Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2020

In best-interests decisions about life-sustaining treatment, the court must consider welfare in the widest sense and all relevant circumstances. These include…

A statutory public-recreation trust attached to land owned by a local authority does not continue after an unauthorised disposal where the purchaser lacked…

In deciding the form of order after dismissing an application for a stay, the Court of Appeal held that CPR 52CPD.20 concerns costs of attending an application…

When construing bilingual legislation enacted in Welsh and English with equal standing, the court applies ordinary principles of statutory interpretation to…

Article 7(c) of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 applies both where Schedule 2 specifies a decision period and where…

In employment tribunal proceedings, a costs order under rule 78(1)(b) may require detailed assessment and still be subject to a maximum sum. Reading rule…

A conclusive grounds decision under the National Referral Mechanism may determine victim status on the balance of probabilities. An adverse decision may end…

An appellate court may allow an appeal against an interim care order on procedural grounds even where removal may have been justified on the evidence. In care…

Permission to appeal may be refused where challenged legislation has been materially amended and the proposed issue is academic. An appellate court should not…

A lawful domestic right of residence may engage the EU-law prohibition of nationality discrimination in access to social assistance. The Citizens Rights…

A decree absolute is a judgment in rem which conclusively determines marital status. It cannot be set aside merely because a petitioner obtained it by…

Permission to withdraw care proceedings requires an objective and dispassionate assessment of whether investigation is necessary, relevant to future care…

A hotel’s duty to protect guests from criminal acts of third parties requires reasonable precautions, not a guarantee that an attack will be prevented. The…

In settled judicial review proceedings, costs depend on the substance of the outcome, not technical differences between pleaded relief and the order made. A…

Article 31(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 applies to an asymmetric jurisdiction agreement where the party which commenced proceedings outside the…

Liability for contempt turns on the existence of the order, breach, the respondent’s requisite knowledge and compliance with procedural safeguards. A person…

A stakeholder claim under Part 86 is a claim for a binding direction as to the disposal of property, not merely a procedural request concerning the trial of an…

Disqualification from PSV operator licensing is a regulatory and disciplinary measure, not criminal punishment. Its duration must be assessed individually by…

Where an identical sign is used for identical goods, infringement requires use liable to affect a trade mark function. If the defendant’s only pleaded answer…

In construing an option agreement, “development” is not automatically given the full technical meaning in section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990…

For corporation tax residence, a company is resident where its real business is carried on: the place where central management and control actually abides. The…

A local authority must apply its published housing allocation scheme when assigning applicants to priority bands. The meaning of such a scheme is determined by…

Findings of fact in family proceedings may be reopened only where genuine new information provides solid grounds for believing that they require revisiting.…

A time-barred new claim under CPR r 17.4(2) may be permitted only by reference to facts which are already in issue. That requirement, implied by section…

Persecution is assessed by the seriousness of the feared treatment, considering its nature, intensity and duration. Separate acts may cumulatively meet the…

In care proceedings, findings about inflicted or self-inflicted injuries may be made where supported by accepted expert evidence. A judgment need not contain a…

An appeal against committal for contempt may be decided in the appellant’s absence where the appellant has had every opportunity to be represented and has no…

A local authority’s mandatory duty under section 20(1) of the Children Act 1989 arises when a child in need within its area appears to require accommodation…

A fiduciary must account for every unauthorised profit falling within the scope of the conduct constituting the breach. A sufficient nexus or reasonable…

A deprivation of possessions under article 1 of the First Protocol must strike a fair balance. Taking property without compensation will normally be…

The realisation or discharge of mortgage security does not extinguish the debtor’s personal liability for any unpaid part of the debt. Sale proceeds reduce the…

A contractual obligation to maintain capacity to deliver gas from specified reservoirs requires physical production capacity from those reservoirs. Gas owed by…

Where an interim injunction is granted or continued on the balance of convenience and the underlying merits remain unresolved, the normal costs order is that…

Under the ICE target cost conditions as amended by the NR 12 amendments, default in compliance with contractual obligations means breach of those obligations.…

Rateable occupation requires actual occupation which is exclusive for the occupier’s particular purposes, beneficial and sufficiently permanent. Where several…

A public body which voluntarily consults must consult properly on the proposals it has chosen to put forward. That obligation does not ordinarily require…

On an application to sanction an insurance business transfer under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the relevant considerations depend…

A contractual power allowing a landlord, following consultation, to provide extra services referred to services additional to those listed in the tenancy…

Section 45C of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 authorises population-wide restrictions responding to an epidemic. Its broad enabling power is…

Once an education and health and care plan is final and specifies provision, the duty under the Children and Families Act 2014 s 42(2) is absolute. It requires…

Registration under the Administration of Justice Act 1920 is confined to a judgment of the court that adjudicated the underlying claim. A later judgment…

For civil contempt, once a person knows of a court order and knows the facts of their act or omission, it is unnecessary to prove that they knew their conduct…

Failure by an Employment Tribunal to set out a brief summary of the relevant law breaches Rule 62(5) of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure 2013, but it…

Once leave to seek revocation of a placement order has been granted, the existing order creates no presumptive status quo. The court must determine what the…

A final appellate determination may be reopened under CPR 52.30 only in truly exceptional circumstances. The applicant must show real and grave injustice, no…

Under the Housing Act 1996, section 193(7), a final offer of accommodation must be made by the local housing authority and must relate to an actual property…

In a sole-name residential property case, a common intention constructive trust requires both a common intention that the claimant should have a beneficial…

Notice under section 35(1) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 must be a clear and unequivocal statement that prospective adopters no longer wish to adopt…

The power to reconsider an order pronounced in open court but not yet sealed is founded on the overriding objective. It remains subject to the fundamental…

Under the Housing Act 1996, intentional homelessness depends on whether current homelessness remains causally connected with earlier deliberate conduct. A…

An adjudicator determining a dispute under an NHS contract has power under sections 9(11) and 9(12) of the National Health Service Act 2006 to award interest…

Once a public authority embarks on consultation, it must conduct the process properly and fairly, even if consultation was not initially required. When…

An undisclosed co-owner may become directly bound by a contract made by an agent where the evidence shows that the agent was authorised to contract on behalf…

A statutory power requiring a regulator to carry out its functions in accordance with ministerial directions does not, without clear words, authorise a…

On an application to amend, a court should not finally determine contractual construction where fuller admissible evidence may alter the result. For a…

In intellectual property litigation, restrictions on access to highly confidential material must give the receiving party the fullest appropriate disclosure…

Where negotiations are conducted subject to contract, neither party ordinarily intends to be legally bound until the contemplated formal contract is made. The…

Section 4(1)(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 bars evidence in proceedings before a judicial authority proving a spent conviction and the…

In a clinical negligence claim involving suspected cauda equina syndrome, breach is assessed by the Bolam/Bolitho standard: whether the response fell outside…

A notice varying leave to enter or remain is given when it is received. The recipient need not read, understand or become aware of it. A postal notice will…

Where a housing authority relies on an applicant’s refusal of suitable accommodation to bring the main homelessness duty to an end, suitability is assessed by…

The Equality Act 2010 allocates discrimination claims between distinct jurisdictions. Claims under Part 5 fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the…

An application to vary leave under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 may be varied only before it is decided. It is decided when refusal is made and…

Where a commercial lease makes the landlord’s certificate conclusive as to the total cost of specified services and the tenant’s sum payable, the certificate…

A contractual expert determination clause may require every dispute to be referred to an expert while preserving a right to challenge an error of law in the…

Standing under sections 303(1) and 168(5) of the Insolvency Act 1986 requires more than inclusion within the statutory wording. The applicant must have a…

Adoption against parental wishes is a last resort. The court must rigorously compare every realistic option and explain why adoption is necessary and…

Where a foreign forum is the natural and appropriate forum, the English court may nevertheless permit service out if cogent evidence shows a real risk that…

In an indirect discrimination claim, avoiding increased costs is not, without more, a legitimate aim. The court must characterise the employer’s aim fairly by…

EU law does not prevent a national court from applying domestic abuse-of-process rules to facts admitted in a European Commission settlement decision but not…

An application for anonymity under rule 39.2(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 requires a balancing of the relevant interests to determine whether…

Where an appeal seeks to introduce grounds that were not advanced below, the Court of Appeal must ask whether the lower court was wrong on the case actually…

A local authority may seek an injunction under section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972 although an administrative remedy, such as a public spaces…

A county court may transfer a discrete application within bankruptcy proceedings to the High Court under rule 12.30(2) of the Insolvency (England and Wales)…

Costs following a successful appeal and a Part 36 offer must reflect both the offer’s operative date and the circumstances in which the appeal was developed. A…

A public decision-maker need consider matters which a statute expressly or impliedly requires it to consider. In the absence of such a requirement, a failure…

An assurance by a public authority gives rise to legitimate expectation only when it is clear, unambiguous and devoid of relevant qualification. The question…

A refusal of permission to appeal by a High Court judge, certified as totally without merit, cannot be converted into an appeal merely because the judge also…

A written agreement extending the time for notification of a homelessness review under regulation 9(1) of the Homelessness (Review Procedure etc.) Regulations…

A contractual right to require a special partners’ meeting was subject to a strict seven-day deadline running from the date of the Board meeting, not from…

For A1P1 purposes, a signed and part-performed commercial contract is prima facie a possession, although possible future contracts and mere expectations of…

Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, an application to determine disputed acquisition terms must be made to the statutory…

Planning permission is construed holistically. A permission for an integrated development ordinarily must be implemented fully in accordance with its terms.…

An earlier immigration adjudication is final and binding unless fresh evidence or a material change of circumstances provides legal justification for departing…

A notice under the Housing Act 1988 based on rent arrears is not a “demand for rent” for the purposes of section 47(4) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. Its…

An oil and gas farm-out agreement and an associated joint operating agreement may be construed as a single contractual package without being merged. Where the…

In a planning challenge, whether a matter is capable of being a material consideration is a question of law, but the weight given to it is a matter of planning…

Where a tax rate changes during an accounting period, time apportionment may be replaced if it would work unjustly or unreasonably in the company’s case. That…

Where an application for a non-party costs order cannot be determined proportionately, the applicant is ordinarily the unsuccessful party if the order sought…

Where a claimant obtains a judgment at least as advantageous as a genuine CPR Part 36 offer, the four forms of enhanced relief normally follow unless their…

Exemption from immigration control under the Immigration Act 1971 depends on the statutory facts being present. An entry-clearance officer’s mistaken…

The assessment of whether deportation would have an unduly harsh effect under section 117C(5) is directed to the impact on the qualifying child. The parent’s…

An appellate court may interfere with a trial judge’s factual findings only where there is a material legal error, a serious flaw in evaluating the evidence…

For contractual classification purposes, the court must first construe the agreement to identify the substantive rights and obligations, and only then apply…

Refusal of permission for judicial review on the papers does not make an oral renewal hearing inevitable. Where the parties agree, the court may grant…

An urgent order under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction concerning a vulnerable adult requires a proper jurisdictional and evidential foundation. Save in…

Rule 18 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013 gives a coroner discretion to direct screened evidence once one statutory threshold is met. The coroner must then…

When a party objects to converting a family arbitration award into a financial remedy order, the Family Court must apply the ordinary appellate approach rather…

An Employment Tribunal claim form is construed objectively, as a whole and in the context known to the parties and tribunal. A standard limitation-period or…

The requirements for indefinite leave to remain based on long residence are separate and self-contained. Disregarding a current period of overstaying under…

Where section 18 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1994 applies, the notice addressed to the personal representatives and sent to the…

A removal-window policy is unlawful where its inherent operation creates a real risk that a person will be removed before obtaining legal advice and a proper…

An application to reopen an interlocutory order may be an abuse of process where the applicant created the asserted material change of circumstances. There is…

For Article 8, a statutory disclosure rule is “in accordance with the law” when it has a domestic legal basis, is accessible and foreseeable, and leaves no…

An inconsistent verdict in later criminal proceedings does not, by itself, establish that earlier findings in care proceedings were wrong or require an…

A planning condition cannot require a developer to dedicate land as a public highway without compensation. The power to impose conditions is narrower than the…

A Royal Mail Signed For 1st Class service falls within CPR 6.26. It is either First class post or another service providing delivery on the next business day.…

When findings of fact in family proceedings are reopened, the court must determine the issues afresh on the whole of the evidence. The earlier findings carry…

The statutory police use-of-force standard requires force to be necessary, proportionate and reasonable in all the circumstances. The Code of Ethics guides how…

An equitable obligation of confidence depends on what a reasonable person in the recipient’s position would understand. A reputable supplier’s contractual…

An appellate tribunal may set aside a fact-finding tribunal’s evaluative decision only for an error of law. It cannot intervene merely because it would have…

Damages for injury-related accommodation should provide full and fair compensation without excessive recovery. Where the claimant has a long life expectancy…

A claimant seeking permission to serve abroad and an interim injunction for misuse of trade secrets must show a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of…

Costs ordinarily follow the event when an appeal against an interlocutory injunction is dismissed. There is no general rule that the costs of an interlocutory…

When deciding an application for leave to oppose adoption, the court must first determine whether there has been a change of circumstances of sufficient nature…

A formal statement by Her Majesty’s Government recognising a foreign ruler or government is conclusive as to the recognition it expresses. The court must…

Section 17(1)(a) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 permits a private prosecutor to seek payment from central funds for expenses properly incurred in High…

A neighbourhood development plan must normally observe national planning policy. A departure may be lawful, but it requires a clear and reasoned justification.…

An invalid fast-track procedural scheme does not automatically invalidate every appeal conducted under it. The court must assess whether the individual…

Under the Abortion Act 1967, the requirement that a pregnancy be terminated by a registered medical practitioner does not require that practitioner personally…

In a fact-finding appeal, serious findings may be overturned where the judge has not rigorously analysed all relevant evidence. Oral evidence remains…

In a share purchase agreement, “goodwill” ordinarily means the proprietary value of a business’s established reputation, good name and customer connections. It…

Debtors Act 1869 section 4 must be construed purposively. It protects against imprisonment for default in paying ordinary debts. It does not prevent…

Litigation misconduct may be taken into account under section 25(2)(g) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. This applies to misconduct within financial remedy…

On an application to restore a solvent company and appoint liquidators to investigate its former management and liquidators, the court must treat the wishes of…

A prospective pension reform is not immune from scrutiny under Article 14 merely because a more favourable cohort falls outside the new regime. A comparator…

Refugee recognition or a pending independent asylum application may prevent the actual return of a child to a country where refoulement would occur. It does…

Habitual residence is determined by a global, child-focused assessment of all relevant circumstances. Where a family moves between states, the court must…

A public authority must have due regard to the needs identified by the public sector equality duty. Generic mitigation measures do not themselves demonstrate…

Leave to apply to revoke a placement order requires a two-stage inquiry. The applicant must first show a post-order change of circumstances sufficient to open…

A search order under Civil Procedure Act 1997, section 7, is directed to preserving evidence or property. Inspection during its execution is limited to…

For a medium offender, the statutory deportation scheme requires a child-specific assessment of whether deportation would be unduly harsh. The threshold is…

For paragraph 11d of the National Planning Policy Framework, whether a policy is out-of-date is a policy-specific and substantive inquiry. The expiry of a…

The SAAMCO principle generally applies to negligent statutory audits. It is a tool for identifying whether claimed loss falls within the purpose and scope of…

Article 8(2) of a double-taxation convention permits a contracting state to calculate a permanent establishment’s profits by comparing it with a distinct and…

A child's habitual residence is determined by a global factual assessment of the child's situation at the relevant date. The inquiry concerns whether the child…

A shareholder who manages and develops a company successfully does not thereby acquire an entrenched right to remain in management contrary to the company’s…

The power to order a litigation friend to pay costs derives from section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, unless the litigation friend has already given an…

Similar fact evidence in civil and family proceedings is admissible if, assumed provisionally to be true, it is logically capable of making a matter requiring…

An equal pay claim based on work rated as equivalent by a job evaluation study is prospective. The study cannot establish equal work for an earlier period.…

A public authority must exercise delegated functions through the body or officer authorised by an objectively interpreted scheme of delegation. A regulator’s…

Where parties use a detailed standard-form master agreement for financial transactions, a general reference to market practice will not readily override its…

Reopening a final determination under CPR rule 52.30 is an exceptional jurisdiction. All three conditions in rule 52.30(1) must be met: reopening must be…

When deciding an interim application concerning children, the court must investigate the disputed issues sufficiently to make a fair and effective evaluation…

Police use of live automated facial recognition requires an accessible and foreseeable legal framework which sufficiently constrains discretion over watchlist…

Under Article 13(b) of the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, the assessment is forward-looking. Where a parent’s mental health would probably deteriorate…

A local authority’s parental responsibility under section 33 of the Children Act 1989 does not permit it to change a child’s nationality unilaterally where…

For a technology to be appraised under NICE’s Highly Specialised Technology procedure, all seven lawful criteria in the 2017 Guidance must be satisfied.…

In an out-of-country immigration appeal, a data subject’s objection does not prevent processing or disclosure necessary to enable fair judicial proceedings.…

Indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 may be justified where the respondent proves that the provision, criterion or practice is a proportionate…

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the ordinary principles governing contact with children in care continued to apply. The local authority decided what contact it…

Under Article 23(e) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003, a later judgment is one given after the foreign judgment by a court possessing general…

A court reviewing an interim care order may revisit the arrangements where further information has significantly changed the original risk assessment. Delay is…

A court may use its ancillary jurisdiction under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 37 to make a specific injunction which renders an existing undertaking…

On a public-interest winding-up petition under section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court must identify the public interest which an order would…

A court considering whether to lift a stay obtained under the low-value road-traffic-accident procedure must first decide whether there has been an abuse of…

Under Schedule 17 to the High Speed Rail (London–West Midlands) Act 2017, a qualifying planning authority must itself assess the impact of proposed works upon…

A non-statutory government decision on a major infrastructure project, involving national political, economic, social and environmental judgment, is reviewable…

Removal under an interim care order is justified only where it is necessary and proportionate. The child’s physical safety or psychological or emotional…

The Convention rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights do not apply to an overseas territory falling within article 56 unless the United…

A transfer of care proceedings under Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 requires separate findings that the other court is better placed and that…

For the tort gateway governing service outside the jurisdiction, damage sustained in England and Wales means significant damage of any kind. It need not be the…

Under sections 116 and 117 of the Companies Act 2006, a request to inspect a register of members is for a proper purpose where a member seeks, in good faith…

The High Court has jurisdiction under section 37(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 to grant an injunction, in principle, against a threatened or actual tort.…

Confidential asylum material is not subject to blanket protection from disclosure in family proceedings, even where disclosure would be made to an alleged…

A freezing order restrains unjustified dissipation, not every transaction that may reduce assets or expose a claimant to non-recovery. A trading company should…

Recusal is required where a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, would conclude that there is a real possibility of judicial bias.…

For the purposes of ITEPA 2003, vehicle classification depends on the statutory definition of a goods vehicle, not on ordinary descriptions such as car or van…

The Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 has extraterritorial effect. It creates a statutory right to contribution in English proceedings even where…

Where a person challenges a certificate under regulation 33, including an application for interim relief, regulation 27 must be applied and an EU…

Under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, repudiatory retention depends on whether the travelling parent has denied or repudiated the other parent’s…

Where a British child is habitually resident abroad, the nationality-based inherent jurisdiction is residual and must be exercised with substantive, not merely…

In a Cart judicial review, the judicial-review claim and the substantive appeal to the Upper Tribunal are distinct proceedings governed by different costs…

Appeals to SIAC under the statutory deprivation-of-nationality scheme are full merits appeals. SIAC must decide for itself, on all the evidence, whether the…

A debtor seeking to set aside a statutory demand must establish a substantial dispute. Speculation about redacted parts of an assignment deed will not meet…

On an appeal against a contempt sentence, the Court of Appeal generally interferes only for an error of principle, reliance on immaterial factors, failure to…

The Barber window closes when a measure ending pension sex discrimination is immediate, full, unconditional and legally certain, so members can know and…

For VAT purposes, a salary-sacrifice arrangement may be treated as involving no supply, with the consequence that the employer’s related activity is not an…

A development-plan policy for a Green Wedge must be construed from its own language and context. A policy protecting a Green Wedge’s predominantly open…

A tribunal deciding whether a person poses a public-policy or public-security threat may assess circumstantial evidence strand by strand and cumulatively. A…

On an application for summary judgment, the court must assess whether the respondent has a realistic rather than fanciful prospect of success. It must consider…

In an appeal on obviousness, the Court of Appeal must not substitute its own evaluation for that of the trial judge. Intervention requires an error of law or…

Section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 requires a causal link between unfavourable treatment and something arising in consequence of disability. A claimant cannot…

Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, “serving notice to terminate a tenancy” includes serving a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, even though that…

In a professional-negligence claim arising from litigation, tortious damage accrues when negligence causes a material diminution in the value of the claimant’s…

A contractual confidentiality covenant may restrain disclosure of information acquired through an employment or directorship and confidential to the business…

A local authority requires the court’s permission to withdraw care proceedings. Permission must be granted where it is obvious that the statutory threshold…

A possession stay under Practice Direction 51Z and CPR rule 55.29 is determined by the substance and procedural character of the proceedings, rather than…

An adoption order may be necessary and proportionate where special guardianship does not provide the child with the greatest possible security. The court must…

An application under rule 39.3 of the Civil Procedure Rules to set aside judgment entered after non-attendance is a distinct procedural remedy. It is neither…

An express reservation of a landlord’s right of entry is construed by ordinary contractual principles. The court must read the lease as a whole and give…

A standard-form loan provision excusing default for non-payment made in order to comply with a mandatory provision of law may encompass foreign…

Under Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, Title II determines the single Member State whose legislation applies. For a person outside the special categories in…

The five-year housing-land-supply threshold is binary. If an authority can demonstrate five years’ supply, the tilted balance in paragraph 11(d) of the…

A review by the First-tier Tribunal under section 9 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 concerns a decision on a particular matter, not an…

On an application for an interim injunction, the prohibition against conducting a mini-trial applies to whether there is a serious question to be tried. At the…

When deciding whether to make a placement order, the court must consider all relevant factors in the welfare checklist in section 1(4) of the Adoption and…

HMRC may use the ancillary power in section 9(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 to conduct an informal investigation into a taxpayer’s…

Under the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, earned income for an assessment period is ordinarily the amount actually received during that period, subject only…

For the purposes of section 21A of the Housing Act 1988, the gas-safety requirements prescribed by regulation 2 of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and…

Appellate courts should not interfere with first-instance findings of fact or evidential evaluations unless the conclusion was one the judge could not…

Under Family Procedure Rules 2010, the court must assess vulnerability, the likely effect on participation and evidence, and whether participation directions…

A freezing order requires a good arguable case, a real objectively assessed risk that a future judgment will go unsatisfied through unjustified dissipation…

An arbitration clause covering disputes arising out of an agreement is presumed to extend to every dispute arising from the parties’ relationship unless clear…

Under a restrictive covenant requiring approval of plans, drawings or specifications, the decision-maker may consider the interests of all persons entitled to…

When deciding whether and how to make an FGM protection order, the family court must have regard to all the circumstances, including the girl’s health, safety…

Capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is assessed against the decision actually facing P. In deciding whether to engage in sexual relations, relevant…

For direct discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, the tribunal must consider less favourable treatment and the reason why it occurred. Those questions are…

The article 2 operational duty owed to a vulnerable person in state-supported residential care is specific to harms for which the state has assumed…

A fair hearing under Article 6 is assessed case specifically and by reference to the proceedings as a whole. It requires effective participation and a…

Section 10(2)(a) of the Representation of the People Act 2000 permits pilot schemes affecting the whole process by which an elector casts a lawful vote. It is…

Whether an offence has caused serious harm for the definition of a foreign criminal is an evaluative question for the tribunal. The harm must have been caused…

A claim alleging dishonest breach of trust need not identify at the outset every individual within a corporate trustee who held the relevant knowledge. It must…

The threshold under the Children Act 1989, section 31(2), is a single assessment. It requires actual or likely harm, significant harm, and care falling below…

A person subject to a disclosure order in proceedings relating to property cannot simply decline to comply because the disclosure may incriminate him in fraud.…

For Highways Act 1980 purposes, a local authority is a highway authority only when exercising its highway functions. A path made while exercising separate…

A purchaser under an uncompleted contract for the sale of land acquires only the equitable rights generated by that contract. Those rights remain subject to…

Under section 9 of the Defamation Act 2013, a claimant suing a defendant outside the specified domiciles must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that…

A stay of all possession proceedings initiated under CPR Part 55 extends to appellate stages of those proceedings in the Court of Appeal. The fact that the…

Under rule 31(4) of the Competition Appeal Tribunal Rules 2003, a follow-on competition claim is barred to the extent that the corresponding court claim was…

A local authority holding a care order may, under section 33(3)(b) of the Children Act 1989, consent to routine vaccination despite parental objection. It must…

Under sections 46 and 48 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009, a debit properly brought into account under generally accepted accounting practice is an expense for…

For a judicial-review challenge to a mandatory policy or practice, time begins when the claimant is first affected by it and thereby has standing. An…

A statutory restriction on trade may satisfy EU proportionality requirements despite limited scientific evidence of its direct effect. The court must assess…

In contempt proceedings, the alleged acts must be identified with precision in the application notice. A general assertion that a communication was disparaging…

Employment tribunals have wide case-management powers, but refusal of an adjournment is reviewable only for an error of law, including legal misdirection…

When Her Majesty’s Government unequivocally recognises a body as the government of a foreign state, an English court must treat that body as the government for…

A person who is suspected by a state enforcement body generally has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the fact of the investigation and its expressed…

An anonymity order is a derogation from open justice. It may be made only where it is necessary. The court must conduct the ultimate balancing exercise between…

Where two asylum policy instructions expressly cross-refer to one another, they must be read together. A former minor dependant who turns 18 before further…

Under paragraph 3(3) of Schedule 4 to the Land Registration Act 2002, the court ordinarily must rectify a mistaken register. It may decline to do so only where…

A judge of the Court of Appeal may sit as a High Court judge under section 9(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 only at the request of the appropriate authority.…

In a welfare-benefits discrimination claim under Article 14 read with A1P1, the court must itself decide whether the difference in treatment is objectively…

Where the Competition Appeal Tribunal has a broad costs discretion but no express general default, a regulator acting purely in its regulatory capacity and in…

Enforcement of judgments is territorial. Personal jurisdiction over a judgment debtor does not authorise enforcement against assets abroad contrary to…

Under Article 8(1) of Decision 626/2008/EC, a national authority must authorise complementary ground components where the operator was selected at European…

A temporary blanket stay of possession proceedings imposed through a pilot practice direction may be valid where it permits assessment of procedural responses…

The slip rule permits correction where a promulgated order fails to express the tribunal’s actual decision, even where correction reverses the stated outcome.…

The strict jurisdiction protecting a former client’s confidential information applies where the solicitor obtained that information through a true fiduciary…

In public-law proceedings, an interim injunction is a matter of broad discretion. The court must assess all circumstances and should not impose a rigid gateway…

An administrator adopts a contract of employment by taking active steps, after the statutory 14-day period, to continue the employment. The inquiry is wholly…

A writ of control has priority over later writs according to the date and time when each writ is received for endorsement. This priority applies whether the…

All fish are animals ferae naturae as a matter of law. The court cannot reclassify enclosed or commercially stocked fish as animals domitae naturae; any change…

Remote hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic do not alter substantive law or procedural fairness. A remote hearing is fair only where its additional burdens do…

A court deciding whether to conduct a children case remotely must assess the individual case by reference to fairness, justice and the child’s welfare. The…

Expenditure is deductible as incurred wholly and exclusively for a trade only if its object serves that trade alone. An intended ultimate benefit to that trade…

Where a mother seeks adoption without notifying a man who may be the father, uncertainty about paternity is a relevant factor in deciding whether notification…

The choice of England as the arbitral seat submits the parties to the English court’s curial jurisdiction. The court is necessarily an appropriate forum to…

Under the duty-suspension scheme, a deemed irregularity arises when excise goods have not been recorded on the electronic movement system as received at their…

Where parental alienation is established, the court must act with exceptional diligence and take effective measures while intervention can still protect the…

A person facing enforcement action may generally challenge the validity of an antecedent public law decision by way of defence. That right may, however, be…

Gender Recognition Act 2004, section 12, applies both before and after the issue of a gender recognition certificate. It preserves the status of a person as a…

A substantive legitimate expectation requires a clear, unambiguous and unqualified assurance that a policy will continue for the person or group concerned.…

Under the Value Added Tax Act 1994, repayment of wrongly accounted output tax is calculated by reference to the net VAT actually accounted for and paid in the…

A contractual material-breach cure clause requires the court to identify the breach specified in the notice and determine whether it was remedied within the…

When a receiving party changes from legal aid to a CFA-lite arrangement and seeks the resulting success fee and ATE premium from the paying party…

Under Schedule 26 to the Finance Act 2002, GAAP accounts provide the starting point for taxing derivative-contract profits and losses, but the requirement that…

A legislative scheme capable of being operated compatibly with Convention rights in all or nearly all cases is not inherently incompatible merely because some…

A complex financial instrument must be interpreted from its express language and the transaction documents as a whole. A court cannot disregard specific…

Where qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) applies, the Court of Appeal is bound by an earlier decision that it has jurisdiction to set off mutual costs…

Under Council Regulation 2201/2003 (BIIR), a consensual permanent move is not converted into wrongful retention merely because a parent later changes position.…

A development proposal may accord with the development plan as a whole despite conflicting with an individual policy. Where relevant policies point in…

Section 27 of the Children and Families Act 2014 creates a single strategic duty. A local authority must keep SEND provision under review and, in doing so…

Section 117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 requires fact-finding followed by one normative question: whether it would be reasonable to…

In care proceedings, a prospective special guardian has no automatic right to party status or representation. The court must assess the realistic prospects of…

When assessing whether a homeless applicant is vulnerable, a reviewing officer must compare the applicant with an ordinary person if homeless. The assessment…

Departures from Achieving Best Evidence guidance do not automatically make a child’s evidence incapable of establishing sexual abuse. Their significance…

In deportation cases involving foreign criminals sentenced to less than four years, section 117C requires a very high threshold. The effect on a qualifying…

Commercial contracts must be construed as a whole. The court considers the language, related provisions, payment structure, known background and commercial…

In an Article 14 challenge to a public authority’s allocation of scarce resources, the manifestly without reasonable foundation standard is not confined to…

Article 8 of the ECHR is engaged where an unaccompanied child in one Member State seeks transfer to another to reunite with a close relative. The availability…

A notice to a partner under section 28B(4) of the Taxes Management Act 1970, given after a valid amendment of a partnership return, has a limited and…

A Green Belt dwelling falls within the exception for buildings for agriculture only where, as a matter of fact and degree, it is genuinely ancillary to an…

An appeal to the county court under section 204 of the Housing Act 1996 may raise any point of law concerning the lawfulness of a homelessness review decision.…

Registration of a foreign judgment under the Lugano Convention does not permit enforcement during the period for appealing the registration order or while an…

An Arrow declaration need not identify a fully formulated product or process. It may declare specified features of a proposed product old or obvious where the…

Under the UK supplementary protection certificate fee scheme, an applicant may choose a shorter period by paying the corresponding annual fees in advance. The…

Sentencing for contempt is a case-specific exercise focused on culpability, harm, aggravating and mitigating factors. On appeal, the Court of Appeal asks…

A convicted person cannot recover from former legal advisers damages equivalent to a criminal fine or prosecution costs. Such a claim is barred by the narrow…

A breach of the public sector equality duty does not automatically defeat a social landlord’s possession claim. The court should refuse that consequence where…

For welfare-service VAT exemptions, the state-regulated criterion requires approval, licensing, registration or exemption from registration under a public…

A policy encouraging off-label use of a cheaper medicine is lawful where realistic and lawful methods of implementation exist. Compounded medicine falls…

Disclosure of documents from care proceedings to the police is governed by the Re EC checklist [1997] 2 WLR 322, rather than a separate threshold or automatic…

An appellate court may refuse a stay pending parallel validity or other proceedings where it would prolong unacceptable commercial uncertainty, the application…

For intentional-homelessness purposes, the reasonableness of continued occupation under section 191 is assessed at or about the time of the applicant’s…

Section 44(2)(a) of the Arbitration Act 1996 gives the court power to order the deposition of a non-party witness in England for use in a foreign-seated…

An adjudicator’s decision should ordinarily be enforced promptly. Allegations of fraud cannot resist enforcement where they were, or reasonably should have…

Where an application has been refused on the papers without the parties’ consent to paper determination, the order is treated as made on the court’s own…

The civil standard of proof for dishonesty is the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of an allegation or its consequences does not increase that…

Excise duty becomes chargeable in a Member State where goods released for consumption in another Member State are held there for commercial purposes. Article…

An EEA national seeking enhanced protection from expulsion must have permanent resident status and establish the required ten-year residence ending on the date…

For Ground 5 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985, a false statement in a housing application may induce a later tenancy even if an earlier tenancy was…

In a proprietary estoppel claim, the court must fashion the remedy needed to avoid an unconscionable result. It should begin with the claimant’s expectation…

A court hearing committal proceedings must ensure that the accused knows of the right not to give evidence. It must also warn that silence may produce adverse…

An employment tribunal should, at the start of a substantive hearing involving an unrepresented party, consider whether an earlier list of issues accurately…

For the purposes of Article 2(2)(b) of the Export Regulation, whether a cultural object was lawfully and definitively dispatched is determined by the national…

In collective enfranchisement, the ordinary incidents of a freehold building generally include the airspace above and the sub-soil beneath it. The statutory…

Whether adult relationships constitute family life under Article 8 depends on their substance. The irreducible minimum is effective, real or committed support…

When judicial review proceedings become academic after the claimant obtains substantially the relief sought, costs do not depend solely on the relief obtained.…

An appellate court will usually permit a new pure point of law that requires no further evidence and causes no injustice. It will ordinarily refuse a new…

For the legal professional privilege exemption in paragraph 10 of Schedule 7 to the Data Protection Act 1998, privilege is assessed by reference to English law…

Gender identity, including non-binary and non-gendered identity, falls within private life under Article 8. Engagement does not itself create a positive…

In medical-negligence causation, a claimant need not establish the precise counterfactual mechanism by which timely treatment would have prevented death. After…

For the time limit in section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act 1967, a pregnancy exceeds its twenty-fourth week at 24 weeks + 0 days. Clinical dating treats day 0…

An agent’s express authority to enter commitments of any description for the purposes of a business does not give carte blanche to assume any borrowing…

Under Article 102 and the Chapter II prohibition, there is no single mandatory method for proving excessive and unfair pricing. A competition authority may…

A judicial review claim may include damages where the claimant continues to seek a genuine public law remedy, including a declaration that administrative delay…

Liability for an industrial training levy attaches to an employer in the construction industry. An employer performs relevant construction activities through…

Under a hybrid construction contract, a payment notice need not state separately the sum attributable to construction operations where the parties have agreed…

Permission for expert evidence in children proceedings depends on whether it is necessary to assist the court to resolve the proceedings, not merely desirable.…

Competition rules may apply to safety and access schemes operated by an infrastructure undertaking where those schemes are inseparable from its economic…

Under a property indemnity policy which does not fix the measure of loss, compensation ordinarily reflects the insured’s intended use of the property…

Interim injunctions against unidentified protesters may extend to future newcomers who can be identified and served. Defendants must be defined by allegedly…

Whether Schedule 2 development is likely to have significant environmental effects is a fact-sensitive matter of planning judgment. The decision-maker must…

The Ex parte James principle prevents an insolvency office-holder from acting in a way which, judged objectively, right-thinking people would consider unfair.…

Under Article III rule 1 of the Hague Rules, a vessel may be unseaworthy because of a navigational error or omission made before or at the beginning of the…

The loan relationships regime does not permit an undefined requirement of a real-world or genuine economic loss to be added to the statutory treatment of…

Under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the court’s power to order sale of trust property is not subject to a threshold requiring every…

A local authority cabinet may adopt a general, non-prescriptive strategy for discretionary services where no statute or regulation reserves the decision to the…

Whether an education, health and care plan is necessary under section 37(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 is a fact-specific evaluative judgment. The…

When deciding whether to relax reporting restrictions in proceedings concerning children, the court must conduct an intense and proportionate balance between…

The power to order an assessment under section 38(6) of the Children Act 1989 arises only where the particular assessment is necessary to enable the…

A child assessment order under the Children Act 1989, s 43, is an investigative and least interventionist child-protection measure. The threshold of reasonable…

When deciding whether a child may make a temporary visit to a state outside the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention and the 1996 Hague Child Protection…

A child will only rarely be joined as a party to proceedings under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention. Joinder is unnecessary where an experienced…

Liability for inducing breach of contract requires actual knowledge that the induced act will breach a binding and enforceable contract. Awareness of a risk…

A national policy statement must explain how it takes account of government policy on climate change. That duty requires prior consideration of the policy…

A legitimate expectation requires a clear, unambiguous and unqualified representation. An implied representation arises only from a consistent practice…

A conditional fee agreement permitting solicitors to end the retainer if the client rejects their opinion about making a settlement is not confined to advice…

Interim separation of a child from a parent under an interim care order is justified only where it is necessary and proportionate. The lower threshold for…

A wrongdoer who receives a bribe is ordinarily liable to surrender that wrongful gain. The claimant’s recovery from another wrongdoer does not reduce this…

The liability of a commercial litigation funder for an opposing party’s costs is not automatically capped at the amount of funding provided. Under section 51…

For customs classification, a mobility scooter falls under heading 8713 only where its objective design shows that it is intended solely for disabled persons…

Where proceedings are issued or purportedly served against a company dissolved before that time, the court cannot assume that valid service occurred because…

For the purposes of Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004, payment is construed according to the practical and business reality of the transaction. A transfer may…

A forced marriage protection order may protect a capacitous adult despite that adult’s contrary wishes. Those wishes remain relevant to wellbeing, but they do…

In a contractual long-term disability scheme, the meaning of unable to work and return to work depends on the wording and context of the contract. Where the…

Under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, a direct descendant requires a direct biological or legal parent-child relationship. A de…

A protective costs order falls within the court’s jurisdiction under section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 and Part 44 of the Civil Procedure Rules.…

A Woolwich claim is grounded in the principle of legality. Money paid to a public authority under an ultra vires levy is prima facie recoverable as of right.…

An assessment under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 is a legal act determining the amount of VAT due. No prescribed form or particular heading is required. The…

A party chargeable with a solicitor’s bill has a right to assessment under Solicitors Act 1974, but that right is exercised under the applicable procedural…

A fixed-term employment contract expires on the agreed date by effluxion of time and does not require notice of termination. A contractual notice provision…

When deciding whether to disapply the limitation period for a historic abuse claim, the court may assess the claimant’s credibility against the credibility of…

Legal professional privilege is a fundamental right which may be overridden by statute only through express words or necessary implication. A regulator’s…

The ministerial-consent requirement in section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 applies only to land that a local authority has purchased or appropriated for…

A statutory notice is interpreted objectively, as a reasonable recipient would understand it in context. An apparent error is read according to its intended…

Accessory liability for a common tortious design requires substantial assistance which furthers the tort and a shared intention to do or secure the acts…

Brain-stem death is the legal criterion of death in the United Kingdom. A court must determine on the balance of probabilities whether the medical criteria in…

Under paragraph 276B(ii) of the Immigration Rules, proof of an adverse character or conduct matter does not ordinarily determine whether indefinite leave to…

A ceremony creates a void marriage under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 11(a)(iii), only if it crosses the threshold for marriage under the Marriage Act…

An EEA national claiming enhanced protection from deportation under Regulation 21(4) must establish both the required ten-year residence period and, following…

Privately owned land may constitute open space for planning-policy purposes where an agreement makes it available for public or dual use. A power or intention…

A detainee whose immigration detention is unlawful because of a procedural breach receives only nominal damages where the Secretary of State proves that lawful…

Article 38 of Council Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 can bar satisfaction of only the part of a contractual claim whose existence or content results directly or…

Mere overlooking from one property into another is not actionable as private nuisance at common law. Private nuisance protects interests in land, including its…

On an appeal against committal for contempt, an appellate court will rarely interfere with findings based on the trial judge’s assessment of oral evidence…

A report laid before the House of Commons following a Motion for an Unopposed Return constitutes proceedings in Parliament where its provision serves…

A challenge to the continued criminalisation of conduct by people who stopped offending long ago may be academic or hypothetical. A statistical disparity…

The Council Directive 2004/38/EC does not directly confer on a third-country family member a right to reside in the Union citizen’s home state. Article 5…

A provision, criterion or practice under the Equality Act 2010 connotes a state of affairs indicating how similar cases are generally treated, or would be…

A successful defendant who has bettered a Part 36 offer has no automatic entitlement to indemnity costs. The court must exercise its discretion under the CPR…

A disclosed and identified principal may enforce, and be bound by, a contract made by its authorised nominee or agent. The principal is excluded only where the…

In children proceedings, the usual rule remains that each party bears their own costs. A costs order requires unusual circumstances. On an appeal, the…

An unexplained wealth order is an investigative measure. For the politically exposed person condition in section 362B(7)(a) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002…

Commercial deeds are construed objectively by balancing the language used with the documentary, factual and commercial context. Apparently clear wording may be…

Where goods bearing a trade mark have been put on the EEA market with the proprietor’s consent, exhaustion applies unless there is a legitimate reason under…

Restrictive covenants in a shareholders’ agreement may bind an employee shareholder until the shares are transferred, followed by the agreed post-transfer…

A disclosure to persons other than the employer or a prescribed person is a last resort under Employment Rights Act 1996, section 43G. It must satisfy every…

For an out-of-time homelessness appeal under the Housing Act 1996, good reason is a straightforward statutory test. The court must assess all the circumstances…

A statutory definition of a long tenancy which is about to expire is a hard-edged question answered by reference to the contractual term granted and the period…

Where solicitors negligently fail to protect a client’s power to prevent a property disposition, causation ordinarily depends on whether the client would have…

A decision whether to notify a putative father or relative of the birth of a child who may be adopted requires a fact-sensitive balancing exercise. The child’s…

Under article 14, the phased introduction of a welfare scheme may discriminate where a trigger event causes one group of severely disabled claimants to suffer…

An interview notice may properly be sent by email to an address supplied by an applicant. Where it is received there in good time, diversion to a junk folder…

A statutory duty to involve service users in NHS commissioning changes extends to genuine proposals for change. It does not require consultation on options…

Once any of the second, third or fourth Hardial Singh principles is breached, further immigration detention is prima facie unlawful. A short period of grace…

Legal advice privilege applies only where the dominant purpose of the particular communication or document is obtaining or giving legal advice. The broad…

A claimant’s unilateral decision to pause proceedings for a substantial period may amount to an abuse of process, but it does not do so automatically. The…

In construing a deferred-compensation plan, the meaning of “losses” depends on the contract read as a whole. A broad reference to “any losses incurred” is not…

An injunction, especially one against persons unknown, must identify prohibited conduct with reasonable clarity in context. Ambiguity, vagueness or…

A prisoner has no unqualified right to attend a civil hearing physically. The court must determine whether participation by video link permits the prisoner to…

Recognition of a foreign insolvency proceeding does not make the foreign representative an English liquidator or confer an English office-holder’s statutory…

In assessing whether police use of force was negligent, the court must ask whether the officer took such care as was reasonable to avoid injury in the…

Corresponding deficiency relief under the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 is relief from higher-rate income tax. Under section 6(2) of the…

In a decision about a child’s future, the judge should identify the realistic options and evaluate their respective advantages and disadvantages through a…

The fixed-costs regime governing a low-value personal injury claim at first instance does not govern the costs of an appeal. The appellate court instead has a…

On an application for leave to oppose an adoption, the court must determine whether circumstances have sufficiently changed and whether the parent has a solid…

A blanket contractual ban on internet sales by authorised dealers in a selective distribution system is capable of being a restriction of competition by…

A final quia timet injunction against persons unknown requires a real and imminent risk of tortious conduct and a strong probability of irreparable harm. Its…

Legal advice privilege protects confidential solicitor-client communications made in a relevant legal context. It extends to a continuum of communications…

An appeal by way of review is not a rehearing. Under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 52.21, an appellate court should intervene in a finding of fact only…

An arbitration agreement may be subject to an express choice of law where the contract, read as a whole, provides that all its terms are governed by that law.…

Delay in appealing a final consent order may be excused where a supervening event occurs within the appeal period, the party promptly challenges the order, and…