Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2018

The High Court’s inherent jurisdiction remains available to protect vulnerable adults notwithstanding the Mental Capacity Act 2005. A person may have statutory…

Under section 175(3) of the Housing Act 1996, reasonableness of continuing to occupy accommodation is assessed prospectively. A local housing authority must…

Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol prevents new substantive or procedural restrictions on becoming entitled to exercise freedom of establishment…

A court order remains binding and effective until it is set aside. An act authorised by the order is lawful and cannot support a claim in unjust enrichment…

In financial remedy proceedings, the court must compare assets by quality as well as nominal value. Private-company valuations may be fragile and should be…

Formal service of a claim form is part of the conduct of litigation and is therefore a reserved legal activity. A litigant in person’s personal entitlement to…

A successful appeal based on a statutory exception to deportation does not permit the Secretary of State to make a fresh deportation decision on unchanged…

Where a foreign criminal falls within paragraph 398 of the Immigration Rules and paragraphs 399 and 399A do not apply, great weight must be given to the public…

Procedural fairness is assessed by considering the decision-making process as a whole. An individual stage need not provide every form of challenge where other…

An interim care order providing for immediate removal into foster care is permissible only where the children’s safety, including emotional safety, demands…

A purported choice of court agreement concerning maintenance must satisfy Article 4 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009. It must clearly and unambiguously…

Where evidence is disputed in judicial review proceedings, the defendant’s evidence is ordinarily accepted unless the claimant applies to cross-examine the…

The duty to provide after-care under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 does not arise whenever a detained patient temporarily leaves hospital premises.…

For the purposes of Senior Courts Act 1981, s 18, “criminal cause or matter” has a broad meaning, but each case requires careful appraisal of the nature and…

Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol is a standstill obligation concerned with freedom of establishment and provision of services. It protects residence…

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the price payable for a specified health care service is determined in accordance with the national tariff and on…

In an asylum appeal, assessment of sufficiency of state protection and internal relocation requires a broad, practical evaluation of the claimant’s accepted…

For rectification under Schedule 4 to the Land Registration Act 2002, a mistake concerns the state of the register when the relevant entry was made. An entry…

When government seeks to justify direct age discrimination, it must receive an appropriate margin of discretion on both its social policy aims and the means…

An Article 13(b) defence under the Hague Child Abduction Convention 1980 requires a prospective assessment of the children’s circumstances following return.…

The Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The refusal was made even though the court had not followed an earlier Court of Appeal…

A judicial decision made under ultra vires procedural rules is not automatically a nullity. Where the tribunal’s jurisdiction derives from primary legislation…

In a tort claim, the fact that commercial surrogacy is prohibited in the United Kingdom does not necessarily bar recovery of reasonable expenses for a lawful…

When determining whether an individual is a worker under section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal must identify the parties’ true…

The ordinary and proper course of business exception in a freezing injunction is assessed by reference to the company’s actual commercial activity. A company…

Additional damages under section 97(2) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 are a sui generis statutory remedy. They may include punitive or…

The powers under article 21 of the Model Law, as incorporated by the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006, are procedural and supportive. They cannot…

A clear promise by a public authority may create a substantive legitimate expectation, but fulfilment remains subject to any sufficient overriding public…

The legal policy which prevents recovery of the costs of raising a healthy child following negligent fertility treatment also applies to a contractual claim…

A statement supplied in response to a notice under section 120 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 does not constitute an application for leave…

A claim alleging breach of Article 3 must contain sufficient particulars to enable the respondent to understand and answer the case. A bare assertion of…

A registrant seeking an adjournment of disciplinary proceedings on health grounds bears the onus of providing sufficiently particular medical evidence that the…

For purposes of section 141(1) of the Water Industry Act 1991, a liquid partly produced in trade or industry may be a mixture. Once trade effluent and surface…

For collective redundancy consultation, an establishment is the functional and organisational unit to which employees are assigned. It need not have separate…

Liability for inducing a breach of contract requires conduct having a sufficient causal connection with the breach. Encouragement or a commercial incentive can…

In an Article 8 appeal, a child’s best interests are a primary consideration and must be assessed separately from parental misconduct, but they need not be…

A person unlawfully arrested because the arresting officer lacked the personally required grounds is entitled only to nominal damages where a lawful arrest…

A grant of immigration bail must comply with the statutory mechanism governing it. Under paragraph 22(1A) of the Immigration Act 1971, the recognizance must…

A contractual provision for a further period “as shall reasonably be agreed” is an unenforceable agreement to agree where the parties have left the existence…

Before approving adoption, the court must make an intense and proportionate evaluation of risk. It must identify the type of harm, its likelihood, its probable…

A warrant of arrest in an Admiralty action in rem is available as of right upon procedural compliance. The court nevertheless has a discretionary power to…

The Secretary of State’s duty to promote a comprehensive NHS is an aspirational target. The duty to provide particular services is qualified by what the…

A contractual notice clause in a share sale agreement must be construed as a whole, with regard to its purpose and commercial context, particularly where the…

A housing authority may lawfully use a published allocation policy to distribute scarce in-borough and nearby accommodation among households to whom it owes…

Where allegations of child sexual abuse depend on interviews that materially depart from the Achieving Best Evidence guidance, the court must scrutinise the…

A secure accommodation order authorises, but does not require, a local authority to keep a looked-after child in secure accommodation. Under Children Act 1989…

In an Article 3 deportation appeal, the fact that a returnee may be perceived as a Christian convert does not by itself establish a real risk of ill-treatment.…

Whether a registered entry contains a single mark or a series is determined by construing the entry on the register as a whole. Alternative wording does not…

Under a pension scheme rule providing that RPI is the default measure unless it ceases to be published or becomes inappropriate, those events are conditions…

A court may stay a judgment enforcing a construction adjudicator’s decision where solid evidence establishes a real, objectively assessed risk that the…

Litigation privilege protects communications made for the sole or dominant purpose of obtaining information or advice in connection with existing or reasonably…

A financial remedy court may make a lump sum order only between the parties to the marriage. It has no jurisdiction under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section…

Under the pre-2002 law, adverse possession depends on possession without the true owner’s consent, not on whether the squatter’s possession was unlawful or…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years, Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, section 117C(6) requires deportation unless very…

Section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925 requires a careful balance between development needs and private contractual rights with property-like effects.…

A contract continues to govern unforeseen circumstances unless the change frustrates it. A qualification may be implied only where reasonable parties clearly…

An employment tribunal is not required to consider a legal argument that a claimant did not advance before it. A party cannot establish an error of law on…

In Upper Tribunal judicial review proceedings, an applicant may amend the statement of facts and grounds without permission only before it is served. After…

In financial remedy proceedings, the starting point is that no order for costs will be made. A costs order may nevertheless be made where the conduct of a…

When satisfying a proprietary estoppel, the court must exercise its broad discretion on a principled and proportionate basis. It must consider the claimant’s…

An interim statute bill under the Solicitors Act 1974 need not include both profit costs and disbursements attributable to the period which it covers. The two…

A distribution must be lawful when it is made. Its character and legality depend on the payment itself, rather than the directors’ intention or an expectation…

When assessing credibility in an asylum claim, a tribunal may be required to adopt a holistic approach to the evidence, including relevant expert evidence. It…

For listed building consent and enforcement under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, inclusion in the Secretary of State’s…

Section 3 C(4) of the Immigration Act 1971 prohibits a further application to vary leave while statutory leave is extended under section 3 C. An application…

In a wrongful-birth claim, the fact that negligence caused a pregnancy to continue, and that autism was a foreseeable consequence of pregnancy, does not itself…

Under section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013, a serious defamatory imputation will ordinarily justify an inference of serious reputational harm. That…

A party establishes a jurisdictional gateway by showing a good arguable case. The court should reach a reliable view on the available material where possible.…

Standard-form immigration bail granted by the First-tier Tribunal, where no appeal is pending, ends when the person surrenders to an immigration officer at the…

In contempt proceedings arising from child abduction, deliberate and repeated assistance to the abducting parent, particularly involving lies to the court and…

Paragraph 34A(v) of the Immigration Rules permits the Secretary of State to vary the timetable for providing biometric information. The scope of any variation…

A tax deeming provision must be given its ordinary meaning and carry the inevitable consequences of the deemed state of affairs. Where section 15 of the Income…

For confiscation and receivership purposes, realisable property and the value which can be realised from it are distinct. Property held by a defendant includes…

A principal is vicariously liable for an agent’s fraudulent misrepresentation only where the deceit falls within the agent’s actual or ostensible authority.…

Where a public regulator acts reasonably, in good faith and in the public interest when bringing or resisting proceedings, a tribunal whose rules contain no…

A development agreement is not itself a public works contract merely because the developer will become obliged to carry out works if it elects to draw down…

A refusal to make a collective proceedings order is appealable on a point of law under section 49(1A)(a) of the Competition Act 1998. It is a decision “as to…

Judicial review is a remedy of last resort where a suitable alternative remedy exists. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator scheme is such a remedy for…

Where evidence is disputed in judicial review proceedings and there has been no cross-examination, the court ordinarily assumes that the facts stated in the…

Article 3 does not generally require the United Kingdom to continue providing foreign nationals with medical treatment unavailable in their receiving country.…

For rating purposes, non-rateable plant such as an ATM may be considered when deciding whether a separate hereditament exists, although it is excluded when…

A Tier 4 sponsor’s duties are not confined to the record-keeping and reporting matters listed in section 2 of the sponsor guidance. The guidance must be read…

In a Cart judicial review, a tribunal decision may be vitiated where the First-tier Tribunal materially misunderstands expert evidence relevant to credibility.…

A court may extend a contractual time limit for beginning arbitral proceedings under the Arbitration Act 1996 where the relevant circumstances were outside the…

The Restricted Leave Policy does not create a ten-year benchmark or entitlement to indefinite leave to remain. Duration of residence may be relevant to…

Where a contract provides that a bonus advance is repayable if employment ends on or before a specified date, the words chosen must be given their ordinary…

On an appeal against deprivation of citizenship obtained by fraud, the tribunal conducts a full reconsideration rather than judicial review. Once fraud is…

On a second-tier appeal, permission should be granted only where the appeal has a real prospect of success and raises an important point of principle or…

An application under the points-based immigration system is invalid where the applicant fails to provide the specified authority for payment of the required…

For a pension scheme, “basic pay” is pay due for obligatory contractual working hours. This requires an obligation on the employee to work and a reciprocal…

A Pay Less Notice must state the sum considered due and the basis of its calculation. Whether it sufficiently specifies that basis is a matter of fact and…

For paragraph 320(7B)(d) of the Immigration Rules, deception requires the applicant to know that a false document was submitted. Dishonesty by an agent or…

In construing a commercial drug-discovery collaboration agreement, the court held that a research Program defined as collaborative work performed during a…

In a voyage charter requiring performance with utmost despatch, the shipowner has an absolute obligation to begin the approach voyage within a reasonable time.…

A court may make a wasted-costs order where conduct is improper, causes unnecessary costs, and makes compensation just. A litigant in person ordinarily remains…

A final judgment alleged to have been procured by fraud must be challenged through the established procedures. Unless fraud is admitted or the evidence is…

For a challenge to a section 94 certificate, the court must decide whether the human-rights claim would be bound to fail. A claim under the Immigration Rules…

Under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable) Treatment Regulations 2000, contractual availability obligations may establish prima facie less…

A contractual condition precedent is governed by the construction of the particular agreement. There is no free-standing principle allowing a court to…

A party seeking an adjournment on medical grounds must make a timely application supported by sufficient evidence. The evidence should identify the relevant…

Under the Immigration Rules, paragraph 322(1A) provides an independent ground for mandatory refusal where a false document is submitted. The applicant’s…

A creditor holding security for a guaranteed debt has an equitable obligation to take steps necessary to perfect it. That obligation may include modest…

For an assured shorthold tenancy, a notice under section 21(1)(b) of the Housing Act 1988 must be given by the landlord at the date of service. Where a mesne…

Internal relocation is available only if the individual faces no real risk of persecution in the proposed area and it would not be unduly harsh to expect…

For capital allowances on expenditure forming part of a composite tax transaction, the court must identify the expenditure legally incurred by the taxpayer and…

For the purposes of section 102(1)(b) of the Finance Act 1986, identifying the gifted interest as a sub-lease subject to its covenants does not answer whether…

Under Article 221(4) of the Customs Code, a customs debt arising from an act liable to criminal proceedings may be communicated after the ordinary three-year…

A third-country national in a duly attested durable relationship with an EU citizen may have a derived right of facilitation in the citizen’s home Member State…

Under Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 1996, paragraph 56 permits reopening only where leaving the original decision in place would cause an injustice and…

A solicitor’s duty to warn a client about a legal risk is confined by the agreed retainer. It extends to advice reasonably incidental to the work undertaken…

A standard-essential patent owner’s undertaking to license on FRAND terms may, depending on the portfolio, the implementer’s business and industry practice, be…

Disapplication of a limitation period under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 is exceptional. The claimant bears the burden of showing that it is…

An interim injunction restraining publication which engages freedom of expression will normally require the applicant to show probable success at trial. The…

Vicarious liability for an employee’s misuse of private information or breach of confidence is not excluded by the Data Protection Act 1998 unless Parliament…

An employee may claim under section 47B(1A) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 against an individual co-worker who participated in a whistleblowing dismissal.…

The majority held that the exclusion for contractual terms reflecting mandatory statutory provisions covers terms whose content is prescribed by legislation.…

A discontinuance notice under regulation 8(1)(b) may address the use of a particular site where the local planning authority reasonably concludes that…

Permission to appeal is governed by the single threshold in CPR r.52.6(1), including for decisions of the Technology and Construction Court. An appellate court…

A landlord’s covenant to enforce substantially similar leasehold covenants at a lessee’s request has practical effect. Where the relevant covenant is absolute…

By majority, an appeal concerning an HMRC information notice under the Finance Act 2008 was dismissed. The statutory scheme provides a single appeal against…

For the inheritance-tax purchase exemption, the question is whether the disposition was intended to improve another person’s position gratuitously. A…

A party paying money into court as security for costs or to fortify a cross-undertaking in damages retains a proprietary interest in that money. The payment…

An employee who lives and works abroad ordinarily falls under the employment law of the workplace. British statutory employment protection applies only where…

Costs incurred by the Law Society in exercising intervention powers under paragraph 13 of Schedule 1 to the Solicitors Act 1974 constitute a liquidated debt.…

In a finely balanced child welfare decision, the statutory welfare checklist is obligatory, flexible and open-ended. It does not create a presumption that a…

A court-imposed stay ordinarily halts proceedings and suspends every unexpired procedural time limit. When the stay ends, the parties resume from the position…

In a state-aid challenge to a public authority’s land transaction, the relevant comparison is between the price received and the market value of the asset the…

For determining whether a person is stateless under Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and paragraph 401 of the…

The supplied material does not reproduce the reasoning or disposition in Cheerupmate2 Ltd v Calce. It records only that compliance with section 166 of the…

The retention and incorporation of fabric from an existing building does not prevent a planning decision-maker from finding, as a matter of fact and degree…

For anticipation, a prior-art document must provide a clear and unmistakable disclosure of the claimed subject matter, or clear instructions to do or make…

For reasonable-adjustment purposes, a provision, criterion or practice must be an actual requirement, expectation or strong request imposed or intended to be…

A landowner’s duty in relation to trees is that of a reasonable and prudent landowner. The duty does not make the landowner an insurer of nature, but requires…

Vicarious liability is not confined to conduct at the workplace or during office hours. The court must identify, broadly and objectively, the employee’s field…

A letter of intent may create an if contract where it requests specified performance and promises a specified return. Acceptance may be shown by conduct. Where…

Priority under the European Patent Convention is available only where the skilled person can derive the claimed subject matter directly and unambiguously from…

On an application under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the decisive question is whether disapplying the limitation period would be equitable after…

For unfair advantage under Article 9(1)(c) of the Community Trade Mark Regulation, a commercial benefit obtained through use of a reputed mark is not, without…

For gaming duty, the value of stakes and prizes must be assessed in their real-world commercial context. A free, non-negotiable chip or voucher supplied by a…

For imports before 8 January 2014, Additional Note 6(a) to the Combined Nomenclature did not prescribe an exclusive method for establishing whether seasoning…

For a foreign tort committed before statutory reform, double actionability remains the general rule. The claim must be actionable under English law and the law…

In a collision at the entrance to a narrow channel, the crossing rules do not automatically apply merely because vessels are converging and a risk of collision…

Registration as a town or village green is not barred merely because the owner’s pre-existing commercial use might otherwise appear criminal under the…

Under the corporate loan relationships code, the requirement that credits and debits, taken together, must fairly represent all profits, gains and losses is a…

A covenant requiring consent to assignment or parting with possession concerns legal possession, not mere occupation. The question is fact-sensitive, but the…

A clear and unequivocal public promise about the procedure which a public authority will follow may create a legitimate expectation. The promised policy…

A lack of valid consent is not a jurisdictional precondition to a secure accommodation order or to equivalent authorisation under the High Court’s inherent…

An adverse finding is compatible with a fair hearing where the person knew the substance of the allegation and supporting evidence and had a reasonable…

Where detention is imposed solely to secure transfer under the Dublin III Regulation, Article 2(n) and Article 28 require objective criteria for risk of…

Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 required the highest number of unaccompanied refugee children that could reasonably be accommodated, taking account of…

Permission to apply for judicial review should not be refused merely because a statutory appeal may provide an adequate remedy where the challenge is directed…

Paragraphs 7(1) and 7(2) of Schedule 3 to the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 must be read together. The provisions governing benefit scales include…

In the Points Based System, a challenge to refusal of Tier 2 leave after a sponsor’s licence is revoked concerns the substance of the Immigration Rules, not…

A decision made by a private body under contractual arrangements is amenable to judicial review only where the nature and function of the power, considered in…

An appeal to an Employment Appeal Tribunal judge from a registrar’s refusal to extend time is a rehearing, not a review limited to whether the registrar’s…

Article 11 of the Victims’ Directive does not require an unfettered review of every decision not to prosecute. The right operates according to the victim’s…

An employment tribunal determining a complaint of unauthorised deduction from wages must decide every issue necessary to establish whether wages were properly…

A coroner has a broad discretion to determine the scope of an inquest. The coroner must decide what investigation is necessary, desirable and proportionate to…

For an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, a judgment or written reasons are “sent to the parties” when the tribunal promulgates them. Time therefore…

A planning condition in “Grampian” form may make a stopping-up order legally necessary even where it provides for development to continue if the order is not…

A Hadkinson order is an exceptional case-management measure of last resort. It may restrict a contemnor’s participation in proceedings only where the contempt…

Under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the Secretary of State’s opinion as to what is conducive to the public good must be current. The…

When choosing between adoption and long-term foster care, the court must undertake an individualised welfare assessment for each child. It must weigh…

A court reviewing a Parole Board decision under domestic public law applies rationality, with anxious scrutiny where liberty is at stake. It must respect the…

Section 40A of the Medical Act 1983 gives the GMC a right to appeal against a Medical Practitioners Tribunal decision not to direct a sanction where the…

A recognised foreign state has, in English law, unlimited capacity to contract under English law. Limits in its domestic law ordinarily concern the authority…

An illegal purpose does not by itself make a conveyance or mortgage a sham. Where the parties intended legal title or an interest to pass, the transferee may…

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

A complex alleged breach of an order requiring an officer of a corporate judgment debtor to provide enforcement information may be pursued through the…

A non-party costs order is a fact-specific exercise of discretion under the Senior Courts Act 1981, s 51(3). The ultimate question is whether the order is just…

An appellate court may have jurisdiction to entertain an appeal against an interim order referring questions to the CJEU where domestic appellate powers enable…

Litigation privilege may protect documents produced during an internal investigation where adversarial proceedings are reasonably contemplated and the…

The threshold for public law intervention must be assessed from the whole evidential history, including relevant events before a child’s birth and during…

In an exceptional child-welfare case, an interim return order may be made before the child’s wishes and feelings have been obtained if the judge has considered…

Unreasonable treatment, administrative incompetence and a defective process do not by themselves establish disability discrimination. Under sections 13 and 15…

Contractual wording should be given its ordinary meaning, but a court may resolve an unforeseen event where the parties’ intention is clear and a literal…

An appellate court will rarely disturb a trial judge’s findings of primary fact or a multi-factorial evaluation of evidence. Intervention requires an…

A public decision-maker need take only reasonable steps to inform itself. Subject to irrationality review, it decides the relevance, manner and intensity of…

In care proceedings, the court must evaluate each available care option in sufficient detail to identify and weigh its own advantages and disadvantages, and…

A letter of indemnity issued under a charterparty is ordinarily a self-contained commercial agreement. A time-limit clause in the charterparty is not…

An application to reopen a final return or non-return order under the Hague Child Abduction Convention is likely to be rare. Moylan LJ provisionally considered…

An appeal concerning a child’s separate representation will be dismissed as academic where the care proceedings have concluded and the final care orders are…

On an application to restore a name to the medical register under section 41 of the Medical Act 1983, the question is whether the practitioner is now fit to…

An appellate court should interfere with a specialist disciplinary tribunal’s evaluative sanction only where the tribunal made an error of principle or reached…

The discretion to set aside a notice of discontinuance under rule 38.4 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is general and unqualified. Abuse of process or an…

A party who has conceded an issue before trial, and on whose concession the case was conducted, may not ordinarily revive that issue on appeal without seeking…

An order requiring a person to provide information must be obeyed unless and until it is set aside. A committal order under Contempt of Court Act 1981 must…

For Rome I and Rome II, an obligation is characterised by its source and substance, rather than by the pleading label or its classification under national law.…

A court cannot use its inherent jurisdiction to control a local authority’s exercise of parental responsibility under a full care order. A parent seeking to…

On an appeal against deprivation of British citizenship, the tribunal must assess the consequences of deprivation only so far as necessary to decide whether…

Article 8 is not Article 3 with a lower threshold and does not provide a safety net for medical cases failing under Article 3. The absence of medical treatment…

On an inter partes challenge to a search warrant, the court must consider all relevant material that supported its issue, including material protected by…

The common-law defence of illegality may bar negligence damages claimed by a person whose unlawful killing followed the defendant’s breach of duty. The…

A non-statutory ministerial code did not create separate legal duties merely by referring to an existing overarching duty with which it was to be read. Its…

When deciding whether it is reasonable for a disabled housing applicant to continue occupying accommodation, a local authority must assess the applicant’s…

When a respondent is debarred from defending liability in employment tribunal proceedings, there is no automatic right to participate in remedy. The tribunal…

In sentencing for civil contempt, punitive and coercive purposes must be kept distinct. A coercive prison term remains available where compliance is within the…

After proceedings have commenced, a Part 36 offer can relate only to a claim, part of a claim or issue identifiable from the pleadings. A proposed new claim…

Under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, eligibility and local connection are separate questions. The main housing duty crystallises when an authority is…

Every prohibition, restriction or other term in a female genital mutilation protection order must be separately justified. The court must assess at least a…

An expedited process for assessing whether unaccompanied asylum-seeking children should be transferred from another member state may operate outside, and…

Member States may agree an expedited transfer scheme alongside Dublin III, provided that the ordinary procedure and its safeguards remain available. An…

Where a five-year housing land supply has not been demonstrated, the planning decision-maker will normally have to identify at least the broad magnitude of the…

The “records of the court” are principally formal documents kept by the court office. Filing or temporary custody does not make trial bundles, exhibits…

In an Article 3 removal case involving severe humanitarian conditions and personal vulnerability, the court must identify the correct legal approach and assess…

Where a claimant resides in a non-Convention state, security for costs must be ordered on objectively justified and non-discriminatory grounds. A real risk of…

For VAT purposes, the contractual arrangements are the starting point for identifying a supply and its recipient. They normally reflect economic and commercial…

For costs purposes, the successful party is identified by an evaluative assessment of who has succeeded in the litigation as a matter of substance and reality.…

A creditor may preserve an existing debt while agreeing not to enforce it personally. Such forbearance does not, without a release of the liability, prevent…

A stay under section 32(4) of the Data Protection Act 1998 protects journalistic activity only at the pre-publication stage. It does not prevent claims…

An unambiguous extension-of-time clause may validly allocate the risk of concurrent delay to the contractor. The prevention principle is not an overriding rule…

Paragraph 245AA(b)(iv) of the Immigration Rules concerns defects in specified documents themselves. It does not extend to information extraneous to those…

A registered ICSID award has the force and effect of a High Court judgment for execution. This does not generally permit the court to refuse enforcement on…

Minimum income requirements in the Immigration Rules pursue a legitimate aim and are acceptable in principle under Article 8. They are not a complete code.…

Where related contracts contain different jurisdiction clauses, the clauses should receive a careful, commercially minded construction. Mutual exclusivity is…

A pending application to vary periodical payments does not automatically require enforcement proceedings to be adjourned. The court must decide whether to do…

Where money is paid under a contract and the contractual performance for which it was paid is wholly absent, the payer may seek restitution for total failure…

In construing a commercial agreement, the court must identify objective meaning from the words read as a whole and in their documentary, factual and commercial…

Where a court has determined that a possession order against a disabled tenant is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, the tenant cannot…

A contractual description as CIF is a strong, but not conclusive, indication of the parties’ intentions concerning title and delivery. A different arrangement…

In determining disputed past facts on the balance of probabilities, a court must assess the evidence as a whole. It must consider evidential gaps, the strength…

At the permission stage, an appeal should proceed where at least one ground has a realistic prospect of success or there is another serious reason for hearing…

For service outside the jurisdiction, damage in a tort claim is sustained where the event giving rise to it directly produces harmful effects on the victim. An…

A statutory criminal-injuries compensation scheme which confers awards as of right creates a proprietary interest within article 1 of Protocol 1. Article 14 is…

In civil proceedings, the balance-of-probabilities standard is binary: if torture is not proved, it must be treated as not having occurred. A judge must then…

Where a claim remains subject to the fixed recoverable costs regime and a defendant accepts the claimant’s Part 36 offer after the relevant period but before…

Paragraph 50 of Schedule 36 to the Finance Act 2008 creates an exceptional penal jurisdiction for serious failure to comply with an information notice. The…

A receiving state which accepts and recognises a special mission is obliged by customary international law to secure its members’ personal inviolability and…

In valuing a landlord’s interest under Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, the statutory no-rights assumption applies…

The discretion to waive a legal aid statutory charge at the end of proceedings is conditional on the relevant public-interest and cost-effectiveness criteria…

A court may issue successive mandatory injunctions requiring the same positive action. Disobedience of each fresh order may constitute a fresh contempt and…

Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court should be refused where no point of law arises and the decision turns on applying settled principles to undisputed…

The setting of a listed building has no fixed or exhaustive definition. Its extent is a matter of fact and planning judgment, assessed by reference to the…

For service out of the jurisdiction, a contractual claim for interest is ordinarily accessory to the claim for repayment of the principal. It is not a separate…

The amended statutory scheme does not require customs officers to establish an individual necessity before stopping and searching baggage. The relevant…

A contractual disciplinary appeal against dismissal ordinarily has the effect of reviving the employment relationship if it is pursued successfully. Both…

A contractual disciplinary appeal against dismissal ordinarily has the effect that, if pursued to a successful conclusion, the employment relationship is…

A bank’s participation in an FCA-supervised review of interest-rate hedging product sales does not, without a clear assumption of responsibility, create a…

In disputes about alleged TOEIC deception, the absence of an ordinary appeal against curtailment or refusal of leave may be addressed through a human-rights…

Vicarious liability is not determined by the label independent contractor. The court must ask whether the relationship is one of employment or akin to…

An online application made through the prescribed process is made on submission, even though mandatory documents are due later. Failure to supply a document…

Under CPR r 44.14(1), a costs order against a personal-injury claimant may be enforced by one defendant against damages and interest ordered to be paid to that…

A claim for damages for loss of a chance to compromise a costs dispute is assessed by reference to the position when the contractual breach occurred. An…

A claim under Insolvency Act 1986 section 423 may fall within paragraph 3.1(20)(a) of Practice Direction 6B. The gateway permits service outside England and…

For national minimum wage purposes, a worker contractually required to sleep at or near the workplace, with suitable sleeping facilities, is ordinarily…

Under Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, seisin is determined autonomously by lodging the document instituting proceedings, subject to a service proviso.…

Under CPR 3.1(7), the power to vary or revoke an order is discretionary. It will normally be exercised only for a material change of circumstances or a…

Under Family Procedure Rules 2010 rule 27.5(3), the conditions for setting aside an order after non-attendance are cumulative. Where the underlying case has a…

A damages assessment after judgment on liability is not confined to the narrowest formulation of the claim. The question is whether the allegedly expanded…

Where a homelessness review officer identifies a deficiency or irregularity in the original decision but is minded to reach an adverse outcome, regulation…

Whether reciprocal contractual obligations are dependent or independent is determined by interpreting the contract as a whole. Practical sequencing does not…

In an Article 8 appeal concerning deportation or revocation of a deportation order, a tribunal must make its own proportionality assessment within the…

Summary judgment requires an issue-specific assessment of whether the defendant has no real prospect of defending the claim or issue and whether any compelling…

Where a contractual overage trigger is expressly tied to receipt of prior approval under the planning regime, payment becomes due on that event unless the…

A judge who has refused permission to appeal on the papers is not thereby disqualified from hearing the substantive appeal. The fair-minded and informed…

Members of a charitable company limited by guarantee can owe fiduciary duties even though shareholders of an ordinary company generally do not. Their powers…

In a compromised public-law appeal, costs remain a matter of judicial discretion. The court should assess the relief obtained against the claim advanced. An…

In Wales, Planning Policy Wales imposes a discrete requirement to establish need for retail development outside defined centres. If need is absent, the policy…

In a s.202 review of an intentional-homelessness decision, a reviewing officer may find deliberate failure to pay rent where the applicant failed to provide…

Equitable compensation is not confined to reparation for loss caused by a breach of fiduciary duty. It also includes substitutive compensation which restores…

Acceptance of a contractual offer may occur by conduct, but the conduct must be unequivocal. Whether it is unequivocal depends on the precise circumstances.…

A police investigator may be a prosecutor for malicious prosecution where deliberate misconduct deprives the independent charging authority of a genuine…

Time spent in a durable relationship with an EEA national cannot be added to subsequent lawful residence as a spouse when calculating five years’ continuous…

A trustee’s power of amendment in an occupational pension scheme must be exercised for the purpose for which it was conferred. That purpose is identified from…

A contractual term may be implied only by reference to the agreement’s express terms, the surrounding circumstances known at the time of contracting, and…

In a conventional exclusive trade mark licence, contractual exclusivity prevents the licensor from using the registered mark or a confusingly similar sign for…

An unambiguous rent review clause must be applied according to its express language, including any defined terms. Commercial purpose and an unfavourable result…

In a four-party payment-card scheme, default multilateral interchange fees must be tested against a realistic counterfactual without the default fee, such as…

A parent company has no special tortious responsibility for persons affected by its subsidiary’s activities. A duty of care arises only where ordinary tort…

The public sector equality duty applies whenever a public authority exercises a function, including when elected councillors pass a symbolic political…

Article 17 of Directive 2011/36/EU requires trafficking victims to have access to the existing compensation scheme for victims of violent crimes. It does not…

Private nuisance protects rights in land and the objective use and enjoyment of land. It does not protect a property's value merely as an investment or…

Where the Upper Tribunal’s procedural regime gives a broad discretion on costs but contains no equivalent of the costs-consequences code in Civil Procedure…

Whether development is limited infilling in a village for paragraph 89 of the National Planning Policy Framework is ordinarily a matter of fact and planning…

A taxable customer cannot exercise a right to deduct input VAT by retrospectively treating a payment as VAT-inclusive where it has neither a compliant VAT…

In a mixed personal-data case, section 7(4) of the Data Protection Act 1998 requires an evaluative balance of all the circumstances. There is no substantive…

An Arrow declaration that a product, process or use was old or obvious at a specified date is discretionary relief. A relevant pending patent application is…

In an asylum or humanitarian-protection claim, the issue is whether there are substantial grounds for believing that the claimant faces a real risk, not…

In care and placement proceedings, a short adjournment may have a real purpose where a parent has made substantial, evidence-based progress and the further…

For the former wording of paragraph 245ZX(h) of the Immigration Rules, time spent studying below-degree-level courses is calculated by reference to the course…

A party alleging prevention of contractual performance must prove prevention in fact. Where a landlord has a contractual right to step in and perform an…

An application to the lower court for permission to appeal must be made when the decision is given, or at a hearing adjourned for that purpose. Once that…

An individual’s choice about the time and manner of death engages Article 8, but that does not make a statutory ban on assisted suicide incompatible with…

The rule against reflective loss is not confined to shareholders or claims framed as diminution in share value. It bars a creditor, including an unsecured…

Under the Opticians Act 1989, impairment concerns a registrant’s present fitness to practise, not whether the registrant intends to practise. Retirement does…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules Part 36, late acceptance of an offer ordinarily attracts the specified costs order. The discretion to depart on grounds of…

A serious procedural irregularity which deprives a party of a fair opportunity to present an application requires the appellate court to allow the appeal and…

In proceedings under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, summary dismissal at a directions hearing is permissible only in very limited and truly…

The source of interest for UK income-tax purposes is determined by a practical, multifactorial and acutely fact-sensitive assessment. The court must examine…

For private-life applications, the “no ties” requirement in paragraph 276ADE(vi) of the Immigration Rules is exacting. It asks whether the applicant has any…

In patent infringement, a peripheral stiffening band must be identified as a distinct band that lies materially beyond the cylinder-end limb material, serves a…

A certificate under Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, section 94 B cannot be justified merely by showing no real risk of serious irreversible harm.…

Under CPR rule 44.11, a legal representative’s conduct may be unreasonable or improper without being dishonest. A solicitor who certifies a bill of costs must…

Numerical limits in a patent claim are construed in their full context. The same construction applies to validity and infringement. An acknowledged comparative…

For the special one-year limitation period for an excise-duty assessment, HMRC must have actual knowledge of evidence of facts sufficient to justify the…

A contractual term which prevents a party from asserting reliance on a pre-contractual representation excludes liability within section 3 of the…

The operational protection duty under article 4 of the ECHR arises where state authorities know, or ought to know, facts giving rise to a credible suspicion…

A broadly worded contractual exemption covering delay or failure caused by any order of any judicial authority may extend to foreign orders which English law…

A conditional fee agreement is construed by ascertaining the objective meaning of its language in contractual context. Textual and contextual analysis are…

A final care order cannot be made as a short-term device for testing a placement. It cannot be time-limited or made conditional on a future event. Where the…

An exclusion or limitation clause is not particularly onerous or unusual merely because it restricts liability extensively. Its character depends on the…

Information about unnamed family members may be private and confidential information about them where, in context, they can readily be identified from a named…

Excessive delay between a hearing and a tribunal’s decision does not by itself render the decision unsafe. The appellant must show a causal connection between…

Exemplary damages may be awarded under the second Rookes v Barnard category where the defendant calculated that the profit from tortious wrongdoing might…

The automatic deportation scheme applies in principle to qualifying EEA nationals, but it must operate consistently with the separate EEA removal regime. Where…

In an appeal from an Employment Tribunal, a conclusion that an employer acted reasonably or that statutory justification was established is an evaluative…

For the five-year settlement route, “residence” in paragraph 245AAA of the Immigration Rules means physical presence in the United Kingdom. The provision does…

A domicile of choice requires both residence in the country concerned and a fixed intention to reside there permanently or for an indefinite future. The two…

Protection against automatic unfair dismissal for trade union activities is not lost merely because conduct in that context was ill-judged or unreasonable. It…

A person restrained from assisting others to bring claims in contravention of the Legal Services Act 2007 may breach that order by serving documents, seeking…

In medical-removal cases under European Convention on Human Rights article 3, protection is not confined to imminent death. It may extend to a real risk of…

For passing off, a defendant need not intend a misrepresentation once it is made. However, the claimant must first show that the defendant made, authorised…

False imprisonment may be constructive. Physical force, a guard or locked doors are unnecessary where a formal legal process constrains a person’s freedom of…

A condition precedent in a company voluntary arrangement requiring administrators to confirm that post-challenge-period disputed claims should not preclude the…

An appellate court should not retry factual disputes. It should review the trial judge’s decision and interfere only where the findings lack evidential…

An agreed list of issues generally limits the claims and defences that an employment tribunal must determine. It serves as the road map for the hearing and…

A decision-maker must take account of a consideration not identified by statute where it is so obviously material that no reasonable decision-maker would omit…

Regulations 122 and 123 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 restrict the use of planning obligations and certain conditions, but do not…

In a claim under Part 2 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Employment Tribunal has jurisdiction to determine a relevant issue of contractual…

A clinician’s duty to warn involves two questions. First, what risks were or should reasonably have been known to the clinician is a matter of medical…

In care proceedings, an appellate court may set aside findings of fact where material defects in case management or reasoning undermine the reliability of the…

In a second appeal concerning an immigration credibility assessment, fresh evidence may be treated with circumspection where it could reasonably have been…

In professional-negligence claims arising from a lost or under-settled claim, damages ordinarily measure the value of what was lost at the date the original…

Broad statutory powers to establish and administer public service pension schemes may support guidance addressing the extent to which non-financial investment…

When determining whether the threshold for a care order is crossed, the court must identify the child’s significant harm or likely significant harm, its…

In complex group litigation, the party receiving money is not necessarily the successful party for costs purposes. The court must evaluate the litigation as a…

A court in England and Wales with substantive jurisdiction under Council Regulation 2201/2003 has power to order summarily the return of a child from another…

In an Article 8 deportation case involving a foreign criminal sentenced to less than four years, the statutory very compelling circumstances threshold applies…

For tariff classification under GIR 3(a), rival headings must be compared primarily by their wording. HSENs are an important, non-binding aid to construing…

Where a regulatory measure engages freedom of establishment, its proportionality depends on suitability and necessity. A less restrictive alternative defeats…

Permission for further expert evidence is available only where the evidence is necessary to resolve the proceedings justly. A party seeking to reopen a final…

Under the points-based immigration system, a mandatory requirement in the Immigration Rules must be met as stated. A near miss does not create a discretion to…

A principal is liable under section 109(2) of the Equality Act 2010 where its agent discriminates or harasses while carrying out authorised functions.…

In judicial review proceedings challenging delay in determining an asylum claim, costs after compromise depend principally on whether the claimant succeeded or…

On judicial review of a tribunal decision, a material error of law ordinarily requires the decision to be quashed. The Upper Tribunal may substitute its own…

Statutory injunction proceedings directed to preventing gang-related violence, drug dealing or anti-social behaviour are civil and preventive, even where the…

For the purposes of section 88 of the Localism Act 2011, “actual use” is not confined to lawful use. Trespassory or technically unlawful use may qualify if it…

In framing post-judgment relief in a patent infringement case, the court may grant remedies needed to make an injunction effective, including delivery up or…

Relief for a predecessor company’s carried-forward trading losses is limited to the trading income of the predecessor trade. Under section 343(3) of the Income…

Exclusion from refugee protection under article 1F(a) does not automatically make indefinite leave to remain on long-residence grounds undesirable. The…

Remoteness and novus actus interveniens are distinct inquiries. First ask whether damage of the kind suffered was reasonably foreseeable. If so, the precise…

A transaction at an undervalue falls within section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 if putting assets beyond a claimant’s reach was a purpose of entering into…

Vicarious liability can arise without a contract of employment where the relationship between the defendant and tortfeasor is akin to employment. The…

A claim for repayment of overpaid output tax under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 must identify the prescribed accounting period to which each amount relates.…

An application for permission to appeal filed outside the prescribed period requires an extension of time. Serious, substantial and unexplained delay will…

Damages for unlawful eviction compensate for loss of possession and for the anxiety, inconvenience and mental stress involved in losing a home. Contractual…

For conduct to constitute harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the course of conduct as a whole must be oppressive and unacceptable. Its…

Jurisdiction for an application under section 27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 is governed exclusively by the Maintenance Regulation and Schedule 6 to the…

Where a non-settled migrant establishes family life while his or her immigration status is precarious, a very strong or compelling claim will generally be…

A claimant cannot avoid an accrued limitation defence by seeking a declaration instead of damages. Where the substantive claim is founded on tort or breach of…

Equitable relief against forfeiture may be available where termination would forfeit possessory or proprietary rights, rather than merely contractual rights…

Section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 gives the court a broad discretion to order a non-party to pay costs. The only fixed requirement is that the…

Overreaching under section 2(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 requires a conveyance to a purchaser of a legal estate in land. Section 1(1) confines legal…

For negligence claims, the special limitation regime in the Limitation Act 1980, s 14A, does not require certainty that the defendant was negligent or that…

Immigration correspondence is assessed by its substance and broad intent, rather than by an over-particular focus on form. A request for further leave which…

For discrimination arising from disability under section 15(1)(a) of the Equality Act 2010, the tribunal must ask two distinct questions. It must identify the…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years, section 117C(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 requires deportation unless there…

For section 20 ZA(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the relevant term is the minimum contractual commitment. An agreement qualifies where it requires…

Whether there is a good reason for retrospective alternative service under rule 6.15 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is an evaluative question. Negligent…

A planning authority must treat the best interests of affected children as a primary consideration, but those interests are not determinative. The authority…

A seller’s solicitor who signs a land-sale contract for the named seller warrants authority from that person, although liability for breach of warranty…

The duty under articles 11(2) and 11(5) of the Directive 2011/36/EU requires necessary assistance and support addressing a potential trafficking victim’s…

A claimant who discontinues is presumptively liable for the defendant’s costs under CPR r 38.6(1). Departure requires cogent justification, normally involving…

In a best-interests decision under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the court must assess the individual’s welfare in its widest sense. Medical benefit, burdens…

Where judicial review proceedings end by consent, a claimant does not become successful for costs purposes merely because the practical outcome is favourable.…

An undertaking to the court is a voluntary promise. A party wishing to cease to be bound must seek release or discharge from it, rather than appeal its terms.…

To satisfy the investment-funds requirements of the Immigration Rules, applicants must show that the required funds are available from their own resources or…

A nuptial agreement may properly modify the sharing principle where it was freely made with full appreciation of its implications and it remains fair to hold…

An indoor facility authorised under Article 7(1)(a)(v) must be wholly or mainly recreational. Incidental education does not prevent that character, but the…

A consent order is construed objectively, by reference primarily to its language in the context of the document as a whole. Its formal and public character is…

In relocation proceedings, the court must determine whether the proposed change serves the children’s welfare, taking account of the statutory welfare…

Permission to appeal under the Arbitration Act 1996, section 69, requires a question of law arising from the award, substantial effect on rights, consideration…

For section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, an attesting witness need not add a conventional personal signature. The requirement that the witness signs the will has…

A common-law duty of care does not ordinarily arise merely because vegetation or another condition on land adjoining a highway affects visibility for road…

A decision to cease refugee status is the mirror image of the recognition decision. The authority must establish a significant and non-temporary change which…

Constructive dismissal requires resignation in response to a repudiatory breach of the employment contract. The last straw doctrine applies only to a…

Applications to reopen care proceedings must pass the first stage of the three-stage approach in In re Z (Children) (Care Proceedings: Review of Findings)…

A supply made for consideration under article 2(1) of the VAT Directive is a necessary, but insufficient, condition for an economic activity under article…

A party’s entitlement to an oral reconsideration may be displaced by a consent order using clear and explicit language. Where costs are to be decided on the…

Under a package holiday contract, the operator’s primary obligation is limited to the holiday arrangements objectively promised to the consumer. The Package…

Withdrawal of an Employment Tribunal claim does not by itself establish abandonment or concede the merits. The court must assess the claimant’s intention when…

Article 1F(c) of the United Nations Refugee Convention 1951 is not confined to completed or attempted terrorist acts, or to conduct amounting to an…

A person is a “persistent offender” when the overall picture and pattern of repeated criminal conduct, assessed across the person’s entire offending history…

Under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, the duty to secure suitable accommodation presupposes that the applicant can understand and evaluate an offer and…

A final welfare declaration concerning withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment will not be reopened unless an asserted development materially changes the…

The assessment of “very significant obstacles to integration” requires a broad evaluative judgment. The decision-maker should assess the obstacles actually…

On an appeal concerning child arrangements, the Court of Appeal should be slow to interfere with a first-instance judge’s assessment of witnesses and welfare…

A warrant for possession depends upon an extant possession order. Under section 85 of the Housing Act 1985, a suspended possession order may contain a…

The jurisdiction to reopen a final appeal or refusal of permission under CPR 52.30 requires exceptional circumstances, real injustice and no alternative…

A carrier sanction under section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 is compatible with EU free-movement rights where a passenger has neither the…

In immigration detention cases, the detaining authority must justify detention throughout the relevant period. Threatened judicial review does not, by itself…

A certificate of sponsorship reference number cannot be re-used after an application relying on it has been approved or refused. An official’s failure to mark…

A court may refuse a late application to vary arrangements for cross-examination where the delay, without adequate explanation, frustrates an existing order. A…

A director or member of a company is not, merely by holding that office or status, “directly affected” by a judgment against the company for the purposes of…

The public-policy exception to enforcement of a New York Convention award receives a restrictive interpretation. The court balances the strong policies…

For disability discrimination, the service under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is the service actually provided, not every service a lender might…

Where a claimant has unreasonably failed to use the EL/PL Protocol, the fixed-cost sanction in rule 45.24 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is unavailable…

A claimant must identify the aspects of a personal independence payment decision which are challenged and provide the tribunal with the agenda for the appeal.…

Payments connected with the termination of employment fall within the broad charge in section 401 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, including…

A planning permission granted under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is a fresh permission, and its conditions must be stated in the new…

A third-country national former spouse relying on Article 13(2)(a) of Directive 2004/38/EC need not establish that the former EEA spouse remained a qualified…

A landlord’s covenant to make good damage caused by repair requires reasonable restoration, assessed against the condition before the work and the facts of the…

Under the Arbitration Act 1996, an arbitrator’s acceptance of appointments in related arbitrations sharing one party does not, without more, establish apparent…

An employee may accept a contractual variation through continued work, including a disadvantageous reduction in contractual pay. Acceptance arises only where…

Where the court has jurisdiction to add a party, an exceptional joinder application may be resolved pragmatically and fairly without deciding the applicant’s…

Permission for a second appeal is available only where the proposed appeal raises an important point of principle or practice, or presents some compelling…

A formal enquiry into a repayment claim under Schedule 1A to the Taxes Management Act 1970 begins only when HMRC gives written notice of its intention to…

In care proceedings, findings of fact once made are definitive in all normal circumstances. The court should revisit them only as a distinct exercise where…

A contractual provision is void for uncertainty only where the court cannot safely identify its meaning or give it sensible legal or practical content. The…

Under section 1(4)(a) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, “permanent rights” means continuing and irrevocable rights. Revocable…

For a proprietary-estoppel claim arising from negotiations for a sale of land, the claimant must show that the parties reached a point at which they mutually…

When deciding whether a money judgment should be payable by instalments, the court must balance the debtor’s request for time against the judgment creditor’s…

In assessing whether deportation would be unduly harsh under section 117C(5) and paragraph 399 of the Immigration Rules, a tribunal must consider all the…

Tax motivation alone does not establish an abuse of EU VAT law. The court must ask whether applying the relevant provisions produces a tax advantage contrary…

In a foreign-criminal deportation appeal under Article 8, the tribunal must determine proportionality on the facts found. It must give considerable weight to…

A carriage contract is covered by a bill of lading where, from its inception, the shipper could demand one. This remains so if no bill is issued and the…

Where a lease requires consent to a planning application, with consent not to be unreasonably withheld, the tenant must show objectively that the refusal was…

A court order requiring a company to bear provisional liquidators’ fees does not, without more, make the company liable to repay a third-party funder. Nor does…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal may maintain its established strict approach to extending the time for appealing. The later approach under the Civil Procedure…

Decisions about a child’s medical treatment are governed by an objective assessment of the child’s best interests. Parents have no unfettered right to require…

The construction of an option deed depends on its natural and ordinary meaning, read with the instrument as a whole and the admissible factual matrix. A…

In construing a long-term income-sharing agreement, a clause permitting deduction of capital expenditure exceeding the parties’ committed sums did not permit…

Registration under the Commons Act 2006 is barred by statutory incompatibility only where, as a matter of statutory construction, the specific statutory…

An earning capacity is not matrimonial property subject to the sharing principle. Post-separation earnings generated by that capacity therefore create no…

Where judicial review proceedings settle, success for costs purposes depends on whether the claimant’s claim was vindicated. Obtaining relief similar to that…

In care proceedings, a fact-finding judgment must identify clearly the specific allegations proved and provide sufficiently clear and balanced reasons. It need…

Under the GMRA, “fair market value” is assessed within the broad contractual discretion conferred on the non-Defaulting Party. It may consider such pricing…

In determining whether a pension scheme’s governing deed validly substituted a principal employer, agreement between the trustees and incoming employer…

A compromise of mortgage enforcement proceedings is not, merely because it concerns recovery of payments, the administration of a regulated mortgage contract.…

Where a written lease contains an obvious gap which prevents commercial or practical coherence, the court may imply a term on grounds of necessity to give the…

A patent claim requiring a “sac” is not satisfied by every cavity capable of receiving material and forming a seal. In its context, a sac means a bag-like…

A rejection under rule 12 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 is not a determination of proceedings. It recognises that a completed claim form…

In patent law, a broad claim is not insufficient merely because the specification does not enable every possible embodiment. The claim may extend to variants…

An appeal that has become academic between the parties should ordinarily be dismissed. The Court of Appeal retains a narrow discretion to hear it in…

When determining whether adoption is necessary, the family court must assert and see through its own assessment of risk and welfare. A local authority must…

Where a person has genuine family life in the United Kingdom and their partner cannot reasonably relocate, removal interferes with European Convention on Human…

The statutory date on which time begins to run for a reasonable-adjustments claim is distinct from the date on which the breach began. Under section 123(4)(b)…

An unchallenged concession that an appellant entered an informal marriage agreement, together with unchallenged expert evidence that such agreements can create…

Paragraph 55 of the National Planning Policy Framework states a broad principle rather than a hard-edged presumption or a set of specific tests. A new home is…

In children proceedings, expert evidence cannot be instructed or put before the court without permission. Permission is available only where the evidence is…

Once the relevant limitation period has expired, an amendment substituting a claimant under Civil Procedure Rules Part 17.4(3) is available only if the mistake…

Under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, the court must assess all relevant circumstances from the child’s perspective, including…

Administrative delay in deciding an immigration settlement application is not actionable merely because it is maladministration. It may engage Article 8 and…

In a summary return application under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980, parental acrimony does not itself…

A court may decide a disputed factual issue by reference to the burden of proof only after genuinely attempting to evaluate the evidence and concluding that it…

On an appeal from committal proceedings, the Court of Appeal reviews fair process, the legal justification for breach findings, and the proportionality of…

For entry clearance as an adult dependent relative, the applicant bears the burden of proving that, even with the sponsor’s practical and financial help, the…

VAT input tax is attributed by an objective direct-and-immediate-link analysis. The court must consider the objective content and all relevant circumstances…

A direction under section 38(6) of the Children Act 1989 requires two affirmative findings. The proposal must be an examination or assessment of the child, and…

On a statutory appeal against removal, a tribunal may consider a trafficking decision where it is relevant to removal. A negative trafficking decision is not…

For customs tariff classification, the decisive criterion is the goods’ objective characteristics and properties. Intended use may be considered where it is…

In deciding whether very special circumstances justify inappropriate development on Metropolitan Open Land, the decision-maker must weigh all planning harm…

For limitation under section 32(1) of the Limitation Act 1980, reasonable diligence is assessed contextually. The inquiry assumes a claimant who wishes to…

A permission to officiate was not a relevant qualification merely because it and an extra-parochial ministry licence depended on the same criterion of good…

Abandonment of an easement is an objective question. The court must assess the surrounding circumstances and ask whether a reasonable owner of the servient…

Where a foreign criminal sentenced to between 12 months and four years falls outside Exceptions 1 and 2, deportation is required unless there are very…

For a medium offender, section 117C(3) requires deportation unless an applicable exception or very compelling circumstances outweighs the public interest. The…

Section 204A(1) of the Housing Act 1996 gives the County Court jurisdiction over challenges to interim-accommodation decisions only where the applicant has a…

The unallowable-purpose rule in paragraph 13 of Schedule 9 to the Finance Act 1996 applies to shares deemed to be loan relationships under section 91B. The…

A tribunal cannot rewrite subordinate legislation to cure incompatibility with Convention rights by adding or excising words. Section 6(1) of the Human Rights…

A successful party's dishonest or improper conduct does not automatically displace the usual costs order. The court must evaluate the nature and degree of the…

A tribunal may refuse a very late attempt to substitute new judicial-review grounds where the proposed grounds are not implicit in the original claim, could…

Section 284 of the Insolvency Act 1986 only avoids a post-petition disposition. It creates no freestanding monetary remedy. Recovery is governed by the general…

For commercial-agent legislation confined to agents negotiating the sale or purchase of goods, goods means tangible property. Software supplied electronically…

In a building contract that does not expressly allocate responsibility for planning approvals, a term may be implied only where strict necessity requires it.…

For mineral extraction within paragraph 90 of the National Planning Policy Framework, the decision-maker must ask whether the development preserves the…

Whether litigation costs were reasonably incurred is a case-specific question. The court may examine why the receiving party chose the relevant course…

Professional negligence in litigation advice is judged by the information and risks reasonably available when the advice was given. A later outcome, or the…

Thlimmenos discrimination requires a claimant to show that the relevant group is in a materially and significantly different situation from the comparator…

A project monitor is liable for loss caused by negligent information or recommendations within the scope of its contractual retainer. It is not liable for all…

Paragraph 9.3 of the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct required notification of a funding arrangement as soon as possible. That was a separate obligation…

Apparent bias is determined by asking whether, after ascertaining all relevant circumstances, a fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was…

A local planning authority has a broad discretion under paragraph 12(6) of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 when deciding whether…

For child support purposes, gambling winnings are generally outside self-employed earnings. A gambler’s professional status, sole reliance on gambling…

A standard-form arbitration clause requiring arbitrators to have at least 10 years’ experience of insurance or reinsurance is not confined to experience gained…

Vicarious liability may arise for an agent where the agent’s activities form an integral part of the defendant’s business and the defendant created the risk of…

In construing a commercial lease, the court must identify meaning through the language used, read in context and alongside the subject matter and other terms.…

Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 permits compensatory awards for breach of rest-break rights, but not compensation for injury to feelings.…

Article 43(5) of the Regulation excludes any general national power to extend the appeal period for parties domiciled in a Member State. The prescribed one- or…

In arm’s-length commercial negotiations concerning land, an arrangement expressly made subject to contract ordinarily creates no commitment in law or equity.…

A judgment in care proceedings has no prescribed structure. It must, in substance, show that the court determined the facts, threshold, welfare, necessity and…

Under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, acceptance of a compensation award and the review-and-appeal process are mutually exclusive alternatives.…

For the disregard in Children Act 1989, section 105(6)(b), to apply, the child must have lived in a place in accordance with a requirement of a supervision…

Integrity is broader than honesty. In a professional code, it denotes adherence to the ethical standards of the profession. It is assessed in the light of the…

Where the Upper Tribunal has set aside a First-tier Tribunal decision and remade it, the Court of Appeal may adopt a flexible approach to permission to appeal.…

When deciding whether to extend time for an oral renewal of permission, a tribunal must apply the three-stage approach in R (Hysaj) v SSHD [2014] EWCA Civ…

Where legislation permits a professional conduct committee to adopt findings made by another regulator, the committee may rely on those findings and need not…

In serious medical treatment cases concerning children, the governing question is whether treatment is in the child’s best interests. The court must assess…

An asylum applicant must be in the United Kingdom, or at a United Kingdom port of entry, when the application is decided to qualify for refugee status under…

A local authority’s duty under the Children Act 2004, section 11, is not confined to strategic arrangements. It may apply to a discretionary decision to…

A housing authority’s decision that an applicant is not vulnerable for homelessness purposes must be read fairly and as a whole. Once the reviewing officer…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years, deportation remains required unless there are very compelling circumstances over and above the…

When an Employment Appeal Tribunal appellant posts a notice in good time but receives no acknowledgement, postal loss may excuse the initial delay.…

A bank which explains a proposed swap owes a fact-sensitive duty not carelessly to misstate. It does not thereby assume a general duty to advise or to disclose…

Age-based treatment in an employment benefit may be justified under section 13(2) of the Equality Act 2010 where it is a proportionate means of achieving a…

Parliament can create a permanent statutory property interest in water flowing through a natural watercourse. A later repeal of the vesting provision does not…

The intervention scheme for a solicitor’s practice under the Solicitors Act 1974 is a self-contained statutory regime. In this statutory framework, the right…

Insurance policy limits must be construed by reading the schedule with the operative wording and giving effect to all provisions bearing on the issue. The…

A public authority may change policy, including tax-settlement policy, where there is a good reason. A challenge based on conspicuous unfairness is a distinct…

In a second-appeal immigration application, permission should be granted where there are compelling grounds for thinking that the Upper Tribunal may have…

Article 8 may be engaged by ordinary social and community ties, and in some cases by an entrepreneur’s business where it forms part of private or social…

An applicant’s past commission of crimes against humanity does not create an absolute bar to indefinite leave to remain under paragraph 276B of the Immigration…

For the reasonable-adjustments duty, a requirement under section 20(3) of the Equality Act 2010 need not involve coercion or remove all real choice. A practice…

Section 10(1)(b) of the Children Act 1989 gives the court a broad power to make a child arrangements order without an application by the person benefiting…

An applicant seeking indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic violence must show that the marriage broke down as a result of that violence. Where the…

The Family Division applies the same common-law and equitable principles as the other courts. A solicitor or other professional may be required to provide…

An authorised plant protection product used in accordance with recognised agricultural practice remains outside the statutory definition of a regulated…

The transitional QOCS provisions protect a claimant only where the pre-commencement funding agreement relates to the matter covered by it. A CFA and ATE policy…

Direct racial discrimination requires comparison with a person whose relevant circumstances are the same as, or not materially different from, those of the…

At a delayed statutory hearing, the court must decide for itself whether the making of a control order was flawed. It must consider all evidence now available…

Whether an immigration-rule condition is satisfied is ordinarily for the Secretary of State where the decision falls within the statutory power to grant or…

In Article IV rule 5 of the Hague Rules, ‘unit’ means an identifiable physical item of cargo or shipping unit, including an unpackaged item. It does not mean a…

The Court of Appeal cannot reopen its own binding decision merely because relevant authority was overlooked or the earlier reasoning appears unjust. Under the…

A contract must be construed as a whole, giving effect to its language in the context of its structure and long-term purpose. An obligation to keep a project…

An employer’s liability for asbestos exposure is not determined by comparing estimated exposure with the enforcement thresholds in official technical guidance.…

Under regulation 61 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010, a competent authority may approve a project only if satisfied that it will…

For purposes of the appellate restriction in the Senior Courts Act 1981, the character of a cause or matter is determined by the underlying proceedings. It is…

An exclusion in an insurance policy must be construed with its defined terms and the commercial scheme in which it was made. An exclusion for non-compliance…

In an Article 8 case concerning a child, the child’s best interests are a primary consideration, but not a paramount or automatically decisive one. They must…

Where a landlord refuses consent to assignment for several independent reasons, the refusal may remain reasonable although one reason is unreasonable. The…

Under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, licence conditions regulating management, use or occupation do not extend to regulating a house’s condition and contents…

Permission to appeal a welfare decision will be refused where the proposed grounds merely challenge an evaluative choice supported by the evidence. A finely…

In proceedings concerning a placement order, the court must identify and analyse every important, critical or decisive welfare factor, particularly where the…

Section 15(1) of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 is permissive. Its stated methods are primary methods of service, rather than an exhaustive code. A party using…

Under the Marine Insurance Act 1906, the timeliness of a notice of abandonment is determined by the statutory wording and the facts. Reliable information may…

A private claim for loss caused by a worldwide cartel should not be summarily dismissed merely because the claimant bought cartelised goods through a supply…

Further asylum or human-rights submissions made shortly before removal do not automatically prevent removal. The statutory protection applies only where the…

For transitional wind-energy applications, “addressed” planning impacts means sufficiently addressed, not eliminated or resolved. A local planning authority…

An unqualified payment made on account of the claim after a Part 36 offer is presumed also to be made on account of that offer. The presumption applies whether…

A Family Court fact-finding hearing exists to establish facts necessary for a child’s welfare assessment, not to determine an adult’s criminal culpability.…

Under the points-based scheme, a student applicant bears the risk that required documents are incomplete when the application is decided. Where a valid…

For the purposes of paragraph 403(c) of the Immigration Rules, a person is not admissible to another country only where admission cannot be obtained. Where…

An ombudsman exercising an informal and inquisitorial statutory jurisdiction must nonetheless comply with procedural fairness. Under section 11(1A) of the…

Agency need not be pleaded in express terms where the pleaded facts establish the alleged contract. If the defendant relies on the agent’s lack of authority…

On a jurisdictional challenge, a claimant must show a real issue which it is reasonable for the court to try. This is equivalent to showing a real prospect of…

For personal injury claims, actual knowledge requires knowledge that the injury is significant, attributable to the alleged act or omission, and connected with…

A joint-venture constructive trust is not invariably confined to property acquired after the parties’ arrangement. It may arise where a person obtains control…

In a medical-removal case, Article 3 requires evidence that the claimant is a seriously ill person and substantial grounds for believing that removal creates a…

In defamation, meaning is determined by the impression conveyed to the ordinary reader, reading the words in their context. Dictionaries may be used as a…

A claimant may proceed with an increased damages claim without formally amending the pleadings where the defendant had clear notice of the increased case and…

A trust of an undivided share in a sole trader’s business is not necessarily void for uncertainty of subject matter. Each class of asset must be considered…

An appellate court reviewing a refusal to adjourn must determine whether the decision was fair in the circumstances, rather than merely whether it fell within…

Article 14(1)(a) of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005 requires the competent authority to identify a…

For excise-duty drawback, a Member State may require compliance with an inspection condition and may refuse reimbursement when it is not met. Under the 2008…

Constructive knowledge under the reasonable-adjustments duty requires knowledge, actual or constructive, of the facts constituting disability, not merely…

Settlement agreements are construed as ordinary contracts. Clear words can release unknown, unsuspected and future claims, including claims not in the parties’…

An immigration challenge cannot succeed merely because the applicant disagrees with the decision-maker’s evaluation of the facts. The applicant must identify…

A conventional retainer may be superseded by a conditional fee agreement where the parties objectively intend the latter to govern all subsequent work. Work…

A statutory scheme for parentage testing limited to living persons does not necessarily displace the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to direct testing of…

A doctor’s duty to notify the GMC of an overseas professional regulator’s adverse finding arises when the finding is made, not only when a sanction takes…

In private-law child-arrangements proceedings involving disputed allegations of domestic abuse, the court must identify and, where necessary, resolve the…

Statutory interest compensates a claimant for being kept out of money which should have been paid. It is not an award of damages, punishment, or an account of…

A derivative right of residence arising from a child’s EU citizenship is not absolute. A primary carer may be expelled only following an individual and…

Immigration detention is unlawful where a material public law error bears upon the decision to detain. Lawfulness does not depend on whether a lawful decision…

Jurisdiction for EU trade mark infringement is governed by the autonomous scheme in the CTM Regulation (codified version), rather than the general tort…

A bank must refrain from executing a customer's payment instruction while it has reasonable grounds for believing that the instruction attempts to…

For the purposes of CPR 46.5(3)(b), recoverable payments for legal services must relate to services provided by, or under the supervision of, a lawyer…

A contractual term requiring a spread-betting firm to close positions after a margin default does not, without clear express language, impose a duty to protect…

Exposure to vibration above a threshold does not, by itself, establish breach of an employer’s duty of care. The claimant must establish regular or frequent…

For a person to be identified in a regulatory notice, the notice must identify that person by name or by a synonym, such as an office or job title. A synonym…

An agreement that costs be decided on the papers by a Master excludes an oral reconsideration before the Master, but does not exclude the distinct right to…

An English court may grant an anti-suit injunction where foreign proceedings undermine a London arbitration governed by English law and are vexatious or…

The former version of paragraph 276ADE (1) (vi) in the Immigration Rules required a rounded, evaluative assessment of whether an applicant retained ties to the…

For access to retained communications data for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of crime, Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act…

On an application for urgent mandatory disclosure which would effectively determine the claim, the court should consider both the risk of irremediable…

Under the points-based immigration system, applicants must comply precisely with the documentary requirements. Versions 4–7 of the evidential flexibility…

In domestic law, the high threshold for preventing removal of a seriously ill foreign national under Article 3 remains governed by N v Secretary of State for…

A fraud carve-out in a commercial exclusion clause preserves liability only where fraud is a necessary ingredient of the cause of action. It does not preserve…

A lawful expulsion or termination of an LLP member does not automatically break the causal link between earlier unlawful detriments and later financial loss.…

For Article 3(a) of the Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 concerning the supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products, the product must be protected…

A reverse burden of proof in proceedings criminal for the purposes of article 6(2) is compatible with the presumption of innocence where, in its particular…

For income tax purposes, a partnership carries on one collective trade. Its profits must first be computed at firm level and then allocated under the…

A statutory remedy for expenses reasonably incurred in repairing damage to street apparatus does not cover compensation paid to customers for an interrupted…

Under Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, a statutory assumption that lease-extension rights do not attach does not require valuation in…

In settled judicial review proceedings, costs depend on the substance of the settlement, not merely on the form of the consent order. The court should…

A First-tier Tribunal may strike out part of a statutory tax appeal under rule 8(3)(c) where it has no reasonable prospect of success, including because…

Cause of action estoppel in professional disciplinary proceedings requires a prior judicial decision that is both final and on the merits. Finality alone is…

Under the rating hypothesis, the assumed letting is hypothetical but the market is real. The hypothetical tenant embodies the actual demand for the…

In development-control decisions, national planning policy requires a reliable assessment of full objectively assessed housing need, including affordable…

Contractual language must be construed in the context of the agreement as a whole and its commercial and factual background. Commercial common sense may assist…

A contractual notice of claim must satisfy the language of the particular notification clause. Where a share purchase agreement requires the claimant to set…

An appellate court considering a professional disciplinary sanction must give appropriate weight to the specialist tribunal’s expertise, particularly on…

Article 17.1 of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 applies only to an application for international protection lodged with the United Kingdom by an asylum seeker who…

The QCB exemption under section 117 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 depends on the statutory language. Sterling means sterling itself, not any…

Where a person with capacity challenges a prohibition on assisted suicide under article 8, the interference requires anxious scrutiny. The court must identify…

In assessing obviousness, the court must consider whether the skilled person would have pursued the proposed modification with a fair expectation of success. A…

A cross-border merger falls within the Companies (Cross-Border Mergers) Regulations 2007 and Directive 2005/56/EC if it satisfies their ordinary express…

A coroner has a wide area of judgment when determining the evidence and witnesses required for an inquest. A decision not to pursue a line of inquiry or call a…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s findings of fact merely because another view is reasonable or possible. The appellant must…

For unmeasured work under the National Minimum Wages Regulations 1999, hours worked are the hours actually spent carrying out contractual duties in the pay…

Certification requiring a deportee to pursue an appeal from abroad is not automatically lawful or unlawful. The court must assess for itself whether removal…

In care and placement proceedings, the court decides whether adoption is required in principle. It should not conduct a contest between prospective adopters…

Procedural fairness does not require a pleaded case to be followed rigidly where the evidence reveals a different case and the opposing party has had a fair…

In reviewing a university fitness-to-practise decision, the court must respect the specialist judgment of the panel and must not substitute its own view merely…

Planning policies must be read in their proper context and with common sense. They are not construed as statutory provisions. A strategic minerals policy and…

For an application for permission to appeal from a decision of the Upper Tribunal in judicial review proceedings, the Tribunal is exercising original…