Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2022

Party status in care proceedings is governed by a broad case-management discretion under rules 12.3 and 12.4 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010. The court…

A liability notice issued in breach of mandatory CIL timing or service requirements is not automatically a nullity. It remains legally effective unless quashed…

In assessing deceit damages, the court must identify the transaction which caused the loss, the benefits obtained from it, and whether any loss was later…

Certification of collective competition proceedings requires a methodology offering a realistic prospect of assessing loss on a class-wide basis. It need not…

Article 12 protects a strong, but not absolute, right to marry. National laws may regulate its exercise for a legitimate purpose, provided they do not impair…

A foreign executor named in the will of a testator domiciled abroad may acquire title under English law to estate assets situated in England and Wales from the…

A contractual release is construed according to ordinary principles, even where the later claim alleges fraud, dishonesty or conspiracy. Express reference to…

In construing contractual divestiture undertakings, a business defined by reference to its position at a specified date must be assessed at that date. Property…

For Employment Rights Act 1996, section 100(1)(d), the employee must reasonably believe that there is a serious and imminent danger in the workplace. The…

Under Arbitration Act 1996 section 42, an unresolved challenge to an arbitral tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction does not require the court to determine…

In an application to return a child to a non-Convention state, the child’s welfare remains paramount. A court may make a summary welfare determination where…

A public authority’s policy is unlawful for what it says or omits about the law only when it positively authorises or approves unlawful conduct. It need not…

For QOCS under CPR r.44.14(1), a settlement reached by accepting a Part 36 offer does not become an order for damages and interest merely because the court…

In civil contempt proceedings for failure to comply with a court order, the primary aim of a sanction is to secure compliance. The sanction must be the least…

A bribe is a secret payment or inducement which creates a realistic prospect of conflict between an agent’s personal interest and the principal’s interest.…

A patent claim should ordinarily be construed, where its language reasonably permits, to include matter described in the specification as an embodiment of the…

Sentencing for breach of an anti-social behaviour injunction prioritises future compliance, followed by punishment and rehabilitation. Criminal sentencing…

On a second appeal, permission requires a real prospect of success and an important point of principle or practice, or another compelling reason. An appellate…

In earnings-discrepancy cases under the Immigration Rules, procedural fairness requires the Secretary of State clearly to allege dishonesty, invite a response…

An appellate court reviewing domestic-abuse findings must assess the evidence as a whole. Allegations cannot be placed in disconnected compartments. A finding…

A joint tenant may release an equitable interest in land to the other joint tenant. No particular form of words is required, but the release must satisfy the…

Post-decision evidence may be admitted in judicial review where it elucidates, rather than fundamentally alters or contradicts, the contemporaneous reasons. An…

The medical-care exemption from VAT applies only where the supply in question is itself medical care with a therapeutic aim. It does not extend merely because…

An English court should not grant a declaration solely to influence a foreign court’s determination of an issue governed by that country’s law. Substantial…

A statutory time limit for an appeal cannot ordinarily be extended where the statute contains no extension power. However, the court must read the provision…

A driver emerging from a minor road onto a major road owes a continuing duty to traffic on the major road. Whether that duty requires a further observation…

A discovery assessment under section 29(1)(a) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 is confined to income or chargeable gains that ought to have been assessed but…

A settlement agreement is construed objectively, by giving its words their natural and ordinary meaning in the context of the agreement, the parties’…

Functional state immunity depends on the capacity in which the former head of state or state agent acted. The court must examine the individual acts pleaded…

A challenge to a case-management decision will succeed only where the judge ignored a relevant matter, considered an irrelevant matter, or was plainly wrong.…

Where there is no statutory or common-law duty to consult, a Secretary of State may rationally decide not to consult on an amendment made to implement a clear…

Whether a specialised structure is plant or premises for capital allowances is an evaluative question of fact or fact and degree. The tribunal must assess the…

The Public Records Act 1958 does not impose a general implied duty to preserve every public record pending selection for permanent preservation. Section 3(1)…

A development consent order must be construed objectively, in its statutory and planning context, so as to give effect to its purpose. Where an order specifies…

Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 forms part of a holistic credibility assessment. It does not dictate the…

A court may impose a sentence for contempt consecutively to an existing criminal sentence where the contempt warrants a separate penalty. The court must…

The consumer-contract jurisdiction gateway is a self-standing exception to the defendant’s domicile rule. A claimant need not first establish jurisdiction…

Acquiescence under section 48(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 concerns use, rather than registration, of the later mark. A cancellation action does not…

The domicile date in opt-out collective proceedings is not fixed by statute or the CAT Rules as the date of the collective proceedings order, or a date close…

For Article 8, a measure interferes with private life through negative stereotyping only where its terms or effect objectively and unequivocally convey a…

The term debtor in section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 means the contractual debtor: the individual who receives credit under the relevant consumer…

An arbitration agreement is subject to the ordinary principles of contract formation. Separability preserves an agreed arbitration clause against challenges to…

A contractual requirement that passengers first submit flight-delay compensation claims directly to an airline is lawful only if it does not create a material…

A review of a temporary exclusion order may determine civil rights where quashing the order would also remove obligations interfering with article 8 rights.…

For corporation tax purposes, expenditure may be an expense of management where it concerns investigation, evaluation and decision-making about acquiring or…

Where an error of law has deprived a party of a fair hearing before the First-tier Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal should normally remit the case for a fresh…

The systems duty under article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights requires a framework of laws, precautions, procedures and enforcement measures…

A person named elsewhere in proceedings may fall within a clearly defined class of “persons unknown” governed by an injunction where later conduct brings that…

The reflective loss principle bars a shareholder’s claim for loss suffered in that capacity where the loss is a diminution in share value or distributions…

Where an appellant’s notice is filed electronically under the Electronic Working Pilot Scheme, it may be filed at any time up to midnight on the final day of…

In Court of Protection proceedings held in public, the threshold for appellate interference with an evaluative decision on reporting restrictions is high…

Litigation privilege protects communications made for the sole or dominant purpose of conducting adversarial litigation, including secondary evidence which…

A regulator subject to a duty to secure legal compliance may, where immediate compliance is not practicable, adopt a temporary and less non-compliant…

The English court may hear a contractual royalty claim involving foreign patents where it has in personam jurisdiction. The Moçambique principle excludes a…

Non-recognition of an overseas divorce under the Family Law Act 1986 does not, by itself, determine whether a party had capacity to marry. Section 14 of the…

In a self-assessed SDLT scheme, a substantive right to repayment does not itself displace a procedural time limit. Where tax is charged on substantial…

A notice to quit must be given to the tenant holding the tenancy when the notice is served. Where the tenancy has been assigned, that is the assignee. A notice…

In a statutory appeal, the appellate court is identified by the governing statute. Where the statutory language is prescriptive, the court has no discretion to…

In private-law child-arrangements proceedings, a court deciding whether to make findings about domestic abuse must apply PD12J’s structured framework. It must…

On an application to strike out a pleaded allegation of bad-faith trade mark registration, the pleaded facts and permissible inferences must be assumed to be…

For jurisdictional domicile, residence bears its ordinary meaning. It identifies where a person lives and has a settled or usual abode with some degree of…

In proceedings under the Hague Child Abduction Convention, habitual residence must be determined at the date of the alleged wrongful removal or retention. The…

For expenditure incurred more than ten years after a site entered an enterprise zone to qualify for enterprise zone allowances, it must be incurred under the…

Where a policy causes admitted indirect discrimination in its application to an affected individual, the policy-maker bears the burden of justification. The…

In determining a corporate debtor’s centre of main interests, the court must begin with the registered-office presumption in the Recast EU Regulation on…

The interpretation of a planning policy is a question of law. Its application to the facts is for the planning authority, subject to review for irrationality.…

The procedural obligation under article 2 of the Convention is parasitic upon a possible violation of a substantive obligation. It does not arise through…

A trial judge’s broad discretion over costs under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is not displaced merely because a successful party acted dishonestly or beat a…

Once an implementer has been found to infringe a valid standard-essential patent, it cannot avoid an injunction under a FRAND undertaking unless it commits to…

Where a collective agreement is conclusively presumed non-contractual under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, it cannot itself be…

For qualified one-way costs shifting, “proceedings” ordinarily means all claims brought by one claimant against one defendant in a single action. The term…

Under a force majeure clause requiring that an event or state of affairs cannot be overcome by reasonable endeavours, the question is whether its adverse…

For the purpose of allocating assessment costs under section 70(9) of the Solicitors Act 1974, the amount of a solicitor’s bill is the total sum demanded for…

Work undertaken through a pre-action online portal is non-contentious business unless court proceedings are begun. Accordingly, section 74(3) of the Solicitors…

In contempt proceedings, the court must assess seriousness by culpability and harm. It must first consider whether a fine is sufficient. If custody is…

Under section 37(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the court may require a judgment debtor to exercise or delegate pension-related powers so that pension…

An administrative policy must be interpreted objectively, using a broad and practical approach suited to its language, purpose and context. It should be read…

Under Schedule 10 of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, a preliminary hearing is not confined to taking the petitioner’s case at its highest.…

For a long residential lease, service of a notice under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, section 166, makes rent payable on the date specified. It…

An express contractual duty of good faith takes its meaning from its contractual context. Its core requires honesty and may prohibit commercially unacceptable…

When deciding whether an applicant is homeless because it is unreasonable to continue occupying existing accommodation, a local authority applies a test…

Children’s best interests and British citizenship are important considerations in an article 8 proportionality assessment, but neither is a trump card. Their…

Contractual obligations are determined objectively by reading the agreement as a whole, in its factual and commercial context. Clear language must be applied…

A local housing authority can discharge the main housing duty by a private rented sector offer only through scrupulous compliance with the statutory…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s findings of primary fact, evaluative conclusions or inferences merely because another view is…

In uncertain-perpetrator care proceedings, the court must first identify those with an opportunity to inflict the injury. It must then consider each person…

Under the Insolvency Act 1986, a person who contravenes section 216 by managing a company under a prohibited name becomes personally and jointly and severally…

By a majority, the Court held that State Immunity Act 1978, section 10(4)(a), applies to salvage claims concerning state-owned cargo that has become wreck. The…

The Court of Protection may grant an injunction to give effect to, or prevent frustration of, a decision made for a person lacking capacity under section 16(2)…

A beneficial owner’s equitable rights do not confer a common law right to dispossess a legal owner or prior possessor by self-help. Where possession is taken…

An appeal is academic where its determination can no longer affect the parties or the public. A legal aid statutory charge does not preserve an otherwise…

Where the status or authority of a foreign company’s directors derives from a foreign judicial decision, an English court must determine whether that decision…

Correspondence which merely confirms an earlier public-law decision does not restart the time for seeking judicial review. A claimant must challenge the…

A claim whose principal focus or essential subject matter is the validity of an arbitration agreement falls within the arbitration exception. It therefore…

For Article 101(1), the counterfactual must reflect the realistic and likely competitive situation absent the challenged arrangement. It need not remove the…

The court may dispense retrospectively with personal service of an injunction when determining a contempt application, where the defendant had actual knowledge…

An application for third-party disclosure is both a “claim” and “proceedings” for the service-out gateway in paragraph 3.1(20) of Practice Direction 6B.…

The RTA Protocol is a self-contained, quick and proportionate procedure. It is designed to narrow the issues and limit evidence before a Stage 3 determination.…

On an appeal from a fact-finding judgment in a road-traffic negligence claim, the Court of Appeal will not rehear the evidence or substitute findings merely…

For entrepreneurs’ relief under Chapter 3 of Part V of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, a disposal of trust business assets requires a disposal of…

When deciding whether to adjourn proceedings concerning the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment so that parents can obtain legal representation, the court…

Statutory child-protection functions do not, by themselves, create a common-law duty of care. The general duty to provide services under the Children Act 1989…

In summary proceedings under the 1980 Child Abduction Convention, oral evidence is exceptional but remains discretionary. Consent under Article 13(a) is a…

A company which markets an investment package through trained sales agents may owe prospective purchasers a duty to warn of an obvious foreign-currency risk…

Applications to reopen or revisit an earlier order may be summarily dismissed where the applicant fails to establish a prima facie case with sufficient merit.…

A stranger to a company cannot become a de facto or shadow director by unilaterally asserting that status. De facto directorship depends on the substance and…

The self-build housing exemption from Community Infrastructure Levy is unavailable where the development is first authorised by retrospective planning…

Paragraph 276B of the Immigration Rules requires at least 10 years’ continuous lawful residence, subject to the specific qualifications in paragraph 276B(v).…

A defence of truth requires the defamatory imputation to be substantially or essentially equivalent in gravity to the true position. An allegation that a…

An order finding contempt, without imposing imprisonment, is not a committal order for which an appeal lies without permission. A committal order is an order…

In welfare-based family proceedings, the rule in Hollington v Hewthorn [1943] 1 KB 587 does not exclude relevant evidence of an earlier judicial finding or…

For employment income purposes, “profit” in section 62(2)(b) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 does not mean a net gain after litigation…

An unincorporated international treaty forms no part of domestic law. A domestic court cannot determine whether the United Kingdom has breached it or allow it…

A solicitor’s retainer funded by a conditional fee agreement does not, without satisfying the orthodox test for implied terms, impose a duty of good faith on…

Guidance requiring an overseas applicant for leave outside the Immigration Rules to use the application form for the route most closely matching their…

Following a valid termination of a bareboat charterparty for an Event of Default, an owner may repossess the vessel where the charterparty gives an unqualified…

The Attorney General is uniquely entitled to represent the public interest in applications concerning Royal wills, but his view is compelling evidence rather…

A decision by the Upper Tribunal on an application under rule 43 to set aside a decision is an intermediate and excluded decision. The Court of Appeal…

In competition collective proceedings, the power to award aggregate damages under section 47C(2) of the Competition Act 1998 permits liability, including…

A statutory fiction must be construed according to its purpose and applied only so far as necessary to achieve that purpose. Section 78(1) of the Capital…

Where an issue was not argued on appeal, the appellate court may leave the first-instance ruling on that issue unaltered when making a consequential order.…

Abuse of process is a fact-sensitive jurisdiction. The court must conduct a close merits-based assessment and weigh the overall balance of justice, including…

A development plan policy supporting housing on previously developed land “immediately adjoining” a settlement does not necessarily require physical…

The statutory good-character requirement for naturalisation is distinct from residence, integration, language and knowledge-of-life requirements. Long…

Section 3(1) of the Defamation Act 1952 establishes a forward-looking test for malicious falsehood. A claimant need not prove actual pecuniary loss. It is…

A prospective application to extend time for service under CPR 7.6(2) requires a justified departure from the ordinary service period. The court must evaluate…

A detailed commercial lease will not ordinarily relieve a tenant from rent merely because a legal restriction prevents the intended use of the premises. A…

On a standard-basis assessment, a party seeking solicitors’ fees above the applicable Guideline Hourly Rates must provide a clear and compelling justification.…

An academic public-law appeal should be heard only where a good public-interest reason justifies doing so. The discretion is exercised cautiously, ordinarily…

Dependency for an extended family member requires material support needed to meet essential needs. Financial assistance to someone able to support themselves…

A court may correct a consequential order where the judgment clearly intended a decision to be quashed but the order omitted that relief. A claim for…

Statutory immunity for a head-of-state’s family member under the State Immunity Act 1978, section 20(1)(b), depends on being part of the head of state’s…

A case-management stay is governed by the single question whether it is in the interests of justice. A stay pending foreign proceedings will ordinarily require…

Under the Care Act 2014, needs for “care and support” are individual and may extend beyond conventional looked-after care. They may include financial…

In a decision concerning withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from an incapacitated child, best interests must be assessed from the child’s perspective and…

The statutory audit requirement for a bus franchising scheme applies to the authority’s statutory assessment and operates before public consultation. It does…

A rent repayment order under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 is confined by both the period in which rent was paid and the period to which it relates. A…

In a child-abuse fact-finding appeal, concise reasons will suffice where the judgment as a whole demonstrates engagement with the material issues and explains…

A subscriber to the memorandum of a public company formed under Companies Act 2006 agrees to take the shares identified for that subscriber in the statement of…

An employment contract may be contained in several documents. An offer letter may incorporate an attached summary of benefits where its language objectively…

For plying for hire under the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869, a vehicle must be exhibited to the public and, while exhibited, expressly or impliedly…

A solicitor who answers an informal request from a former client assumes responsibility only for the task which, objectively and in context, the communications…

CPR r 52.30 provides a narrow route for reopening a final determination, including a permission decision. It regulates an existing jurisdiction and does not…

A very late amendment to an appeal may be refused where it attacks an unchallenged part of the order, raises points not argued below, and leaves the respondent…

A taxable person cannot exercise the right to deduct input VAT merely by proving that the substantive conditions for deduction are satisfied. For an ordinary…

Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, the competent authority makes the evaluative judgment whether a project will adversely affect…

The High Court retains a parens patriae jurisdiction over children who are not wards of court or subject to care proceedings, and that jurisdiction can…

An authority’s duty under section 208(2) of the Housing Act 1996 to notify the receiving authority arises when out-of-borough accommodation is offered, whether…

Contractual language promising a benefit as permanent does not, without clear and mutual intention, prevent an employer terminating the contract on notice and…

When reviewing a negative Conclusive Grounds decision under the National Referral Mechanism, the decision-maker must give high-quality reasons, engage fully…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the grounds have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason for the appeal to be heard.…

In a fact-finding appeal, an appellate court must assess the trial judgment as a whole and respect the trial judge’s evaluation of a complex body of evidence.…

A party seeking a retrial because judgment was entered following a civil trial which that party did not attend should normally apply under rule 39.3 of the…

A judge may ordinarily reconsider an earlier decision because professional judges are expected to retain an open mind. Recusal may nevertheless be required…

A claim to enforce UK standard-essential patents remains a dispute about their validity, essentiality and infringement, together with any defence based on the…

Complexity, cost and the burden on court resources do not by themselves make properly arguable proceedings an abuse of process. A strike-out for proceedings…

In determining whether adverse treatment was imposed because of a protected disclosure, a tribunal must identify the real reason operating in the relevant…

A consent order recording a negotiated costs agreement is construed objectively under contractual interpretation principles. The natural and ordinary meaning…

A damages-based agreement cannot lawfully require a defendant to pay legal representatives a percentage of money or assets which the defendant successfully…

Where the clinical testing required by the applicable medical code cannot be completed, and no medical witness has diagnosed death, the court should ordinarily…

In care proceedings, the court must identify every realistic option for a child’s future care and evaluate each globally and holistically. Each option must be…

In construing a registered model transfer, the court must ascertain the objective meaning of the language read as a whole and the admissible background…

Apparent bias is assessed by asking whether all relevant circumstances would lead a fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real…

Enhanced land remediation relief is unavailable where land’s contaminated state results partly from the claimant’s own activity or that of a connected person.…

For a trade-related property valued under RICS VPGA 4, the profits method values the relevant property interest, whether freehold or leasehold, by reference to…

Where an English court has substantive welfare jurisdiction while enforcement of an earlier foreign parental-responsibility order is sought, it must make a…

Where a contract provides alternative lawful methods of performance, damages for breach are assessed on the assumption that the defendant would have chosen the…

Before making an order leading to adoption, the court must rigorously evaluate every realistic placement and compare its advantages and disadvantages with…

A post-termination covenant in a franchise agreement is subject to the restraint of trade doctrine. Its enforceability depends on whether, at the date of…

In an intentional-homelessness affordability assessment, reasonable living expenses are the sum an applicant reasonably requires to provide the necessities of…

A testamentary charging clause permitting a trustee engaged in any profession or business to charge usual professional or other fees does not create a general…

Damages for breach of warranty on a share sale are ordinarily assessed by comparing the shares’ value as warranted with their actual value at the transaction…

In a patent obviousness appeal, the assessment is multifactorial and appellate intervention requires an error of law or principle. Where the skilled addressee…

A landowner cannot maintain a claim in trespass or nuisance against a sewerage undertaker where the substance of the complaint is that inadequate…

A deficient immigration decision notice is not necessarily and permanently ineffective. Failure to tell an applicant about a right of appeal may justify…

Compliance with a consent order permitting security to be replaced by a bank guarantee is assessed objectively from the order and the guarantee. A covering…

In a protection appeal, the lower standard of proof does not prevent a tribunal from finding that asserted past facts are untrue, unsupported or uncertain. It…

A restraint of trade covenant must protect a legitimate interest and go no further than reasonably necessary in the parties’ and public interests. During a…

A planning permission must be construed objectively as a whole. The grant, conditions and reasons for the conditions together establish the scope of the…

Lease costs clauses must be construed according to their particular wording. Costs of service-charge proceedings are not automatically incidental to the…

For customs classification under the Combined Nomenclature, Note 3 to Chapter 95 operates at two levels. At heading level it provisionally brings in parts and…

Detailed settlement agreements, including releases, are construed by ordinary objective principles. Subjective intention and pre-contractual negotiations are…

A collateral warranty can be a construction contract under section 104(1) of the Housing Grants (Construction & Regeneration) Act 1996. The question depends on…

Damages under the repairing covenant implied by section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 are available only from the date on which the claimant became a…

Under the pre-2014 statutory appeal scheme, an appeal against a decision that automatic deportation applies is not an appeal against the proposed destination…

Under a Collision Jurisdiction Agreement in the ASG 2 form, a party that tenders security in a reasonably satisfactory form must have that security accepted by…

On an appeal against the discretionary refusal of interim public law relief, the appellate court reviews the decision rather than exercising the discretion…

A patent claim must be construed through the eyes of the skilled person, in its technical context and purposively. General statements that embodiments are…

For Limitation Act 1980 section 32(1)(b), deliberate concealment postpones time only until the claimant knows, or could reasonably know, that it has a…

An excess insurance clause making disputes subject to the same law and jurisdiction as the primary policy operates only where the primary policy itself…

In an Article 8 “limbo” case, the question is whether refusal of leave is proportionate in the particular circumstances. A person does not automatically…

The majority held that, in an application under section 27 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the court assesses whether reasonable maintenance has been…

A serious foreign conviction can create a public interest in deportation under Article 8(2). The fact that the offence was committed abroad does not, by…

In sentencing for admitted breaches of gang injunctions, the court must assess the breach by reference to its deliberateness, the defendant’s knowledge of the…

Under Regulation 16(5)(c) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, the decision-maker must conduct a practical, fact-specific inquiry into…

In TOEIC proxy-testing cases, the Secretary of State’s generic ETS evidence may discharge the initial evidential burden. A tribunal should treat the…

For a second medical use patent, plausibility is assessed from the patent’s disclosure read with the common general knowledge. The skilled reader may presume…

Technical objections to contempt proceedings under Part 71 of the Civil Procedure Rules should ordinarily be raised before the first-instance court. An…

On an application for permission to appeal an interim-injunction decision, the appellate court will not interfere with evaluative findings about the likely…

For law-enforcement data, the data controller retains responsibility for deciding whether retention remains strictly necessary, lawful, fair and proportionate.…

Indemnity costs may be ordered where a party’s conduct, the circumstances of the case, or both take the proceedings outside the ordinary and reasonable norm.…

A local housing authority has no power to extend the mandatory 21-day period for requesting a review under section 107E of the Housing Act 1985. The…

In civil committal proceedings for the deliberate breach of an injunction, costs are ordinarily governed by the usual civil costs principles. Classification of…

HMRC’s power under section 684(7A)(b) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 permits it to relieve an actual or deemed employer from complying with…

Consequential relief after a finding of trade mark infringement remains discretionary. A declaration should be made only where it serves a useful purpose. It…

Registration of a foreign child maintenance order under the 2007 Hague Convention gives the respondent a right of appeal to the Family Court. Any further…

On an application for an interim injunction enforcing an employee’s non-compete covenant, the court should ask whether there is a serious issue to be tried and…

A paper bill of costs need not identify individual fee earners by name. It must state any professional qualification relied upon and, unless the SCCO grade is…

An applicant under section 168(5) of the Insolvency Act 1986 must be a person aggrieved and must have a legitimate interest in the relief sought. A creditor…

Where a defendant controls assets belonging to another in circumstances in which, objectively, the owner is entitled to expect administration for the owner’s…

When the Competition Appeal Tribunal chooses between opt-in and opt-out collective proceedings, neither form has a legal or policy preference. The Tribunal…

On an application for summary judgment or strike-out, a claim for acoustic shock is not to be treated as a claim for noise-induced hearing loss. The claimant…

Where the main homelessness duty under Housing Act 1996, section 193(2), arises, a local housing authority must secure that suitable accommodation is available…

An amendment may be late even at an early procedural stage if it could have been made earlier. The court must assess the prejudice caused by its timing and…

Departures from the Achieving Best Evidence Guidance affect the weight of a child’s recorded interview rather than its automatic admissibility or reliability.…

Use of a trade mark on a foreign website must be assessed objectively, act by act, from the perspective of the average consumer in the protected territory.…

In immigration applications depending on sponsorship, an applicant has no entitlement to expect success merely because the application appeared compliant when…

A court may grant relief from sanctions where no formal application notice has been issued, either on an informal application at a hearing or, more rarely, on…

Article 7(2) of the Recast Brussels Regulation permits a court seised on the mosaic basis to restrain harmful internet publication which may occur within its…

On an application to fortify a cross-undertaking in damages supporting a freezing order, the applicant must show a good arguable case that the order will cause…

A bailee of a damaged chattel has possessory title to claim the cost of repair and consequential loss of use, even where the claim reflects the owner's loss…

There is no statutory limitation period for an unfair prejudice petition, and laches does not strictly apply. Delay, acquiescence, resulting prejudice and an…

IR35 requires a three-stage inquiry: identify the actual arrangements, construct the hypothetical direct contract, and decide whether it would be a contract of…

Mutuality of obligation and sufficient control are necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for a contract of employment. Once established, the court must…

Foreign-criminal status under the deportation schemes must be assessed when the deportation decision is made, rather than when the offence is committed or the…

When a statutory valuation requires the price to be diminished by the increase attributable to a tenant’s improvements, the valuer must compare the property as…

A party to private law children proceedings retains the privilege against self-incrimination but has no right under article 6 to make incriminating admissions…

Under section 1(4) of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, a bona fide settlement relieves the contribution claimant only from proving its own actual…

An appellate court should refuse a new point where it would change the nature of the claim, require different evidence and argument, and necessitate a retrial.…

A contempt sentence must reflect the seriousness of deliberate breaches of a court order, assessed by culpability and harm caused, intended or likely. An…

On a summary assessment, costs claimed at hourly rates substantially above the applicable guideline rates require a clear and compelling justification. It is…

A failure to file Form N510 under rule 6.34 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 prevents service of a claim form until the notice is filed or the court permits…

Information relating to private Children Act proceedings must not be disclosed unless authorised by the court, the statutory regime or the Family Procedure…

An appellate court may interfere with a trial judge’s primary factual findings only where the decision was plainly wrong, meaning that no reasonable judge…

The intensity of the public sector equality duty is sensitive to the function, facts and stage of decision-making. An early, genuinely experimental decision…

An exclusion of liability for loss of profit, revenue or savings does not, without clear language, exclude wasted expenditure caused by repudiatory breach.…

When assessing accommodation offered to a homeless applicant with protected characteristics, a housing authority must make the inquiries necessary to decide…

On an application for permission to serve a contribution claim outside the jurisdiction, the claimant must establish that England and Wales is clearly the…

Naturalisation requires the Secretary of State to be satisfied that the applicant is of good character. The applicant bears that burden. The assessment is an…

On a prospective application to extend time for serving a claim form, the court must identify from the evidence the actual reasons why service was not achieved…

An appellate court should be cautious before permitting a party to raise a point not taken at trial. Permission will generally be refused where the point…

A collateral challenge to a civil judgment is an abuse of process only where relitigation would be manifestly unfair or would bring the administration of…

Under Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, the court second seised must stay proceedings of its own motion while the jurisdiction of the court first seised is…

When considering a stay of an injunction pending appeal, the court should seek the arrangement most capable of doing justice whatever the appeal’s outcome. It…

A patent licence is exclusive under Patents Act 1977 where it gives the licensee an exclusive contractual right to work any commercially meaningful part of the…

In proceedings for a placement order, the court must identify the specific threshold findings, fairly address each party’s core case and explain why material…

For a compensation order against a person knowingly concerned in a contravention, section 382 requires knowledge of the facts which make the conduct a…

Testamentary capacity concerns a testator’s ability to understand the relevant matters, not the fairness of the dispositions made or the testator’s ability to…

On ordinary construction, the protection against detriment in section 146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 does not extend to…

CPR 7.6 does not directly govern extensions of time for serving judicial review claim forms. Its principles nevertheless govern applications under CPR…

A fund does not avoid or mitigate a loss merely because investors redeem at a net asset value reduced by the wrongdoing. The character of the transaction…

A draft judgment supplied under embargo may be used only to correct errors, prepare submissions, agree consequential orders and prepare for publication. Its…

The compulsory motor insurance obligation under Article 3 of the Directive 2009/103/EC is determined by EU law. It is not satisfied merely because a policy…

An unincorporated treaty creates no directly enforceable domestic rights. However, where a public authority declares that its policy will implement a…

Damages under section 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 are awarded only where necessary to afford just satisfaction. Where a claimant receives the same…

Under section 12 of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, displacement of the section 11 general rule requires a structured…

A transporter who has physical possession of excise goods for delivery is liable for excise duty under article 33 of Council Directive 2008/118/EC and…

In judicial review proceedings before SIAC, relief may be refused on the inevitable-outcome basis only where the outcome would have been inevitable despite the…

A bank’s duty to execute a customer’s payment instruction is not absolute. The bank must exercise reasonable skill and care in and about execution. If…

In an Article 8 appeal, a procedural failure to consider post-hearing submissions is immaterial where the omitted argument could not lawfully affect the…

A solicitor conducting litigation cannot validly take an assignment of the client’s cause of action before judgment. The rule protects the administration of…

Where a judicial review claim seeks public law relief that has become academic, the court should ordinarily dismiss those aspects rather than decide issues of…

At the leave stage under section 24(2)(a) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the court must ask whether circumstances have changed and, if so, whether…

The safeguarding regime for electronic money does not create a statutory trust over funds received by an electronic money institution. It protects electronic…

An HMRC extra-statutory VAT concession must be read as an ordinarily sophisticated taxpayer would understand it. A concession permitting a taxpayer to exempt a…

A reasonable expectation of privacy is objective, fact-specific and relative to the defendant against whom it is asserted. Personal information does not…

A preliminary reference under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires a jurisdictional necessity condition to be satisfied.…

Relief from sanctions under rule 3.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 requires the three-stage Denton inquiry. A serious and significant default without a…

The foreign revenue rule bars direct or indirect claims for tax which is due but unpaid. It does not bar an ordinary private law claim by a foreign tax…

A costs capping order under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is an exceptional and cumulative remedy. The applicant must show that the order is in the interests…

EU law permits reasonable limitation periods for recovering unlawfully levied tax, but retrospective shortening requires clear and adequate transitional…

An offer to contract on terms containing a performance warranty ordinarily makes a contractual promise. Without words or circumstances of representation, it…

A person may be a worker under regulation 2(1)(b) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 when performing services under an individual engagement, although…

An appeal lies against a judicial determination, decision, judgment, order or direction. A sealed order is not a condition precedent to seeking permission to…

A party may abuse the court’s process by advancing a later claim which could and should have been raised when the same underlying issue was determined in…

A judgment-summons committal is not invalidated by a technical defect in initiating documents where subsequent case management identifies the summons and no…

A housing authority must keep separate the question whether a purported subsequent homelessness application is a valid fresh application and the question…

Regulation 13 of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, construed in conformity with article 6(1) of the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, confers a right to…

Environmental impact assessment must address the likely significant environmental effects of the proposed project, including its operation. Whether an impact…

For Finance Act 2003 stamp duty land tax, land is residential property if it forms part of the garden or grounds of a dwelling. Section 116(1)(b) contains no…

Where a contract establishes a process under which a client approves itemised estimates before orders are placed, the agreed estimate may constitute the…

A family court may make findings beyond a local authority’s pleaded threshold schedule, but must act cautiously. The greater the disparity between the pleaded…

An embargoed draft judgment, and its substance, must remain confidential until hand-down. CPR PD40E permits circulation only for correcting errors, dealing…

An adjudicator who identifies a real jurisdictional issue which may prevent determination of the referral may investigate and raise it, even where neither…

Judicial review is ordinarily concerned with legal issues that have arisen in an established factual and legal context. The court should rarely determine the…

Where an asylum claimant is subsequently recorded as a refugee and satisfies the conditions in regulation 3(5) of the Tax Credits (Immigration) Regulations…

The Court of Appeal has power to hear an appeal in a party’s absence or to dismiss it when an appellant fails to attend a substantive hearing. That power…

Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights requires comparison with persons in a relevantly similar situation. Relevant similarity depends upon…

Under the Housing Act 1996, a local authority must assess the affordability of offered accommodation objectively and by reference to the particular applicant’s…

A patient receiving dental treatment is within the first Woodland factor without proof of separate exceptional vulnerability. An antecedent relationship may…

Opening a French safeguard procedure does not, without more, render a non-ongoing contract unenforceable. The starting point remains pacta sunt servanda.…

At an interim family hearing, written evidence is ordinarily sufficient. A party wishing to challenge an expert’s written evidence must apply for permission to…

Member States may impose formal record-keeping conditions for VAT bad debt relief where those conditions pursue legitimate collection, anti-evasion or…

The compensation exemption for extraordinary circumstances is narrow. A strike by an air carrier’s own employees over pay or employment conditions is inherent…

For damages based on breach of directly effective EU law, the breach must satisfy the conditions for State liability, including sufficient seriousness. That…

The proper law of an arbitration agreement governs its contractual scope and effect, including whether a successor in title is bound despite not being an…

An appeal from committal for contempt may include closely connected ancillary decisions that directly bear on committal, although permission is required for…

A claim in knowing receipt requires beneficial receipt of assets traceable to the claimant’s trust property and knowledge making it unconscionable to retain…

An authorised agent’s signature normally counts as the signature of the principal, including a company, unless the statute exceptionally requires personal…

A power to make regulations for the giving of notice does not authorise secondary legislation which, in substance, dispenses with a mandatory statutory…

An exclusive jurisdiction clause satisfies the written-form requirement in article 23 of the Lugano Convention where a signed contract expressly incorporates…

A third-country national carer has no Zambrano right while domestic or other EU law supplies the residence, work or assistance necessary to prevent the…

For the purposes of rule 17.4(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, the court must compare the essential factual bases of the existing and proposed claims. A…

In a later immigration appeal involving different parties but materially overlapping evidence, earlier factual findings are a starting point under Devaseelan…

Family courts and all parties must identify vulnerability at the earliest possible stage and keep the issue under review throughout the proceedings.…

A contracting authority may use a negotiated procedure without prior publication where extreme urgency satisfies regulation 32(2)(c) and that procedure is…

For a duty to arise under section 1 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984, injury must result from a danger due to the state of the premises. A reservoir does…

For limitation under the Equality Act 2010, the court must distinguish a one-off discriminatory decision with continuing consequences from conduct extending…

Damages for deceit must fully compensate the victim for all loss flowing directly from the fraudulent transaction, including consequential loss. Where basic…

The Court of Appeal may reopen a final determination, including a refusal of permission to appeal, only under rule 52.30 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998.…

The statutory recovery scheme may require employers’ liability insurers to repay the State’s social security benefits even where the benefits do not correspond…

The farming-specific exception to the five-year limit on sideways loss relief is tightly confined. Under section 68(3)(b) of Income Tax Act 2007, “the…

A claim form served under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 must be sealed by the court. Under electronic working, a claim form is not ready for service until it…

The court may grant final injunctions against unidentified persons who may subsequently occupy or trespass on land. A newcomer who knowingly breaches a persons…

The five elements for legal proximity in secondary-victim psychiatric injury claims apply equally to clinical negligence. A claimant must be close in time and…

An appellate court will generally not permit a party to advance a new issue where it would require fresh evidence, or might have led to different evidence at…

Vicarious liability for an employee’s intentional act requires more than the employment creating an opportunity. The act must be authorised, or sufficiently…

A judicial review challenge to a CCRC refusal to refer a conviction is not a criminal cause or matter merely because it concerns a conviction. The relevant…

A partial closure notice under the Taxes Management Act 1970 is subject to the same substantive requirements as a final closure notice. A matter is an issue…

An aggregation clause referring to claims consequent on or attributable to one source or original cause requires a broad search for a meaningful unifying…

A defendant alleging that an overcharge was mitigated through reductions in other input costs must establish a legal and proximate causal connection between…