Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2017

Holding an office does not itself prevent a parallel contract, but contractual status depends on the appointment, governing rules, dealings and parties’…

Where a claimant says that an order requiring payment of adverse costs would stifle a bona fide claim, the claimant bears the burden of proving inability to…

Res judicata principles preventing recovery twice on the same cause of action do not bar a later claim based on distinct causes of action. Each day of…

Where a legally qualified person is a member of a multi-member tribunal, advice given during private deliberations is part of the tribunal’s decision-making…

A local authority does not ordinarily owe a common-law duty to protect a person from criminal or anti-social acts by third parties. Foreseeability, knowledge…

A director who contemporaneously solicits paid work or appointment from a third party seeking to contract with the company may be indirectly interested in that…

An employee’s prior exposure to unlawful discrimination does not automatically entitle them to refuse all work. Whether refusal is justified, and whether…

A negotiated commercial limitation clause should be construed by its natural meaning, viewed through the reasonable person with the parties’ available…

A Parole Board direction may make a life or indeterminate-sentence prisoner's release subject to licence conditions integral to the management of risk. Where…

Habitual residence is a factual question focused on the child’s integration in a social and family environment. For an infant, that assessment includes the…

Section 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 requires a two-stage inquiry when a parent seeks permission to oppose an adoption order. The parent must…

When determining a child’s welfare, the court acts as the judicial reasonable parent and applies contemporary standards of tolerance, equality and respect for…

In a child-relocation dispute, the court must identify all realistic welfare options and evaluate them both on their own merits and comparatively. It must not…

Internal relocation requires a tribunal to identify the proposed location, assess whether the person would face a real risk of serious harm there, and then…

In appellate review of a family fact-finding judgment, the question is whether, read as a whole, the judgment identifies the evidence accepted, explains what…

On an appeal from a family-court finding of fact, the question is whether the judge was entitled to reach the finding on the evidence, applying the appropriate…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975, maintenance for an applicant other than a spouse or civil partner is assessed…

Patent claims are construed purposively in the context of the description and drawings. The inventor’s purpose informs construction, but the language chosen…

Where a receiving party beats its own Part 36 offer in detailed assessment proceedings, costs are assessed on the indemnity basis, but the cap for provisional…

A statutory appeal to SIAC is an adequate alternative remedy where the substance of a challenge to a citizenship-deprivation order is a challenge to the…

Under section 2(2) of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, reasonable care depends on a balance between the likelihood and gravity of injury, the social value of…

Where an ex gratia compensation scheme directs assessment by reference to common-law damages and normally requires a lump sum, the administrator must calculate…

Interest need not accrue as a current liability in real time in order to be yearly interest. Retrospectively calculated statutory compensation for the…

On an appeal against an immigration decision, the Upper Tribunal may remake the decision and make new factual findings after identifying a material error of…

CPR 44.11 provides a distinct jurisdiction to disallow costs being assessed for unreasonable or improper conduct connected with the assessment. The court is…

Indemnity costs may be ordered where conduct or circumstances take proceedings “out of the norm”. The comparison is with the ordinary and reasonable conduct of…

The County Court has jurisdiction under sections 23(g) and 38 of the County Courts Act 1984 to hear independent proceedings seeking to set aside its own final…

A statutory power to impose a condition restricting a migrant’s studies includes a condition restricting study to a named educational institution. However, an…

In social-security cases engaging Article 14 and A1P1, status is interpreted broadly. An identifiable date-of-claim characteristic may suffice. The court must…

In an employment discrimination claim, the court must determine the issues from the claimant’s pleaded case. It should not treat a consequence of alleged…

A settlement agreement must be construed according to its clear natural language, read in the context known at the time of contracting. Commercial common sense…

Apparent bias depends on whether all relevant circumstances would lead the fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real possibility of…

Contractual interpretation begins with the language used and the admissible factual background. That background comprises facts known or reasonably available…

Under Schedule 3 to the Police Reform Act 2002, an investigating officer must provide the appropriate authority with a full report of the investigation…

A matter is material to a planning decision only if it serves a planning purpose, relating to the character or use of land, and has a real connection with the…

In an international relocation case, the court must analyse each realistic option on its own merits and compare the options by reference to the child’s…

For VAT purposes, the court must identify the parties’ true agreement from the contract while considering the transaction’s economic purpose. It may go behind…

Under a standard-form cargo-claims apportionment agreement, act has its natural meaning of something done. It does not require culpability merely because it…

In Gurkha historic-injustice claims under Article 8, dependency at the date of application is the critical issue. The family-life or private-life label may be…

Permission to withdraw a pre-action admission is governed by a broad, global discretion under CPR Pt 14.1A and Practice Direction 14 paragraph 7.2. The court…

A derivative right of residence under Article 20 TFEU arises only where refusal of residence to a third-country national would, in practice, compel the…

Later developments may make existing asylum country guidance arguably too narrow. Evidence of a current international inquiry, evidence given to it, and…

Under regulation 4 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, an employer’s duty to assess and reduce manual-handling risks arises only where…

An express trust of land may be declared without any prescribed form of words. The court must find objectively clear evidence, from what the alleged settlor…

The exclusivity principle applies where a claimant challenges public law action and the claim affects the public generally, or justice otherwise requires…

An appellate court should approach a challenge to a trial judge’s findings of primary fact with great caution. It should interfere only where the judge was…

A solicitor who advises that a statutory construction is correct may still owe a duty to warn that a court might adopt a contrary construction. The question is…

A challenge to certification of a human rights claim under section 94 may be arguable where the decision letter gives only cursory consideration to a British…

Where a removal decision based on alleged TOEIC deception can only be challenged by an out-of-country appeal, that appeal is not an adequate remedy if the…

A repudiatory breach does not terminate a solicitor-client retainer unless the innocent client elects to accept it. A transfer with the client’s consent may be…

Contributory negligence requires proof that the claimant’s own conduct fell below the applicable standard of care. For an employee, mere momentary inadvertence…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must make an unfettered and broad assessment of all the circumstances. It must balance the prejudice to…

A directly effective directive right to a reduction in the taxable amount does not allow a taxpayer to choose a later date, potentially decades after a rebate…

Where a court orders a purchaser to comply with tenants’ statutory acquisition rights under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, the order controls the timetable…

Where a contract fixes payment by reference to stated carbon savings per product, that clear formula prevails over a general purpose of sharing later…

In foreign-criminal deportation cases, paragraph 399(a) of the Immigration Rules is a narrow exception to the strong public interest in deportation. A claimant…

A closure notice under section 28A(2)(b) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 must itself amend the taxpayer’s self-assessment and state the amended tax liability.…

Under Appendix FM, "insurmountable obstacles" is a stringent but practical test. It does not require literal impossibility. It requires very significant…

For a decision under the Immigration Rules paragraph 353, judicial review asks whether refusal to treat further submissions as a fresh claim was irrational on…

A recoverable after-the-event insurance premium in a post-April 2013 clinical negligence claim remains subject to assessment under the Civil Procedure Rules…

A statutory benefit falls within Article 8 for Article 14 purposes where it is a positive modality having more than a tenuous connection with the core value of…

An objection that proceedings brought in a company’s name lack proper authority should be raised promptly. Once the proceedings are shown to be improperly…

Under the Athens Convention, responsibility during carriage does not depend on a passenger and cabin luggage being transported together. The reference to both…

Equality Act 2010 section 136 preserves the substantive two-stage approach to proof in discrimination claims. At the first stage, the claimant must establish…

For the purposes of Article 6(2) of Regulation 987/2009, a difference in views between Member States does not require a formal dispute or conflicting written…

A long-term coexistence agreement governed by German law was to be construed by reference to the parties’ objectively ascertained intention, the agreement’s…

Under the Convention Relating to Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea 1974, disembarkation is not complete merely because a passenger has reached an…

On an appeal on a point of law, an appellate tribunal may interpret an unclear decision below, but a fact-finder assessing circumstantial evidence must…

Paragraph 22(4) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 gives the Secretary of State a conditional power to withhold consent to release on bail where removal…

Under Family Law Act 1996, s 42(2)(b), a court seized of valid family proceedings, including proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction, may make a…

Local goodwill capable of supporting a passing-off action may also support invalidity of a UK-wide trade mark registration under the Trade Marks Act 1994.…

An after-the-event insurance policy may be considered when deciding whether the jurisdictional condition for security for costs is met under CPR 25.13. The…

In a Dublin return case, a human-rights claim is “clearly unfounded” only where no properly directed tribunal could find substantial grounds for a real risk of…

An ouster clause must be construed in its statutory context. Although courts adopt a restrictive approach to provisions excluding judicial review, sufficiently…

An undertaking does not cease to be an air carrier merely because it is temporarily unable to operate, has ceased operating, or has no realistic prospect of…

In a freedom of information balancing exercise, the likelihood of prejudice which engages an exemption remains relevant to the weight given to non-disclosure.…

A statutory direction requiring radio-spectrum licence fees to reflect full market value requires valuation by reference to market value or opportunity cost.…

To recover under a cross-undertaking in damages, the restrained party must show that the injunction was a cause without which the loss would not have occurred.…

An agency relationship cannot be inferred merely because one spouse has historically arranged family accommodation. It requires mutual assent that the alleged…

Section 2(2) of the Animals Act 1971 imposes strict liability for damage caused by an animal of a non-dangerous species where the statutory conditions…

Excise-duty exemptions tied to end use require the qualifying use to have occurred, not merely be intended or probable. Where cooking liquors have not yet been…

On an appeal from a specialist immigration tribunal, disagreement with the tribunal’s factual assessment is insufficient. Appellate intervention requires a…

An unlawful practice in recovering planning appeals does not, without more, invalidate the Secretary of State’s later decisions on the merits. The statutory…

In a surrogacy breakdown, the court applies the ordinary welfare principle. The decisive question is which outcome, considering all circumstances, best serves…

The common-law defence of necessity to assault and battery requires proof, on the balance of probabilities, that the defendant reasonably believed the…

When deciding whether to adjourn proceedings, the court must balance the need for expeditious and fair disposal under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 1.…

Section 145 of the Local Government Act 1972 empowers a local authority to enclose or set apart any part of a park for an entertainment and to permit another…

When deciding whether a condition requiring an appellant company to pay a judgment sum into court would stifle an appeal, the question is whether the company…

The evidential flexibility policy is directed to minor omissions in documents that have been submitted. It does not impose a general duty to request key…

Including unsubstantiated allegations in an enhanced criminal record certificate requires a fact-sensitive proportionality assessment under Article 8. Relevant…

For the statutory duty to investigate a death, Coroners and Justice Act 2009 provisions concerning state detention are directed to compulsory detention…

Compensation for injury to feelings in a discrimination claim should be assessed globally where several discriminatory acts form one connected process. The…

Case management decisions, including striking out a claim, are discretionary. On appeal from the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the relevant question is whether…

In choosing between adoption and special guardianship, neither order has a statutory preference. The court must make a fact-sensitive welfare comparison…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must assess all the circumstances and the competing prejudice caused by allowing or refusing a late…

A decision refusing an extended family member a residence card is an EEA decision carrying a right of appeal. A decision which “concerns” an entitlement…

A parent’s claim for a declaration of incompatibility does not automatically require adoption proceedings, or an application for leave to oppose adoption, to…

A body with knowledge of proceedings should apply to join or intervene before an appeal is concluded. An application made after the appeal and sealing of the…

The meaning of a development-plan policy is determined objectively from its language and context. Planning judgment is reserved for the application of…

In an appeal concerning deportation of a foreign criminal, a tribunal must direct itself by reference to paragraphs 398 and 399 of the Immigration Rules, read…

Joinder under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 requires both a relevant issue and a finding that joinder is desirable. The rule is to be construed widely, so…

Where a success fee or after-the-event insurance premium remains recoverable under the saving and transitional provisions for a pre-commencement funding…

For the purposes of Article 17(1)(a) of the Citizens Directive, residence means legal residence. The provision derogates from the five-year duration…

Article 8 requires a prior gateway inquiry into whether family life or private life exists between the relevant persons. That question comes before…

For tax-credit eligibility, ordinary residence is assessed by asking whether residence in the United Kingdom was voluntarily adopted for a settled purpose as…

A deportation order made under the Immigration Act 1971 is not invalid merely because its subject is outside the United Kingdom when it is signed. The Act…

Section 111 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 applies to every payment provided for by a construction contract. Its scope includes…

Judicial review is ordinarily a remedy of last resort. A statutory tax appeal on the facts and law normally provides a suitable alternative remedy, including…

An existing partnership agreement may be abandoned by conduct where the partners and incoming partners focus on negotiating a new agreement for an enlarged…

Implied actual authority to receive service of originating process is legally possible, but it requires close scrutiny of the particular relationship between…

A three-dimensional mark consisting of a product’s shape has inherent distinctive character only if it departs significantly from the norms or customs of the…

A person entitled to after-care services under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 cannot be refused those services because personal injury damages…

In assessing obviousness of a pharmaceutical dosage claim, the court must ask whether the skilled but unimaginative team would arrive at the claimed product or…

An appellate court reviewing a judicial age determination should not reweigh evidence or act as a first-instance tribunal. Where the judge has conducted a…

For an EEA national with permanent residence, deportation on public-policy or public-security grounds requires separate satisfaction of the serious-grounds…

Article 5 requires all three Storck components: confinement, lack of valid consent and State responsibility. For children, parental responsibility may provide…

For the purposes of rule 44.16(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, dishonesty is fundamental when it goes to the root of the whole claim or a substantial…

When determining the grave-risk exception under Article 13(b) of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, the court…

Under CPR 47.1, read with paragraph 1.1 of Practice Direction 47, the general rule is that detailed assessment of costs is deferred until the court has finally…

An application to vary or revoke an earlier order must be made promptly. Finality, the avoidance of two bites and respect for appeal routes constrain the…

A tribunal may proceed in a party’s absence where it is satisfied that notice was given, or reasonable steps were taken to give notice, and considers that…

Freedom of expression is not an absolute answer to a claim of harassment. Article 10 must be considered with Article 8, and Parliament may restrict speech to…

In judicial review proceedings compromised before determination of the substantive claim, costs depend on the claimant’s actual success, not merely on…

An appellate court hearing an appeal from an Employment Appeal Tribunal may interfere only for an error of law. It cannot revisit Employment Tribunal findings…

Under the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004, section 35 confers a general power to require specified action to facilitate removal. The…

The doctrine of abuse of process is flexible and requires a broad, merits-based assessment of all the circumstances. It is not confined to criminal…

Rule 2.88 of the Insolvency Rules 1986 is a complete code for statutory interest payable from a surplus in an administration. Once proved debts have been paid…

For the five-year housing land supply required by national planning policy, a site is “deliverable” when it is capable of delivery within five years and there…

For an unfair dismissal claim, the reason for dismissal ordinarily means the factor or factors operating on the mind of the person authorised to take, and who…

Words permitting a transfer of land for specified infrastructure, roads, footpaths, public open space or other social or community purposes must be construed…

In a conduct-based unfair-dismissal claim, the tribunal must assess whether dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses, considering the employee’s…

For priority need under section 189(1)(c) of the Housing Act 1996, an applicant is significantly more vulnerable where a relevant characteristic creates a risk…

When setting the usual cost of publicly funded residential care, a local authority may consider the total revenue available to care homes, including private…

Exclusive jurisdiction under article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 is determined by an overall classification of the proceedings. The question is…

For a general tort claim under Article 1064 of the Russian Civil Code, harm may include economic benefits foregone, including the unpaid value of goods. A…

Family-court judgments should not give broad guidance on covert recording unless the issue has been properly analysed and the guidance is necessary to decide…

In appeals about reporting restrictions in matrimonial financial-provision proceedings, the ordinary Court of Appeal principles on anonymity apply. Open…

Inheritance tax relief for charitable gifts may be restricted to secure effective fiscal supervision, but the restriction must be proportionate. A taxing…

Intentional homelessness under the Housing Act 1996 involves two inquiries. The applicant must have deliberately ceased to occupy accommodation that was…

A counterparty which secretly and dishonestly assists a fiduciary adviser to procure a transaction by abusing its duty of undivided loyalty may be unable to…

The natural and ordinary meaning of an alleged libel is determined through the eyes of the hypothetical reasonable reader. The court must consider the…

Article 4 of the Recast Brussels Regulation confers mandatory jurisdiction over an English-domiciled defendant. The English court cannot decline that…

For the purposes of section 48(3) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, a settlement ordinarily remains a single trust settlement, even where property is added by…

Direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 is assessed from the perspective of each person, not by comparing protected groups as a whole. In a mixed-sex…

A trial judge is ordinarily best placed to decide whether fresh material justifies reopening factual findings because the judge heard the original evidence. An…

Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, a prospective inheritance is ordinarily too uncertain to be a foreseeable financial resource. Forced-heirship rules can…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s findings on injury, expert evidence or damages unless they are plainly wrong. Where a claimant has…

Membership of a particular social group is distinct from whether a claimant faces a real risk of persecution. An error in describing that distinction is…

In a wrongful-arrest claim, the defendant must prove both that the officer suspected the claimant of the offence and that the suspicion had objectively…

For directly connecting flights, entitlement to compensation for long delay under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 is assessed by the delay in reaching the…

Under Californian law, contractual interpretation seeks the parties’ mutual intention by considering the contractual language and admissible extrinsic evidence…

A court order, particularly an injunction enforceable by contempt, must be construed strictly and must have a clear and unequivocal meaning before breach is…

Where permission to appeal out of time is obtained on the papers, the applicant owes the court a duty of full and frank disclosure of material facts. Under…

Article 8 family life between adults or extended relatives requires evidence of more than ordinary emotional ties. Blood relationship, affection and concern…

Section 25 of the Police Act 1996 separates policing performed in discharge of the ordinary public duty from special police services supplied at a person’s…

For annulment under section 282(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the relevant ground must exist when the bankruptcy order is made. A liability order remains a…

The party entitled to sue for breach of a contract is determined by the contract’s proper law. Where notes governed by English law expressly identify the…

Whether activities constitute a trade for tax purposes requires a multi-factorial evaluation of the whole picture, with particular regard to what the taxpayer…

Relief obtained on a without-notice application does not, by itself, determine the ultimate costs order. The court must consider the merits after the…

In an occupational pension scheme, a power stating that amendments must be made by supplemental deed does not ordinarily permit amendment by announcement. A…

A request for a statutory review made after the seven-day period in section 85ZA(2) of the Housing Act 1985 is not duly made. The local-authority landlord has…

An appeal under sections 87 and 88 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 is a full appeal, not a judicial review. The First-tier Tribunal must decide for…

On an application for financial relief after an overseas divorce, the court must apply sections 16–18 of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984…

An estoppel affecting an easement requires representation or encouragement, reliance, detriment and a sufficient causal connection. These matters must be…

A taxable person may be denied deduction of input VAT where it knew or should have known that its transaction was connected with fraudulent VAT evasion.…

Article 8 does not impose a positive obligation on a Convention state to admit a foreign national who is outside its territory so that the person may develop a…

Contractual construction cannot be used to repair an unfavourable bargain. In a detailed, professionally drafted agreement, a premises payment described as an…

An indeterminate hospital order is detention for an indeterminate period within section 117D(4)(d) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. It…

Registration and renewal are governed by a binary good-character assessment distinct from disciplinary fitness-to-practise proceedings, which offer graduated…

Section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013 raises the common-law threshold for defamation from substantial to serious reputational harm. It does not otherwise…

Once legal professional privilege is established, the law has already struck the balance between confidentiality and truth. Neither the public interest in…

On an application to lift a stay imposed in favour of a more appropriate foreign forum, the question is whether there is cogent evidence of a real risk that…

Planning applications must be determined on their own merits under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the development-plan presumption in the Planning…

Under Class Q of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, the 450-square-metre limit applies to the cumulative floor…

Under article 9(4)(c) of a tree preservation order, the tribunal must consider the relevant period and circumstances rather than focus automatically on a…

In fact-finding proceedings concerning non-accidental injury, a potential perpetrator’s failure to attend court for cross-examination does not prevent the…

In professional negligence claims, a solicitor’s duties are defined by the retainer and assessed by a realistic standard. An adult client of full capacity may…

Under the Care Act 2014, a local authority must promote individual wellbeing, assess the statutory impact of care needs, and have regard to the person's…

A child cannot ordinarily reside in a local authority’s area merely because a parent resides there. Physical presence is required, at least unless exceptional…

When applying the sharing principle in financial remedy proceedings, the court need not use a formula to separate matrimonial from non-matrimonial property. It…

A rule providing that disciplinary hearings will usually be private, while giving a nominated adviser the right to ask for a public hearing, confers a…

Whether a professional or regulatory body owes a duty of care for information published through an online database cannot ordinarily be resolved at strike-out…

On a second appeal from professional disciplinary proceedings, permission requires a real prospect of success and either an important point of principle or…

Fairness in care proceedings requires a process that enables the court to evaluate all evidence material to the child’s future welfare. A judge may use robust…

The statutory and Rules-based test of whether there would be very significant obstacles to a foreign criminal’s integration abroad must be applied in its own…

In family proceedings, the judge has a broad discretion to decide how an application is pursued, including summary dismissal where it lacks enough merit to…

In a race-discrimination claim against the police, the statutory burden-of-proof analysis requires two distinct stages. The claimant must first prove facts…

A condition precedent requiring an insured to provide documents does not automatically determine the scope of a professional accountants clause. Such a clause…

Express rights of access in a property transfer may carry necessary ancillary rights. A right to enter to carry out maintenance, repair or decoration includes…

For an application under paragraph 245ZX of the Immigration Rules, an applicant must satisfy both timing conditions in sub-paragraphs (l) and (m). The…

When legislation transfers a highway to a new highway authority, the ordinary common-law meaning generally limits the transfer to the surface and the sub-soil…

A non-fiduciary discretion under an occupational pension scheme, and an employer’s contractual discretion, must be exercised rationally. The applicable…

A statutory power for directors to appoint an administrator under paragraph 22(2) of Schedule B1 does not override the company’s articles. Directors must act…

On applications for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal reaffirmed the limits of appellate intervention. Findings of fact will not be disturbed absent…

The meaning of a settlement agreement is determined objectively and holistically, by reference to the words used and the facts known to the parties. Where an…

When asked to grant an injunction enforcing a contractual restriction on publication, the court must apply section 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998, even where…

Solicitors who hold a purchaser’s deposit pending a compliant statutory guarantee act as custodians. They must retain the money until the guarantee complies…

A published immigration policy governing persons who are excluded from international protection but cannot lawfully be removed is lawful where it preserves…

In psychiatric-injury claims involving tortious and non-tortious causes, apportionment concerns the divisibility of the harm, not the relative causative…

An implied contractual term cannot contradict an express term, even where strong background evidence suggests a different commercial understanding. A signed…

Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 21A concerns whether a deprivation of liberty is itself in an incapacitated person’s best interests, necessary and…

The Environment Agency’s general power of entry under section 172 of the Water Resources Act 1991 is independent of the restriction in section 165(6). For new…

For an exclusive jurisdiction agreement under Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, the parties’ consensus must be clearly and precisely demonstrated.…

On a cash-forfeiture application under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the court asks whether the facts in section 298(2) are established: the cash is…

Where pension-scheme rules define Basic Salary by reference to an amount determined by the employer, an employer may, where the employee has no entitlement to…

A rent review clause requiring rent to represent the open-market letting value of land requires the rent that would be agreed in a hypothetical open-market…

A pre-commencement conditional fee agreement remains a qualifying funding arrangement for the transitional QOCS rules even if it is later terminated and…

When assessing indirect discrimination under section 19 of the Equality Act 2010, the court examines the particular provision, criterion or practice alleged to…

For jurisdiction under Article 6(1) of the Brussels Regulation, the majority view, stated obiter, was that the claim against the anchor defendant must have a…

For VAT purposes, a body is a college of a university only if it is a constituent part of the university in a constitutional or structural sense. That status…

Dismissal does not by itself engage the right to respect for private life under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ordinary consequences…

In a reasonable-adjustments claim, a claimant must plead a failure to make an adjustment and show substantial disadvantage arising from the employer’s…

The 18-month limitation in section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 applies to service charges for estimated future costs as well as costs already…

In care proceedings, an appellate court may uphold care orders despite shortcomings in the structure or welfare-checklist analysis of the lower court’s…

Under section 1 of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, responsibility is broad. Apportionment must consider both causative potency and…

The meaning of “liabilities” in a statutory transfer provision ordinarily extends to liabilities existing at the transfer date, including contingent…

Tribunals must secure effective participation and procedural fairness for children, young people and other vulnerable or incapacitated parties. Vulnerability…

A request for a company’s register of members must contain the information required by section 116(4) of the Companies Act 2006. A requester proposing to…

In collective enfranchisement, an initial notice under section 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that is not protected under…

HMRC may withdraw published tax guidance which rests on a mistaken view of the law. A taxpayer may enforce a legitimate expectation created by clear guidance…

A family-court residence order is not an immigration-status instrument and does not prevent the Secretary of State from exercising removal or deportation…

A judgment in public law children proceedings must identify the issues essential to the decision and explain how they were resolved. The reasons should enable…

A court enforcing a financial order cannot vary the original lump-sum order or make a second lump-sum order. It may, however, use jurisdiction preserved by an…

An indeterminate sentence for public protection does not become contrary to Article 3 merely because continued detention exceeds the tariff or an equivalent…

A qualifying floating charge may be created over the whole or substantially the whole of a company’s property even though no uncharged assets are then…

A bank does not assume a common law duty of care to a business customer merely by reviewing a financial product sale under a redress arrangement agreed with…

Compromise agreements made through agents are construed objectively from the natural and ordinary meaning of the contemporaneous communications. The identity…

Restrictive covenants must be construed according to the language used and conventional usage. The preference for an enforceable construction applies only…

For consumer-protection rules governing contracts made away from business premises, an “excursion organised by the trader” means more than a consumer’s trip to…

An indeterminate sentence prisoner is entitled to a reasonable opportunity, assessed fact-sensitively and by reference to the totality of the custodial term…

Where a foreign criminal has been deported and then returns unlawfully in breach of the deportation order, paragraph 399D of the Immigration Rules applies.…

A trial judge may make an issues-based costs order where the successful party lost an issue responsible for most of the parties’ costs. Unreasonable conduct is…

Where a privileged document is disclosed inadvertently and the mistake is obvious to the opposing party, the court has an equitable discretion under CPR rule…

A freezing injunction requires grounds for believing that the defendant has assets on which the order will bite. Apparent wealth alone is insufficient…

An entry in the Land Register which correctly records a voidable disposition when made is not a mistake, even if the disposition is later rescinded. Its…

An employment tribunal may strike out a discrimination or victimisation claim under Employment Tribunal Rules rule 37(1)(a) despite disputed facts, but the…

A negligent failure to provide information needed for a patient’s informed consent does not justify separate damages for infringement of personal autonomy. The…

A Home Detention Curfew policy may distinguish between prisoners according to their liability or eligibility for deportation. That distinction concerns…

A foreign criminal whose case falls outside paragraphs 399 and 399A of the Immigration Rules can resist deportation under Article 8 only by showing very…

Committal proceedings for breach of a court order are quasi-criminal. The application notice must identify separately and precisely every alleged act of…

Delay in providing a psychological assessment needed before a Parole Board review engages the ancillary duty under the overall scheme of European Convention on…

On an inter partes costs assessment, the indemnity principle limits recovery to the receiving party’s actual legal liability to their own solicitor. The paying…

For discrimination arising from disability under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010, treatment which confers an advantage because of disability is not…

For a certificate of appropriate alternative development under section 17 of the Land Compensation Act 1961, the decision-maker applies the cancellation…

The special costs practice for judicial review of courts and tribunals applies to the Parole Board. Where it has neither acted improperly nor actively…

A claimant may enforce the confidentiality of information where it has a substantial and legitimate interest in maintaining that confidentiality. Ownership of…

Contractual notice provisions must be construed as part of the agreement and in its commercial context. A specified notice period may mean exactly that period…

Wrongful retention under the 1980 Hague Convention can occur before the agreed date for a child’s return. Whether an anticipatory retention occurred is a…

Permission to appeal long-out-of-time findings of fact was refused. Where parties and experts agree that injuries were inflicted, the evidence on causation and…

Long-term removal from parental care does not automatically make adoption necessary or preferable to long-term fostering. The court must ask whether adoption…

A decision-maker must distinguish between documents needed to make a return possible and documents needed to live safely after return. An Iraqi Civil Status…

A worker reasonably believes that a disclosure is in the public interest where, viewed in all the circumstances, the disclosure serves a wider interest as well…

An ancillary administrative power cannot be used to contradict a statutory approval scheme by treating a refused applicant as approved. However, approval…

Where information has been imparted and received in confidence, the Article 10 inquiry is not merely whether publication concerns a matter of public interest.…

On an application under rule 39.3(3) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, whether a party had a good reason for missing a trial requires a fact-sensitive…

For Housing Act 1996, s 191(2), a relevant fact must exist when the applicant deliberately gives up accommodation. A mistaken expectation about a future event…

A court may strike out a Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 288 claim brought under CPR Part 8 where it discloses no reasonable grounds. Refusing an…

A claim for compensation under regulation 13 of the Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) (Information Centre and Compensation Body) Regulations 2003 is a…

Where a child is in local-authority care, the statutory starting point is reasonable contact with the parents. A refusal beyond an urgent period of up to seven…

Where a party has already sought relief from a procedural sanction, a second application ordinarily requires a material change of circumstances, unless the…

Compensation awarded by an employment tribunal under the Equality Act 2010 must correspond to the amount which the County Court could award for the same loss.…

The presumption in favour of sustainable development in the National Planning Policy Framework is defined completely by paragraph 14. There is no separate…

A certified foreign judgment granting rights of access must be recognised and enforced without reviewing its substance. The enforcing court may fill practical…

In leasehold enfranchisement, a repeal and re-enactment of a price-assumption provision carries forward an existing statutory saving unless a contrary…

Information is environmental information under regulation 2(1)(c) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 if it is about, relates to or concerns a…

A contract is made on a party’s written standard terms of business for the purposes of section 3 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 only where that party…

Relief from a procedural sanction requires assessment of the seriousness and significance of the breach, the reason for default, and all the circumstances so…

A tribunal reviewing a restricted patient’s detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 has jurisdiction only to apply the statutory discharge criteria. It…

In an Article 8 deportation appeal, a child’s best interests are integral to proportionality and must be treated as a primary, though not paramount…

Where a foreign criminal cannot satisfy paragraphs 399 or 399A of the Immigration Rules, deportation may be avoided only where there are very compelling…

A solicitors’ LLP that is a party to litigation and acts as its own legal representative is not a litigant in person for CPR 46.5 costs purposes. The rule must…

A national policy statement establishing need for a generic type of infrastructure applies to every project within that type. A qualitative assumption of need…

Refugee status may cease following a durable change in the circumstances connected with its recognition. The change may concern general conditions in the…

Article 10 of EU Regulation No 492/2011 applies only to children of nationals who are or have been employed in another member state. It cannot be extended to…

Support for child dependants of asylum seekers under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and Council Directive 2003/9/EC is governed by a subsistence, rather…

On a standard-basis detailed assessment, a costs judge may depart from an approved or agreed costs budget, whether upwards or downwards, only on good reason.…

Under Article 9(1)(b) of the Trade Mark Regulation, an independent repairer may use a vehicle manufacturer’s mark informatively to explain the services it…

Under section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, a landlord's deemed repairing obligation is confined to the description of repair for which the tenancy…

Where an Upper Tribunal application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal is out of time, and the tribunal declines to extend time, an order refusing…

In an Article 8 deportation appeal under the former Immigration Rules, a tribunal must conduct proportionality within the framework of ‘exceptional…

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1B to the Taxes Management Act 1970 applies to share-loss relief under Chapter 6 of Part 4 of the Income Tax Act 2007, even though that…

Health marking of carcases is an official act entrusted by Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 to the professional judgment of the official veterinarian. The decision…

Planning permission under a development order is granted only to development falling fully within the relevant class of permitted development. Conditions…

An appellate court reviewing a fact-intensive family judgment must respect the trial judge’s advantage in assessing witnesses, primary facts, inferences and…

A completion notice under Schedule 4A of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 must be served by the billing authority on the building owner. Leaving it with…

Foreign law is ordinarily a question of fact, so an appellate court will usually be slow to disturb a trial judge’s evaluation of expert evidence. The court…

A renewed application for permission to appeal cannot proceed where the court cannot establish contact with counsel and therefore cannot hear the applicant’s…

A solicitor’s breach of a collateral assurance not to act for a client’s former spouse does not, without more, discharge the client’s separate retainer or…

Liability for direct discrimination or victimisation depends on the actual reason for the treatment. A mere “but for” connection between a protected…

Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s 25, equal sharing is a yardstick of fairness, not an inflexible rule or presumption. The court must consider all the…

A certificate of lawfulness of proposed development under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 may address whether earlier works lawfully…

Under the former consultation regime, development was likely to affect the site of a scheduled monument only if it would physically affect the monument or land…

A statutory tribunal should ordinarily determine, at first instance, whether it has jurisdiction over an asserted statutory appeal. That remains so where the…

On a statutory appeal against an automatic deportation decision, the Tribunal must determine whether removal would breach the United Kingdom’s obligations…

Disciplinary guidance must be read with the governing scheme. The evidential and public-interest tests are sequential. Once there is a realistic prospect of a…

A statutory deadline may be treated as expiring on the next working day where it would otherwise expire on a dies non while the court is closed. That principle…

Mechanically separated meat is defined by three cumulative criteria. Any loss or modification of muscle fibre structure satisfies the third criterion, subject…

Pre-existing treaty obligations continue to bind a colonial territory after constitutional or territorial change unless the change creates a genuinely new…

An exclusion clause in a negotiated commercial contract must be construed according to its natural meaning, read in its documentary and factual context and…

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission’s duty to have regard to the licensing objectives when deciding an operating-licence application is…

For conversions of securities, the rollover provisions in Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 must be applied with the adaptations needed to preserve their…

An action by bankrupts against successive trustees in bankruptcy failed because the alleged acts neither breached the trustees’ duties nor caused recoverable…

In a qualified-exemption case under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the public-interest balance must be assessed by reference to the content of the…

The scope of an expressly granted right of way is determined by construing the grant in its physical and factual context. No distinct legal rule governs access…

An immigration rule may be struck down for incompatibility with article 8 only if it cannot be applied without violating article 8 in all or nearly all cases.…

A carrier does not satisfy a negotiable bill of lading requiring surrender in exchange for the goods or a Delivery Order merely by supplying electronic release…

In a statutory human-rights appeal concerning an application outside the Immigration Rules, the tribunal exercises a merits jurisdiction and stands in the…

In a dispute over a child’s medical treatment, the court must make an independent, child-centred decision on best interests. A parent’s choice, including a…

In an automatic unfair-dismissal claim under section 103A, the tribunal must identify the facts or beliefs that caused the dismissal, but must determine…

Sections 10(1) and 22(2) of the Access to Justice Act 1999 prohibit concurrent payment for publicly funded legal services. They do not render a conditional fee…

Final care orders may be made at an issues resolution hearing in an appropriate case, but only where the necessary evidence is available and the procedure…

The CPR permit proceedings against an unnamed defendant identified by a sufficiently certain description where the overriding objective is furthered. That…

In settled public-law proceedings, costs remain discretionary under the CPR. A claimant who obtains the release sought may be treated as wholly successful, but…

Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 72.10 provides a procedure for a judgment creditor to seek payment of money standing to the judgment debtor’s credit in court.…

For a category 2 housing hazard, “necessary” remedial action is assessed contextually. The inquiry includes cost, disruption and whether the work removes the…

A contractual notice address can be displaced by a later address notified in writing. Where a clause provides for service at the address in the particulars or…

Where an appellate court requires a litigant to pay money into court as a condition of pursuing an appeal, the payment may be released to the opposing party…

Contractual provisions described as examples may be binding where the contract, read as a whole, requires them to supply essential performance thresholds.…

An inherently non-distinctive mark acquires distinctive character where, following its use, a significant proportion of the relevant consumers perceive goods…

Satisfaction of a judgment against one tortfeasor ordinarily bars claims against others only where they are liable for the same damage. A consent order…

Under the original Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents, Stage 1 fixed costs became payable when liability was…

A novel negligence claim concerning disclosure of genetic information should not be struck out where it is arguable that a clinician owed an identified…

For the purposes of Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and ICOBS, insurance taken out to protect property let to tenants for rent is connected…

The exceptional causation principle for failure to obtain informed consent is narrow. It applies where a surgeon negligently fails to warn of a particular…

A hospital doctor’s inexperience does not reduce the standard of care required in tort. A doctor is judged by the standard of a reasonably competent…

A successful judicial review claimant does not ordinarily recover costs from an inferior court or tribunal which took no part in the proceedings. Costs may be…

Whether a building has sufficient heritage significance to merit consideration as a non-designated heritage asset is a planning judgment for the local planning…

A fiduciary who conceals that he is conducting a company’s business through an alter ego company may be required to account on the basis that all profits…

An appeal under regulation 26 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 is ordinarily confined to the EEA decision under challenge and…

Under Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, section 94 B, certification is lawful only if the Secretary of State addresses whether interim removal…

For a colour per se trade mark, the graphical representation comprises the pictorial representation and any accompanying verbal description, read together…

Habitual residence is a question of fact. The court must assess the child’s life, including the circumstances and environment in both the former and new…

In a sexual-orientation asylum claim, the four-stage approach in HJ (Iran) remains lawful and compliant with the Qualification Directive. An applicant is a…

In a solicitor-negligence claim arising from a property purchase, causation is assessed by asking what a competent solicitor would have communicated, how the…

For whistleblowing protection, the extended definition of worker in the Employment Rights Act 1996 operates against each respondent separately. A worker’s…

Share pre-emption provisions in articles of association are construed objectively, using ordinary principles of contractual interpretation. No presumption…

A reduced VAT rate for domestic fuel or power applies only to a supply of a description specified in Schedule 7A to the Value Added Tax Act 1994. It does not…

Common law procedural fairness depends on the decision-maker’s character, the decision being made and its governing framework. The requirements governing…

A national regulatory authority resolving a dispute about an SMP condition may remedy historic overcharging, including by ordering repayment for periods before…

Under Schedule A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the CAC must decide whether a proposed bargaining unit is appropriate…

For the purposes of section 82 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, a human rights claim means an original claim or a fresh claim satisfying…

For statutory product liability, a claimant need not identify and prove the precise design or manufacturing feature that caused a product’s safety failure.…

An appellate court should not decide an important question of statutory interpretation where it did not arise on the facts, was not determined by the court…

A statutory regime requiring disclosure of criminal-record data engages Article 8. It is in accordance with the law only if its safeguards prevent arbitrary…

A land-disposal policy must be read as a whole and according to its practical purpose. It is not to be construed with the technical exactness appropriate to a…

After expiry of a limitation period, a proposed defendant may be introduced only within the strictly defined conditions in Limitation Act 1980, section 35 and…

Article 8(1) family life between an adult child and parents is a fact-sensitive question. There is no legal or factual presumption that family life exists or…

Indicative sanctions guidance which is expressly non-prescriptive does not create a tariff or confine a panel to its examples. A professional disciplinary…

A coroner may investigate, and hold an inquest to determine, whether a baby was born alive or still-born. Section 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 does…

A party wishing to invoke an exclusive jurisdiction agreement must raise the issue promptly. Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 11, failure to apply within…

In a professional negligence claim based on solicitors’ failure to advise about a possible claim against a third party, causation and valuation are distinct…

An appellate court should interfere with a case-management decision refusing an adjournment only where it was plainly wrong and fell outside the generous ambit…

An Employment Tribunal should consider for itself a compensation issue that is sufficiently obvious and well established on the material before it, even where…

In an Article 8 deportation appeal, the applicable Immigration Rules are those in force when the tribunal determines the appeal. Applying superseded Rules is…

When deciding whether to permit a judicial review seeking a declaration of incompatibility, the court must distinguish its constitutional jurisdiction from the…

The Aldi guidelines are mandatory. A party contemplating later proceedings arising from substantially the same facts against a person not joined to existing…

For aircraft-noise nuisance, the statutory concept of flight is not confined to lateral travel. A helicopter manoeuvre involving rising, turning and landing…

Under CPR Part 17.4(2), a late amendment adding a new cause of action may relate back only where it arises from the same, or substantially the same, facts as…

For costs under the Small Claims Track, unreasonable behaviour requires conduct that permits no reasonable explanation. A party does not act unreasonably…

A patent claim is entitled to priority when its subject matter, as a matter of substance, is directly and unambiguously derivable from the priority document as…

An application for leave to oppose adoption proceeds in two stages: first, whether there has been a change of circumstances of the relevant kind; secondly…

In determining costs of two related appeals, the Court of Appeal treated the successful committal appeal differently from the welfare appeal. A contemnor who…

Third-party motor insurance cover is not confined to accidents occurring while the vehicle is being driven. Where the policy wording and certificate are read…

Where a foreign criminal falls outside the family-life and private-life gateways in the Immigration Rules, a tribunal must still conduct the Article 8…

In an unfair dismissal case, disciplinary allegations are read realistically and as a whole. They need not be finally assigned to a particular disciplinary…

When applying the sharing principle under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, matrimonial property should ordinarily be divided equally. A special contribution can…

Where jointly owned property secures the debt of one co-owner, the non-debtor co-owner is ordinarily entitled, as a surety, to have the debt borne from the…

Under paragraphs 26–28 and 44(4) of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, a company or its directors may give and file a notice of intention to appoint an…

A decision that further representations do not constitute a fresh human rights claim under paragraph 353 of the Immigration Rules carries no statutory right of…

Statutory housing-allocation functions do not, without more, create a common-law duty of care to an applicant, even where the authority knows of a…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years’ imprisonment, section 117C(6) supplies the legally binding outcome of the structured Article 8…

A system for administrative decision-making is unlawful where, viewed across the full run of cases, it carries an unacceptable risk of unfairness inherent in…

Detention ordered by a court may breach article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights where linked procedural errors, assessed cumulatively, constitute…

The absence of a contract does not preclude a tortious duty to protect against pure economic loss where a professional assumes responsibility for services in a…

The statutory consent procedure under Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 does not oust the court’s jurisdiction to grant interim relief. The procedure…

In a complex clinical-negligence case, a trial judge may resort to the burden of proof only after examining and evaluating the evidence and finding that the…

Where an appeal succeeds in relation to some claims but fails in relation to others, costs should ordinarily reflect the issues on which each party prevailed.…

The precise boundary conveyed by a transfer is determined by construing the parcels clause and plan objectively in its factual setting. A small-scale…

For expenditure to be deductible under section 38(1)(b) of the Taxation of Capital Gains Act 1992, enhancement of an asset’s value is insufficient by itself.…

Employment status is determined by the substantive terms and practical nature of the relationship, rather than labels, tax treatment or payment arrangements. A…

In a child-welfare decision arising from surrogacy, a genetic connection is relevant but does not have primacy. The child’s welfare remains paramount, and…

For accessory liability as a joint tortfeasor, mere facilitation of another’s tort is insufficient. The defendant must have assisted the commission of the tort…

Under Article 36 TFEU, enforcement of a national trade mark against parallel imports is not a disguised restriction merely because it impedes competition or…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal, the court must consider whether the proposed grounds have a real prospect of success and satisfy the…

An appellate court assesses whether a financial judgment is legally sustainable by reading it as a whole and in context, including the hearing, evidence and…

Under the third Hardial Singh principle, immigration detention becomes unlawful before the expiry of an otherwise reasonable period when it becomes apparent…

In child relocation proceedings, a child’s wishes and feelings are an important factor but do not determine the outcome, even where the child is older. Their…

An easement may confer a right to use sporting or recreational facilities where the right benefits the dominant land and is sufficiently certain. Modern…

A person born in the United Kingdom who never required leave and was legally irremovable is not present “unlawfully” for the purpose of section 117B(4) of the…

When a residential lease permits recovery of a fair proportion of repair or improvement costs, it should be construed, where possible, to prevent the landlord…

An appellate court will not disturb a trial judge’s factual allocation of responsibility where the judge had evidence capable of supporting it and no legal…

On an enforcement appeal, an inspector’s power to grant planning permission is confined to the whole or part of the matters stated in the enforcement notice as…

An appellate court may overturn primary findings of fact only where they are plainly wrong. That means a conclusion which no reasonable judge could have…

Patent claims are construed through the eyes of the skilled person, by reading the claim and specification as a whole in light of common general knowledge. A…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s primary factual findings, particularly credibility assessments, unless the judge was plainly…

Whether a building is a “house” under section 2(1) of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 depends on its identity and function at the relevant date, assessed by its…

A company director is a trustee within the extended meaning of Limitation Act 1980, section 21, by virtue of the director’s status and fiduciary…

In child-contact proceedings, the court must determine the child’s welfare on the evidence available at the time of the decision. It need not try every…

Judicial review of a decision to transfer a restricted patient into high security is not a full merits appeal. The statutory decision-makers retain…

In an application to discharge a restrictive covenant, the practical benefit of substantial value or advantage may include preserving the integrity, character…

Where a pension scheme amendment is subject to a proviso protecting pensions in payment and accrued rights from prejudicial alteration, the protected…

In a fact-finding hearing, proof on the balance of probabilities does not require the court to eliminate every doubt or uncertainty. The judge must…

A mental health tribunal cannot make a conditional discharge subject to conditions that objectively deprive a patient of liberty unless legislation clearly…

A planning condition may exclude permitted development rights expressly or by necessary implication. The condition must, read objectively in its full legal and…

The Housing Act 2004 permits an HMO licence to regulate both how accommodation is used and the class of persons occupying it. A condition restricting a…

When self-defence is raised at an inquest, the jury need not invariably receive a specific direction that the reasonableness of an asserted belief in an…

A Hadkinson order, which prevents a litigant in wilful contempt from pursuing substantive proceedings until conditions are met, is a case-management measure of…

Whether family life exists between adults for article 8 purposes is highly fact-sensitive. Adult relationships are not excluded merely because the parties are…

An appellate court will refuse to re-open an appeal where the alleged factual error is not established and no new material supports a different conclusion.…

In family public law proceedings, the court has a discretion to decide who should pay document-translation costs. That discretion must be exercised case by…

Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 r 36.14(3), enhanced interest after a claimant has bettered its Part 36 offer is not confined to compensation for litigation…

On an application under section 83(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the defendant must prove that his realisable property at the date of the application is…

In an indirect discrimination claim, the court must identify the provision, criterion or practice which causes the disparate impact. Where dismissals are…

In allocating scarce social housing, Parliament may restrict succession by an unmarried cohabitant to relationships demonstrated by a minimum period of…

Under section 1(2)(b) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, irretrievable breakdown alone does not entitle a petitioner to divorce. The court must determine what…

A solicitor is not automatically barred from acting for more than one party in a transaction. The key questions are the scope of the retainer, whether a real…

Where a distributorship agreement permits termination on six months’ notice after an initial fixed period, that right is not displaced by a separate clause…

In a clinical negligence claim, a treatment choice is not negligent where it is supported by a reasonable body of medical opinion and the alleged…

For EEA family-member purposes, EU law does not prescribe an autonomous rule for determining the formal validity of a marriage. That question is governed by…

A hospital’s civilian receptionist generally owes no tortious duty to provide precise waiting-time information about when a patient will be seen by a triage…

Section 117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is self-contained. If its conditions are met, the public interest does not independently…

A secure housing tenancy requires at least one joint tenant to occupy the dwelling as their only or principal home. Occupation as a home alone does not…

A statutory notice of proceedings for possession may comprise more than one document. Housing Act 1996, section 128 imposes no single-page or single-document…

In an Article 8 claim based on family life, different nationalities and a child’s best interests do not, without more, establish exceptional circumstances…

In patent validity proceedings, obviousness depends on what the skilled person would have reason to investigate or change. A general preference for purity, or…

A judgment obtained by fraud can be set aside only where conscious and deliberate dishonesty was material and causative, and the fresh evidence would have…

A court deciding whether later proceedings are an abuse of process must make a broad, merits-based assessment of all the circumstances, including the public…

The National Probation Service may impose a licence condition restricting a released prisoner’s contact with family members where the condition is within its…

For contractual employment notice, posting a dismissal letter is not enough unless the contract provides otherwise. The majority held that notice must reach…

The sequential test in national flood-risk planning policy applies to new development on previously developed land and to development that would reduce…

Relief from sanctions requires the three-stage approach stated in Denton ( [2014] EWCA Civ 906): assess the seriousness and significance of the breach in…

Country Guidance decisions are not binding precedents, but they are authoritative in later appeals concerning the same issue and similar evidence. A tribunal…

In a long-term-sickness dismissal, the fairness and justification of dismissal normally depend on the composite effect of the initial decision and the internal…

In a non-impecunious credit-hire claim, damages for loss of use are assessed by reference to the basic hire rate, not automatically by the full credit-hire…

National planning policy must be interpreted objectively. Its language is read in its ordinary meaning and proper context, but it is not construed as though it…

Under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008, a person not conceived when a crime of violence occurred cannot be treated as having sustained a personal…

An appellate court may refuse to entertain an argument outside the grounds for which permission was granted. Where a respondent’s open offer concedes all…

Under Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971, as amended, the restrictions on detaining an unaccompanied child depend on the detainee’s actual age. Detention…

For limitation purposes, the day on which a cause of action for libel or slander accrues is excluded from the computation. The corresponding date one year…

An appeal which has become academic between the parties should ordinarily be dismissed. The court retains a narrow discretion to hear it, exercised with…

On summary judgment, the court must not conduct a mini-trial. Where central issues have a real prospect of success and require disclosure, oral evidence or…

A public authority seeking to remove a vessel used as a home must be able to meet an Article 8 proportionality challenge. Its ownership and waterway-management…

In asylum claims relying on scarring, medical experts should give objective evidence within their expertise and should not decide the claimant’s overall…

The historic injustice principle in Gurung applies to earlier unlawful and discriminatory government policies that wrongly prevented settlement. It does not…

The law of the home Member State governing the winding-up of a credit institution applies to the effects of that winding-up on proceedings brought by…

For a non-employee, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 apply only to the extent of the person’s control over the equipment, the worker…

In an Article 8 deportation case, paragraphs 399 and 399A of the Immigration Rules identify categories in which the public interest is accepted as outweighed…

A subject access request under Data Protection Act 1998 section 7 seeks personal data, not documents. A data controller must carry out a reasonable and…

The Family Court’s power under the Family Procedure Rules 2010 to vary or revoke an order is general but bounded. An application to set aside must respect…

A trust of assets created by an individual voluntary arrangement does not end merely because the supervisor issues a completion certificate. The IVA must…

A non-EU former spouse seeking to retain a right of residence after divorce must satisfy both a qualifying divorce condition and the continuing conditions…

A statutory right to registration as a British citizen may be made exercisable only through a valid, fee-paid application. Where primary legislation authorises…

In an unfair presentation case, the information needed to make the presentation fair is judged objectively from the standpoint of the reasonable and prudent…

An asset-wide notification injunction is a modified freezing order. It requires the same objectively assessed real risk, supported by solid evidence, that…

A patent claim requiring access-authorisation data to be transmitted as a bit pattern does not require one pattern containing both threshold and class…

In adoption proceedings, “realistic” options should be identified and evaluated, ordinarily at an early stage. At the final hearing, the court must conduct a…

Where a court infers the parties’ actual intention from the evidence, there is no room for a fallback intention imputed on the basis of fairness. The…

An appellate court's preference for a different factual conclusion does not justify reversing a trial judge. The relevant question is whether the decision was…

In a lost-chance claim, the claimant must prove the hypothetical events on which the alleged chance depends. Where a prospective purchaser would not proceed…

A fitness to practise panel may ask direct or robust questions where they are legitimately relevant to public protection. Such questioning does not, by itself…

Whether an activity constitutes a trade requires a realistic, unblinkered evaluation of the whole picture, with particular regard to what the taxpayer actually…

In care and adoption proceedings, appellate review focuses on the substance of the welfare evaluation rather than the sequence or structure of the judgment.…

A statutory right-to-manage claim concerns a private right similar to a property right. Substantial compliance is therefore insufficient, but every procedural…

A driver of a large goods vehicle making a left turn must make the mirror observations reasonably required by the circumstances. Where the vehicle’s road…

In assessing whether an undercover police officer acted as an agent provocateur, the court focuses on the opportunity actually presented to the claimant. The…

In immigration and asylum appeals, the Secretary of State must place relevant Home Office policy and guidance before the tribunal. Publication online does not…

In a share-purchase order made in unfair-prejudice proceedings, the total value of the company ordinarily means the market value of its issued share capital…

When deciding whether to disapply the limitation period under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must assess all the circumstances and balance…

For Article 14 read with Article 8, a difference in access to a state-recognised relationship falls within Article 8’s ambit where it concerns stable family…

A child’s habitual residence is a factual question determined by whether the child has achieved some degree of integration in a social and family environment.…

A solicitor who advises on the construction of a commercially important lease provision may breach duty even if the solicitor’s preferred construction is…

A court may enforce an order by making an unless order which, upon non-compliance, debars a defendant from contesting quantum and directs judgment for a…

The legal professional privilege exemption from a subject access request covers only information privileged under the law of a part of the United Kingdom. It…

In construing an estate agency agreement, a marketing report and standard terms may perform different functions. Recommendations about when to market a…

When reviewing an asylum determination, an appellate court must read the first-instance decision fairly and as a whole. A judge need not address every strand…

Where planning permission is granted for development which departs from the development plan and affects the Green Belt, the authority is subject to a…

Where parties have cohabited and conducted themselves as spouses for a substantial period, English law may presume that all matters necessary to establish a…

An appellate court may use its procedural powers to allow an appeal on the basis of material developments after the order, without determining the substantive…

In a medical negligence claim concerning advice about delivery, the Bolam approach is not the correct test where the issue involves patient choice and value…

A debtor who has unsuccessfully disputed a debt at an earlier stage of the bankruptcy process cannot ordinarily advance the same argument at a later stage.…

The right to bargain collectively is an essential element of the freedom of association protected by article 11 of the Convention. Domestic restrictions upon…

Under the DOM/2 domestic sub-contract form, an extension of time granted under clause 11.3 lengthens the existing contractual completion period. It must be…

The Bolam inquiry asks whether the defendant acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of relevant medical opinion. A court…

A neighbourhood development plan may allocate land for housing although the adopted development plan contains no current strategic housing policy. Paragraph…

For input VAT deduction, the direct and immediate link between an input and taxable transactions is determined objectively. Expenditure on a free promotional…

Under a standard-form agreement governed by the Mobile Homes Act 1983, a clause requiring payment of charges for utilities ordinarily covers charges of…

Worker status under limb (b) requires two elements. The individual must undertake personally to perform work or services. The other party must not be a client…

Where a local planning authority serves a property-related notice on a registered proprietor, its obligation to make reasonable inquiries will generally be…

For a statutory compensation scheme whose threshold is assessed by reference to another statutory disablement regime, the assessment is not confined to the…

Later discovery that an earlier decision was unlawful does not, without more, invalidate a later decision made before that discovery. Lawfulness is assessed by…

A non-party witness cannot bring a free-standing appeal merely to challenge adverse factual findings which affect reputation but do not form an operative…

Judicial assistance to a litigant in person must remain consistent with a fair trial. A judge may ask questions where necessary to help an unrepresented party…

Financial remedy appeals in the Court of Appeal are ordinarily heard in public, with the parties named and the proceedings reportable. Anonymity or another…

After a deportation order has been revoked, the Secretary of State must make a fresh decision to deport before making another order. No change of circumstances…

In an Article 8 deportation appeal, a tribunal must substantively weigh the very strong public interest in deporting foreign criminals against the…

For a money judgment, the power to stay execution arises under rule 83.7 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. That specific rule precludes reliance on the…

In an Article 8 deportation assessment, tribunals must engage with the public interest in effective immigration control and preventing disorder or crime…

In bankruptcy, the benefit of a hire-purchase agreement is separate property from the vehicle itself. It therefore falls within the bankrupt’s estate under the…

A reference to another document’s calculation principles does not, without clear language, import a general discretion to withhold a contractual fee. The court…

Whether service-charge costs were reasonably incurred under section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 depends on an objective assessment of both the…

In family fact-finding, a judge may accept some parts of a witness’s evidence and reject others, provided the conclusions are tenable and the reasoning is…

The royal prerogative to refuse or cancel a British passport is not impliedly abrogated merely because Parliament has enacted a statutory anti-terrorism regime…

A simple breach of a court order does not itself create a private-law cause of action in damages. It may, however, constitute unlawful means for conspiracy to…

A highway authority may rely on Highways Act 1980, section 58 only if its arrangements reasonably secure highway safety in all the circumstances. A system that…

An original set-off or counterclaim remains subject to the primary limitation periods. Section 35(3) of the Limitation Act 1980 does not give a defendant an…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where a professional-negligence claim raises a genuinely arguable question about the solicitor’s scope of duty, causation or…

Whether negotiations produced a binding contract must be assessed objectively by reference to the whole course of dealings, including subsequent…

Where a personal injury claim begins under the EL/PL or RTA Protocol but later leaves it, the fixed recoverable costs regime governs the costs of pursuing or…

On an application to vary periodical payments, the court must apply the statutory discretion to the facts found. Where the court accepts the payee’s basic…

An amendment introducing a whistleblowing dismissal claim ordinarily advances a new cause of action. It is not merely further detail of an ordinary unfair…

At the screening stage under article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive, the competent authority must apply the low, precautionary threshold for likely significant…

A court should ordinarily make an otherwise proper order despite anticipated disobedience. It should not, however, continue coercive orders when compliance is…

The disclosure required by Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is context-specific. It depends upon the nature and impact of…

On a capability application, a court should exclude a defamatory meaning only at a high threshold. It must exercise caution and adopt a generous view of the…

Life-saving treatment does not ordinarily deprive a patient of liberty under article 5 where any restriction is unavoidable because of the patient’s physical…

A bank’s independent obligation under a letter of credit is not displaced by an underlying contractual dispute. On a beneficiary’s application for summary…

Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 does not require positive parental consent as a universal condition of accommodation. The statutory questions are whether…

An appellate court may refuse to hear a pure point of law raised by a party which knew of the proceedings but neither participated nor explained its absence.…

Where a contract requires payment of invoices within a stated period, a statutory restriction on making payment may postpone discharge without preventing the…

An obiter observation does not create issue estoppel or its Henderson equivalent. A party that invites the court to decide an injunctive issue, does not appeal…

Under liability insurance, an insured loss arises only when the insured’s liability to the third party has been established and its amount ascertained. A…

In financial remedy proceedings, procedural fairness requires proper notice, tested evidence and a real opportunity to challenge the case relied on. The court…

In financial remedy proceedings, delay does not extinguish entitlement or impose a presumption that an applicant receives nothing unless need is proved. The…

A limitation direction under section 1032(3) of the Companies Act 2006 requires a clear causal link between dissolution and the failure to commence proceedings…

A contractual reference to a spinal column point does not necessarily confer a right to every later increase attached to that point. Where an employee occupies…

Gross misconduct is not confined to dishonest or deliberate conduct. A negligent dereliction may justify summary dismissal if, viewed objectively, it is…

A foreign judgment is conclusive only where it is final and conclusive on the merits. The court must have established or accepted facts, identified and applied…

An implied contractual term cannot cut across an express and unrestricted contractual power. The court should first construe the express agreement and then ask…

For obviousness, a skilled person given prior art proposing gradual power reduction above normal shut-down wind speed would seriously consider applying it to a…

Under Article 4(3) of Rome II, the court must consider all the circumstances surrounding the tort when deciding whether it is manifestly more closely connected…

An appeal against a civil penalty under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 is a rehearing, not an ordinary CPR review. The employer bears the…

Under the Hardial Singh principles, detention pending deportation remains lawful only while deportation is intended, removal remains realistically possible…

A claim that an experimental traffic regulation order contravenes section 29 of the Equality Act 2010 must be brought in the County Court under Part 9 of that…

Under Schedule A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, compulsory collective bargaining is defined by subject matter. It is not…

For employee compensation under the Patents Act 1977, “outstanding benefit” is an exceptional and relative concept assessed in the context of all relevant…

Damages for negligent failure to procure professional indemnity insurance are assessed by comparing the claimant’s actual position with the position that would…

An appellate court will not disturb a fact-sensitive award for adapted accommodation where it falls within the trial judge’s generous ambit of reasonable…

Where a disabled homeless applicant challenges the suitability of accommodation, the public sector equality duty requires a sharp, fact-specific focus on the…

Once an injury satisfies the employment-attribution gateway in regulation 3 of the National Health Service (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1995, regulation 4…

A contract may provide for both services and the transfer of goods. Unless the parties agree otherwise, property in a meal or drink passes to a customer when…

In a foreign criminal deportation appeal based on article 8, great weight must generally be given to the public interest in deportation. Where the applicable…

Proceedings against a non-party to an earlier arbitration may constitute an abuse of process, but such cases will be rare. A collateral challenge to an award…

An Arrow declaration, determining whether a specified product, process or use was old or obvious at a stated date, is available in principle. Patents Act 1977…