Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2015

Article 6 does not require equality of legal representation in every complex civil trial. The question is whether the trial judge can grasp the essential facts…

A mortgagee’s equitable duty on sale is owed to the mortgagor and others with a recognised actual or contingent interest in the equity of redemption. It is not…

Declaratory relief is granted to determine rights and obligations where a proper practical purpose exists. Domestic courts do not give advisory opinions on…

A continuing professional retainer does not, by itself, turn an unremedied breach into fresh negligence accruing from day to day. Whether an obligation is…

In a permanent child-relocation case, welfare remains paramount and requires a rigorous evaluation of all relevant circumstances. A child’s mature and…

Where a time charterparty is repudiated and no available market exists, damages are assessed by reference to actual loss and the consequences of reasonable…

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

Documents agreed as a contractual package must be read together and, where possible, consistently. Clear provisions directed specifically to a transaction are…

Appellate intervention in child-arrangements decisions is unwarranted where the trial judge’s findings are properly grounded in the evidence and consistent…

A foreign judgment on forum conveniens creates an issue estoppel only if it decided the same issue. Different legal tests may mean that the issues were…

The valuation officer’s duty to maintain a rating list requires the list to remain accurate, not merely to preserve its state when first compiled. That duty…

In both internal and external relocation cases, the paramount consideration is the child’s welfare. There is no separate requirement that an internal move may…

Serious departures from the Achieving Best Evidence guidance may deprive a child’s recorded interview of any forensic weight. The court must assess the…

When relocation concerns a mature child aged 16 or 17, the court must first ask whether making an order is better for the child than making none under Children…

In settled judicial review proceedings, costs must be determined summarily and proportionately on the material available. The claim form, relief sought…

An assignee of a debt takes subject to an equitable set-off where the debtor’s cross-claim is so closely connected with the assigned claim that it would be…

On a second appeal in homelessness proceedings, permission may be granted where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A compelling reason may arise where an…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal against refusal of relief from sanctions, a proposed point concerning partial severance may raise a point of…

For the statutory abandonment rule in section 92(8) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, an appellant leaves the United Kingdom only when…

An applicant seeking an anti-enforcement injunction based on an arbitration agreement must show a high degree of probability that the agreement governs the…

On a renewed permission application, summary judgment is inappropriate where disputed evidence, fact-sensitive duties, scope of retainer or causation may…

A prospective limitation period for recovering overpaid VAT complies with EU law where the claimant has a readily ascertainable and reasonable opportunity to…

Under CPR 36.17, the question whether a claimant failed to beat a Part 36 offer is separate from whether imposing the usual costs consequences would be unjust.…

Damages for misuse of private information may compensate both the claimant’s distress and the loss of control over private information. They are compensatory…

An internal immigration record which appears to approve indefinite leave to remain does not necessarily constitute a final administrative decision. The record…

Permission to appeal may be granted where the proposed appeal raises a discrete point of law and has a strong prospect of success. The court may consider…

For the purposes of Article 4.5(2) of the Sixth Council Directive, a local authority may take the cost of providing off-street car parking into account when…

A non-EE family member can acquire permanent residence under regulation 15(1)(b) only after five years of continuous residence in a qualifying status and in…

A reversioner claiming a leaseback under Part III of Schedule 9 to the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 must identify the flat or unit…

Non-emergency entry to residential premises under section 108 requires at least seven days' notice, followed by either occupier consent or a warrant under…

When resolving conflicting oral and documentary evidence, a court should test witness reliability against independently proved facts, contemporaneous…

An end-use certificate under the Council Regulation (EC) No 150/2003 confirms military end use. It does not conclusively establish tariff classification. When…

A party seeking to amend its pleading at trial bears a heavy onus to justify the application. The court must balance the need to determine the real issue…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal held that it was arguable that the decision-maker and Upper Tribunal had failed…

Under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, a post-contract damages claim for breach of procurement duties is a domestic private-law claim for breach of…

A court may reconsider a judgment before the order is sealed, including an appellate judgment, but such applications are exceptional. They are not an…

The Brussels I regime does not govern proceedings which are wholly internal to the United Kingdom. In such proceedings, section 49 of the Civil Jurisdiction…

In an Article 8 deportation assessment, the factors identified for young adult offenders in Maslov remain relevant. Their weight is diminished where the person…

Waiting for a decision on legal aid does not normally provide a good reason for missing a procedural time limit. It remains a relevant factor, but public law…

An application to invoke the Court of Appeal’s residual jurisdiction to set aside a High Court judge’s refusal of permission to appeal is itself an appeal…

Where cumulative procedural and analytical errors fundamentally compromise a welfare determination, the resulting order is unsafe and must be set aside. A…

On an application for a child to spend time abroad, welfare is the governing consideration. The court must assess objectively the risk of non-return or…

In a reasonable-adjustment claim, a claimant is not required to identify every possible step an employer might take. A tribunal may consider whether an…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, late citation of authorities and late development of the argument may justify adjourning the application so…

For paragraph 276ADE(vi) of the Immigration Rules, whether an applicant has "no ties" with the proposed country of return is an exacting, rounded evaluative…

An attendance requirement places disabled employees at a substantial disadvantage where their disability makes absence more likely. Equal application to…

A contractual term may be corrected by interpretation where it is clear that the language has gone wrong and clear what a reasonable reader would understand…

An investigation into a police complaint is part of a holistic, continuing statutory process. While the complaints-handling function remains in progress, an…

An appellate court considering a late notice of appeal must apply the relief-from-sanctions approach. It must assess the seriousness of the breach, the reason…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason warrants a hearing. An…

A renewed application for permission to appeal should be granted where a proposed ground raises a real and important point of principle that cannot fairly be…

In a renewed application for permission to appeal in a deportation case, an imperfectly structured First-tier Tribunal decision does not disclose a material…

A very lengthy and insufficiently justified delay in filing an appellant’s notice may by itself justify refusing an extension of time. Financial difficulty…

Indirect discrimination requires more than a statistical disparity between groups. Under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010, the claimant must show that the…

When an English court must apply foreign limitation law, it must ascertain how the foreign court would answer the limitation question, even if that court would…

At the permission stage, a potentially material failure to address a child’s independent position under ECHR Article 8 may amount to an error of law. This is…

In an automatic-deportation Article 8 claim, where paragraphs 399 and 399A of the Immigration Rules do not apply, paragraph 390A requires exceptional…

A freezing injunction continued on an interlocutory basis to preserve assets pending resolution of the underlying dispute carries with it any information…

In a renewed application concerning an immigration appeal, a two-month delay in filing a notice of appeal requires a good explanation; adviser error alone is…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice requiring determination, or another compelling reason. A challenge that…

The illegality defence applies where a joint criminal enterprise foreseeably creates an unusual or increased risk of harm, that risk materialises, and the…

A decision whether to strike out a statement of case for procedural default under CPR 3.4(2)(c) is discretionary. Unlike an application for relief from an…

In assessing an Article 3 challenge to a prison policy permitting strip-searches, the question is whether the policy, read sensibly and as a whole, exposes…

When deciding whether to make a placement order, the child’s welfare throughout life is paramount. The court must evaluate all competing needs and…

A tree replacement notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 cannot require more replacement trees than were removed or destroyed from protected…

Once an EEA national has acquired permanent residence, the right is lost only in the circumstances specified by the governing scheme: absence from the host…

The planning enforcement order procedure introduced by the Localism Act 2011 did not replace the statutory construction established in [2011] UKSC 15. The…

A judgment must enable the parties and an appellate court to trace the reasoning supporting material factual and legal conclusions. Concision is encouraged…

Damages for breach of a repairing covenant compensate impairment of the tenant’s leasehold rights and amenity. Discomfort, inconvenience and distress are…

A limitation direction in favour of a restored company may be made only in exceptional circumstances. The applicant bears the burden of showing that the…

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

A second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard. A fact-specific challenge to an…

An appellate court should not decide the merits of an application for permission to appeal where the lower court has not made a proper substantive…

An EEA national with a permanent right of residence may be deported on serious grounds of public policy or public security only where personal conduct…

In clinical-negligence cases, an injury sustained during an operation may be proved to have resulted from negligence by inference from the whole of the…

A planning decision affecting a listed building or its setting must give considerable importance and weight to the desirability of preservation. A reasons…

A decision of the Upper Tribunal on valuation is not deprived of evidential value merely because it is not designated a guidance case. Under the tribunal…

Under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, property obtained through unlawful conduct must ordinarily be recovered, subject to statutory third-party…

A negative environmental impact assessment screening opinion must give sufficient information to show that the authority has addressed the relevant…

Equity may protect a solicitor’s interest in fixed costs and other sums payable under a claims scheme even where the solicitor has no personal lien against the…

A preliminary reference is appropriate where an important EU-law question is not acte clair and has not been directly resolved by existing authority. The…

A conditional fee agreement must be construed by separating the costs covered by the agreement from the event which triggers liability to pay them. Where a CFA…

A respondent may raise a statutory procedural defence for the first time at an Employment Tribunal hearing. The Tribunal has discretion to allow the point…

For a derivative residence card under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, proving that a third-country national is the primary carer of…

An appeal against an EEA residence-card decision is confined to the subject matter of that decision unless the Secretary of State has served a one-stop notice…

An earlier adjudication precludes a later adjudication only to the extent that the earlier adjudicator actually decided the same or substantially the same…

In private-law child-contact proceedings, the court must consider family life, welfare, and the child’s ascertainable wishes and feelings. Indirect contact is…

Permission to appeal may be granted where there is an arguable case that a trial judge failed properly to evaluate material evidence, reached conclusions…

For an application governed by transitional immigration provisions, later changes may permit the decision-maker to take the rules applicable to family and…

An application for permission to appeal, including an application to extend time, may be refused where the applicant has sufficient notice of the hearing but…

Patent claims are construed from their language, read in context. The specification’s purpose is a useful guide, but it cannot introduce a technical limitation…

Summary judgment may be granted where the evidence provides no reasonable basis for believing that fuller disclosure would alter the evidence or affect the…

For VAT, classification of a hire contract under Article 14(2)(b) must be assessed at the contract date by reference to the contract and objective EU-law…

Completion of a re-mortgage ordinarily requires redemption of existing charges where the new lender is to obtain a first legal charge. A redemption statement…

Where the Secretary of State alleges that a marriage to an EEA national is a marriage of convenience, reasonable suspicion alone does not discharge the burden…

An implied limitation applies to the power to grant naturalisation under the British Nationality Act 1981. Where an applicant has used fraudulent impersonation…

An account is a true running account only where the parties expressly or impliedly intend that the monetary outcome of each transaction will not be settled…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. Public importance alone is insufficient…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal a summary judgment, the court must consider whether the proposed appeal has a realistic prospect of success…

Apportionment of contributory negligence is an evaluative judgment. An appellate court may interfere only where the first-instance judge considered an…

Statutory unenforceability does not automatically prevent a later claim from being struck out as an abuse of process. The court must distinguish…

The power to amend a statutory civil legal aid scheme by secondary legislation is not confined to needs-based criteria merely because the scheme’s original…

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

Section 54(4) of the Access to Justice Act 1999 prevents the Court of Appeal from granting permission to appeal against a High Court judge’s refusal of…

An application made from outside the United Kingdom to revoke a deportation order is governed by paragraph 391 of the Immigration Rules. The decision-maker…

Where children are wrongfully retained abroad, an English court may award costs of domestic proceedings seeking their return. It has no jurisdiction under…

Article 5(1) does not generally prohibit immigration detention of a time-served foreign national offender in a prison rather than an immigration removal…

The court’s provisional view was that Digital Rights Ireland Joined Cases C-293/12 and C-594/12 did not automatically prescribe universal requirements for…

A child has no separate right to privacy merely because of age. Age and the way in which the child’s family life is conducted are, however, important when…

Where a party who has lost at first instance seeks interim injunctive relief pending appeal, it must show a real prospect of success. The court must then…

For a second appeal, permission requires either an important point of principle or practice or another compelling reason. A compelling reason may exist where…

Paragraph 320(11) of the Immigration Rules contains a non-exhaustive approach to aggravating circumstances. Prior deception may justify refusal even where the…

In an automatic deportation appeal by a foreign criminal, Convention claims must be assessed through the comprehensive code in the relevant Immigration Rules.…

A statutory duty to have regard to protected-landscape purposes requires the decision-maker to consider those purposes, but it does not create a presumption…

An oral grant by the Upper Tribunal of permission to appeal is an excluded decision under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. It takes effect when…

For the one-fifth rule governing the costs of assessing a solicitor’s bill, every reduction from the amount billed counts towards the statutory threshold. The…

A second appeal requires a compelling reason for it to be heard. A dispute about whether evidence establishes compliance with maintenance requirements is…

The Secretary of State is not generally required to investigate or correct information in a Tier 2 application where the form contains an incorrect salary and…

In an agricultural occupancy condition, “dependants” is not confined to persons financially supported from the agricultural worker’s earnings. The word must be…

Interim injunctions under the Policing and Crime Act 2009 are directed to preventing gang-related violence, not merely to restraining conduct personally…

An appellate court may set aside permission to appeal only for a compelling reason. Where permission was obtained on inaccurate or incomplete materials, the…

Section 12(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998 imposes a high threshold before publication is restrained pending trial. In malicious falsehood proceedings, the…

Contractual construction is a unitary exercise. The court must identify the meaning which the language would convey to a reasonable person with the relevant…

In care and placement proceedings, a judgment must contain clear, reasoned and sufficiently nuanced findings on disputed facts. The court must assess both…

At the permission stage, the likely consequence that refusal of temporary planning permission may lead occupants to another unauthorised site in the Green Belt…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an employment tribunal’s evaluative finding raises sufficient unease about whether it properly assessed the evidence…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal in a homelessness case, the court held that a reviewing officer must evaluate conflicting medical evidence…

In assessing whether an immigration detainee’s serious medical condition can be managed in detention, the court may consider available treatment and evidence…

A contractual claim to recover an overpayment is not conditional upon a separate industry administrator first demanding payment from the recipient. A party who…

Where related commercial agreements contain different arbitration clauses, each clause must be construed in its contractual setting. A clause concerning…

The Court of Appeal must apply binding House of Lords authority even where a later Strasbourg judgment appears inconsistent. Where binding authority determines…

Declarations relieving a local authority from statutory consultation duties require the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction and cannot be made by a Family Court…

A solicitor’s duties are defined principally by the agreed retainer. The solicitor must perform the agreed tasks competently and give advice reasonably…

For waste used in an operation that could fall within either a disposal or recovery category, classification depends on the operation’s principal objective. It…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds are properly arguable and there is a realistic prospect that the full court may find an error…

Where an immigration applicant does not satisfy the rules, the Secretary of State must still consider whether compelling circumstances justify leave under…

Where a claimant seeks to add a new claim by amendment, and the claim does not arise from the same or substantially the same facts as an existing claim, leave…

A local authority is not vicariously liable for abuse by foster carers merely because it placed a child with them or retained statutory supervisory powers.…

Under the Maintenance Regulation, a court decision ordinarily involves adjudication or determination by the court. A foreign court’s record that a maintenance…

Unless expressly displaced by transitional provisions, an entry-clearance application is decided under the Immigration Rules in force when the decision is…

For a second appeal, an arguable error of law is insufficient. The applicant must also show a compelling reason for the appeal to proceed. A one-off error…

The second-appeal permission test is stringent but flexible. It may take account of an applicant having succeeded before the First-tier Tribunal but failed…

Permission to appeal may be made conditional on compliance with an unpaid costs order. The condition is justified where the proposed appellant has defaulted…

For confiscation orders enforced through the fines regime, the default term is fixed by the Crown Court but imposed by the Magistrates’ Court when it issues…

A solicitor acting for both lender and borrower must disclose non-confidential information obtained while performing the instructed title work where a…

Where contractual and tortious duties of care arise from the same professional retainer, the contractual rule of remoteness governs recovery of economic loss.…

Where an easement is granted over a roadway, its extent and incidents are determined by construing the conveyance as a whole and considering relevant physical…

Advertisement of a winding-up petition is the default position. It serves to notify those entitled to be heard and those who may trade with the company before…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed challenge concerns factual valuation findings that fall within the trial judge’s reasonable…

A court exercising its discretion to adjourn enforcement of an arbitral award may impose security as a condition, including on its own initiative where the…

Under Arbitration Act 1996, section 103(5), an adjournment of enforcement may be revisited where there has been a significant change of circumstances which…

An immigration rule requiring refusal of entry clearance following a sentence of at least four years does not displace the rule’s express exception where…

A defence of illegality does not defeat a claim against a liquidator for misapplication of company assets where the claim can be established without reliance…

Under regulation 5(4) of the Community Legal Service (Cost Protection) Regulations 2000, costs attributable to the funded part of proceedings are costs…

A referral of a person who is or may be an unaccompanied child must be made urgently. Guidance requiring a “timely” referral retains that requirement, although…

Compliance with an executive detention policy is reviewed on conventional public law grounds. A disputed-age policy must receive a pragmatic and purposive…

An application framed as an appeal against an Upper Tribunal refusal of permission cannot succeed because section 13 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement…

A public body’s status does not, by itself, convert enforcement of a contract into a public-law dispute. Where a commercial bargain has been freely made…

An LPA receiver’s equitable duty to take account of a mortgagor’s interests depends on the mortgagor retaining an interest in the equity of redemption.…

The statutory duty to co-operate in preparing development plan documents applies at the plan-preparation stage under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act…

Where an immigration application is refused under Part 9 of the Immigration Rules, the Secretary of State bears the burden of establishing the relevant grounds…

Permission for a second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. An arguable error of law is insufficient.…

For the purposes of Article 2 of Directive 2004/38/EC, a direct descendant includes a legally adopted child. The Directive nevertheless leaves Member States to…

Part 36 is a self-contained code. An offer attracts its special costs consequences only if it satisfies the mandatory requirements of the Civil Procedure Rules…

For a second appeal, the applicant must show both a real prospect of successfully challenging the order and a compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear…

On an application for permission for a second appeal, the proposed appeal must raise an important point of principle or practice, or there must be a compelling…

An annexe A report in a non-agency adoption application is a fundamental statutory protection for the child. Where the court has found the report fundamentally…

The common-law defence of tender before claim is unavailable for unliquidated damages. The Civil Procedure Rules, including their glossary, regulate practice…

In professional negligence claims against property valuers, liability depends on whether the valuation fell outside the permissible margin of error, or…

Where negligence worsens an existing disability, recoverable loss is confined to the additional loss caused by the negligence when the resulting needs are…

The English court’s jurisdiction to make an adoption order is founded principally on the domicile or habitual residence of the prospective adopter. The child’s…

The question whether later proceedings are an abuse of process requires a broad, merits-based assessment of all the circumstances. The court must focus…

An application for permission to bring a second appeal requires an arguable basis for showing that the appeal would satisfy the second appeals test. The…

An appellate court does not conduct a complete rehearing of evidence. Findings of fact, credibility and damages should stand where they were open to the trial…

Whether premises are a “house” under s.2(1) of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 is a question of law. The statutory condition that the building be reasonably…

A standstill clause suspending time for limitation defences may cover causes of action that were not specifically intimated when the agreement was made.…

An exclusivity clause operating during an agency agreement does not ordinarily engage the restraint of trade doctrine where it is a normal incident of the…

The constitution of an unincorporated religious association may be construed according to objective standards. Where the meaning of a notice is disputed, the…

The admission of further evidence on appeal requires evidence which, if credible, would probably influence the result and which could not reasonably have been…

Relief from sanction under CPR rule 3.9 requires a structured application of Denton’s three stages: the seriousness or significance of the breach, the reason…

On a second appeal, permission requires a compelling reason for the appeal to be heard and a strongly arguable error of law. A tribunal may evaluate the…

Permission for a second appeal requires both a real prospect of success and an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A…

In a renewed application for permission to appeal where a default judgment was challenged on fraud, the issue is whether there is an arguable case of…

Section 54 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 prevents an appeal against a refusal of permission to appeal. A complaint that the lower judge failed properly to…

A developer may switch between two extant planning permissions for the same, materially identical development, even after work has begun and while buildings…

For intentional homelessness purposes, affordability requires an overall assessment of all relevant income and expenditure. Social security benefits have no…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or some other compelling reason. A challenge to a fact-sensitive exercise…

The duty to safeguard and promote children’s welfare under Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 does not impose a general obligation to make a…

In a clinical-negligence claim, retention of extruded surgical cement, even a large quantity, does not by itself establish negligence or shift the burden of…

For a jointly owned home, a departure from equal beneficial ownership requires an actual common intention to alter the parties’ interests. That intention may…

The disclosure required by article 6 is context-sensitive. Proceedings challenging financial restrictions must nevertheless satisfy the standard in AF (No.3)…

In an entry-clearance appeal, the tribunal must decide Article 8 by reference to the circumstances existing when the Entry Clearance Officer made the decision.…

For liability under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, the question whether a highway is dangerous is objective. The highway need not guarantee users’…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal against summary judgment enforcing an adjudicator’s decision, the Court of Appeal held that a jurisdiction…

In an Article 8 immigration case outside the Immigration Rules, proportionality requires identification of the weight to be given to public policy expressed in…

A contract’s legal character depends on the obligations actually undertaken, not on labels such as sale or buyer. Where goods are supplied on credit under a…

On an application to serve a foreign defendant out of the jurisdiction, the court must assess all relevant factors in the round. An exclusive jurisdiction…

Permission to appeal should be granted where an immigration decision may have failed to conduct the required evaluation of an Article 8 claim outside the…

In a proprietary estoppel case, reasonable reliance requires both actual reliance and reliance that was reasonable in all the circumstances. An appellate court…

Holiday-pay claims must be proved by evidence. A schedule of loss and cross-examination do not replace evidence that the employer prevented annual leave or…

An appeal from the Upper Tribunal is confined to a question of law and is not a rehearing of the evidence. A challenge to the tribunal’s factual assessment as…

Under note 12 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, a claim for minor multiple physical injuries requires at least two actual visits to or by a medical…

For paragraph 276ADE(1)(iv) of the Immigration Rules, seven years’ residence in the United Kingdom is a starting point, not an automatic right to remain. The…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal’s jurisdiction is confined to appeals raising questions of law. It must not rehear factual disputes or revisit credibility…

An appellate order allowing an appeal must be read as a whole, in the context of the notice of appeal and its consequential provisions. Conditional wording…

For a statutory election deeming an intra-group transfer before an external disposal to be effective, the external disposal must involve a corresponding…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, the court may apply a slightly less demanding approach where the Upper Tribunal has set aside…

A decision to recall a prisoner released on licence is lawful where the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds for concluding that a licence condition was…

A limitation defence does not affect the court’s jurisdiction to entertain a claim. It is a defence which the defendant must plead and prove. Where parties…

In collision claims, an action in rem against a vessel and an action in personam against the vessel owner are separate proceedings. A claim form naming the…

Public-authority consultation must be fair, but it need not be perfect. Fairness is intensely case-sensitive. The court asks whether proposals remained at a…

On a renewed application for permission to bring judicial review proceedings, permission should be granted where the claimant identifies an arguable challenge…

Identifiable information showing that a patient received NHS treatment is inherently private and confidential. Whether disclosure infringes privacy…

The exception permitting dealings in the ordinary and proper course of business contains separate, cumulative requirements. Both are highly fact-sensitive. The…

In care proceedings, a local authority must prove on the balance of probabilities that harm is attributable to culpable care before the statutory threshold is…

In Hague Convention proceedings, a child’s objection to return is distinct from a preference. An objection crosses a fairly low threshold and requires a…

A national court hearing an EU competition damages claim must protect material in a European Commission decision which alleges an infringement but cannot be…

The child's objections exception under Article 13 of the 1980 Hague Convention requires a straightforward assessment of whether the child objects to return and…

Article 1F(b) of the 1951 Refugee Convention creates a categorical exclusion based on objective facts. It does not invite a proportionality assessment or a…

A court will restrain a winding-up petition founded on a debt genuinely disputed on substantial grounds. It will also ordinarily restrain a petition where the…

Relief from sanctions for late notification of CFA and ATE funding depends on the seriousness and significance of the breach, its reason, and all the…

In deciding whether adoption should replace long-term foster care, the court must evaluate the child’s welfare throughout life on the facts of the individual…

Certification under section 94 B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is lawful only where the Secretary of State considers that removal pending…

Summary judgment is appropriate where the claimant has no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for a trial. The court must assess…

Estoppel by convention may arise where parties mutually conduct themselves on a shared assumption which differs from the true legal or factual position. The…

Liability in negligence or nuisance requires more than proof that an act caused injury. The injury must also have been reasonably foreseeable as a result of…

For the purposes of section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980, knowledge of a negligent act or omission does not necessarily amount to knowledge of the material…

A third party debt order can attach only a civil debt which the third party owes, or will owe, to the judgment debtor. A judgment creditor cannot obtain a…

An order for possession cannot be made against a party without evidence that the party was or had been in possession. Where a party has applied to strike out…

For a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice or another compelling reason. Under the maintenance-funds requirement in…

An appeal lies against the order, not the judgment. Where a parent was ordered to secure a child’s return despite an acknowledged risk that the child would…

When assessing whether further asylum submissions amount to a fresh claim, clear adverse credibility findings from an earlier tribunal decision may be relied…

A police force is not required to undertake a full investigation of every reported allegation. A decision not to investigate further is lawful if it is…

In family proceedings, a judge may limit written evidence and exclude exhibits where that case management is proportionate to the issues requiring…

A claim for judicial review may become academic when the public body has agreed to take the very step sought. Whether an academic claim should nevertheless…

When deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn from a child, the court must determine the child’s best interests, with welfare paramount.…

In a challenge to immigration delay based on Article 8, the claimant must establish that the delay caused material prejudice to the family-life case relied on.…

Permission to appeal should be refused where proposed grounds merely challenge factual and dishonesty findings supported by the evidence and falling within the…

Summary judgment may determine a disputed factual issue only where one party’s evidence has no real prospect of acceptance. Contemporary documents may expose…

EU measures apply immediately to future effects of ongoing legal situations, but cannot retrospectively alter rights whose legal effects were exhausted or…

When deciding whether to make an adoption order, the court must assess every kind of welfare benefit and detriment affecting the child throughout the child’s…

In private law children proceedings, the court’s positive duty to promote and restore parental contact does not require it to persist with judicial enforcement…

An early permanence placement under Children Act 1989 section 22C(9B)(c) remains a fostering placement. It does not give foster carers a special status in care…

In care and placement proceedings, reasons should explain how findings about a proposed carer translate into an inability to meet the child’s needs and why the…

Appellants, including litigants in person, must comply with applicable procedural rules and directions. A litigant in person who is unfamiliar with procedure…

After judgment has been handed down, a court may give further consideration to the appropriate remedy where the parties raise and address a distinct proposal…

A court may make an order under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 of its own motion, without a formal or oral application, where the parties have sufficient…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling…

At the permission stage, a lengthy delay may still be excused where an extension is just and proportionate in exceptional circumstances. Relevant…

An appellate court will rarely interfere with primary findings of fact. Intervention is confined to cases where there was no evidence, the evidence was…

When deciding whether accommodation secured under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 is suitable, a local housing authority must have regard to Parts 1 to 4 of…

Case-management orders may require litigants connected with related consumer-credit claims to bring or transfer proceedings to one court and to obtain…

On an application for permission to appeal, permission is appropriate where the proposed appeal has a realistic prospect of success. That threshold may be met…

The lawfulness of a tribunal-fee regime turns on practical access to justice. A fee is unlawful where claimants cannot realistically afford it, having regard…

Detention pending removal must comply with the Hardial Singh principles. The reasonableness of its duration depends on all circumstances known when detention…

When deciding whether further representations amount to a fresh claim, the Secretary of State must apply the real-prospect test: whether, taken with the…

In a judicial review claim, standing must exist both when proceedings begin and when substantive relief is sought. A claimant who sells the affected property…

A freezing order may extend to a third party where there is a good arguable case that assets held by that party are, in reality, the defendant’s assets or…

In care proceedings, the Court of Appeal may entertain an appeal from preliminary factual findings even where they have not been embodied in a formal order. A…

An application for permission to oppose an adoption order under section 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 is a measure preparatory to adoption. It…

Related works do not constitute a single project for environmental impact assessment merely because they interact or may produce cumulative environmental…

Habitual residence is a factual inquiry into the child’s integration in a social and family environment. The court must evaluate all relevant circumstances…

In an international child-relocation case, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must undertake a comprehensive welfare evaluation of each realistic…

When considering interim relief pending appeal, the court must compare the risk of injustice if relief is wrongly refused with the risk if it is wrongly…

A court assessing an allegedly unfair credit relationship under section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 must evaluate all relevant circumstances.…

Under section 32(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, a relevant concealed fact is one without which the cause of action is incomplete. Facts which merely…

For a local authority operating an introductory-tenancy regime, the statutory character of a tenancy is determined by the function being exercised and by the…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years’ imprisonment, the Article 8 assessment under paragraph 398 of the Immigration Rules requires very…

A court may have a formal jurisdiction to vary an undertaking contained in a final financial consent order, even where the undertaking concerns matters outside…

Where a contract adopts another agreement in wide and general terms, the adopted terms ordinarily apply, subject to contextual adaptation and inconsistency…

UK military detention abroad may fall within the European Convention on Human Rights where British agents exercise physical power and control over the…

Appellate restraint does not prevent intervention where a first-instance judge’s reasoning fails to engage adequately with material evidence or contains a…

On an application for summary judgment, the court must assess whether a party has a real prospect of success. It must not conduct a mini-trial to resolve…

Contractual interpretation is a unitary and iterative exercise. The court determines what a reasonable person, possessing the background knowledge reasonably…

An application for variation of leave engages section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 only if it is validly made under the applicable formal and fee…

In care proceedings, likely to suffer significant harm means a real possibility of harm that cannot sensibly be ignored having regard to its gravity. The…

Under section 146(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925, relief from forfeiture is a broad discretionary remedy. A deliberate breach is a weighty factor but does…

The approach to construing a patent claim applies equally to numerical ranges and descriptive language. The critical question is what the skilled person would…

Certification of an asylum or human-rights claim is appropriate only where the claim is bound to fail. Different wording, such as having no realistic prospect…

Tribunal procedure rules made under section 22(4) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 must secure justice and fairness. Speed and efficiency are…

The statutory second-appeal threshold applies to an appeal from the Upper Tribunal only where the Upper Tribunal decision was made on an appeal under section…

A failure by the Secretary of State to consider an Article 8 claim outside the Immigration Rules, including a properly raised Chikwamba point, makes the…

A challenge to findings of fact faces a high appellate hurdle. However, the reasons must permit scrutiny of the evidence on which each finding rests. Findings…

The police owe no general duty of care to members of the public when performing their core functions of investigating crime and obtaining or preserving…

A third-party debt order is proprietary and cannot be made against a debt situated outside England unless the law of the situs recognises the order as…

A hearing is unfair where the judge’s conduct, assessed cumulatively and in context, deprives a party of a fair opportunity to present and test the case.…

Residual input tax on general overheads is deductible to the extent that the overheads are used for taxable transactions. The required link is assessed…

A statutory out-of-country immigration appeal should be displaced by judicial review only where special or exceptional factors exist. The circumstances must…

Contact should not be refused merely because separated parents cannot behave civilly or co-operatively. Contact may nevertheless be suspended where parental…

A consultation on prison-law legal aid must be read as a whole. A statement that funding would remain for Parole Board reviews concerning ongoing detention did…

Whether travel-related payments are taxable earnings depends on the substance of the contractual arrangements, construed by ordinary principles. The tax…

For the law of fixtures and accession, whether a building becomes part of the land depends principally on the degree and object of annexation. A structure…

A factual finding of deception made when deciding whether to grant or refuse leave to remain is ordinarily part of the Secretary of State’s statutory…

An invention is not obvious merely because it would be worthwhile to include a possible solution in a research programme. An obvious to try case requires a…

An employment tribunal cannot revive or accept a fresh claim covering unfair-dismissal proceedings previously withdrawn pursuant to a valid compromise…

A relative in the ascending line is a dependent family member only where there is a real need for material support to meet essential needs. Actual financial…

On a renewed planning appeal permission application, an identified material misdirection in an officer’s report can justify permission where it is arguable…

Section 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 is to be interpreted autonomously and purposively. A dispute about benefits granted by a parent company may relate to…

A contractual right to recover litigation costs remains enforceable where proceedings have been allocated to the small claims track. The costs restrictions in…

For an adult child, reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 is limited to maintenance, but…

A county court may transfer proceedings to the High Court ex parte under section 42(3) of the County Courts Act 1984. Failure to serve the transfer application…

Financial sanctions against a designated person do not generally prevent a court of competent jurisdiction from making a valid order requiring that person to…

On a factual appeal, the appellate court must respect the trial judge’s advantage in hearing the evidence. An inference from primary facts may be reviewed…

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

The Secretary of State may maintain and apply a lawful policy governing transfers to open prison conditions, separately from directions governing the Parole…

Proprietary estoppel requires a holistic assessment of assurance or encouragement, reliance and detriment, and whether it would be unconscionable to permit…

Obviousness is assessed through a structured inquiry: identify the skilled person and common general knowledge, identify the inventive concept or construe the…

An application for relief from sanctions requires three stages: assess the seriousness or significance of the breach, determine whether there was a good…

In assessing loss of future earning capacity, the Ogden Tables A–D are a useful framework, not an automatic replacement for a broad Smith v Manchester…

References in a consumer-credit document to an agreement being regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 ordinarily state the agreement’s legal status. They do…

In a foreign-criminal deportation case governed by the 2012 Immigration Rules, rules 398 to 399A formed a complete code for the Article 8 assessment. Where…

A winding-up petition is not an appropriate means of resolving a genuinely disputed debt. The debtor need only raise a bona fide defence on substantial…

An error in applying the wrong version of the Immigration Rules does not require permission to appeal where the tribunal also determines the Article 8 claim…

In an Article 8 claim based on inferior medical treatment on return, the tribunal must consider all circumstances, including every aspect of the claimant’s…

Where a consent order requires fresh representations to be considered, the decision-maker must generally assess them under the policy and rules current when…

A court may finally determine an application to discharge care orders at a directions or case-management hearing where the case is suitable for summary…

Judicial review is not academic solely because a regulatory suspension has ended; a declaration may remain appropriate where a public body has acted unlawfully…

Case-management decisions on relief from sanctions remain reviewable where the judge has gone plainly wrong in applying the Denton questions. A good reason for…

In a renewed application for permission to appeal, the Court may adjourn rather than decide arguability where the proposed error of law has not been properly…

Under Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the court cannot direct one beneficiary to sell or transfer a beneficial interest directly to…

A planning obligation may be relied upon in granting permission only if it satisfies the three requirements in regulation 122(2) of the Community…

Where a boundary is marked by a hedge and ditch, two rebuttable presumptions apply unless evidence shows that the ditch pre-dated the ownership boundary or…

Permission to oppose an adoption order involves two stages. First, the parent must show a change in circumstances since the relevant consent or placement order…

The Secretary of State was not required under the qualified duty in the National Health Service Act 2006 to extend free NHS abortion services to women…

In an appeal on patent obviousness, the Court of Appeal should not interfere with a trial judge’s multifactorial assessment unless there is an error of…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, an applicant who accepts errors of law in a First-tier Tribunal decision cannot ordinarily challenge the…

Where a passenger’s failure to wear a seat belt prevents a catastrophic injury but leaves only a trivial and wholly different injury, the residual injury may…

Further submissions must disclose a realistic prospect of success before a tribunal to amount to a fresh claim. An applicant seeking interim protection against…

For an interlocutory gang-related violence injunction, the threshold is whether there is a realistic prospect of establishing the alleged conduct. Police…

Section 11(2) of the Children Act 2004 requires public authorities to exercise their existing functions with regard to the need to safeguard and promote…

Where national security justifies withholding material in proceedings concerning rights protected by EU law, article 47 of the Charter does not invariably…

Permission to appeal may be granted under the second limb of CPR 52.3(6) where another compelling reason exists, even if the claim is not considered to have a…

Where a fitness to practise panel relies on findings labelled non-serious misconduct when deciding impairment, those findings form part of the appealable…

The scope of an agent’s actual authority is assessed objectively, by interpreting the principal’s words in their context. Authority given to an intermediary to…

Contractual damages calculated by reference to an increase in an asset’s value must be assessed by reference to the price achievable on a putative sale at the…

The flexibility provision in paragraph 245AA concerns documents in the wrong format. It does not cure documents that fail to disclose a substantive…

An appellate court should respect a trial judge’s findings of primary fact, particularly findings based on witness credibility, and should intervene only where…

In military Article 2 cases falling within the middle ground, the court must distinguish an isolated failure by an individual, including a supervisor, from a…

In a fact-finding appeal, a deliberate harm finding may properly be inferred from the totality of the evidence even when the precise motive or mechanism…

Where a Part 36 offer is accepted after the relevant period, the prescribed costs order remains the starting point. The party seeking a different order bears…

In a protection claim based on political activity abroad, an opportunistic claim does not by itself determine the risk on return. The decision-maker must still…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the relevant threshold is whether the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success, a relatively low…

Paragraph 276ADE(v) of the Immigration Rules requires an applicant, at the date of application, to be aged 18 or above and under 25. A person who has reached…

A court must determine a parent’s litigation capacity by applying the issue-specific, two-stage test in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. A protected party must…

Parties may pursue statutory tax appeals and judicial review in parallel where they are separate claims, even if the relief overlaps. A stay requires strong…

Damages under section 2(2) of the Misrepresentation Act 1967 may be awarded in lieu of rescission only where rescission is, or was, available. Where practical…

A later finding by the ECtHR that domestic proceedings took too long does not, without more, reverse a final domestic order or make its enforcement unlawful.…

An unrepresented respondent to civil committal proceedings must be made aware of the possible availability of criminal legal aid and given a reasonable…

Appellate courts should be very reluctant to interfere with case-management decisions. Where a party maintains a possible claim to an interest in disputed…

A renewal application for permission to appeal must answer each reason given for refusing permission on paper; repeating the original skeleton argument is…

Permission for a further appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. A disagreement with a tribunal’s assessment…

Permission to appeal against a discretionary costs or case-management order should be refused where the lower court heard full argument, considered the…

In immigration cases, the adequacy of the Secretary of State’s reasoning is assessed against the application actually made. A decision-maker need not determine…

Leave automatically extended pending determination of a timely variation application under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 remains the original leave. A…

Under Schedule 7 to the Family Law Act 1996, a court deciding whether to transfer a cohabitant’s tenancy must assess all the circumstances and compare the…

Damages for a judicial act done in good faith are barred by section 9(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998, except to the extent required by article 5(5). Judicial…

Once the child’s objections exception under the 1980 Hague Convention is established, the court must exercise its discretion by evaluating the objections…

Judicial participation in conciliation during private children proceedings does not ordinarily require recusal. Recusal is exceptional and depends on whether a…

An expert determination is contractual. The court must first identify the matters remitted to the expert and then ask whether the expert made a mistake while…

An autonomous claim for contribution under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 is not itself an action for passenger damages governed directly by…

Under section 6 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, a closed material procedure may be authorised where sensitive material would otherwise be disclosable and…

A declaration under section 6 of the Justice and Security Act 2013 opens the possibility of closed material applications. It does not finally determine that…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no realistic prospect of success and no other compelling ground justifies permission.…

The Court of Appeal may continue interim protection only within a jurisdiction conferred by statute or procedural law. A stay of a quashing order cannot revive…

The Civil Procedure Rules confer a real discretion to extend time for complying with a consent order, including one embodying a substantive settlement and…

In judicial review, quashing an unlawful decision does not necessarily require further relief. Where a later decision is fresh, lawful and properly considers…

A renewed application for permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal raises an important point of law or practice worthy of consideration…

On an application for permission to appeal a specialist tribunal’s compensation determination, an appellate court must keep within points of law. The tribunal…

A second appeal requires a point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. An appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is confined to points of…

A claimant cannot use a later challenge to removal as a vehicle for reopening asylum decisions whose appeal or judicial-review periods have expired. A claim…

For rating exemption, a market garden is distinguished from nursery ground by the nature of the produce leaving the hereditament. It must be an article…

A screening opinion under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England) Regulations 2011 need not contain the detail of a planning…

Summary judgment under rule 24.2 requires both that the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim and that no compelling reason exists…

Where the availability of a remedy for an alleged restriction on free movement of capital depends on an unresolved extension of European Union jurisprudence…

Under the FIDIC Conditions, a contractor claiming for unforeseeable physical conditions must independently assess all available information at tender stage…

Relief for unfair prejudice under section 996 of the Companies Act 2006 involves a very broad discretion to fashion a fair and equitable remedy. A court…

An order under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 may be made where the child’s welfare requires protection from continuing litigation, even without a…

On an application for leave under Adoption and Children Act 2002, section 47(5), the court must ask whether circumstances have changed and, if so, whether…

An entire claim should be struck out at an early stage for abusive or fraudulent conduct only in very exceptional circumstances. The misconduct must be clearly…

Article 1F exclusion requires the stringent standard of “serious reasons for considering” that an applicant committed the relevant international crime. The…

Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive permits a staged assessment of a series of development projects. Where a first project will not itself harm a protected…

The duty to assess reasonable alternatives under the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 requires the plan-making authority to…

In a common intention constructive trust claim between cohabiting partners, the court must separate two stages. First, the claimant must establish an actual…

A late-raised ground may justify permission to appeal where it arguably concerns the jurisdiction of the tribunals and there is a compelling reason for…

An application may be dismissed where the appellant fails to attend the hearing after being notified of its time and the court has waited for her. The court…

When a homeless applicant refuses objectively suitable accommodation, the authority must consider all the applicant’s personal characteristics, needs, hopes…

An appellate court will rarely reverse a trial judge’s findings of primary fact. Intervention is confined to a conclusion unsupported by evidence, founded on a…

An application for permission to appeal should be dismissed where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of success. An application to vary judicial review…

A tribunal’s determination must be read fairly as a whole. An isolated or inartful statement should not be subjected to detailed linguistic analysis where the…

Permission to appeal requires grounds with arguable merit showing that the decision below may be wrong. Courts cannot permit repeated litigation of issues…

The same principles govern applications to extend time for notices of appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal and applications to extend time for internal…

On a judgment summons for non-payment of maintenance, the creditor must prove to the criminal standard that the debtor had the means to pay and refused or…

The need for long-term supervision is not, by itself, a reason to refuse direct contact between a child and an absent parent. Contact is almost always in the…

Absolute witness immunity is confined to statements made in evidence and limited extensions necessary to protect the judicial process. Conduct does not acquire…

An insurance policy may impose overlapping conditions precedent. A specific alarm warranty does not displace a general protection condition unless the…

Actual occupation does not enlarge the occupier’s underlying equitable rights. An interest overrides a registered disposition only if the occupier has a right…

In determining whether accommodation is suitable for a vulnerable homeless person, a local authority must apply the statutory framework in Housing Act 1996…

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employment tribunal must objectively assess whether dismissal was a reasonable response to the misconduct, having…

Contractual evidence requirements in a service-level agreement should be interpreted with practical flexibility, while respecting the funder’s need to verify…

At the jurisdiction stage, a claimant must show a good arguable case: more than a merely arguable case, but less than proof on the balance of probabilities.…

In private children and step-parent adoption proceedings, the child’s procedural status and participation must be determined under the distinct rules governing…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal from the Upper Tribunal, the Court of Appeal applied the stringent permission threshold applicable to such…

In an action to set aside a judgment on the ground that it was obtained by fraud, materiality is assessed by asking how the trial judge’s conclusions would…

On a second appeal in an immigration case, permission should be granted only where an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason…

A child’s habitual residence is a factual question determined by the degree of integration in a social and family environment. Duration of presence is relevant…

An adult defendant’s conduct in negligence is judged by the objective standard of the reasonable person. Mental or physical illness does not lower that…

An application to extend time for filing an appeal after expiry must be assessed using the Denton three-stage approach. The court must assess the seriousness…

Permission for a second appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal identifies no error of law and raises no important question of principle or practice…

In an immigration permission application, serious consequences on return do not by themselves establish a compelling reason to appeal where the proposed…

A renewed application for permission to appeal may succeed where there is a realistic prospect that the Full Court will find that critical trial findings…

Case-management decisions concerning consolidation and disclosure lie within a very wide discretion. An appellate court should not interfere merely because it…

On an application for permission to appeal, fresh evidence must be assessed against the evidence as a whole and the findings reached after oral evidence and…

Apparent bias is assessed from the standpoint of a fair-minded and informed observer, not the litigant. The observer is neither unduly sensitive or suspicious…

Section 85A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 restricts the evidence admissible in an appeal concerning a Points Based System decision. The…

Section 10 of the Inclosure Consolidation Act 1801 empowered enclosure commissioners to set out and appoint public bridleways and footpaths, as well as private…

In public law children proceedings, a further expert or parenting assessment should be ordered only where it is necessary to resolve the proceedings justly.…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed grounds are arguable and have a real prospect of success, even though the applicant faces a difficult…

A tribunal does not impermissibly conduct its own research merely by consulting a primary legal source to test an expert’s account of that source, particularly…

In determining consequential costs after an appeal, the overall winner’s recovery is only a starting point. The court may require that party to pay the costs…

A fiduciary who continues to perform an outstanding retainer remains bound by loyalty, even if released to compete generally. Acting for the principal and…

An arguable claim that a tax-avoidance scheme removes liability, or money retained to meet a disputed tax demand, is not necessarily a possession protected by…

Article 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 imposes an investigative duty which is inherent in the Article itself and does not depend on Article 1 or State…

A renewed application for permission to appeal may be adjourned where its outcome depends entirely on a pending appeal in another case. The court should…

The principle of open justice is important, but it may be outweighed by the public interest in preserving confidentiality. Where the court has received a full…

A civil damages claim is an abuse of process where, viewed objectively and on a broad merits-based assessment, its success would in substance undermine a…

A challenge to an immigration detention policy on the basis that the policy was not applied is to be assessed using the Wednesbury approach. A court must not…

Under the Brighton Marina Act 1968, a statutory deadline for completing permanent works did not extinguish the continuing power to extend, enlarge, alter…

Permission to appeal was granted on two arguable issues. First, authority including Edgehill [2014] EWCA Civ 402 and Singh [2015] EWCA Civ 74 made it arguable…

In a renewed second appeal application, the Court of Appeal refused permission where the proposed issue was unlikely to recur and arose from highly unusual…

On an application for permission to appeal in an asylum case, a real prospect of success may arise where the tribunal arguably failed to address whether…

Under Maltese law, liability for damage caused through fault under article 1031 is distinct from rescission for dolus under article 981. A claimant’s failure…

Repayment of a borrower’s loan does not automatically reduce damages recoverable from a negligent professional adviser. Avoided loss is generally brought into…

A party loses the right to challenge an arbitral tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction under section 73 of the Arbitration Act 1996 only if it has taken part in…

Patent claims are construed purposively through the eyes of the skilled person, using common general knowledge. Equivalents may inform that construction, but…

The Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction is confined to appeals from the Employment Appeal Tribunal and does not extend to a direct appeal from an Employment…

In an asylum appeal, documentary evidence must be assessed with the evidence as a whole and in the round. The absence of investigation or challenge by the…

For a second appeal, an alleged error in applying settled legal principles does not ordinarily raise an important point of principle or practice. An…

Negligence in a pedestrian–vehicle accident is not automatic merely because the driver failed to see the pedestrian. Liability remains fault-based and depends…

Under the two-stage regime of the Planning Act 2008, strategic need and strategic alternatives are settled through the National Policy Statement process. They…

A claim under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 requires proof that the work caused the injury, including where the case is put as exacerbation…

For a second appeal, permission requires a compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear the case; cogent submissions alone do not suffice. Under paragraph…

Permission to appeal against factual findings requires a real prospect of success, meaning more than a fanciful prospect, or another compelling reason. The…

In employment proceedings, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal may determine only points of law arising from the proceedings. They have no…

An appeal from an Employment Tribunal lies only on a point of law. The appellate court must not reassess facts or the Tribunal’s evaluation of evidence unless…

An appeal from an Employment Tribunal lies only on a point of law. Appellate courts must not re-weigh oral evidence or substitute their view of credibility. In…

On a second appeal in an Article 8 deportation case, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. It is…

In disputes involving substantial issues of primary fact, a court should consider whether oral evidence and cross-examination are required before proceeding on…

For adult children in immigration cases, European Convention on Human Rights Article 8 creates no presumption either for or against family life. Ordinary love…

A numerical range in a patent claim is construed purposively, through the eyes of the skilled person, using the common general knowledge and the specification…

A duty under the Childcare Act 2006, section 22 is open-textured and qualified by reasonable practicability. It is not framed in absolute terms or as a simple…

On a second appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal, permission requires an identifiable error of law, not merely disagreement with adverse factual…

A petitioning creditor who establishes the statutory conditions has a prima facie entitlement to a bankruptcy order. An adjournment for payment should…

Permission to appeal should be granted where a recently introduced statutory provision raises important questions requiring authoritative and early appellate…

Planning policies are to be read in their practical and wider policy context, rather than as statutory language. The requirement in NPPF paragraph 123 to…

Indirect discrimination requires proof that a provision, criterion or practice places the protected group at a particular disadvantage and that the individual…

A Wednesbury challenge requires more than showing that a decision is strongly opposed by the evidence or that another conclusion would have been preferable.…

In care proceedings, the court must control its own timetable and conclude the application within the statutory period. Any extension must be expressly…

A claimant who bears the burden of proving causation cannot succeed merely because the proposed cause is less implausible than alternatives. The court must…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, a proposed challenge has no realistic prospect where it substantially repeats arguments on statutory…

In contact proceedings, the child’s welfare remains paramount. It will ordinarily be in a child’s best interests to have a full and ordinary relationship with…

Immigration Rules rule 353 requires a two-stage assessment of further submissions. The material must be significantly different because its content was not…

Permission to appeal will be refused where the proposed grounds merely challenge detailed factual findings that the appellate court cannot properly reopen. A…

Permission to appeal requires more than disagreement with the first-instance decision. The applicant must identify an arguable error of law with a reasonable…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, the court granted permission where important provisions of the Patents Act 1977 had not…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the court grants permission where the proposed grounds have a reasonable prospect of success. The permission…

Article 11(3) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 permits an injured claimant to join the insured tortfeasor to a direct claim against the liability…

Regulations made under section 17 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 govern local development documents prepared by local planning authorities.…

A secondary victim may recover only for a recognised psychiatric illness induced by the sudden and direct appreciation, by sight or sound, of an objectively…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal where the proposed appeal would be a second appeal, the second-appeal criteria govern. The court may proceed…

Immigration detention must remain justified throughout the period of detention. The Secretary of State may detain only for the purpose of deportation and only…

Under paragraph 120A of Appendix A to the Immigration Rules, academic progress is measured against the course for which leave was granted, not a different…

Permission to appeal may be granted despite the usual reluctance to reopen factual findings after a lengthy trial where the trial judge saw and assessed the…

For an application to validate ineffective service under rule 6.15(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, later appellate authority may make an appeal arguable…

For a points-based immigration application requiring access to a specified sum on the application date, evidence need not be a bank statement issued on that…

In probate, undue influence is distinct from the doctrine applying to lifetime transactions. There is no presumption of undue influence in relation to a will.…

The appeals could not be entertained because the Court of Protection proceedings had been used to obtain general answers to hypothetical procedural questions…

In negligence, the precise mechanism or medical consequence of an injury need not be foreseeable if personal injury of the relevant general kind was reasonably…

On an adjournment application, the court must assess the comparative prejudice caused by delay to each party. A short delay may be justified where it preserves…

Under CPR 52.9, an appellate court may make an appeal conditional on payment or security only where there is a compelling reason. That threshold does not…

A claim that a regulator negligently failed to supervise a particular firm, causing private loss, is not converted into a public-law claim by being framed as…

For a second appeal, an alleged error must satisfy the applicable permission threshold. An “obvious” point is not established merely because it concerns an…

At the permission stage, an appeal should proceed where its proposed grounds raise points of principle of sufficient importance or general interest, are…

A prohibition notice must be assessed by reference to the risk reasonably apprehended when it was issued. An appeal to an Employment Tribunal under section…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years’ imprisonment, the public interest in deportation carries very great weight. Deportation will infringe…

When deciding whether children should leave established carers for placement with relatives, the court must evaluate the children’s emotional reality as well…

When determining whether to extend time for appealing in proceedings concerning children, the court may consider the proposed appeal’s merits as part of all…

Apparent bias in a planning inquiry is assessed by asking whether a fair-minded and informed observer, considering all the circumstances, would conclude that…

When an agreement is oral or partly oral, subsequent conduct may be considered to determine whether a contract was made and what its terms were. That differs…

Permission to appeal requires a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success or another compelling reason. An appellate court will rarely interfere with…

On a second appeal, an alleged misassessment of evidence or failure to apply an established principle will not ordinarily justify permission. The applicant…

A renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal requires satisfaction of the strict second-appeal threshold, including compelling reasons under…

An appeal to the Upper Tribunal is confined to identifying a material error of law in the First-tier Tribunal’s decision. It is not an opportunity to re-argue…

Where a party seeks to set aside a judgment entered in their absence, the appellate court may consider whether the underlying claim had any real prospect of…

On reconsidering refusal of permission to appeal, a proposed ground should proceed where it has a real prospect of success. Permission may be confined to…

Permission to appeal may be granted where important public-law standards applied by first-instance decisions require consideration at appellate level, even…

A judicial order must be construed as a coherent legal instrument in the circumstances in which it was made. The judgment giving the order is an authoritative…

In children proceedings, expert evidence may be permitted only where it is necessary to assist the court to resolve the proceedings justly. The court must…

A renewed application for permission to appeal may be adjourned where a substantial new Article 8 point has some merit but has not been properly explored…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, an applicant must show both a real prospect of success and an important point of principle or…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where it is arguable that the first-instance court relied on very general considerations which were inadequate to…

A tribunal must give an immigration case anxious scrutiny, but an alleged factual mistake does not by itself justify appellate intervention. The decision must…

A donatio mortis causa is an exceptional means of transferring property on death. It must be kept within strict bounds because it bypasses the formal…

On a second appeal, permission requires an important point of principle or practice, another compelling reason, and an arguable case with a real prospect of…

Country guidance may be changed where later evidence shows that material circumstances have evolved in a manner that is evidentially well established and…

When deciding whether to extend time for filing a notice of appeal, an inadequate explanation for delay may be overcome only if the proposed appeal has…

A judge’s sceptical questioning of counsel does not establish apparent bias or predetermination where it is directed to understanding an uncertain case. An…

A pedestrian who has safely begun crossing a road must continue taking reasonable care for personal safety. This includes keeping a lookout for traffic from…

An election by a local housing authority to operate an introductory tenancy regime must be construed in its statutory and factual context. A resolution…

For homelessness under Housing Act 1996, accommodation that may be offered in future by another authority is not, merely for that reason, accommodation…

A passport impounding order may restrain a defendant from leaving the jurisdiction where objective evidence demonstrates a real risk that the defendant will…

A Swiss-form claim is a purpose-limited process claim. The word “for” links manufacture to the medicine’s ultimate intentional use for the claimed therapeutic…

Where an immigration authority indicates that defects in an application will be identified, the expectation may be fulfilled by returning the fee, identifying…

In an asylum appeal based on risk to a lone Tamil woman, a tribunal must engage with the claimed risk through sufficiently detailed reasoning and enquiry. It…

Where legislation makes permission a condition of an appeal, a general statutory right of appeal does not permit an appeal against a refusal of permission…

A family court has no power to require the Lord Chancellor or HMCTS to fund legal representation for a civil litigant outside the detailed legal-aid scheme…

In financial remedy proceedings, equality is a yardstick rather than an inflexible outcome. Where the case is one of need, sharing must yield to the…

In compulsory-purchase compensation, the statutory planning assumptions and statutory disregards perform distinct functions. The cancellation assumption…

A settlement agreement is construed as a contract by asking what a reasonable person, with the relevant background, would understand its language to mean.…

An interim care order removing a child from parental care should be made only where the child’s emotional or physical safety requires immediate separation. The…

In appeals concerning children’s welfare, a tribunal’s inquisitorial or case-management powers are engaged where it considers the assembled evidence…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s findings of primary fact, evaluations or inferences unless there is a compelling reason to do so.…

Permission to appeal was granted where the Upper Tribunal may have treated the supply of a very small quantity of a Class A drug as necessarily causing serious…

Permission for a second appeal requires either an important point of principle or practice that has not yet been established, or another truly compelling…

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

In judicial review, an arguable procedural error removing an immigration appeal does not justify relief where the appeal would have had no real prospect of…

Permission for a second appeal requires a real prospect of success and, in addition, an important point of principle or practice or another compelling reason…

The standard of proof for a disputed nationality depends on the legal issue for which nationality matters. Where it bears on a risk of persecution for the…

A right of way may pass under section 62 of the Law of Property Act 1925 even where there was no prior diversity of occupation. The relevant advantage must…

A statutory scheme providing simple interest on overpaid VAT excludes common law restitutionary interest claims as a matter of domestic law. Where the tax was…

Section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 requires parliamentary laying only for rules which set criteria that are or may be determinative of leave to enter or…

When an administrative decision is quashed, the matter should ordinarily be remitted to the same decision-maker. A fresh decision-maker is required where…

An inquiry on a cross-undertaking in damages is compensatory. It requires a fair and principled assessment of the loss caused by the interim injunction…

On a second appeal, the Court of Appeal will intervene only where an arguable error of law is shown. A tribunal judge may reject evidence in part or in its…

Permission to appeal may properly be granted where a costs decision arguably fails to address the central issue raised by the parties. In a judicial review…

Where the Immigration Rules require formal evidence of a degree award, a university letter confirming successful completion is insufficient. A challenge based…

A planning authority may permit development within the Green Belt while a parallel local-plan process proposes altering the Green Belt boundary. Paragraph 83…

A power to amend a company’s articles is validly exercised where shareholders act in good faith in the company’s interests and a reasonable person could regard…

Where domestic abuse has been established, the court determining child arrangements must give the findings appropriate weight and conduct the risk assessment…

In judicial review, compliance with the formal time limit does not necessarily make proceedings prompt. The court may consider earlier knowledge of the…

In construing a contractual provision, unqualified words such as “for any reason” must be given their natural meaning. A provision stating that a landlord does…

Where an application challenges or seeks to stay orders made in family financial-relief proceedings, and the court considers the Family Division the proper…

For third-party rights under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, section 393, the relevant matter must itself contain a reference, or key or pointer…

A mixed use may exist throughout a single planning unit even though its different elements cannot be assigned to exclusive areas. Whether hotel and hostel uses…

A race discrimination claim against a trade union may be struck out as hopeless where the alleged detriment is that a representative raised the member’s own…

A placement order does not require investigation of every conceivable alternative, regardless of its prospects of success or realistic application. The court…

A statement in open court following settlement of a defamation claim should ordinarily be permitted unless a sufficient reason, ordinarily real or substantial…

For merger-control purposes, acquiring a business requires acquiring activities, or part of activities, rather than merely bare assets. A business need not be…

When considering Article 8 in an expulsion or deportation case, the court must balance immigration control and the offending non-national’s position against…

An appellate challenge to a discretionary case-management decision is a review, not a rehearing. Permission should be refused unless a serious or real error of…

Permission to appeal requires proposed grounds with a real prospect of success. On a second appeal, the case must also raise an important point of principle or…

The objective reasonableness of force used to effect an arrest depends principally on the act and the circumstances confronting the officer. Relevant…

When assessing whether police force used during an arrest was reasonable, excessive or disproportionate, the court must assess the act in the circumstances…

Contractual subordination may postpone repayment of subordinated debt until statutory interest and non-provable liabilities have been paid. The subordinated…

Committal proceedings in the County Court which determine a criminal charge for Article 6 purposes are criminal proceedings for criminal legal-aid purposes. An…

Damages for nuisance may include residual diminution in property value where cogent evidence proves the loss. An injunction does not necessarily remove that…

The Apportionment Act 1870 requires periodic salary to be treated as accruing from day to day, but it does not necessarily impose equal accrual on every…

“Vexatious” under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 has an objective, high-threshold meaning. The starting point is whether the request has any reasonable…

Applications to join proceedings in the Court of Protection are governed by the Court of Protection Rules 2007, even where the application is misconceived and…

Under CPR 6.15, the court asks whether, in all the circumstances, there is a good reason to authorise alternative service or retrospectively validate steps…

A second appeal requires an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to entertain it. Mere disagreement…

A former head of state’s personal immunity ends when office ends, whether by resignation, expiry, removal or death. The estate of a head of state who dies in…

An application to extend time may be treated as an application for relief from an implied sanction where non-compliance would prevent the claim from…

An appellate court should interfere with a trial judge’s findings of primary fact only where satisfied that the judge was plainly wrong. The same restraint…

In a contractual fee clause, consummated ordinarily means completed. For a sale, the relevant interest must be transferred pursuant to the sale agreement.…

On an application for permission to appeal, evidence that was available before trial cannot ordinarily be introduced to challenge the trial judge’s findings. A…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal will not reopen findings of fact merely because the evidence was sparse, disorganised or…

An appellate court should generally decline to determine an appeal once the underlying dispute has ceased to exist, even where the issue has wider…

A creditor seeking to enforce a credit agreement must establish that the agreement is exempt from regulation under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. A…

The court upheld factual findings in care proceedings where the timing and likely effects of drug ingestion were established by unchallenged expert evidence…

Professional advisers are judged by the material available and the law in force when they advised. A subsequent development in the law governing medical…

The Court of Protection may decide only between care options that are available or reasonably likely to become available. It cannot compel a private provider…

Permission to appeal may be granted where proposed judicial review grounds are properly arguable, even though later events may render the proceedings moot for…

Permission to appeal should be granted where proposed grounds raise reasonably arguable issues of law with a real prospect of success. The court need not…

Under the Immigration Rules, a document submitted after an application may be considered only within the rule permitting late documents. That provision covers…

Where a student seeks to extend leave, the Immigration Rules require a valid Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies from a licensed institution. If the…

When varying a post-nuptial settlement under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the court must apply the section 25 considerations and reach a fair result without…

The statutory scheme distinguishes a person who is liable to be detained from one who is detained. Temporary admission may remain available where removal has…

The requirement of “insurmountable obstacles” in Appendix FM imposes a stringent but sensible and practical test. It demands substantially more than showing…

In an Article 8 immigration claim, a tribunal may find a witness well meaning but unreliable without finding dishonesty. An appellate court will not treat a…

Where dishonesty is alleged in an immigration appeal, the person making the allegation bears the burden of proving it on the balance of probabilities. The…

For a Part II order under paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 to the Family Law Act 1986, a dwelling must qualify as a matrimonial home. That requires spouses to have…

A continuing public-law duty does not permit a claimant to postpone judicial review indefinitely and choose when to challenge the breach. The claimant must act…

In an immigration appeal, post-decision changes may justify full-court consideration where they may engage a statutory exception to deportation. This is…

In immigration appeals, the Upper Tribunal is an expert tribunal. It may take a broad view of what constitutes an error of law and examine closely the…

In a direct discrimination claim based on an employee’s mental processes, the person who performed the impugned act must personally have been influenced by the…

Where related contracts contain different governing-law and jurisdiction clauses, there is no presumption that the clause in one contract captures disputes…

The Barder principle may justify reopening a financial order where a new event, occurring shortly after the order, invalidates the fundamental assumption on…

Family appeals must follow Part 30 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010. They require clear grounds, a permission stage and, where permission is granted, a…

A construction contract may impose a double obligation: compliance with specified standards and achievement of a stated result. That occurs only where the…

An ordained minister is not excluded from employment protection merely because he holds ecclesiastical office or performs spiritual functions. The existence of…

On a renewed application for permission to bring a second appeal, procedural unfairness may provide a compelling reason for permission where a procedural…

A clinical commissioning group must consider the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare when exercising its statutory functions, but the Framework is…

The Court of Appeal’s residual jurisdiction applies where a statutory bar would otherwise prevent review of a High Court decision so fundamentally affected by…

A deportation order which itself records that it is made under section 32(5) of the UK Borders Act 2007 can itself constitute the relevant immigration decision…

Where a court must choose between realistic arrangements for a child, it must identify and compare each option through a comparative welfare analysis. It must…

In a sole-name property case, beneficial ownership is presumed to follow the legal title. A claimant seeking a beneficial interest under a common-intention…

For a Tier 1 post-study visa, an application must ordinarily be made after the relevant qualification has been awarded. Completion of the course and a…

A planning policy which permits renewable-energy development subject to the absence of significant adverse landscape or visual impact must be read in context.…

Release from detention without charge does not, by itself, resolve whether an asylum claimant remains at risk on return. The tribunal must assess the…

For the purposes of Article 1 of the First Protocol, marketable business goodwill and secured contracts may be possessions, but hoped-for contracts and an…

A solicitor must exercise the care of a reasonably competent practitioner in the relevant specialist field. The steps required to ensure that advice is…

The right conferred by section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is a right to recorded information, not to a particular document. Nevertheless…

The welfare of a child is the paramount consideration in a private-law dispute about living arrangements. Natural parenthood creates no legal presumption or…

In adoption proceedings, ‘a change in circumstances’ under Adoption and Children Act 2002 must not be raised to a significant-change or sea-change threshold.…

Permission to appeal requires a real prospect of success or another compelling reason. An appellate court may uphold a first-instance construction where the…

Eligibility under rule 276ADE(iv) is assessed at the date of the application. A child who reaches seven years’ residence only by the hearing date cannot rely…

Section 610 of the Housing Act 1985 concerns a genuine conversion of existing premises into two or more dwellings. It does not extend to complete demolition of…

A third-country national derives a right of residence from a dependent Union citizen only where refusing residence or effecting deportation would compel that…

For financial remedy purposes, a resource may be available to a spouse under section 25(2)(a) of Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 even where a third party has legal…

Deterrence does not, by itself, make a contractual charge an unenforceable penalty. The common-law question is whether the charge is extravagant and…

A jurisdiction clause need not use the word “exclusive” to confer exclusive jurisdiction. Its effect depends on the language, commercial purpose and…

Family members seeking entry outside the Immigration Rules must generally establish compelling circumstances insufficiently recognised by the Rules. This…

An appellate court may interfere with a tribunal’s exercise of a wide discretion only for an error of principle. It must not substitute its own view merely…

In judicial review costs disputes, a claimant who obtains the relief sought starts from the position that costs should be awarded, unless there is a good…

When deciding whether to extend time for judicial review, the court must assess the whole circumstances. The arguable merits are important but are only one…

An interim springboard injunction addresses the continuing effect of past wrongdoing, not merely whether the original acts are complete. The court asks whether…

Direct contact with a parent ordinarily serves a child’s best interests and should be denied only in exceptional circumstances supported by compelling reasons.…

Where a final warning is material to a later dismissal, a warning given in bad faith cannot be relied on to turn conduct warranting a lesser sanction into a…

The ex turpi causa defence is a rule of law grounded in public policy, not a discretionary proportionality exercise. A passenger who joins an implied criminal…

Consequential relief after an appeal should be confined to matters properly raised and necessary to give effect to the judgment. The court may refuse late…

In discrimination claims, evidence of conduct beyond the acts complained of may be highly relevant. An Employment Tribunal may nevertheless exclude background…

Permission to appeal may be granted where an appeal raises a point of general importance that merits consideration by the full appellate court, including where…

This procedural judgment concerns permission to appeal. The Court of Appeal refused permission on two proposed points but granted permission on the point…

A successful claimant’s costs should ordinarily be awarded in her favour. Failure on alternative causes of action may justify a proportionate discount, but the…

The necessary or proper party gateway requires the court to examine the claims against the anchor defendants in isolation. An arguable claim and an English…

The welfare duty in section 55 of the Borders Act 2009 does not make an express statutory reference a precondition of a lawful immigration decision. Where the…

Expedition requires real, objectively assessed urgency and a good reason for giving the proceedings priority over other court business. The court must consider…

When determining child contact where there is a history of domestic violence, the court must consider that history in deciding both the amount and supervision…

In an appeal from a case-management decision, the Court of Appeal may intervene only where the judge erred in principle, considered irrelevant matters, omitted…

An interim care order involving separation from existing family carers requires circumstances that cannot await the final hearing and a conclusion that the…

A statutory direct action against an insurer must be characterised by identifying the substance of the right conferred. Where the right largely mirrors the…

When a party seeks to amend pleadings to introduce a fresh claim or new basis of claim, the court may assess whether the proposed case has a real prospect of…

A national court should refer an EU-law validity issue to the Court of Justice where the scope of the applicable legal exception remains genuinely uncertain.…

A registered proprietor who claims in good faith under a forged disposition is deemed by paragraph 1(2)(b) of Schedule 8 to the Land Registration Act 2002 to…

Under the 1996 Hague Convention, international jurisdiction must be established before welfare or return issues are considered. After wrongful removal, the…

On partial revocation for non-use, a trade mark specification must reflect the goods for which the mark has genuinely been used, but it must not be reduced to…

Arrangements for placing prisoners in approved premises were not direct or indirect sex discrimination merely because the smaller female estate made placement…

Where a party settles litigation involving disputed factual allegations, the settlement ordinarily allocates the risk that those allegations may be false. The…

A non-binding memorandum of understanding between government departments is not a public services contract merely because it is supported by a separately…

An appellate court ordinarily defers to a trial judge’s findings of fact because its function is to review the decision, rather than rehear the case. That…

Immigration Rules may change the regime governing a pending application where the new instrument contains no contrary transitional provision. But an error…

Misuse of private information is a tort for the service-out gateway. It is a distinct cause of action from breach of confidence, although its development drew…

Under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, each exercise of the right to manage must relate to one set of premises. Those…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason justifies an appeal. The court…

When deciding whether to disapply the personal injury limitation period under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must determine whether allowing…

In a child-relocation appeal, the Court of Appeal will not revisit a trial judge’s welfare evaluation merely because another assessment is possible. Where the…

Whether procedural fairness requires an oral hearing before recall from home detention curfew is context-sensitive. Home detention curfew is discretionary and…

A defence for immediate retransmission of qualifying public-service broadcasts by cable cannot protect a transmission to mobile telephones merely because an…

Recreational use of land is not use as of right where it is by permission. Where a private landowner accepts public regulation of land and permits access…

Commercial affinity agreements are construed in their contractual and commercial context. Where the agreements concern discounted products marketed through an…

A collective investment scheme may exist even though each participant receives only the income attributable to an individually allocated asset. Pooling and…

Where an appeal leaves the successful party with no financial recovery, the court may make a substantial costs adjustment to reflect the practical result and…

A presiding tribunal member’s casting vote is a discretionary power, not an automatic means of resolving disagreement. It cannot properly be exercised where…

In foreign-criminal deportation appeals under Part 13 of the Immigration Rules, Article 8 proportionality is assessed within the rules and through the lens of…

In reviewing a ministerial decision based on predictive financial modelling, the court applies ordinary Wednesbury rationality. Where a decision-maker…

Practice Guidance on publication of family judgments is guidance, not law or a Practice Direction. In cases falling within paragraph 18, publication is a…

In a defined-benefit scheme, an extended definition of resignation may include involuntary termination of Civil Service employment. The phrase termination of…

A warning notice for a proposed financial support direction must describe the case against the proposed targets frankly and transparently. It is an important…

A tribunal may take a local authority age-assessment report into account when assessing credibility if the party had the opportunity to challenge its accuracy…

A statutory 28-day limit for appealing against a professional disciplinary order is not subject to a general power of extension where neither the governing…

Regulations made under section 17A of the Jobseekers Act 1995 must prescribe a description of the scheme; merely naming a scheme is insufficient. The…

Before making a care order leading to adoption, the court must determine on properly proved facts whether the statutory threshold of significant harm is…

A conservation objective allowing a population to fluctuate naturally is not permission to reduce the population deliberately and maintain it at the bottom of…

A defendant which files a further acknowledgment of service after an unsuccessful jurisdiction challenge is, under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 11(8)…

A right of re-entry secures performance of a tenant’s covenants. Forfeiture is an ultimate sanction protecting the landlord’s reversion from continuing…

For an agency worker seeking to establish a contract with the end-user, implication is permitted only where necessary to give business reality and create…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds have no real prospects of success. A point of general importance may justify permission if it…

The use permitted by a planning permission is ascertained by interpreting the permission itself. Whether another use would constitute a material change is…

In an Article 8 entry-clearance case, the best interests of minor children are a consideration of high importance, but are not necessarily decisive. The…

In care proceedings, a parent’s mental illness or historic violence is not, by itself, an automatic bar to care. The court must assess current risk of…

In a discrimination claim involving numerous allegations, an employment tribunal should consider each allegation proportionately while standing back to assess…

For individual political donors, access to senior politicians at social events is not improper merely because it follows a donation. It becomes inappropriate…

In an international private family case, jurisdiction and forum conveniens are distinct questions. Jurisdiction is determined by the child’s habitual residence…

A public law legitimate expectation capable of excusing compliance with immigration rules requires a representation that is clear, unambiguous and devoid of…

Conduct constitutes harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 only when, viewed objectively and in context, it passes beyond the unattractive or…

A course of conduct must be aimed at someone to constitute harassment, but it need not be aimed at the claimant. A person other than the intended target may…

A breach of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 does not itself establish liability. The claimant must prove a causal connection between the breach…

For Schedule 2 development under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 1999, the development description and applicable…

For an Aarhus Convention judicial review claim, whether the special costs regime applies depends on the nature, or claimed nature, of the decision, act or…

A consumer credit broker may owe fiduciary duties where it undertakes to find the most advantageous available loan and the borrowers repose trust and…

At the permission stage, a proposed ground has a real prospect of success where the material advanced discloses a proper factual basis for the challenge or…

For a landlord’s repairing covenant, damp caused by an inherent defect does not by itself remove liability. An ineffective damp-proof course may form part of…

A court may require payment of costs before a litigant takes a further step, including applying to lift a stay, but the power must be exercised with great…

In child-contact proceedings, the child’s welfare is the primary focus. A court may uphold a substantial restriction on contact where accepted evidence shows…

The exceptions expressly specified in Article 1(4) of the Second Motor Insurance Directive are exhaustive. A Member State may not introduce additional…

In construing a combined contractors’ liability policy, the dowels were Products, but the concrete crane base, including the dowels, was not. Public liability…

In a building-services liability policy, the definition of “Product” must be read in context. The specified means by which an item is produced or leaves the…

Planning policies must be interpreted objectively, from their language read in context. Where a policy makes planning permission conditional on specified…

Under Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive, appropriate assessment is required where objective information cannot exclude significant effects on a protected…

Permission for a child to give oral evidence in care proceedings requires a fact-sensitive balancing exercise. There is no presumption or starting point that a…

Negotiations marked subject to contract do not bind the parties until a formal contract is entered into. Either party may withdraw before then. The…

When deciding whether an applicant became intentionally homeless, a housing authority must determine whether the loss of accommodation was a reasonable or…

On an application to admit fresh evidence in a public law appeal, the Ladd v Marshall principles remain relevant, but they are applied flexibly. Flexibility…

Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 has a broad scope. A factually correct disclosure, not involving a taxpayer’s private affairs…

An environmental impact assessment screening direction asks whether proposed development is likely to have significant environmental effects. It does not…

A saved development plan policy continues with its original meaning and effect. Material required for its proper interpretation, including supporting text and…

The Immigration Rules must be construed sensibly according to the natural and ordinary meaning of their language. Their purpose and the Secretary of State’s…

Under the Hardial Singh principles, immigration detention pending deportation must remain directed to removal, last only for a reasonable period, and be…

Where the wording of a freezing order expressly includes an interest that may arise through the exercise of a discretion, it can encompass the equitable…

Where a claimant who is not impecunious hires a replacement vehicle on credit terms, recoverable damages are limited to the basic hire rate. That rate excludes…

Once a claim is allocated to the small claims track, CPR rule 27.14 restricts recoverable costs, including the costs of a second appeal. Costs may be ordered…

A court may rule out a parent or relative as a long-term care option before the final welfare evaluation only where, with appropriate confidence and clarity…

In a deportation appeal under the Immigration Rules, the requirement of exceptional circumstances is applied through the proportionality principles of Article…

In an EU-citizen expulsion case, the decision-maker must consider the comparative prospects of rehabilitation in the host and receiving states when assessing…

A question whether a company is bound by the act of an officer concerns the officer’s authority and the attribution of that act to the company. It is governed…

For jurisdiction under article 5(3) of Council Regulation No 44/2001, the court must identify where the event directly produced the initial, jurisdictionally…

Article 23 of the Geneva Convention requires equal public relief only for refugees whose status has been established and who are therefore lawfully staying in…

Where the Immigration Rules do not provide a complete code for an Article 8 claim, the tribunal must determine the claim independently under the established…

Where both parties’ conduct satisfies the but for test, that does not necessarily require liability to be apportioned. A claimant’s subsequent decision to…

The Zambrano right of residence is engaged only where refusal of residence would in practice compel a Union citizen to leave the territory of the European…

Where development has been completed in breach of a condition precedent, an application under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for…

At the permission stage of judicial review challenging a refusal to treat an immigration claim as a fresh claim, the court should apply the low threshold of…

On an application to strike out a pleaded defamatory meaning, the court asks only whether an ordinary reasonable reader could understand the publication in…

On an application for leave to apply to revoke a placement order, the change in circumstances requirement is a gateway to the exercise of discretion. It must…

Fresh expert evidence may be admitted on appeal where it could not, with reasonable diligence, have been available at trial, appears credible and could have an…

Permission to appeal will be refused where the proposed grounds disclose neither a real prospect of success nor another compelling reason for an appeal. In a…

For a pending immigration application, the transitional provisions governing amended Immigration Rules must be followed. The initial implementation provision…

The compulsory removal of more than a detainee’s outer clothing for seizure under section 54 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is a strip search…

In a misconduct dismissal, the reasonableness of the employer’s investigation under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is assessed as a whole. The…

An in-transit loss clause in a voyage charterparty ordinarily addresses shortage incidental to carriage or encountered on a normal voyage. Without clear words…

An earn-out notice under a share-sale agreement must use the contractual basis specified by the definition of the earn-out, including any required audited…

In public-law children proceedings, a judge may refuse permission for further psychological expert evidence where an existing jointly instructed assessment…

An order withholding a party’s identity derogates from open justice and may be made only where it is strictly necessary. The order must be no wider than is…

Whether an activity constitutes a trade requires a realistic evaluation of the taxpayer’s whole activity against the statutory meaning of trade. The tribunal…

An environmental assessment under the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive is a continuing process. Defects at earlier stages may be cured before…

In an Article 8 entry-clearance case involving historic immigration injustice, the applicant must show a causal connection between the past restriction and the…

For non-domestic rating under the Local Government Finance Act 1988, the statutory assumption that a hereditament is in reasonable repair requires an objective…

For a service provision change under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, the court should identify the service, the…

In merger-control proceedings, an actual or prospective substantial lessening of competition is assessed on the balance of probabilities. Once that threshold…

In a claim for repayment of unlawfully charged VAT, the amount of the State’s enrichment is assessed after the statutory recovery process has reversed the tax…

A transitional provision which expressly preserves earlier Immigration Rules displaces the usual rule that amended Rules apply to pending applications.…

When parties agree remuneration after services have been provided during negotiations for an anticipated contract, the agreement must be construed objectively…

Section 24(5) of the National Assistance Act 1948 deems a person to remain ordinarily resident where he was ordinarily resident immediately before the…

Detention under article 5(1)(c) remains lawful only while a reasonable suspicion persists. If investigating or prosecuting authorities cease to hold such a…

A joint-lives order for periodical payments does not prevent a later court from reassessing the recipient’s earning capacity, needs and retirement provision.…

Permission to appeal may be granted where accepted facts make it realistically arguable that an alleged unlawful arrangement restricting access to commercial…

Damages for false imprisonment are compensatory. Where a claimant would in fact have been lawfully detained throughout the same period had the tort not been…

Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, whether non-disclosure is misleading depends on the factual context and all features and…

Where a family home is held in one cohabitant’s sole name, there is no presumption of equal beneficial shares. If an intention to share ownership is…

The discretion to refuse to hear a contemnor depends on the interests of justice in the individual case. The court must consider all the circumstances…

In family proceedings, applications for disclosure against a non-party are governed by the Family Procedure Rules 2010, not the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. An…

A third-country national who is the primary carer of a dependent EU citizen has an automatic derivative right to reside and work while the conditions…

Under the deportation rules then in force, the Immigration Rules provided a complete code for assessing an Article 8 deportation claim. A tribunal could not…

A civil contemnor has no statutory entitlement to credit for time spent on remand. The prison authorities have no power to deduct that period from the term of…

For the exception for limited infilling in villages in paragraph 89 of the National Planning Policy Framework, whether a proposal is in a village is a matter…

Under Article 13 of the 1980 Hague Convention, a child’s objection is not the same as a refusal to return. The court must evaluate the child’s overall views in…

For an obviousness challenge to a dosing regimen, the question is whether the skilled team would undertake the necessary work with a fair expectation of…

A trade mark owner cannot rely on its importing-state mark to block re-branding of genuine parallel imports where replacement is objectively necessary for…

Victimisation claims are not defeated merely because the underlying grievance lacked merit or the procedure would have reached the same result. Less favourable…

A Quistclose-type trust arises only where a transferor objectively intends to restrict the transferee’s use of property so that it is not at the transferee’s…

Article 5(4) permits a State to assign different questions concerning detention to differently constituted judicial bodies where the questions arise under…

Under the Planning Act 2008, an urgent need established by a national policy statement does not automatically establish the separate compelling public-interest…

A foreign criminal’s Article 8 claim must be assessed through the Immigration Rules as a complete code. Where paragraphs 399 and 399A do not apply, the scales…

Vicarious liability for an employee’s intentional wrongdoing depends on the quality of the connection between the wrongful act and the employee’s authorised…

For employee or worker status under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, a contract need not be wholly express or wholly implied. An express…

A publicly expressed policy identifying behaviours relevant to an existing discretionary power to exclude is guidance, not an amendment to the Immigration…

Biometric material seized by the police from premises under Part II of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1985 cannot be retained, used or disclosed for…

State immunity may restrict access to a court under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights only so far as international law requires, or within a…

A diplomatic agent’s employment of a domestic worker at an official residence is ordinarily incidental to diplomatic life. It is not a professional or…

When incompatibility is alleged, the court should begin with the claimant’s actual Convention rights. If those rights have not been violated, the court should…

Debarring a defendant from defending and striking out its defence does not automatically entitle the claimant to judgment or transform a trial into the default…

The power to strike out an appeal for procedural non-compliance must be used sparingly and only for compelling reasons, with regard to whether the result would…

For patent infringement, the extent of the monopoly is determined by the claims. The specification may assist in interpreting a claim, but matter appearing…

A police officer may be recalled to duty between rostered tours without receiving a specific instruction at the time. A recall occurs where the officer’s…

The right to deduct input VAT under Directive 2006/112 is fundamental, but it may be withheld where a trader knew or should have known that a purchase formed…

In a passing-off claim, costs ordinarily follow the outcome on liability. A claimant who establishes the material misrepresentation founding the claim may be…

An exclusion for debts and trading liabilities in solicitors’ professional indemnity terms is aimed at liabilities personal to the solicitor, such as office…

Removal of a seriously ill person to a country with inferior healthcare does not, without more, breach Article 3. The Convention imposes no duty to provide…

Robust case management in care proceedings must remain fair. A final care order may be made at a case management hearing by consent or concession. Otherwise…

Reopening a final appeal or a final refusal of permission under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Pt 52.17 requires three cumulative conditions: reopening must be…

Customs classification turns on the goods’ objective characteristics and the wording of the Combined Nomenclature, read hierarchically. Explanatory notes…

In ongoing wardship proceedings, an order securing parents’ passports can be a proportionate response to a real risk of further child abduction, especially…

An application under the Family Law Act 1986, section 55A is the proper procedural route for determining a child’s parentage. A judge commits a serious…

For asylum under article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention, a person who is also a national of another country must show a well-founded fear of persecution in…

An adjoining landowner may owe a measured duty of care for a known or reasonably foreseeable hazard arising from the condition of land, even where the hazard…

A Companies Court considering a winding-up petition based on a disputed VAT assessment retains its own jurisdiction and discretion. It need not defer…

Section 11(1A) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 extends a landlord’s repairing covenant to the structure or exterior of a part of a building in which the…

For the purposes of the Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work Etcetera Regulations 2008, a contract is made when the consumer…

A fact-finding judgment must give a short but clear explanation of the decisive factors and the reasons for preferring one witness’s evidence. Merely reciting…

The gateway for the child’s objections exception under Article 13 of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980 is…

For opposition to a business tenant’s application under section 30(1)(f) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the landlord’s intention to demolish or…

The capital disregard for premises occupied as a home by a specified family member applies where that occupation existed when the resident first entered…

In construing a contract, the court must identify objectively what the parties intended from the agreement read as a whole. A general notice clause must not be…

Supervening mental incapacity does not ordinarily frustrate a solicitor’s retainer or a conditional fee agreement, even if it terminates the solicitor’s actual…

In an expulsion case under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the decision-maker must apply a nuanced and holistic…

English law recognises no freestanding image or character right by which a celebrity may control the use of a name or likeness. A celebrity may nevertheless…

A safe port warranty is prospective when the charterer orders the vessel. It does not make the charterer an insurer against an unexpected and abnormal event…

In a standard NHS dental-services contract, the meaning of examination depends on its contractual context. It has a default meaning of a full mouth examination…

On an appeal against factual findings following a clinical-negligence trial, the appellate court must respect the trial judge’s advantages in seeing the…

A material change of use creating a cemetery in the Green Belt is inappropriate development under the National Planning Policy Framework. The exception in…

Consent is required before medical treatment is given to a patient who is conscious and capable of deciding. Compliance with an accepted medical practice does…

Criminal occupation of a residential building contrary to section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 does not prevent that…

A local authority may close an internal service-delivery unit without first conducting full community care reassessments where the decision concerns the…

For homelessness under section 177(1) of the Housing Act 1996, “other violence” is not confined to physical violence. It includes threatening or intimidating…

Where successive courses are at the same level, the Tier 4 sponsor must confirm that the later course complements the earlier course. An explanation is not…

In professional disciplinary proceedings, once material non-disclosure is established, the court asks whether the proceedings as a whole were fair. The same…

A Sexual Offences Prevention Order may require its subject to wear a location-monitoring tag when away from his residence, although the legislation does not…

The presumption that land adjoining a right of way extends to the centre line applies only where the conveyed land abuts the way. An intervening ditch that is…

Where a Scottish-registered company is served at its registered office under section 1139 of the Companies Act 2006, that statutory method is also permitted by…

A possible future designation does not make land a potential Special Protection Area. Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010, read…

In permission-to-appeal proceedings, an adjournment to investigate fresh material may be refused where, even when viewed at face value and favourably to the…

In sentencing for contempt of court, a late admission does not automatically require equal sentences for co-contemnors. The ordinary credit for a guilty plea…

Habitual residence is a factual inquiry into a child’s integration in a social and family environment. Even assuming that an older child’s state of mind and…

An extension of time for filing an appellant’s notice in the Employment Appeal Tribunal is discretionary. A short delay does not, by itself, justify an…