a vehicle sale form a complete contractual code, the…

Damages for professional negligence compensate actual loss caused by the negligence. They must not provide a windfall based on hypothetical loss. Where a…

Where defective piling damages houses but full repiling is unreasonable, the basic measure of damages is diminution in value. Necessary remedial costs may be…

In a misconduct dismissal, the Employment Tribunal must assess the employer’s reasonable investigation, actual belief in misconduct, and reasonable grounds for…

An indemnity in an asset-transfer agreement which requires the purchaser to assume specified liabilities and indemnify the transferor against proceedings…

A statutory requirement that an appeal be made only with permission ordinarily renders a refusal of permission final. A further appeal exists only where…

In an application under the Law of Property Act 1925, section 84, the favourable costs regime for objectors applies once the objector’s entitlement to the…

A person with no domestic-law right to remain in a home may in principle rely on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to resist possession.…

Repeal of the statutory provision suspending a citizenship deprivation order pending appeal did not abrogate the Crown’s prerogative power to exclude the…

A judge considering an application to strike out all or part of a claim must give the applicant a fair opportunity to advance oral submissions, subject only to…

Long-established honest concurrent use of identical marks for identical goods can prevent invalidation under article 4(1)(a) where it neither has nor is liable…

Where parties agree to hold property in equal beneficial shares despite unequal initial contributions, the court must determine whether that agreement was…

Certification of an asylum or human rights claim as clearly unfounded requires more than a conclusion that the claim is unlikely to succeed. The claim must be…

For Schedule 2 development, the statutory question is whether the project is likely to have significant effects on the environment. It is not enough that an…

The statutory scheme requires CAFCASS to maintain a general and reviewable public-law framework providing for children’s representation and the performance of…

There are no fixed rules governing the composition of a redundancy selection pool. The employer must genuinely consider who is at risk, and the pool need not…

An injunction regulating a right of way may prohibit lingering, loitering and recording where the way is being used for persistent surveillance. It need not…

A party who is also a necessary witness has a legitimate interest in attending the civil trial. That interest is an aspect of the right to a fair trial under…

A receiver appointed under a valid mortgage is not dependent on the mortgagor’s continuing mental capacity. The statutory agency deemed by section 109(2) of…

The statutory scheme governing the National Asset Management Agency should be construed purposively. The National Asset Management Agency Act 2009 was directed…

The foreign act of state doctrine does not prevent an English court from examining whether a foreign judicial decision, or the foreign judicial system that…

An employee does not become a fiduciary merely by being employed. The existence and scope of any fiduciary duty must be determined first from the employment…

Under CPR Rule 44.3, costs remain a matter of judicial discretion. The general rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party may be varied after…

An appellate court will interfere with a discretionary procedural decision only where the judge considered an irrelevant matter, omitted a legally relevant…

In a foreign-element fatal accident claim, the law governing the recoverable head of loss is substantive law governed by the lex causae, while quantification…

A settlement offer made outside Part 36 cannot attract its costs and interest consequences by analogy. The offer remains relevant to the ordinary costs…

A guarantee of a transferee’s due performance of obligations undertaken by a transferor may be enforced by an assignee of the guarantee’s benefit, even where…

A final tribunal determination dismissing an appeal against a decision to make a deportation order provides a lawful basis for making that order and for…

The scope of a deeded right of way depends on the grant and on the substance and intention of the claimed use. A user cannot rely on artificial or colourable…

Under sections 128 and 129 of the Housing Act 1996, possession proceedings against an introductory tenant require a properly served notice and, where review is…

An appeal from an employment tribunal must identify a material error of law. Disagreement with factual findings ordinarily provides no basis for permission to…

Piercing the corporate veil may justify a discretionary remedy where a controller has misused a company as a façade to conceal wrongdoing. It does not make the…

Appeals against case-management decisions are not automatically unnecessary or doomed to fail. Where there is a good reason to challenge such a decision, the…

Permission to appeal on lease construction may be granted where the proposed argument is reasonably arguable and has some prospect of success, even though the…

A laytime exception for strikes or other causes beyond the charterer’s control that prevent or delay discharging is concerned with time actually lost by the…

For article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998, “similar character” requires other inhumane acts to be comparable in nature…

On an appeal challenging a trial judge’s factual conclusion, the question is whether the conclusion was open on the evidence. A defect in subsidiary reasoning…

For the purposes of the Limitation Act 1980, an action is brought when the claimant delivers to the court office a request to issue, the claim form and the…

Evidence concerning conditions at an unlawful or secret detention facility is not automatically inadmissible. The exceptional exclusion of torture evidence…

Employment tribunals have a broad discretion in case management. Appellate intervention is justified only where there is clear and proper evidence of actual or…

A waiver of the two-year time limit under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (2001) requires the Claims Officer to identify the actual or distinct…

Where an expert’s contractual task includes a prescribed procedure, a more-than-insignificant departure from that procedure may mean that the parties are not…

In a second appeal concerning asylum or immigration protection, permission may be justified where the proposed appeal has a reasonable or strong prospect of…

The statutory powers to serve a one-stop notice and to make a removal decision are discretionary. The word “may” in section 120 of the Nationality, Immigration…

When deciding whether an insolvent company’s director is unfit under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the court must assess the…

A defined contractual expression ordinarily carries the same meaning throughout an agreement unless the document provides a sufficient basis for a different…

In financial remedy proceedings, assets may be allocated unequally in kind to achieve equal net worth where the allocation is supported by agreed expert…

On an application by a prospective family carer to join care proceedings, the court should have regard to the factors in section 10(9) of the Children Act 1989…

A registered legal charge is a public document on which third parties may rely. Although a collateral agreement may be admissible as background, it cannot be…

A contractual requirement that insurance rent be paid after a written demand does not ordinarily require a formal letter or prescribed wording. Where the lease…

A barring injunction protecting confidential information requires a real risk of disclosure or misuse. A merely fanciful, theoretical or subconscious…

In construing an option agreement, the court asks what a reasonable person with the relevant background knowledge would understand the contractual language to…

Costs orders remain a broad discretionary matter. The court must consider all the circumstances, including late disclosure, its timing and practical effect…

Under the Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, Article 22(1) gives a Member State a discretion, not a duty, to postpone a…

For statutory succession, a person claiming through a deceased tenant must show both that they were living with the tenant as their husband or wife and that…

Sentencing guidelines for breaches of antisocial behaviour orders in criminal proceedings are equally relevant when a civil court punishes breach of an…

Where validity of a registered Community design is already in issue before OHIM, article 91(1) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 on Community designs…

An application to reopen a permission hearing on fresh evidence requires more than a real possibility that the earlier result was wrong. The applicant must…

An appellant who obtains the relief sought through the consensual disposal of a statutory appeal from the Upper Tribunal is ordinarily the successful party for…

For permanent residence under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006, a worker temporarily unable to work because of illness remains a worker and qualifying…

For Class 1 National Insurance purposes, “earnings” under the Social Security Contributions and Benefit Act 1992 is an autonomous concept. It is not confined…

A dismissal by consent does not invariably create a cause of action or issue estoppel. The court may examine the surrounding circumstances to determine whether…

Under regulation 15 of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992, liability for proper performance is confined to obligations…

For section 104(4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, a person “leaves” the United Kingdom when, by a voluntary physical act, he or she…

Where a party to an appeal is subject to a recent bankruptcy order and is temporarily unable to pursue the appeal, the court should not dismiss the appeal…

Whether a notice covenant in a guarantee arrangement is a condition precedent depends on construction of the agreement as a whole. A guarantee making liability…

Where an employer unequivocally elects to terminate an employment contract under an express power requiring payment in lieu of notice, the stipulated payment…

Where a proposed appeal challenges an assessment of damages and accepts that the trial judge applied no wrong legal principle, permission requires a real…

A non-party to an arbitration agreement may be restrained from pursuing foreign proceedings where there is a serious issue that it colluded with a contracting…

For actual knowledge under the Limitation Act 1980, section 14(1)(b), it was at least arguable that a claimant must have an actual belief, based on objective…

An appeal court may impose payment or security conditions only where there is a compelling reason, while retaining discretion over the form and amount of the…

Section 144(2) of the Customs & Excise Management Act 1979 applies to judicial-review proceedings arising from the detention of goods. Where there were…

Registration of a right of common does not necessarily exclude an unstated customary restriction on its exercise. Such a restriction may be proved by evidence…

The duty of sincere cooperation between the European Union and its Member States may require a domestic competition authority to abstain from making a merger…

For priority need under Housing Act 1996, the question is whether it is reasonable to expect dependent children to reside with the applicant, even if they…

Under section 193(5) of the Housing Act 1996, an authority need inform an applicant of the consequence stated in that provision: that its housing duty will…

An arguable breach of Article 3 engages a procedural duty to consider what investigation is required, but it does not routinely require a prompt public or…

A statutory scheme that permits a further notice after a defined waiting period ordinarily carries the right to pursue the statutory court process on that…

An employer’s contractual disciplinary decision to dismiss an employee does not itself determine a civil right for the purposes of Article 6. It asserts or…

Where a manual handling operation presents a risk of injury, the employer bears the legal burden of proving that appropriate steps reduced that risk to the…

Internal relocation may be raised for the first time on appeal in an asylum case. Its omission from the refusal letter, or failure to serve a response or…

A stay imposed after an inter partes hearing remains effective until lifted by a proper application on notice. A later order extending claim-form validity or…

In costs proceedings following failed personal injury claims, the Court of Appeal may order limited disclosure where new material gives rise to a properly…

In care and placement proceedings, a judge must assess identified uncertainties rather than merely list them. Where expert recommendations are rejected, the…

A third party’s payment to a creditor under legal compulsion, on account of a debtor’s debt, automatically discharges that debt. This applies even where the…

A court has a discretion to decline to hear a contemnor, but must decide how the interests of justice are best served in the individual case. Refusing a…

The proper law of an arbitration agreement is determined by a three-stage enquiry: express choice, implied choice, and, failing either, the system of law with…

In an arbitration governed by the Arbitration Act 1996, institutional rules displace the Act’s default powers only where they expressly modify them or are…

In a boundary dispute, a court applying the general boundaries rule must determine the true line by relating the filed plan to the physical features on the…

Security of tenure under the Mobile Homes Act 1983 is subject to an adequate notice to remedy breach, non-compliance within a reasonable time and a finding…

In a road traffic injury claim, primary liability may be established where, on the balance of probabilities, a driver’s failure to brake promptly caused the…

On an appeal from refusal of an interim injunction, the Court of Appeal must review the judge’s exercise of discretion rather than substitute its own view.…

Adverse possession requires factual possession, meaning sufficient physical custody and control, together with an intention to possess for the claimant’s own…

An application to extend time for filing an appeal must be determined under the Civil Procedure Rules r 3.9(1) checklist, with strict observance of appellate…

Suitability under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 requires a structured analysis. The court must first identify the risk and ask…

Article 14 of the ECHR prohibits housing-benefit rules from imposing a substantial disadvantage on severely disabled claimants without objective and reasonable…

Illegality does not automatically bar an independent statutory discrimination claim. The court must ask whether the claim arises from, or is inextricably bound…

On a second appeal, permission requires a real prospect of success and an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the appeal…

When a baby’s ordinary residence depends on that of a parent who is herself a child in care, the disregard required by section 105(6) of the Children Act 1989…

For the purpose of section 30(1)(g) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, a landlord must show both a fixed and settled desire to occupy and a reasonable…

A purported Part 36 offer must satisfy every mandatory requirement of the rule. An expressed intention to comply can resolve ambiguity, but cannot supply an…

An amended patent must not present the skilled person with technical information which is not directly and unambiguously disclosed, expressly or implicitly, by…

A local authority may enforce a building notice requiring demolition where a building causes serious detriment to neighbourhood amenities. In deciding whether…

A local authority deciding a high-hedge complaint under Part 8 of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 performs an administrative public-law function, not a…

A statutory period expressed as a period of weeks starting with a stated date includes that date. It differs from a period running from a date. A statutory…

Damages for trespass may be assessed by a hypothetical negotiation where they compensate the claimant for the value to the trespasser of the use actually made…

A court may correct contractual language through interpretation only where the document, read with the admissible background, clearly establishes both the…

Where a deed contains an imprecise verbal description and an annexed plan stated to be for identification only, the plan is not automatically excluded. The…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, permission should be refused for grounds having no real prospect of success. A non-fanciful point requiring…

A material breach of a published immigration detention policy makes detention unlawful and establishes false imprisonment. Whether the person could and would…

For the fourth head of charity, it is insufficient that an object is expressed to benefit the community or provides a public service. The purpose must fall…

A driver is not negligent merely because a large vehicle travels on or slightly over the centre line of a narrow country road. The question is whether the…

In an asylum claim based on sexual orientation, the tribunal must assess the applicant’s likely conduct on return and, if discretion is likely, why. A claimant…

The Race Relations Act 1976 does not regulate allegations made in family or matrimonial litigation merely because they concern a person’s race. Its…

Where a claimant obtains all or substantially all the relief sought after issuing proceedings, the claimant is ordinarily the successful party and should…

An occupation order excluding a spouse from the family home is not confined to cases involving physical violence or reprehensible conduct. Under the Family Law…

In a child-contact dispute, a judge is not required to direct further professional assessment merely because a parent seeks assessment of understanding or…

Permission to instruct an expert may be refused where the proposed report has not been shown to bear, even tangentially, on the issues the court must decide.…

Under section 2(1) of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, “reasonably so called” limits the statutory meaning of house. The question is whether it is reasonable to…

In private-law child proceedings, a court deciding whether to transfer primary care from a parent to a grandparent must investigate material history bearing on…

Case-management discussions between a judge and counsel during ongoing negotiations are permissible where they assist the court to determine whether the matter…

The illegality principle can apply to a claim under a cross-undertaking in damages, including where the relevant illegality arises under foreign law. Its…

A modest claim should not be struck out merely because its value is small. A court considering strike-out for disproportionate use of resources must ask…

For Article 3(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 469/2009, an SPC cannot be granted for active ingredients that are not specified in the wording of the basic…

When deciding whether to suspend a possession order for antisocial behaviour, the court must assess reasonableness and proportionality by reference to all…

A claim to a vehicular right of way by prescription requires proof of 20 years’ open use without force or permission. The use must be continuous. For a right…

Statutory grievance requirements must be applied in their legislative and factual context, without undue technicality, while respecting the elements prescribed…

Once the Upper Tribunal has identified a material error of law and set aside a First-tier Tribunal decision, it must either remake the decision or remit the…

An appellate court need not discard all evidence merely because both parties have given unreliable accounts. A trial judge may sift the evidence, accepting…

Patent claims are construed purposively in context, but the language chosen remains critical and deliberate limitations must be given effect. A claim requiring…

The Court may rectify a statutory drafting error by adding words where it is abundantly sure of the provision’s intended purpose, that the omission was…

Under regulation 4(1)(b)(ii) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, an employer must take reasonably practicable steps to reduce the risk of…

In a removal or deportation decision affecting a child, the tribunal must assess the child’s best interests first and treat them as a primary consideration.…

A court may revoke an order granting relief from sanctions where it is satisfied on the civil standard, with regard to the nature of the allegation, that the…

Under the Immigration Rules (HC 395), the general interpretation provisions apply to paragraph 352D unless a contrary intention appears. For an adoptive…

A solicitor’s retainer to conduct litigation is ordinarily an entire contract, but express terms may permit suspension for non-payment. Suspension and…

Commercial parties may intend to create legal relations without making every contemplated obligation enforceable. The court must identify objectively both…

An appellate court must exercise particular caution before disturbing a first-instance assessment of an asylum seeker's age. The need for restraint increases…

Proceedings issued without a claimant’s authority are defective and liable to be struck out, but they are not a nullity. The claimant may adopt them…

Employee or worker status requires a contract under which the individual undertakes personally to perform work or services. The absence of a written agreement…

In a long-term contract containing fixed and variable remuneration elements, describing the capital element as firm and fixed does not make the whole operating…

Independent evidence of torture under an immigration detention policy includes an independent expert’s findings, opinion and honest belief following…

The power to vary or revoke an order under rule 3.1(7) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is broad but constrained by finality, the appeal process and the…

An injunction is preventive, not punitive. It may therefore be granted only where a threat or risk of further wrongdoing exists. Once infringement of an…

In a highway tripping claim, dangerousness is a fact-sensitive inference rather than a matter governed by fixed measurements. An appellate court reviewing such…

A parent company does not owe a subsidiary’s employees a duty of care merely because of its shareholding or ordinary group control. A direct duty may, however…

A claimant is not deprived of a statutory Employment Tribunal remedy merely by sending a letter before action and draft particulars indicating an intended High…

A bankruptcy annulment application cannot ordinarily be used to re-litigate grounds already rejected in the bankruptcy proceedings. A ground not previously…

Contractual powers to control a company’s pre-completion tax affairs must be read with their express limits and the transaction’s allocation of tax liabilities…

In a patent obviousness appeal, the challenger bears the burden of proving that the claimed invention was obvious. Obviousness is a multifactorial judgment…

Country guidance that private and discreet Falun Gong practice will not normally create a real risk is not displaced merely because later country-of-origin…

A planning authority must determine a current planning application by applying its statutory duties, the development plan and current material considerations.…

A discretion to license exhumation under section 25(ii) of the Burial Act 1857 is not subject to an implied presumption of permanence or a burden requiring…

For disability discrimination, the duty to make reasonable adjustments is engaged where a current impairment affects a normal day-to-day activity, even if the…

The public sector equality duty requires substantive consideration of equality implications. It is not a tick-box exercise, although courts must avoid…

Where a contract entrusts valuation to a party in its sole discretion, the valuation must be made honestly and rationally, but the court must not substitute…

For the purposes of opposing renewal of a business tenancy on ground (g), “the landlord” means the competent landlord under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954…

A solicitor’s continuing retainer does not impose a duty to advise on every risk suggested by incidental information. The scope and extent of the duty depend…

Family courts may adopt a robust, interventionist and pragmatic approach. Procedural formalities applicable to conventional civil litigation need not always be…

A court may order costs personally against a director or other non-party where that person's failure to make full and frank disclosure causes a separate…

Appellate courts should intervene only rarely in a first-instance decision on interim injunctive relief. Where the judge applies the correct framework…

A public consultation must be fair and permit an effective, informed response. Yet consultation is inherently capable of correcting provisional errors. A court…

Under the Family Law Act 1986, jurisdiction to make or vary a section 8 children order is determined by the statutory conditions on the relevant date. For an…

An unless order requiring service of new Particulars of Claim is construed objectively, in its factual context, by reference to the document served and, where…

When an appeal is allowed but applications remain unresolved, the Court of Appeal may remit them to a High Court judge. Success does not necessarily secure the…

In a negligence claim, liability must rest on an allegation advanced at trial, put to the defendant and supported by evidence. A court should not infer that a…

A defendant pleading justification in a libel action must specify precisely and clearly the defamatory meaning to be justified. The supporting particulars must…

The phrase pending his removal in paragraph 16(2) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 means pending completion of the removal process. A person subject…

In a fact-finding appeal, a first-instance judgment must explain sufficiently what was found and the reasoning process leading to it. It need not address every…

Disclosure before an appeal is discretionary and must bear on the existing grounds of appeal or the respondent’s notice. The court should approach with caution…

Where a party disputes whether a settlement agreement has extinguished an appeal, the Court of Appeal should not determine a first-instance dispute about the…

In solicitor disciplinary proceedings, sanctions primarily protect the public and preserve confidence in the profession, rather than punish. Proven dishonesty…

Courts have an inherent common law jurisdiction to determine the requirements of open justice. Where documents have been placed before a judge and referred to…

Under the 1992 ISDA Master Agreement, an Event of Default leaves the underlying debt intact but suspends the corresponding payment obligation while the default…

Where the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 requires a section 3(10) hearing, the court cannot use general case-management powers under the Civil Procedure…

Section 21(1)(a) of the Limitation Act 1980 is not confined to claims against the trustee who was party or privy to the fraud. It removes the statutory…

For an equal-pay claim based on work rated as equivalent, an employer relying on a genuine material factor must show that the factor is not sex-tainted and is…

For liability under section 2(2)(a) of the Animals Act 1971, damage is likely to be severe when it is reasonably to be expected to be severe. The issue remains…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal confirmed that it will not ordinarily interfere with clear factual findings made by a…

Capacity in litigation is assessed by reference to the capacity required to conduct the proceedings as a whole, not merely to understand the particular…

For the Children Act 1989 section 31 threshold based on likely future significant harm, the likelihood must rest on facts proved on the balance of…

An undertaking to use best or all reasonable endeavours is generally enforceable where the object of the endeavours is sufficiently certain. Difficulty in…

The scope of a broadly drafted settlement release depends on its contractual context. General words settling all present, future, known and unknown claims do…

Detention under paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to Immigration Act 1971 is limited to the period reasonably necessary to facilitate deportation. The Secretary of…

Under paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 6 to Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, an employer intending to retire an employee must notify the employee in…

A contractual power to review holiday-caravan pitch fees is not confined to operating costs by the ejusdem generis principle where its final limb covers any…

Exclusion under the Refugee Convention requires an individual assessment of the person's own role and responsibility. Mere membership of, or association with…

At interlocutory stage, a discrimination claim should be struck out only where it is bound to fail. If the claim raises an arguable legal issue whose…

A partnership can arise without a written agreement, but only if the parties intend the legal relationship to exist. An express subject to contract…

Where property is conveyed into one cohabiting party’s sole name, an intention to buy jointly does not trigger the legal presumption applicable to joint legal…

When permission is sought to challenge a discretionary refusal to extend time, the proposed appeal must identify an error of principle or a decision outside…

In a written-representation planning appeal, natural justice may require the Planning Inspectorate to ensure that an interested person has notice of, and a…

In a sole-name property case, a claimant must establish an actual shared intention that beneficial ownership be shared. That intention may be express or…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the grounds merit further argument and have realistically arguable prospects of success, even though their…

Where an agreement to repay money is established but its precise repayment conditions are not proved, the claim does not necessarily fail. The court may infer…

Financial provision following dissolution of a civil partnership is governed by the statutory criteria in Schedule 5 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, whose…

Where more than one competent authority is concerned with a project, regulation 65(2) of the Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 permits the planning…

A planning authority’s reasons for deciding that an environmental impact assessment is unnecessary must enable a potential objector to understand the basis of…

Under section 40(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981, statelessness is assessed by asking whether the deprivation order would make the person stateless when…

When capitalising a former spouse’s periodical payments, the assessed income need must exclude mortgage interest where capital was made available to discharge…

For maintenance requirements under rule 317(iva) of the Immigration Rules, third-party financial support cannot ordinarily be ring-fenced for the applicant.…

The High Court’s inherent jurisdiction survives the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It may protect an adult whose decision-making is compromised by constraint…

Decisions to place or retain a prisoner in cellular confinement or segregation do not necessarily determine a “civil right” under Article 6 ECHR. Association…

A statutory notice of an immigration decision is invalid if it wrongly advises a person that an appeal may be pursued only from outside the United Kingdom…

An employer’s duty to take reasonable care for employees’ safety requires a balance between the likelihood and consequences of injury, the probable…

Direct age discrimination is justified where it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. An employer cannot justify discriminatory treatment…

In child-protection fact-finding proceedings involving serious abuse allegations, the judge must conduct and explain a detailed, conscientious assessment of…

In an asylum appeal, the Court of Appeal will rarely interfere with findings of fact. An appellant must ordinarily show that no reasonable tribunal could have…

Compliance with a speed limit does not necessarily discharge the duty of care. Circumstances may require a driver to travel below the maximum permitted speed.…

On an appeal from findings of fact in a clinical negligence claim, a trial judge may accept that witnesses are truthful while rejecting parts of their evidence…

Under the Education Act 1996, conditionally naming a parent's preferred school on the basis that the parents pay transport costs remains a dispute about school…

A housing authority’s duty under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 is absolute, but suitability is an elastic concept assessed against a minimum Wednesbury…

In a company share valuation based on maintainable earnings, capital values are ordinarily excluded. A principal repayment liability is therefore not…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds merely seek to reargue factual findings and disclose no arguable error of law or real…

The successful party remains presumptively entitled to its costs despite having advanced a dishonest case. The court must evaluate the nature and degree of the…

A public highway may arise at common law where long public use and the surrounding evidence justify an inference of dedication and acceptance. The evidence…

An official, professionally compiled consumer price index may measure changes in the general level of prices even where it uses a geometric mean and assumes…

Under paragraph 317(i)(e) of the Immigration Rules, the applicant must be living in the most exceptional compassionate circumstances notwithstanding financial…

Article 10(1) does not confer a general right of access to information held by public authorities. A refusal to disclose documents, made consistently with the…

After a claimant has established a jurisdictional gateway for service out, it need show only a serious issue to be tried, or a reasonable prospect of success…

Compliance with an environmental permit does not itself make an interference with neighbouring land a reasonable use, nor does it displace private-law rights…

A first-instance decision on relief from a debarring order may be overturned only for an error of principle or because it falls outside the generous ambit of…

An appellate court should not interfere with factual findings based on witness evidence where the trial judge saw and heard the witnesses, the findings were…

The second-tier appeals test remains more stringent than the ordinary requirement of a real prospect of success. Under its compelling-reason limb, the court…

An unaccompanied child asylum seeker bears the burden of establishing the claim. The child’s vulnerability may justify special procedures and greater benefit…

A partnership deed must be construed as a whole, with defined terms applied consistently unless the context requires otherwise. Where the deed states that…

Permission for a second appeal requires more than a real prospect of success. Under CPR Part 52.13, the proposed appeal must raise an important question of…

A landlord may waive a lease covenant where it consents to specified works that are plainly and fundamentally incompatible with continued enforcement of that…

In interrelated family proceedings, a judge may manage public and private law cases in parallel rather than consolidate them where consolidation creates…

For the third condition in paragraph 5(4) of Land Registration Act 2002 Schedule 6, the applicant’s belief that the land belonged to him must be genuine and…

A driver’s duty is to exercise reasonable care in the circumstances known at the time. It does not require a counsel-of-perfection response based on hindsight…

A managing director has implied actual authority to perform functions within the usual scope of that office. The precise authority is determined by…

An inspector may make the planning judgment whether a proposed development creates an unacceptable risk of harm to a protected habitat. Expert evidence…

Where a public authority revises its position after permission to appeal and the claimant achieves the practical result sought, the claimant will ordinarily…

An express right of way is construed by its words, read with the surrounding circumstances and the parties’ objective intention. A reference to an access way…

Where domestic violence findings are followed by conflicting Cafcass assessments about direct contact, the issue is a welfare decision, not merely case…

At the permission stage of judicial review, the central question is whether the claim is arguable. The court should not treat that stage as a final…

A restriction under section 91(14) must be imposed cautiously and proportionately, with child welfare remaining paramount. It should ordinarily be sought by an…

Permission to replace a party’s named expert is a discretionary case-management decision. The court must apply the overriding objective, including justice to…

An appeal from a county court decision made in its statutory appellate capacity is a second appeal, even where the decisive issue arose for the first time in…

In disputes concerning a child born into an alternative family, there is no general rule fixing the role of a known biological father. The overriding and…

When a public authority withdraws a decision under challenge and agrees to reconsider it, the claimant is ordinarily treated as the successful party. The…

A notice to complete a land sale contract is effective only if it requires completion of the contract that actually binds the parties. A vendor cannot rely on…

The Convention does not require a state to provide a person liable to deportation with medical treatment unavailable in the receiving country. That principle…

For United Kingdom tax purposes, the legal machinery used for a distribution determines whether a shareholder receives capital or income. A distribution…

Non-compliance with procedural requirements governing expert reports does not, by itself, require a tribunal to give linguistic-analysis evidence less weight.…

A residential occupier who has no domestic law defence to a public authority’s possession claim may invoke article 8 proportionality. The court must, however…

Res judicata binds parties only on an issue that was properly before the earlier court and was necessary to its decision. A tribunal’s finding on an issue…

A court may strike out a statement of case under rule 3.4(2)(c) for serious failure to comply with rules or court orders. The power is draconian and must be…

A judicial-review claim brought within the three-month period may still be prompt where inadequate reasons leave the claimant unable to identify the basis of a…

A contract of guarantee satisfies section 4 of the Statute of Frauds 1677 when its terms are contained in a duly authenticated sequence of documents. The…

A non-delegable duty is a personal duty to ensure that reasonable care is taken. It is distinct from vicarious liability and represents an exceptional…

A shipowner may enforce a receiver’s letter of indemnity under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 where the letter is addressed to the charterer…

A litigation friend’s authority ends when the protected party dies. A person who has not obtained a grant of representation has no standing to commence or…

Regulation 12 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 imposes a two-stage duty. An employer must take reasonably practicable measures to…

For a pre-2000 class c town or village green under the Commons Registration Act 1965, qualifying use had to be linked predominantly to a single legally…

There is no near-miss principle applicable to the Immigration Rules. In an Article 8 proportionality assessment, the decision-maker must assess the strength of…

Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 section 120 gives the Secretary of State a discretionary power, rather than a duty, to require a person to state…

Use of land is not “as of right” where the owner takes reasonable and proportionate steps to communicate opposition. Effective signs need not remain visible to…

A judge should not substantially rewrite a handed-down judgment merely to answer grounds of appeal. Such alteration requires the most extraordinary…

In an added-matter inquiry, the court compares the disclosure of the application and patent through the eyes of the skilled addressee. Subject matter may be…

An obstruction of a right of way is actionable if it substantially interferes with a particular mode of exercise which the dominant owner reasonably wishes to…

Under the Technical Standards Directive, notification depends on whether an enacted measure has legal effects of its own for individuals. A scheme conditional…

Judicial review of a refusal to treat further submissions as a fresh claim under paragraph 353 of the Immigration Rules applies the Wednesbury rationality…

Under the Rentcharges Act 1977, an estate rentcharge may validly secure contributions towards services, maintenance or repairs performed for the benefit of the…

For an overseas pension scheme to satisfy Condition B, the phrase no system exists means that the foreign country has no system at all for approving…

Where parties have compromised a dispute about costs, the Court of Appeal should not require further costs documents if they can provide no financial benefit…

A trial judge must give reasons sufficient to explain to the losing party why the case was decided against them and to enable an appellate court to assess…

For a warrantless arrest under section 24(6) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1986, the officer must actually suspect the person of the offence, have…

A surprisingly large award following an apparently minor accident may justify permission to re-examine a case, but it does not by itself warrant overturning…

A recap term in a voyage charterparty may replace, rather than supplement, a standard-form approvals clause. The wording must be construed objectively…

The police owe a covert human intelligence source a duty to take reasonable care against risks to physical safety and wellbeing arising from the provision of…

Under CPR 13.3, a real prospect of defending a claim does not require the court to set aside a regularly obtained default judgment. The power remains…

Where a recipient’s defence of bona fide purchase for value without notice depends on a transaction which is later set aside for non-disclosure or another…

A party whose urgent application is refused on the papers should ordinarily renew it orally before a judge of coordinate jurisdiction before approaching the…

Where pension scheme regulations require an applicant to supply all medical evidence necessary to establish entitlement, that burden rests on the applicant. A…

Planning permission cannot authorise a nuisance. However, planning permission followed by implementation may change the character of a locality. Whether it has…

For strict liability under section 2(2)(b) of the Animals Act 1971, a horse’s tendency to buck or rear when startled or alarmed is a characteristic normally…

For a pre-issue application to approve a child’s settlement under CPR 21.10(2), the relevant claim in CPR 45.7(2)(d) is the underlying damages claim, not the…

A final High Court order determining ownership of assets between the same parties creates an estoppel while it remains in force. The quasi-inquisitorial…

Contractual pre-emption provisions must be construed objectively, as a unitary exercise, using the language, admissible background and, where appropriate…

Under the Human Rights Act 1998, damages for delay violating Article 5.4 are discretionary and awarded only when necessary for just satisfaction. A declaration…

Where an application said to be for withdrawal is in substance an application for costs, it must be treated as a costs application and served on notice. Part…

Where the evidence does not enable a tribunal rationally to decide an issue, the burden of proof remains operative. The judge may conclude that the party…

An appeal under the Housing Act 1996 is confined to points of law. The county court has no statutory appeal jurisdiction over interim-accommodation decisions…

At the permission stage, the question is whether an appeal has a real prospect of success, meaning a prospect that is more than fanciful or unrealistic. The…

A sufficient return to a writ of habeas corpus may be made without producing the detainee where reliable evidence establishes that a foreign authority retains…

Emergency-service drivers remain subject to the civil duty to take reasonable care, despite exemptions from criminal speed-limit and traffic-signal rules. The…

In a patent action, costs are governed by the general Civil Procedure Rules 1998 regime unless Part 63 or its practice direction displaces it. Costs should be…

When an immigration appeal is withdrawn after leave is granted outside the Immigration Rules on compassionate or exceptional grounds, costs are not determined…

Expression and assembly rights protect peaceful protest on public land, including its chosen manner and form. Whether removal of a protest camp is…

A judicial order must be obeyed unless and until it is set aside. An appeal from a committal order cannot be used to challenge earlier orders which remain…

An exoneration clause in a residential lease must be construed in its contractual and factual context and, where ambiguous, contra proferentem. A clause…

A boundary shown on a small, hand-drawn conveyancing plan may be identified by a physical feature rather than by an inconsistent measurement. Where the plan…

A defining conveyance plan remains central to the construction of a transfer. If it clearly identifies the boundary, physical features on the ground cannot…

A former employer cannot ordinarily obtain an injunction barring a former employee from work for a customer or competitor merely because the employee possesses…

The weight to be given to expert evidence is ordinarily a matter for the tribunal. A tribunal may reject psychiatric evidence without error of law if it…

Contractual programme maps may provide a default position without creating an immutable obligation to survey every listed line. Where the contract gives the…

An appellate court should be slow to interfere with findings of fact and credibility assessments made by a trial judge who heard the oral evidence. Whether a…

In apportioning liability for contributory negligence, the court must assess both the causative potency of each party’s conduct and their relative…

In an “as was” ship-sale contract, a requirement to deliver national, international and other certificates which the vessel had at the time of inspection does…

In an unfair-dismissal case, the tribunal must assess the employer’s conduct by the standard of a reasonable employer and must not substitute its own view of…

A pre-dispute jurisdiction agreement in an insurance contract cannot deprive the policyholder or insured of the jurisdictions protected by article 9 of the…

Although appeals ordinarily lie against orders rather than judgments, the Court of Appeal may exceptionally intervene directly in a judgment where an adverse…

In assessing a landlord’s contractual and common-law obligations after removal of a pigeon nest, the reasonable area for inspection and de-infestation includes…

Permission to appeal was granted on three issues arising from complex ancillary-relief proceedings involving companies: the circumstances in which the…

A party who considers that evidence falls outside the opposing party’s pleaded case must ask the trial judge to rule on the objection. If the objection…

Interest on an award of costs ordinarily runs from the date of the costs order, rather than the later date when the amount is agreed or assessed. In the County…

For the purposes of refugee status, a person’s formal nationality does not provide protection if the evidence establishes that the state will not, in practice…

A sum due under a court order is paid by cheque only when the cheque has cleared through the payer’s account and the funds have become available. Delivery or…

Costs following settlement of judicial review proceedings require assessment of the whole sequence of events and the parties’ conduct. A claimant does not…

An appellate court should be slow to interfere with a procedural or costs order made in the exercise of discretion. A different judge might have reached a…

“Sheltered accommodation” is an inherently flexible concept. Where legislation leaves the expression undefined, the court should not impose a prescriptive…

Where several respondents succeed but their interests are not separate and distinct enough to require separate representation, the unsuccessful appellant may…

Costs following a successful appeal may be apportioned by issue and party rather than awarded wholesale. A party who successfully defends a claim may recover…

A requirement that a couple must be married can constitute direct discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, even if it applies to all unmarried couples.…

In a return-risk appeal, the tribunal must assess all the evidence and decide whether the appellant has shown a real risk of persecution or serious…

At the environmental impact assessment screening stage, the decision-maker may take proposed remedial or mitigatory measures into account when deciding whether…

Common-law qualified privilege depends on whether, in the public interest, the particular recipient needed to receive frank communication from the particular…

The statutory right of appeal against a housing-benefit decision is confined to persons treated as affected by the regulatory scheme. Paragraph 6(3) of…

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

A solicitor receiving mortgage advance money holds it on trust for the lender until conventional completion. Completion requires performance of a genuine…

Beer duty is charged on the beer identified at the applicable duty point, not necessarily on each container and not necessarily on the total beer assessed…

In a self-assessment regime, a matter is contained in a return only when it is actually included and reasonably included in response to the prescribed form. If…

When deciding what is in the best interests of a person who lacks capacity, the court must apply the principles and checklist in the Mental Capacity Act 2005…

An appellate tribunal must address a limitation issue properly before it when deciding whether witness summonses should issue. A fact-sensitive case-management…

A contractual commission cannot be replaced by a quantum meruit merely because the contractual condition for commission has failed. The court must distinguish…

The Montreal Convention is exclusive within the field it governs. A passenger cannot recover damages under domestic or European disability legislation for…

A mortgage broker’s ordinary obligation is to exercise reasonable care and skill. A binding promise to achieve a guaranteed lending result requires special…

A criminal conviction for terrorism-related activity may support both the conclusion that a person has been involved in terrorism and the assessment that a…

A contractual promise to provide money ordinarily requires the promisor to procure its transfer, rather than to perform a personal service. Unless the wording…

A contractual limitation clause should be construed according to its natural meaning and, where possible, should provide an easily ascertainable time limit.…

When deciding whether reasonable adjustments have been made, a tribunal may assess an interdependent package of measures as a whole. It may find that the duty…

When a foreign criminal falls within section 32 of the United Kingdom Borders Act 2007, Parliament has determined that deportation serves the public good. If…

A will must first satisfy the statutory formalities before the court can consider rectification. Under the Wills Act 1837, section 9(b) requires it to appear…

When a landlord opposes the grant of a new business tenancy under section 30(1)(b) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the court applies an objective test and…

Under section 11 of the Access to Justice Act 1999, a costs order against a legally aided party is only the first stage of the statutory scheme. It does not…

An entry clearance policy for adult dependants of former members of HM Forces creates a discretion, not a presumption or automatic entitlement. The opening…

Damages for misrepresentation are assessed by asking what would have happened without the agreement. Where the claimant’s payments arose directly from an…

Where domestic violence has been established in contact proceedings, the court must assess the harm suffered by the child, the risk of future harm, parental…

The general powers in the Immigration Act 1971 authorise a system for licensing student sponsors. The criteria governing the grant, suspension and withdrawal…

Where an applicant must show under the Immigration Rules that he can maintain and accommodate himself without recourse to public funds, relevant third-party…

In adoption proceedings, serious procedural unfairness cannot be overlooked because the applicant’s case appears hopeless or a retrial would cause delay…

For the purposes of a claim under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004, an assured shorthold tenancy is not prolonged by unresolved financial disputes about the…

A permanent quia timet injunction to prevent an apprehended nuisance requires proof that an actual infringement will occur unless restrained. The danger must…

For rectification of a contract made by a company or other legal person, the relevant intention is that of the person who had authority to bind it, or who in…

Section 72 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 removes privilege against self-incrimination in proceedings concerning rights in confidential commercial or personal…

A member of a limited liability partnership may be its employee. Under section 4(4) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000, the tribunal must assume…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, an appellant cannot recast a challenge to factual findings about contractual scope as a question of law…

Relief from sanctions is discretionary. The court must consider all the circumstances and consciously address the factors in Rule 3.9 of the Civil Procedure…

Under rule 25.7(1)(c) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, an applicant for an interim payment must satisfy the court, on the balance of probabilities, that it…

In a conditional agreement, a defined requirement for a superior landlord’s consent must be given its natural and ordinary meaning. Where consent is defined by…

On an appeal from a damages assessment, the appellate court may intervene under Part 52 of the Civil Procedure Rules where a serious procedural or other…

For a will to be validly executed under section 9(a) of the Wills Act 1837, a third party who signs for the testator must do so at the testator’s direction. A…

The requirement for very serious reasons to expel a settled migrant who lawfully spent most of childhood and youth in the host country does not extend to a…

Likelihood of confusion under Article 9(1)(b) must be assessed globally through the eyes of the average consumer. The court must consider the sign in the…

In proceedings for a new tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, competition-law allegations must be separated from allegations concerning the…

For consecutive prison terms imposed after a change in the release regime, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 aggregation provisions govern the licence expiry date…

A collective agreement may fix unpaid breaks by reference to the planned length of a shift, even where the actual shift differs. Where the agreement makes the…

An Employment Tribunal may make a valid Unless Order on its own initiative without first hearing the affected party where the Employment Tribunal Rules of…

In ancillary relief proceedings, the court’s task is to identify one fair lump sum, not to achieve spurious mathematical precision. Where non-disclosure and…

For employment-income tax and corresponding National Insurance contributions, from employment requires a relevant connection or link between the payment and…

In a cumulative-cause medical negligence claim, a claimant succeeds where negligence is proved to have made more than a negligible contribution to injury, even…

Policy guidance governing immigration applications must be applied flexibly and with common sense, by reference to its underlying purpose. It is not equivalent…

A delegated power to establish and modify a financial-incentive scheme does not, without clear statutory language, authorise a retrospective reduction of a…

For an inset appointment under the Water Industry Act 1991, the “unserved” criterion is not confined to whether water is flowing on the decision date. Ofwat…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the subsequent setting aside of country guidance relied on below may arguably undermine the lower tribunal’s…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice or another compelling reason. A tenancy expressed for 24 months from a date…

For obviousness, an appellate court may interfere only for an error of principle. Where a prior publication states that an invention has been achieved using a…

Under section 66 of the Arbitration Act 1996, the court may enter judgment in the terms of a declaratory arbitral award, including a negative declaration.…

An employer is vicariously liable for an employee’s intentional tort only where the tort is sufficiently closely connected with what the employee was…

Trafficking requires the combined elements of relevant action, prescribed means and a purpose of exploitation. A vulnerable migrant who agrees to sex as the…

A final charging order under the Charging Orders Act 1979 is a discretionary security measure, not a punishment or an additional debt. At the final hearing…

Under Article 7(1)(c), a sign is excluded from registration only where it can designate a readily recognisable characteristic of the relevant goods or…

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

In deciding whether to extend time for appealing, the court must have regard to Civil Procedure Rules CPR 3.9 and the Overriding Objective. A prompt assurance…

A vendor who sells registered land cannot obtain priority over a purchase-money mortgage by relying on an unrecorded promise of post-completion occupation.…

Where tribunal errors delay an immigration appeal and earlier country guidance has been superseded, the case should ordinarily be determined under the current…

For obviousness, the court must identify the actual differences between the prior art and the inventive concept, then ask, without hindsight, whether those…

An appellate court should not reverse for an alleged legal error in the treatment of evidence unless the error affected the findings or outcome. A trial judge…

The statutory power to seize or detain goods described as “liable to forfeiture” arises only when the facts making the goods liable to forfeiture actually…

Where no exclusive English jurisdiction or arbitration agreement exists, an anti-suit injunction requires an evaluative finding that the foreign proceedings…

A contractual apportionment clause covering payments relating partly to periods before and after an effective time applies only where the relevant payment is…

The court may make payment into court a condition of permission to appeal where the judgment debt remains unpaid and the circumstances justify protecting the…

A party seeking to adduce fresh expert evidence in support of an application for permission to appeal, or an appeal, must satisfy the conditions in Ladd v…

An asylum determination does not bind the Secretary of State when later deciding an application for naturalisation. The two regimes confer different rights and…

A personal assurance given by a company director will not amount to a guarantee unless, construed objectively in its context, it conveys an undertaking to…

Police may take preventive crowd-control action at common law where they reasonably apprehend an imminent breach of the peace. Imminence is context-sensitive…

In a fresh-claim asylum case, the reviewing court must ask whether the Secretary of State’s decision was legally rational, applying anxious scrutiny and the…

Under paragraph 353 of the Immigration Rules, further asylum or human-rights submissions require a two-stage assessment. The material must be significantly…

A name-and-arms clause in a will must be construed as a whole, by identifying the testator’s intention from its language, the will and relevant surrounding…

In insolvency proceedings, a proxy appointed for a creditors’ meeting has the authority conferred by the Insolvency Rules 1986. Where the principal gives no…

For environmental impact assessment scoping, the project is ordinarily the development for which authorisation is sought. A proposal does not become part of a…

In construing a conveyance, the court reads the parcels clause as a whole and in the light of the physical circumstances existing at the transaction date. A…

For the purposes of disclosure and judgment enforcement, control of documents depends on the true relationship between the litigant and the person holding…

Article 8 applies the same legal framework to refusal of entry clearance and removal, although proportionality may produce different results because the…

Costs after trial are discretionary. Appellate intervention is justified for an error of principle, a significant matter wrongly included or omitted, or a…

An appellate tribunal may set aside a first-instance asylum determination only for a material error of law. The possibility that another judge could rationally…

The classification of an agreement as a public service contract or a service concession is an autonomous question of EU law. It requires an overall assessment.…

A procedural irregularity in family proceedings does not automatically invalidate a fact-finding judgment. Where a judge meets a child after evidence has…

In civil litigation, a trial judge may decide whether a claimant performed qualifying active duties where that issue emerges from the pleadings, requests for…

Permission to amend a defence at a very late stage is governed by fairness to both parties. A judge who raises a possible point may ask whether a party wishes…

Under Council Directive 98/79/EC, essential requirements for in-vitro diagnostic devices must be assessed by reference to intended purpose and the balance…

Section 151(2)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires both that the liability be of a kind for which insurance is required and that it be actually covered by…