Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2019

In suspected child-abuse fact-finding, the court must assess the whole body of evidence. It must not compartmentalise causation and perpetration. Evidence…

A financial remedy judgment that is not binding on a non-party does not thereby lose its enforcement value against assets found to be beneficially owned by the…

At a final hearing in care proceedings, once the threshold criteria are satisfied, the court must decide the child’s future by identifying the realistic…

The Points-Based System requires strict compliance with its specified documentary requirements. Fairness does not create an unexpressed residual discretion…

A director who causes a company to make unauthorised payments for no value is ordinarily liable in equitable compensation for the resulting depletion of its…

A special guardianship order is not confined to cases in which a child cannot return to the birth family, and there is no fixed permanence threshold. It is…

For Article 3(a) of the SPC Regulation, a combination product is protected by a basic patent only where the claims relate to the combination necessarily and…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s welfare determination merely because it might attach different weight to the evidence or relevant…

Confidential information obtained covertly or otherwise improperly must not be deployed to support separate claims before the user has established a right to…

Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 36 is a self-contained and highly prescriptive code. An offer to pay or accept a sum of money must comply with rule 36.5 in its…

Property generated by marital endeavour must ordinarily be shared equally. The fact that it is a business asset, or that the parties kept their finances…

A trustee’s right to an indemnity from the trust fund under Trustee Act 2000 depends on whether the expenses were properly incurred and incurred when acting on…

A claim for Francovich damages based on a public authority’s breach of EU-law duties is a private law claim for breach of statutory duty. It is subject to the…

A development benefits from a permitted development right only if the whole development falls within the relevant class and satisfies its exceptions…

At an interim stage, separation of children from a parent under an interim care order is justified only where it is necessary and proportionate. The interim…

A contractual indemnity threshold based on an accruals-based liabilities figure must be compared with liabilities calculated on the same basis. Pre-cut-off…

Obviousness must be assessed by asking how the skilled person would proceed from the prior art, without hindsight. The simplicity or generality of the claimed…

The Valuation Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction to determine a dispute about the amount of council tax payable, including entitlement to a single person…

For employment tribunal time limits, reasonable practicability is assessed liberally in favour of the employee and is not confined to physical impossibility. A…

Article 4(1) of the Judgments Regulation may confer rights on persons domiciled in a Member State, but it was not clear that those rights require a mandatory…

A contract recording an investment programme is not necessarily confined to every structural feature used for its initial implementation. The effect of later…

Under section 31(8) of the Children Act 1989, ordinary residence is decisive where it exists. Where a child has no ordinary residence in a local-authority…

Under paragraph 47 of the National Planning Policy Framework, a housing site is deliverable only if it is available, suitable, achievable and viable.…

A good arguable case that a respondent committed wrongdoing relevant to dissipation points powerfully towards a real risk of dissipation. Significant further…

For whistleblower detriment protection under section 47B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, detriment is confined to the employment field. Its scope…

Under EU Regulation 1215/2012, article 31(2) is a procedural rule. Where there is a prima facie case for an exclusive choice-of-court agreement in favour of a…

A party to litigation does not owe its opponent a common-law duty of care to verify or correct evidence used in the litigation, even where the document…

A licensing authority must allocate costs to the licence category to which they relate. Under section 70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act…

A promise to fund a creditor in any event, independently of the principal debtor’s default, creates an original and primary liability. It is not a guarantee…

Under a structural defects policy, an ambiguous liability cap for a home forming part of a continuous structure must be construed consistently with the…

A statutory industrial-action ballot is not valid merely because members were free to vote and produced an overwhelming majority. Under the Trade Union and…

The public interest in deporting a foreign criminal always favours deportation, but its strength is flexible rather than fixed. A tribunal must assess how…

The Duomatic principle requires informed assent by all shareholders entitled to attend and vote, unless valid delegation makes another person’s assent…

An appeal which has become academic may be determined, particularly in public law, but the discretion is narrow and must be exercised cautiously. The court…

Exercise of commercial rent arrears recovery is, in principle, an unequivocal act affirming the continuation of a commercial lease. It therefore waives a…

An adverse inference from an employer’s failure to produce historic workplace noise surveys is not automatic. Whether an inference should be drawn, and its…

An express common intention constructive trust may arise in a commercial relationship. Where parties expressly agree defined beneficial shares in property to…

A party’s mandatory right to challenge an arbitral award under sections 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 engages the supervisory and public function of…

An operator may seek a code right limited to a preliminary multi-skilled visit (MSV) to assess whether land is suitable for electronic communications…

A restraint order extending to company assets does not appoint the person subject to it as a receiver or confer standing to act for the companies. A…

When deciding whether England is the proper place for multi-defendant litigation, the risk of multiple proceedings and irreconcilable judgments is an important…

The statutory residence requirements for naturalisation prescribe minimum conditions. They do not prevent the Secretary of State from treating earlier breaches…

In a foreign-criminal deportation case, the question under section 117C(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is whether the effect on a…

An appellate court may refuse fresh evidence where it was available at trial without satisfactory explanation, is incomplete or unreliable, or could not affect…

An applicant for a vesting order under section 1017 of the Companies Act 2006 must show that the interest claimed in disclaimed property is sufficient to…

In an unfair-prejudice petition under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006, the petition identifies the grounds and defines the ambit of the case. Points of…

For Exception 1 to foreign-criminal deportation, lawful residence ordinarily depends on the person’s legal status at the relevant time. Tolerated presence, a…

A secure accommodation order under Children Act 1989 section 25 may be made only after the court independently determines all relevant criteria at the date of…

Under section 40(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the Secretary of State must first show that she was satisfied that deprivation would not cause…

A specified introduction fee does not automatically allocate the risk that an introduced purchaser will buy at a lower price. Where an agreement promises a fee…

For a protected disclosure under section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal must separately ask whether the worker believed, when making it…

In an unfair-dismissal appeal, fairness depends on whether the employer acted reasonably in all the circumstances. The appellate court must review the…

A vulnerable party must receive the participation measures necessary to give their best evidence and participate effectively in family proceedings. The court…

Under a pre-judgment freezing order, an individual defendant may ordinarily spend enough to maintain the standard of living genuinely enjoyed before the order.…

A Part 36 offer in a claim governed by the fixed recoverable costs regime is ordinarily construed consistently with that regime. A reference to CPR 36.13 or to…

A respondent to civil committal proceedings is entitled to legal representation, supported by non-means-tested legal aid, where representation is genuinely…

An error in an applicant’s environmental-permit materials does not invalidate the permit unless the regulator adopted it or it materially affected its own…

A review under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 is a fresh reconsideration of the relevant housing decision. Where an applicant has accepted out-of-district…

Interim separation of a child from a parent under section 38 of the Children Act 1989 requires a distinct assessment of necessity and proportionality. The…

In a placement-order appeal, a judge need not recite every item in the statutory welfare checklists. The judgment must identify and analyse the important…

Deleting an alternative from a patent claim does not extend protection where the remaining wording already covers the allegedly new subject matter. A chemical…

Without prejudice privilege protects communications made for a genuine attempt to compromise a dispute. It does not protect the settlement agreement itself.…

Where the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention applies, it supplies the jurisdictional code for measures concerning a child. The English court may not use…

Where legislation requires a sentencing court to specify time spent in custody abroad awaiting extradition, that requirement is a substantive procedural…

A family court may make findings outside a local authority’s pleaded case, but only with caution. Any different finding must be securely founded in the…

An express incidental-powers provision may authorise a statutory body to publish a report explaining an investigation and enforcement decision, even where no…

A defendant does not oppose a Stage 3 claim merely by objecting to late or additional evidence being considered. Mandatory dismissal under paragraph 9.1 of…

Article 30 of the Recast Brussels Regulation does not confer a discretion to stay proceedings or decline jurisdiction merely because related proceedings are…

The test for an “insurmountable obstacle” to partners continuing family life outside the United Kingdom is practical and objective, while taking account of…

In group litigation, a party may not expand its case at trial beyond issues fixed by unappealed case-management rulings and an ordered list of issues. That…

An appellate court should interfere with trial findings only where a critical finding lacks an evidential basis or reflects a demonstrable misunderstanding or…

The court’s inherent jurisdiction to punish contempt extends to a knowingly false witness statement served before proceedings begin in purported compliance…

A follower notice may be issued only where the earlier judicial ruling addresses a legal issue that, if applied to the taxpayer’s chosen arrangements, would…

Future loss of earnings should ordinarily be assessed by the multiplier/multiplicand method, using the best forecast the evidence permits. Uncertainty alone…

Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 permits a new planning permission for the same development as previously permitted, subject to different…

For principal private residence relief under the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, the “period of ownership” does not automatically begin when an…

For the purposes of the definition of a flat in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, a separate set of premises is identified chiefly…

A family court judgment must identify the material findings, explain the analysis supporting them and apply the correct standard of proof. In alleged…

For the purposes of the Senior Courts Act 1981, “judgment” in the restriction on appeals from a criminal cause or matter includes any judicial determination…

Damages for an infringement of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, article 101(1), are compensatory. The claimant must prove a causal loss by…

A local planning authority may include a reasonable proportion of a neighbouring authority’s unmet housing need in its local plan. Assessing that need and…

A difference in treatment engages article 14 only if it is on the ground of a qualifying status. That status cannot be defined entirely by the alleged…

Section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 limits an advance service charge to a reasonable amount. Reasonableness is fact-sensitive and is not governed…

In assessing protection on return, a tribunal must evaluate the inherent probabilities arising from a credible escape from detention. Where detention continued…

Under section 4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the court’s unfettered discretion to permit a late family-provision claim…

On an appeal from a specialist immigration tribunal, the appellate court’s task is to correct legal error, not reweigh facts. A future “real risk” is not a…

Under Civil Procedure Rules r.45.29I(2)(h), an additional disbursement must be caused by a particular feature of the dispute. The relevant features concern…

Under section 117C(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, a historic sentence of at least four years places a foreign criminal in the higher…

A deemed costs order following acceptance of a Part 36 offer is an order of the court for the purposes of CPR r 44.2(8). The jurisdiction to order a reasonable…

When equitable interest is awarded against a defaulting trustee or a knowing recipient liable to account as a constructive trustee, the court has a wide…

Finality is important in care proceedings, but a court reconsidering whether to reopen a factual finding must assess all relevant material. It should not…

An appellate court should interfere with a case-management decision only where the decision falls outside the generous ambit of discretion because of a…

In a points-based immigration scheme, a rule excluding jobs in an establishment which provides a take-away service covers a restaurant offering both table…

When deciding whether a homeless applicant is vulnerable under section 189(1)(c) of the Housing Act 1996, the authority must compare the applicant, if…

In an asylum claim based on draft evasion, a tribunal must engage satisfactorily with material and up-to-date country evidence about the military service…

Under the Electronic Communications Code, a new operator can obtain code rights only from the occupier for the time being. Occupation is a factual question. It…

Legal advice about applying a genuine redundancy exercise to an employee who has brought discrimination proceedings remains privileged where it gives…

Where proceedings contain both a claim for damages for personal injury and a claim for another type of loss, the mixed-claim exception in rule 44.16(2)(b) of…

Committal proceedings are criminal in nature and distinct from the underlying civil proceedings. A respondent who wants legal representation is entitled to…

For claims based on religion or belief, the asserted belief must be identified precisely. A dispute over the wording or interpretation of an employment…

A taxpayer must use the statutory appeal procedure provided for challenging an HMRC decision. Ordinary civil proceedings seeking substantially the same result…

Where a child in local-authority care does not consent to living outside England and Wales, the court cannot approve placement in a residential home under…

A statutory time limit preventing an employment tribunal from considering a complaint after a specified period is a period of limitation, even where it is…

An expert’s jurisdiction is determined by the parties’ contract. A provision requiring an expert to value property by applying specified contractual criteria…

Article 6(1) of the Lugano Convention permits a sustainable claim against an anchor defendant to found jurisdiction over a closely connected claim against a…

On an application to extend a general civil restraint order, the court must decide whether extension remains appropriate in light of the need to protect…

A person admitted under a family reunion policy does not become a refugee within Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention merely because a family member is a…

In care proceedings, a judge is not confined to a binary choice between discharging a care order and permitting immediate removal where the evidence is…

When considering cessation of refugee status under Article 1C(5) of the Refugee Convention 1951, the decision-maker must examine broadly the circumstances…

A court may exercise case-management powers to entertain an oral application or, in an appropriate case, deem an application made. But a party must have a fair…

Under section 136 of the Equality Act 2010, a claimant must establish facts from which a reasonable tribunal could conclude that discrimination occurred. Mere…

A patent claim is not insufficient merely because its boundary involves questions of degree. Insufficiency arises where, after applying the available…

Joint authorship requires collaboration pursuant to a common design, authorial contributions sufficient to express each contributor’s own intellectual…

Paragraph 198 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2012 reflects, but neither enlarges, the statutory presumption in favour of the development plan as a…

When deciding whether to make a definitive map modification order under section 53(3)(c)(i) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, a surveying authority…

For an application under paragraph 21 of the Statement of Immigration Rules for Control after Entry (HC510) to establish a business under the Turkish ECAA, an…

Whether disciplinary allegations against a doctor involve professional conduct is a question of law for the court, not the employer. The defining connection is…

Breakdown of mutual trust and confidence in a quasi-partnership company is relevant to a just and equitable winding-up petition, but it is not decisive by…

A services concession requires a contracting authority to entrust an economic operator with services connected to the authority’s public obligations or…

A bank’s Quincecare duty is an incident of its obligation to exercise reasonable skill and care. When reasonable grounds indicate that an authorised payment…

Permission to amend grounds of appeal may properly be granted to raise an important point of law, even where the proposed amendment departs from a concession…

In an Article 8 family-life case outside the Immigration Rules, the court must strike a fair balance on the individual facts. Practical feasibility of…

A court should not make final care orders while the children’s long-term placement remains unknown and material issues requiring judicial determination remain…

A local authority must provide a personal budget sufficient to meet an adult’s eligible care and support needs. The budget must identify the authority’s cost…

A domestic tax regime is a restriction on the free movement of capital if it is liable to discourage investment or participation in comparable cross-border…

Indemnity costs require conduct or circumstances taking the case out of the norm. A long-delayed claim based on an alleged oral agreement may satisfy that…

Legal advice privilege attaches when a lawyer-client communication is made for the purpose of giving or receiving legal advice, otherwise than for an…

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, a non-trivial loss of control over personal data can constitute compensable damage without proof of pecuniary loss or…

Proceedings under the Human Rights Act 1998 concerning a judicial act must ordinarily be brought by appeal or, where available, judicial review. Section…

An application to extend time for appealing a committal order is governed by the three-stage approach applicable to relief from sanctions. The court assesses…

An adjournment of a final decision in children proceedings is a positive and purposeful decision. The court must weigh the need for further information against…

Under section 111(2) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, “expenses incurred by or on behalf of” a person are not simply all money…

A statutory power to license wildlife control for disease prevention does not require a prescribed scientific study or certainty of outcome unless Parliament…

When a court receives a serious allegation that a prisoner faces a threat to physical safety, it must take the allegation seriously under Articles 2 and 3 of…

Adoption remains an option of last resort, but the child’s timetable is central. A court considering a non-consensual placement order must have proper evidence…

Under regulation 40(7)(ii) of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010, retained parts of a relevant building may be deducted when the intended use…

A planning decision-maker assessing a development’s effect on local air quality must determine the evidence before them. They need not predict the content…

Habeas corpus is a remedy for unlawful detention, not an alternative appeal against conviction or sentence. Where a person has received a fair trial and has…

Committal proceedings for contempt require strict compliance with procedural safeguards. The alleged contemnor must receive proper notice of the application…

A construction-contract milestone expressed to be payable on sign-off may provide an adequate payment mechanism under section 110 of the Housing Grants…

The Court of Appeal may reopen a final determination under rule 52.30 only where reopening is necessary to avoid real injustice, exceptional circumstances make…

A public spaces protection order may protect occasional visitors as well as residents, workers and regular visitors. Whether a person is among “those in the…

In financial remedy proceedings involving serious non-disclosure, the court should seek to determine the non-discloser’s resources and may draw properly…

The Family Court has power under section 31F(6) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 to reconsider material findings of fact, including after the…

The duty under section 1(1) of the Defective Premises Act 1972 applies to persons whose work positively contributes to the creation of a dwelling. It may cover…

Rule 50 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 permits necessary restrictions, including anonymisation and…

An appellate court may allow an appeal and order a retrial where the trial judgment does not demonstrate that the critical issues and evidence were properly…

In judicial review of health-service reconfiguration, a decision-maker with broad statutory discretion must take reasonable steps to acquaint itself with…

Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 3.1(2)(m) empowers the court to order an Early Neutral Evaluation without the parties’ consent. No consensual limitation…

A statutory homelessness appeal under section 204 of the Housing Act 1996 is not a claim for judicial review within the exception in section 113(3)(a) of the…

A public authority may lawfully adopt a policy to guide the exercise of a statutory discretion, provided that the policy is construed as a whole and does not…

On an interlocutory application to restrain industrial action, the court assesses whether the union is more likely than not to establish the statutory immunity…

A request for a statutory review of accommodation suitability must be made within 21 days under section 202(3) of the Housing Act 1996, unless the authority…

An authorised person’s liability for an appointed representative under section 39(3) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 is co-extensive with the…

Statutory provisions penalising an employer for employing a person without the requisite immigration status do not, without a clear and necessary implication…

A notice of enquiry under section 9A of the Taxes Management Act 1970 must be given in accordance with the authority actually conferred on a taxpayer’s agent.…

A unilateral contractual notice is construed objectively. The question is how a reasonable recipient, with the admissible factual context, would understand the…

Disclosure of material from private family proceedings to the police is governed by the flexible balancing exercise in Re C. Disclosure should be ordered only…

A written contract may be rectified for common mistake where it fails to record the parties’ actual common intention at execution. Where there is no prior…

Under paragraph 322(1A) of the Immigration Rules, refusal based on a false document does not require proof that the applicant knew of its falsity or that the…

An injunction must be construed according to its terms. A prohibition on informing a claimant’s employee, servant, agent or visitor that access will not be…

Nationally agreed contractual terms governing junior doctors’ pay and working conditions must be interpreted uniformly across NHS Trusts. Local monitoring…

In care proceedings involving a serious injury to a child, the court must investigate each objectively realistic explanation on its merits and assess the…

Section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 permits a local planning authority to make a non-material change to the planning-permission package. That…

An earlier immigration determination is the starting point for a later tribunal and is authoritative as to the appellant’s status when made. It is not binding…

A fact-finding hearing in care proceedings is a discretionary case-management decision. The court must decide whether it is necessary and proportionate on the…

An academic appeal should be entertained only sparingly. The criteria identified in Hutcheson v Popdog Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 1580 are a gateway to discretion…

Permission to bring a claim outside the six-month period under section 4 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 requires an…

National excise measures implementing EU legislation may be subject to the stringent less-restrictive-alternative test where they discriminate in effect or…

A refugee’s status may cease where internal relocation has become reasonable, even if the relevant change affects only part of the country of origin. The…

A breach of the public sector equality duty does not automatically invalidate a decision or confine the court to narrow categories in which relief may be…

An appellate court has a discretion to permit a new point on appeal. There is no general requirement for exceptional circumstances. The court must exercise…

Under the former appeal regime, a refusal to vary leave was an immigration decision only if the refusal left the applicant without leave. It did not do so…

On an application for permission to appeal from an Upper Tribunal decision concerning judicial review, the Court of Appeal considers only whether the Upper…

Ground 15A of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985 contains a genuine time limit for possession proceedings following succession to an overcrowded tenancy. A…

In taxation proceedings, an application for an interim remedy is judged by its substance, not its description. A provisional order requiring HMRC to pay money…

Under paragraph 323A(a)(ii) of the Immigration Rules, curtailment of a Tier 4 migrant’s leave is mandatory where the migrant fails to commence study with the…

A previous planning permission for the same land may remain a material consideration because consistency in decision-making serves the public interest, even…

Contractual wording must be construed objectively in its documentary, factual and commercial context. Commercial common sense cannot override clear language. A…

Future payments under an income payments order are subject to the broad insolvency rules on provable debts. Where a later bankruptcy begins after discharge…

In family proceedings, an order which is silent as to costs does not remove the court’s jurisdiction to make a later costs order. The rule that no party is…

The court’s broad and flexible jurisdiction to grant declaratory relief is governed by discretion. The court must first ask whether the declaration would serve…

The supplied judgment text contains the court’s order but no reasons or propositions of law. The appeal was dismissed.

A foreign criminal’s deportation may remain conducive to the public good even where a legal obstacle temporarily prevents deportation. A prior tribunal…

A survivor-benefit scheme which extends protection to unmarried partners in stable, exclusive and financially dependent relationships must not impose an…

Article 1F(a) exclusion under the Refugee Convention requires serious reasons supported by clear and credible or strong evidence, and a close, detailed and…

A reasonable block-rated after-the-event insurance premium recoverable in a clinical negligence claim is not assessed by reference to the facts, value or…

A stay of a judgment pending appeal is exceptional. The starting point is that a successful party should ordinarily receive the benefit of the first-instance…

At the permission stage, an appeal ground may proceed where it has a real prospect of success. A borderline issue may also be considered where the appeal will…

A fiduciary must disgorge an unauthorised profit received within the scope of the fiduciary duty. Liability does not depend on proof that the principal…

A written variation satisfying a contractual requirement for writing and signature may use an expression whose meaning requires extrinsic evidence. Evidence of…

In a fact-finding appeal, a court must not infer inflicted injury merely because no understood medical explanation has been identified. The local authority…

Mentally ill immigration detainees must have a meaningful opportunity to participate in decisions concerning detention, segregation and transfer to hospital.…

A medical disciplinary tribunal has no general duty to adjourn before sanction, or to seek further representations, from a registrant who has voluntarily…

An English court retains its power under section 37 to restrain a foreign-seated arbitration where its pursuit is vexatious and oppressive. Neither the…

The tort of causing loss by unlawful means requires the defendant’s wrongful conduct towards a third party to interfere with that third party’s liberty to deal…

When a pregnant woman lacks capacity, doctors must first determine whether the Abortion Act 1967 permits termination. The Court of Protection must then decide…

When applying Exception 2, the court must assess the actual effect of deportation on the qualifying child or partner. The question is whether the resulting…

Agency Workers Regulations 2010, regulation 6(1)(b), does not give a qualifying agency worker a right to receive the same contractual weekly hours as a…

For an assured shorthold tenancy granted by a private registered provider of social housing for a fixed term of at least two years, the six-month notice…

Whether a contractual term is a condition or an innominate term is a question of construction. A term is a condition only where the parties’ intention to give…

Article 27(2) of the Citizens Directive permits initial administrative detention of an EEA national in urgent public-security circumstances where the decision…

On an appeal to the Upper Tribunal, admission of evidence not placed before the First-tier Tribunal remains discretionary. The Upper Tribunal may consider…

Statutory time limits for challenging neighbourhood plans form a complete, staged code. A challenge to a local planning authority’s consideration of an…

In children proceedings, the normal expectation is that each party bears their own costs. A departure is justified where a party’s conduct is unreasonable or…

In medical-removal cases, the domestic article 3 threshold remains that established in N until the Supreme Court changes it. The wider approach in Paposhvili…

In a partly successful judicial review, costs must reflect the reality that more than one party may have succeeded. The court should consider the importance…

Professional regulation may protect public confidence and ensure that service users reasonably expect dignified and non-discriminatory treatment. It cannot…

A temporary break in a significant caregiving relationship does not prevent a court from making threshold findings about significant harm. Appellate…

Under rule 7 of the Crichel Down rules, a voluntary transfer of land is assumed to have been made under threat of compulsory acquisition where the acquiring…

Where alleged group disadvantage concerns a continuum of pay rather than a binary benefit, particular disadvantage under the Equality Act 2010 must be assessed…

Section 12(1) of the State Immunity Act 1978 requires diplomatic service only of a document required to be served for instituting proceedings against a foreign…

In public law children proceedings, robust case management cannot override procedural fairness. A final care or placement order should not ordinarily be made…

A tribunal may examine passport retention when it may have caused a later refusal of leave to remain. Under Rule 322(9) of the Immigration Rules, refusal for…

Forbearance from advancing a claim or defence can constitute consideration for a compromise even if the contention is later held to have no real prospect of…

An application to set aside an order extending time for service, where that order was obtained without notice, is determined by rehearing rather than review.…

An exceptions clause excuses contractual non-performance only on the conditions established by its language, read in its contractual context. A clause…

A charity may restrict benefits to persons sharing a protected characteristic under section 193(2)(b) of the Equality Act 2010 where its purpose is to prevent…

The EU annulment form of res judicata has absolute, erga omnes effect, but only as to the operative part and the ratio decidendi inseparable from it and…

The Upper Tribunal may set aside and remake a First-tier Tribunal decision only for an error of law. It cannot intervene merely because it disagrees with the…

When a primary care trust is dissolved and its performers lists are reorganised, the transition scheme must be construed to avoid a gap in lawful allocation. A…

For the purposes of regulation B13(5) of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, “bedroom” is construed objectively in its statutory context and in light of the…

The requirements in paragraph 276B of the Immigration Rules are separate and freestanding. Paragraph 276B(v), read with paragraph 39E, may disregard specified…

Direct discrimination under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010 includes discrimination because of a perceived disability. The discriminator must perceive an…

In civil contempt proceedings, a committal order should be served in accordance with Rule 81.30 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. However, failure to serve it…

An employment tribunal’s order for reinstatement or re-engagement under Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996 does not create an absolute, specifically…

For the purposes of regulation 3(3)(a) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, a “sentence of imprisonment” includes every form of…

A financial support direction under Pensions Act 2004 section 43 may be based on events occurring before that provision commenced. Its limited retrospective…

An assessment of whether arms exports present a clear risk of use in serious violations of international humanitarian law must rationally address the…

For certification as clearly unfounded, an asylum claim must be assessed at its highest by considering the case actually advanced, including the claimant’s…

Where judicial review proceedings are brought to obtain interim protection needed to preserve a business pending a statutory appeal or review, obtaining that…

For a sponsored employment application, a genuine vacancy must exist in practice with the duties, hours and duration stated by the sponsor, and its duties must…

The 1980 Convention applies only where a removal or retention is wrongful, requiring a breach of custody rights. A parent’s unilateral decision to remain…

In deciding whether an operator is of good repute, a traffic commissioner must consider all relevant evidence. Conduct need not be unlawful, nor directly…

The representations procedure under section 222 of the Finance Act 2014 is ordinarily the taxpayer’s primary recourse against an accelerated payment notice.…

The Upper Tribunal may set aside a permission decision made without hearing a party who was entitled to be heard, where the absence resulted from mistake, and…

Under Class A of Part 16 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, a “mast” is an upright pole or…

Refusal of permission for judicial or statutory review does not by itself limit recoverable costs to one defendant or interested party. A claimant may be…

In a detailed, professionally drafted commercial contract, the court ascertains objective meaning from the language, contractual context and commercial…

Under rule 10(1)(b) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Tax Chamber) Rules 2009, the relevant conduct of a respondent begins with the proceedings…

Section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 targets offers whose sole or main purpose is to secure the permanent removal of…

Retrospective validation of defective service under CPR r 6.15 depends upon a fact-sensitive assessment of whether there is good reason in all the…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years’ imprisonment, section 117C(6) requires deportation unless there are very compelling circumstances over…

A power of appointment in a settlement must be construed with the default trusts to which it refers. The trusts may be modified only to the extent necessary to…

A final judgment entered on a small-claims hearing may be set aside under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 where the applicant was absent and unrepresented and…

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, capacity is decision-specific and is assessed functionally by reference to information relevant to the particular decision.…

In linked asylum claims by different family members arising from the same factual matrix, the earlier determination is the starting point under the Devaseelan…

Holiday pay under a collective agreement is not confined to basic pay where the agreement provides for the pay the employee would have received at work.…

Whether a defamatory statement is fact or opinion under section 3(2) of the Defamation Act 2013 depends on how the ordinary reasonable reader would understand…

The reasonableness of an offer to purchase a minority shareholding is a fact-sensitive part of the overall assessment of unfair prejudice. No single feature is…

Section 8(4) of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 requires an assessment of whether a claimant failed to take advantage of an…

Articles 3 and 10 of Directive 2009/103/EC require a member state to secure compulsory motor insurance, and a compensatory backstop, for civil liability…

Statutory maternity leave is not predominantly childcare leave after the compulsory two-week period. Its purposes include protecting the mother’s health and…

On an application for a Norwich Pharmacal order, the normal costs starting point is that the applicant pays the respondent’s reasonable costs of the…

A draft judgment permits correction of errors and, exceptionally, requests concerning a material omission, genuine ambiguity, lack of reasons or deficiency in…

A person may be included in a pool of possible perpetrators only where the evidence positively establishes a real possibility that they caused the injury.…

An academic appeal should be entertained only exceptionally. It must raise a point of general importance, cause no inappropriate prejudice to the respondent…

An environmental impact assessment for development producing substantial quantities of manure must meaningfully assess the likely indirect effects of odour and…

Under article 8 of the Qualification Directive, internal relocation requires a holistic assessment of whether the particular applicant can reasonably be…

The jurisdiction to reopen a refusal of permission to appeal under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 52.30 is exceptional and tightly confined. It requires a…

Whether expenditure is in the ordinary and proper course of a company’s business is an objective, fact-sensitive mixed question of fact and law. “Ordinary” and…

In proprietary estoppel, the remedy must be proportionate to the claimant’s detriment, but proportionality is evaluated through a flexible judgment rather than…

An initial immigration age assessment may legitimately depend on appearance and demeanour where objective evidence and a full assessment are unavailable.…

An order under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 significantly interferes with access to justice. Before making one, the court must ensure that affected…

A judicial review challenge to a decision to discontinue ongoing criminal proceedings concerns a criminal cause or matter. Its public-law form and the fact…

For VAT, a payment for parking is consideration where the contract makes parking available in return for the amount actually inserted and accepted by the…

For the public-interest defence under the Defamation Act 2013, the article must be examined as published, including its context, timing, tone and seriousness.…

Permission to bring committal proceedings for a knowingly false statement verified by a statement of truth depends ultimately on whether proceedings are in the…

A person liable to deportation may establish that continued immigration “limbo” breaches article 8 where there is no realistic prospect of deportation within a…

The VAT land exemption applies to a relatively passive supply of premises. An upfront fractional interest can confer a sufficient right to occupy despite a…

In a supervisory appeal against refusal of alcohol-wholesaler approval, disclosure must be directed to the issues defined by the refusal reasons, the grounds…

A development plan document identifies land for potential development where its policies identify the land, whether individually or as part of a wider defined…

For state pension credit, “income” and “income withdrawal” in the rules governing notional retirement pension income are technical statutory concepts. They…

Under Brussels Recast, a claim relates to an individual contract of employment when, in reality and substance, there is a material nexus with that contract. An…

A discovery assessment is valid only if an officer newly concludes that an assessment is insufficient. A new reason for challenging an insufficiency, or a…

An appellate court should not replace a trial judge’s determination of a defamatory statement’s single meaning merely because it prefers another reasonably…

What fairness requires for a disabled or vulnerable party in an employment tribunal depends on the circumstances. There is no mandatory requirement for a…

Economic duress may arise from lawful pressure, but in commercial dealings it does not extend to lawful acts or threats used to pursue a result which the…

An obligation to use reasonable endeavours is a positive obligation to take reasonable steps to achieve the specified outcome as soon as reasonably…

Direct disability discrimination requires a comparison with a person who does not have the claimant’s particular disability but who shares the claimant’s…

In an unfair-dismissal claim based on misconduct, fairness depends on whether the employer reasonably treated the misconduct as sufficient for dismissal under…

An appellate court may disturb a trial judge’s factual findings only where there was no supporting evidence or the finding was one no reasonable judge could…

An exclusive jurisdiction clause in a warranties agreement may govern substantive warranty disputes and connected non-contractual claims, notwithstanding an…

A notification clause in a claims-made policy may cover a broadly described and unresolved problem. The insured must know of the problem notified, but need not…

At an inquest where suicide is in issue, the standard of proof is the civil standard: whether suicide is more probable than not. That standard applies…

Retrospective effect given to pension-scheme rules does not, without more, validate an earlier purported exercise of a power that failed for non-compliance…

The classification provisions in Directive 2001/83/EC do not expressly or impliedly require every supply of a prescription only medicine to be made pursuant to…

Rule 52.5 of the Civil Procedure Rules lawfully removed an automatic right to renew a paper refusal of permission to appeal orally. It preserved a judicial…

The co-worker whistleblowing protections in Employment Rights Act 1996 sections 47B(1A) and 48(1A) have implied territorial limits. Where the alleged detriment…

Rectification may be granted where the parties’ communications, viewed objectively and as a whole, establish a continuing common intention which the executed…

In fact-finding care proceedings, an appellate court must assess whether the trial judge’s conclusions reflect the expert evidence and the totality of the…

An adjournment to obtain an OASys report is not required in every deportation appeal. The question is whether refusal was unfair, assessed in context and on…

Where interlinked commercial contracts contain different exclusive jurisdiction clauses, construction starts from the likelihood that each clause governs…

Under Rule 40 of the Detention Centre Rules 2001, removal from association requires necessity in the interests of safety or security. In a contracted-out…

A Part 36 offer may settle an existing claim together with a proposed counterclaim which has not yet been pleaded. A counterclaim is treated as a separate…

An English-law ISDA Credit Support Annex must be construed objectively and as a whole through a unitary and iterative exercise. The language, drafting quality…

An appeal against refusal of visitor entry clearance became academic after a fresh decision granted the visa and the passport was available for collection. The…

For a follower notice, Finance Act 2014, section 205(3)(b), treats the principles laid down and reasoning given in an earlier ruling as alternative bases. HMRC…

In care proceedings, the court decides whether an order is necessary and makes the welfare evaluation; the local authority retains responsibility for the care…

Recognition of an overseas divorce under the Family Law Act 1986 has a wide threshold, but recognition may be refused on the statutory grounds, including a…

A judicial review challenge to planning permission must be brought promptly. A very lengthy extension will be justified only in the most exceptional…

An equal pay claim founded on a statutory equality clause can constitute arrears of pay under Part XII of the Employment Rights Act 1996, even where the claim…

Under the Points Based System, an investment by a company director which creates a debt repayable by the company is a director’s loan for the purposes of the…

A liability insurer settling an unallocated mesothelioma claim arising across several annual policies must present its outward reinsurance claims by reference…

A finding that a parent failed to protect a child is itself a threshold finding under the Children Act 1989. It requires careful, evidence-based analysis of…

Employers exposed to excessive workplace noise must reduce the risk at source and, where the upper exposure action value is likely to be exceeded, use all…

Care proceedings should not be summarily dismissed where the evidence raises a live and unassessed risk of significant harm to children. The threshold under…

Under Brussels IIa, the key lis pendens question is whether proceedings relating to divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment remain pending…

A residence requirement for access or priority within a social housing allocation scheme may indirectly discriminate where a materially higher proportion of a…

In proceedings concerning children, the starting point remains no order as to costs, whether at first instance or on appeal. A costs order requires unusual or…

Editorial discretion cannot make an interference with privacy lawful unless publication can be justified logically and rationally by the public interest…

Regulation 32(2) of the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 is a consensual and facilitative mechanism. It permits a police pension authority and a…

At certification of opt-out collective proceedings, the proposed representative need show that the claims have a real prospect of success. The expert…

An earnings discrepancy does not itself prove dishonesty for the purposes of paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Rules. The Secretary of State must establish…

The Hague Child Abduction Convention 1980 may apply where a child habitually resident in a Contracting State is wrongfully removed to, or wrongfully retained…

Development-plan policies must be interpreted objectively, in their full textual and policy context. Although individual policies may be expressed…

The Brussels jurisdiction regime does not prevent an English court from staying a claim in favour of Scotland. Both are courts of the same Member State, and a…

A statutory limit restricting child-related tax credit and universal credit to two children neither interferes with rights under articles 8 and 12 nor imposes…

Section 117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 applies whenever its stated conditions are met. Its application does not depend on a…

For the purposes of the Insolvency Act 1986, unpaid non-contractual barristers’ fees are capable of being property which vests in a trustee in bankruptcy. The…

A statutory public consultation is lawful if, in its particular statutory and factual context, it affords consultees a fair and effective opportunity to…

Dishonest assistance requires a court first to determine the defendant’s actual knowledge, beliefs and relevant suspicions, including any blind-eye knowledge.…

After the prescribed period in paragraph 391(a) of the Immigration Rules has expired, there is no presumption in favour of revocation and no presumption in…

Sentencing for contempt arising from deliberate breach of a freezing order must protect the administration of justice while imposing the shortest necessary…

A representee seeking rescission for fraudulent misrepresentation bears the legal burden of proving inducement. A material fraudulent representation intended…

A confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 creates no proprietary interest in a defendant’s assets and gives the Crown no priority over existing…

A derivative right of residence for the adult primary carer of a British citizen arises only exceptionally. Under Immigration (European Economic Area)…

Informed-consent causation remains conventional: a claimant must show that adequate disclosure would have changed the treatment decision. The counterfactual is…

In a compulsory-purchase compensation reference, the Upper Tribunal’s costs discretion is broad and fact-sensitive. The successful party is identified…

An appellate court should rarely interfere with a trial judge’s primary findings of fact, especially where they depend on credibility assessments. Intervention…

A possible-perpetrator pool is a narrow exception to ordinary fact-finding. It may assist with the attributable-condition threshold only where significant harm…

A restored surviving spouse’s pension remains an award under article 23 of the Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions…

A debtor may appropriate a payment by implication where the circumstances known to both parties objectively make the intended allocation clear. An express…

A persistent offender is a person whose entire offending history shows repeated criminal conduct over a sufficiently long period to indicate that the person…

A criminal VAT penalty may be imposed where Value Added Tax Act 1994, section 60, clearly covers a dishonest act done to evade VAT by claiming a VAT credit to…

Following an unappealed tribunal decision granting indefinite leave to remain, the Secretary of State may reopen the matter on discovering fresh evidence of…

In private-law children proceedings, welfare remains paramount. The statutory presumption that parental involvement furthers welfare is strong but not…

A professionally drafted conveyance expressed as a covenant to maintain boundary fences remains a covenant unless, read objectively in context, it grants an…

For the presumptions in CPR 46.9(3)(a) and (b) to arise, a client’s approval of a success fee and its amount must be informed approval. A solicitor relying on…

Courts may grant quia timet injunctions against persons unknown who fall within the defendants’ description only upon committing a prohibited tort. Effective…

An appellate court has no jurisdiction over an appeal from the Upper Tribunal unless it is the relevant appellate court specified by the Upper Tribunal under…

In a financial remedy appeal, the starting point is a public hearing under the Civil Procedure Rules. Anonymity and substantial reporting restrictions are…

On a standard-basis assessment, a claimant is not automatically barred from recovering VAT included in a paid invoice merely because the supplier may have…

A contractual provision deeming a reduction of more than 3% in room size to be material identifies a breach. It does not deem the resulting breach itself…

When deciding whether to continue an interim care order that separates a child from a parent, the court must undertake a genuine proportionality assessment. It…

A contractual obligation to make periodic escrow payments remains enforceable when a missed payment increases the amount due on a later payment date. Language…

When sentencing for contempt involving breach of a court order, the court should assess culpability and the harm caused, intended or likely. It must then…

On intervention in a solicitor’s practice, the statutory trust covers money actually held by or on behalf of the solicitor at the intervention, together with…

A second action advancing the same claim may be an abuse of process where the claimant deliberately allowed the first action to be struck out for…

Under the Immigration Rules, advertising or marketing material need not itself show that it was published locally or nationally. It must be material that has…

In discrimination proceedings, facts capable of supporting a finding of discrimination can shift the burden under Equality Act 2010, section 136. A tribunal…

Under the Bolam test, a disparate range of clinical practice does not prevent a court finding that a particular practice fell below the reasonable standard. In…

A homelessness applicant who could have challenged a review decision through the statutory review and appeal process cannot ordinarily attack that decision in…

Article 11 permits a member state to implement VAT grouping by treating the representative member as the single taxable person for the group’s businesses. That…

For the mandatory lis pendens rule in article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, the phrase “same cause of action” has an autonomous European meaning. The…

Where a cause of action arises because a specified deadline expires at midnight, it arises at that midnight, not in a moment afterwards. The ordinary rule…

Cause of action estoppel does not bar fresh possession proceedings merely because an earlier possession order remains undischarged. The question is whether the…

For a company to be a managed service company provider under the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, its business need not promote or facilitate the…

A person who physically holds or delivers excise goods may be liable for duty without knowing that duty is unpaid, if the applicable EU and domestic provisions…

Abuse of process is fact-sensitive. A later claim may be abusive where it should have been raised in earlier proceedings, particularly where it seeks to revive…

A false statement made without an honest belief in its truth in a document verified by a statement of truth is always a serious contempt. Deliberate or…

An employer may not withhold salary during an interim, non-terminatory regulatory suspension unless the employment contract, an implied term, or established…

A declaration that fast-track asylum rules are unlawful does not, without more, invalidate tribunal decisions made under those rules or make detention…

An English court may order inspection of documents even where compliance would breach foreign criminal law. Disclosure and inspection are governed by the lex…

In a county court claim to forfeit a lease for non-payment of rent, a “trial” within section 138 of the County Courts Act 1984 includes any proceeding which…

A new cause of action introduced after expiry of the limitation period may relate back only if it arises from the same or substantially the same facts as are…

Article IV rule 2(b) of the Hague-Visby Rules exempts the carrier from liability for loss caused by fire however started, including deliberately or…

An interim springboard injunction may restrain business activity which exploits an allegedly unlawful competitive advantage. Except where the interval before…

In passing off, goodwill in a trading name ordinarily vests in the person who is the actual source of the services, even where a related company’s website…

Receipt for an administrative review is not confined to physical possession of the decision. Under the Immigration Rules, it includes receipt at the…

For VAT input-tax recovery, legal services may be supplied to a company where the evidence establishes a joint retainer with its director, even if invoices are…

Under section 245 of the Insolvency Act 1986, a floating charge created during the relevant period is valid only to the value of new money, goods or services…

Guidance issued under section 29 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 may address non-violent extremism only where it creates a risk of drawing…

When assessing whether a child’s removal is reasonable, the decision-maker must assess the circumstances in the real world. Where parents have no independent…

On an application for leave to oppose an adoption order under the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the court must first decide whether circumstances have…

In an Article 8 immigration appeal, a decision refusing leave outside the Immigration Rules need not reproduce a step-by-step proportionality analysis. It is…

Under the Immigration Rules, an application route is characterised by how the application form is submitted. A process requiring the completed form to be…

“Removal from association” under rules 45 and 46 of the Prison Rules means removal from all association with other prisoners. It does not mean removal from…

A valid lease transfers the immediate legal right to possession of an unoccupied hereditament and therefore transfers liability for national non-domestic rates…

An appellate court will generally refuse a new point which was not raised below if it would require fresh evidence or would have caused the trial evidence to…

An order requiring a child and the parent caring for that child to move to a third state, without an existing agreement or arrangement to live there, may…

Journalistic sources always attract a high level of protection. Disclosure may be required only where a competing interest of high public importance makes it…

A cross-undertaking in damages is a voluntary promise offered as the price of interim injunctive relief. The court cannot compel such an undertaking or vary…

A contractual payment mechanism linked to a purchase price cannot require payment of an unknown sum unless the agreement clearly provides for that result.…

Substantive residence rights under Directive 2004/38/EC belong to family members within article 2(2). A durable partner within article 3(2) is an extended…

For non-contributory social-security benefits claimed by an EU national recently arriving in the UK, a Member State may impose a proportionate requirement of a…

An apparently binding and unconditional written commercial agreement is effective unless the party alleging an extrinsic condition precedent proves both that…

In an Ahmadi asylum claim, the decision-maker must determine how the claimant would behave on return. If the claimant would avoid religious conduct which would…

A contractual non-compete restriction in a non-disclosure agreement must be construed objectively, using admissible factual background, but its validity is…

An employer’s suspension of an employee pending investigation can breach the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. The governing question is whether the…

Where the standard rest-break entitlement is excluded or modified, compensatory rest under regulation 24(a) need not replicate a regulation 12 break.…

In an equal pay claim, an employer relying on a material factor defence must prove, with sufficiently cogent and particularised evidence, that the factor…

An express order-of-precedence clause governs conflicts between payment provisions in a substantial contract. The operation of liquidated damages after…

On a restricted appeal from an ancillary decision, the tribunal may intervene only where the decision-maker could not reasonably have reached the decision. A…

A court should not treat an advisory referendum as a binding election or import statutory consequences which Parliament has not provided. Where Parliament has…

A payment instruction identifying the customer to be credited does not, without more, create an express or Quistclose trust. A Quistclose trust requires…

Habitual residence for a return application under the Hague Child Abduction Convention 1980 must be assessed at the date of wrongful retention. Repudiatory…

An extended civil restraint order requires at least three totally without merit claims or applications, but that numerical minimum does not alone establish…

For Article 8, family life is a binary question: it either exists or it does not. A tribunal must not impose an additional threshold of “sufficient” family…

Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 extends leave only where the applicant already has limited leave capable of extension. If that underlying leave has…

An insurer’s declaration made to the best of the insured’s knowledge and belief imports honesty, not an objective warranty that every answer is correct. A…

A statutory scheme requiring High Court leave before an enforcement-notice appeal can proceed does not, without an express further right, permit the Court of…

A claim may be certified as clearly unfounded only where it is rationally assessed as bound to fail. The threshold is high and requires appropriately intensive…

Article 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights does not apply, save perhaps in unusual circumstances, when a determinate-sentence prisoner is recalled…

On an appeal under section 40A(6) of the Medical Act 1983, the court may remit the matter to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal with directions while leaving…

Section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 requires a fact-sensitive assessment of whether the landlord took reasonable care to keep persons affected by…

Whether an ordinary-course-of-business exception should be included in a post-judgment freezing injunction depends on all the circumstances. Such an exception…

In an EEA deportation appeal, enhanced protection under regulation 21(4) is a legal categorisation based on an evaluative assessment of integration.…

Under TUPE 2006, a dismissal may be automatically unfair where the transfer is the sole or principal reason, even though a personal difficulty explains why a…

Rule 42 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 permits the Upper Tribunal to correct a clerical mistake or accidental slip or omission in its…

Under the Dublin III Regulation, objective criteria for believing that an applicant may abscond form a binding framework of predetermined limits. They need not…

Allegations of child sexual abuse in family proceedings are determined by the unqualified civil standard: the simple balance of probabilities. The allegation’s…

Permission to amend requires a claim with a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. The claim must be more than merely arguable and supported by…

Under a conveyance made pursuant to section 2 of the School Sites Act 1841, the statutory purposes selected in the grant determine how long the grant lasts.…

An appellate court will rarely interfere with a trial judge’s findings of primary fact. Intervention is justified only where the finding is unsupported by…

Country guidance must be the starting point for assessing risk on return and should be followed unless very strong grounds, supported by cogent and reliable…

Regulation 5(1) of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 gives an agency worker a substantive right to receive equalised basic working and employment conditions…

An inferior court or tribunal which takes no active part in judicial review proceedings is ordinarily immune from a costs order unless it acted improperly or…

When deciding whether to relax automatic reporting restrictions in family proceedings or impose additional restrictions, the court must give reasons, consider…

Under article 101 TFEU and the Competition Act 1998, an exchange of commercially sensitive pricing information can constitute an object infringement after a…

Where a contract requires a party to achieve a stated result but does not prescribe the mechanism, construction in its factual and commercial context may show…

In negligence, but for causation does not make a defendant liable for every foreseeable consequence of a resulting pregnancy or course of action. Liability is…

Once permission for a second appeal has been granted, the appeal proceeds in the same manner as a first appeal. A material error in the logic used to evaluate…

A finding that a parent failed to protect a child from significant harm requires evidence connecting the proved facts with the alleged risk. A parent’s…

The S3 exemption in the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 covers storage of residual septic-tank sludge ready for agricultural use…

Section 84(10) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 has a limited scope. It applies only where a distinct prior decision was a necessary legal precursor to, and the…

For adverse possession, the issue is whether the claimant has assumed ordinary possession of the land without the paper owner’s consent. It does not require a…

Registered design infringement is determined by asking whether the accused design produces a different overall impression on the informed user. The assessment…

A deportation order made in breach of public law may, in an appropriate case, be treated as void ab initio. The court must take a relative and pragmatic…

In an Article 8 deportation case involving a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years’ imprisonment, deportation may be avoided only where there are…

A solicitor’s equitable right to protection for fees is not available merely because the solicitor has assisted a client to obtain payment. Although issued…

Procedural fairness may require a student whose sponsor’s licence has been revoked to have a reasonable opportunity to obtain a replacement Confirmation of…

A notice under section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 may be served only after the contractual right of re-entry or forfeiture has become enforceable. The…

A non-contractual agency may be inferred objectively from the parties’ conduct. The inference must, however, be consistent with the known purpose of their…

For group relief purposes, control requires more than a continuing shareholding or constitutional right. Under the Corporation Tax Act 2010, the person must…

In urgent family proceedings, a judge may indicate a provisional view and encourage settlement, but must not exert unreasonable pressure or appear to have…

The facilitation regime for extended family members requires dependency on the relevant Union citizen. It does not extend to dependency solely on that…

An express grant of a right of way for the benefit of specified transferred land does not extend to separately identified adjoining land merely because a…

Before imposing a condition requiring payment into court, the court must identify its purpose and ensure that the condition and sanction are proportionate and…

The Ramsay approach requires a purposive construction of the taxing statute and a realistic view of the transaction as a whole. A commercially irrelevant…

The law of bribes and secret commissions applies only where the recipient owes relevant fiduciary duties arising from a relationship of trust and confidence.…

A fiduciary’s obligations depend on the nature and scope of the particular relationship. Where a principal knows that an intermediary is remunerated by the…

An air traffic management decision which causes a long delay to a particular aircraft on a particular day is deemed to constitute extraordinary circumstances…

A dividend is a return on investment, rather than a gift, but constitutes a transaction for which the company receives no consideration within section 423 of…

Private life developed while immigration status is precarious attracts little weight under section 117B(5), but that guidance is not inflexible. In an…

Suitability under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1996 is a question of degree. Accommodation suitable in the short term may become unsuitable…

Transnational marriage abandonment is a broad concept rather than a fixed category or term of art. Its core feature is one spouse’s exploitation, or attempted…

An asylum claimant relying on evidence allegedly supplied to an international inquiry must establish more than the possible hostile content of that evidence.…

The six-week period for challenging a planning appeal decision under section 288(4B) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is a strict and mandatory…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal raises an arguable and important question about the treatment of undisturbed factual findings…

In child abuse fact-finding cases, abstract assessments of inherent probability cannot displace dependable evidence about what actually happened. Once harm is…

When deciding a child’s welfare where adoption is proposed, the court must identify every relationship relevant under the statutory welfare checklist. It must…

Schedule 36 to the Finance Act 2008 has no implied territorial limit on taxpayer notices, subject to international law. Its scope depends on the statutory…

For cross-establishment equal pay claims, the statutory gateway asks whether common terms apply at the establishments, generally or for relevant classes. The…

Committal proceedings for breach of an injunction require scrupulous observance of safeguards protecting liberty. Where an unrepresented respondent is eligible…

In a professional-negligence claim arising from reliance on accounting advice, the court must first identify whether the advice guided the whole decision to…

A forum non conveniens inquiry must address the dispute as it truly arises. A claim to enforce national patents cannot be recast as a claim to enforce a global…

The introduction of section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 did not alter the established approach to post-adoption contact. A court will impose…

An existing DLA claimant who is invited to claim PIP after notifying a change of circumstances remains a transfer claimant. Regulation 17’s 28-day rule applies…

Under the transitional regime in Articles 104 and 105 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a national court had no jurisdiction to determine…

For pure economic loss, a statutory authority does not generally owe prospective purchasers a duty of care merely because its registration records may…

A breach of an ambient-air-quality limit value requires a member state to prepare and implement an efficacious air quality plan under article 23 of the Air…

Compensation for loss caused by a stop notice under section 186 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is confined to actual, ascertainable loss directly…

A company’s entry into insolvent liquidation does not extinguish its contractual right to refer a construction dispute to adjudication. An adjudicator…

A contractual restriction is not a restriction of competition by object merely because it limits commercial freedom. It falls within the Chapter I prohibition…

A public authority’s compliance with the public sector equality duty depends on the function being exercised and the facts known to it. The decision-maker must…

The requirement that a full-time course involve an average of at least 21 hours a week is not confined to hours expressly instructed by the educational…

In a direct discrimination claim under the Equality Act 2010, the claimant must first establish facts from which a tribunal could conclude, in the absence of…

A person who expressly asks the Secretary of State to grant leave outside the Immigration Rules must have that request considered, with material supporting it…

For a regulated credit agreement, a compliant default notice is not merely a procedural prerequisite to proceedings for accelerated payment. Under section…

An extension of time for appealing to the Employment Appeal Tribunal may be required where timely filing is prevented by an unexpected limitation in the…

Processing sensitive personal data is lawful where the controller satisfies at least one condition in each of Schedules 2 and 3 to the Data Protection Act 1998…

Whether a child’s removal from association amounts to inhuman or degrading treatment under article 3 depends on a fact-sensitive assessment of all the…

Under the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013, Rule 9 permits multiple claimants to use one claim form only where their roles and work are the same or…

Under rule 16.5(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, a defendant must admit or deny an allegation when able to do so. A defendant is unable to admit or deny…

In an internal-relocation case, the decision-maker must consider all relevant circumstances relating to the claimant and the proposed area. The question is…

Where a joint operating agreement gives an operator charge of operations subject to prior approval of programmes and budgets, approval of the operations…

The good arguable case test for establishing jurisdiction is a single, flexible inquiry. The claimant must ordinarily show that it has the better argument on…

For appeals under the Civil Procedure Rules, the relevant decision date is the hearing at which the decision is formally given, including the formal hand-down…

A judicial warning that a witness must not discuss unfinished evidence does not, without clear language, constitute a court order enforceable by committal. If…