Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2023

A suspended committal order under CPR Part 71 cannot lawfully be made unless the mandatory procedural safeguards have been satisfied. The judgment debtor must…

The duty under section 13 of the Climate Change Act 2008 rests on the Secretary of State responsible for the national response to climate change and carbon…

On an appeal against a barring decision, the Upper Tribunal must identify an actual mistake of law or material mistake of fact. A mere disagreement with the…

An Article 14 challenge to eligibility rules for criminal-injuries compensation requires consideration of analogous situations, status, legitimate aim and…

Only the court which determines a challenge or appeal against an arbitral award at first instance may grant permission to appeal from its decision on security…

Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, an occupier’s duty is measured by reasonable safety and by the occupier’s degree of control. A party sharing occupation…

An individual officer of a body corporate, including a designated member of an LLP, may be liable for breach of the body’s order or undertaking. Personal…

The identity and scope of a project for habitats assessment are matters of fact and evaluative judgment for the decision-maker, reviewable on conventional…

Passing off does not require an intentional misrepresentation. However, a defendant’s deliberate attempt to create a commercial connection with the claimant…

Article 6 is not absolute. A restriction on access to court may be justified where it preserves a legitimate domestic policy, pursues that policy…

Public guidance is not irrational merely because a recommendation lacks specific empirical support, provided it has a rational basis, including a reasoned…

Under section 70(1) of the Patents Act 1977, the question is objective: whether a reasonable person in the recipient’s position would understand that a patent…

Passing off requires claimant-owned goodwill, a defendant’s misrepresentation and consequential damage. Goodwill may attach to a product and its trade…

A planning authority is not generally required to treat incompatibility between an existing planning permission and a later permission for a different scheme…

For the purposes of section 850 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, a genuine allocation of partnership trading profits to a corporate…

An online marketplace operator uses a third party’s sign in its own commercial communication where a well-informed and reasonably observant user would link the…

In insurance law, proximate cause means the cause proximate in efficiency, not necessarily the last event in time. The inquiry is guided by policy…

Capacity to conduct litigation is assessed by the two-limb test in the Mental Capacity Act 2005: an impairment or disturbance of the mind or brain, and…

An interest-rate swap entered to hedge restructured borrowing does not become speculative merely because it carries forward the negative mark-to-market…

A custodial sentence for civil contempt must be just and proportionate. Immediate imprisonment is reserved for the most serious breaches or cases where other…

An unfair prejudice petition may seek relief in favour of the company alongside a remedy personal to the petitioner. The statutory permission regime for…

A statutory derogation from UK GDPR rights must contain the required safeguards in legislation. A policy document cannot supply those safeguards if the…

Collective proceedings rules do not, by necessary implication, prohibit defendants or their lawyers from communicating directly with class members about the…

A reservation of rights must be construed from its natural and ordinary language, read as a whole and against the admissible background. Commercial common…

Defamation Act 2013 section 1(1) imposes a factual threshold of serious reputational harm. The court considered that cumulative harm may be assessed where…

For an extended-family-member application, dependency requires material support from the EEA national to meet essential living needs. The national need not be…

For limitation by statutory acquiescence, the five-year period begins when the proprietor of the earlier trade mark knows of the use of the later mark and that…

In deciding whether to progress child contact, the court must identify the nature of any future risk, assess its likelihood and consider its consequences. The…

A statutory scheme for VAT bad-debt relief is exclusive where, construed in its legislative context, it covers the same ground as a proposed common-law claim…

Children should only rarely be joined as parties to proceedings under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention. Their views will usually be conveyed…

In a return application under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a court cannot treat negotiations as a concluded…

Under the Enterprise Act 2002, the CMA’s standalone power to make a market investigation reference is not permanently barred because it previously decided…

Certification under paragraph 8 of Schedule 6 to the Data Protection Act 1998 is a gateway to the higher court, not a final determination of contempt. The…

Summary judgment should not determine alleged breaches of directors’ duties where an informal agreement and the parties’ knowledge may realistically establish…

A court may stay existing proceedings or order parties to participate in a non-court-based dispute resolution process. The order must preserve the essence of…

In a personal injury claim, a claimant seeking to introduce a substantial new head of loss after expert evidence changes the diagnosis and prognosis must…

The decisive question for employment-income taxation is whether a payment is earnings or remuneration from employment. A payment made to secure agreement to…

A party seeking to set aside an order made after non-attendance at trial must act promptly, show a good reason for the absence and demonstrate a reasonable…

On an application for permission to appeal, a challenge to a first-instance judge’s multi-factor assessment of the appropriate forum faces a high threshold.…

A determination of an application for permission to appeal made on paper by a single Lord or Lady Justice is a judicial decision of the Court of Appeal and an…

In an ECAA business application, credibility is context-sensitive. It may concern genuine intentions or the plausibility and viability of the proposed…

The assessment of whether a person would face very significant obstacles to integration requires a broad, practical evaluation of the person’s likely…

Under section 2(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, “the public interest in maintaining the exemption” means the public interest in maintaining the…

For an indivisible injury, a defendant whose breach materially contributes to the injury is liable for the whole injury. The claimant need not also prove that…

For sections 175(3) and 191(1) of the Housing Act 1996, accommodation need not be available indefinitely, for a fixed period, or be tolerable for ever before…

A public authority does not ordinarily owe a common-law duty of care merely because its statutory powers could prevent harm. The central distinction is between…

A graphic work is original where its author has expressed creative ability through free and creative choices which give the work a personal touch. The test is…

When an Article 8 claim is advanced outside the Immigration Rules, the decision-maker must assess all relevant factors against the public interest and explain…

Once leave has been granted to apply to revoke a placement order, the court must make a welfare decision under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. It must…

Under the National Health Service Pension Scheme Regulations 1995/300, “retires from pensionable employment” means retirement from pensionable employment as a…

Under section 117C(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, the threshold of “unduly harsh” is considerably elevated. It requires more than an…

An appellate court deciding whether to permit a new point must ask whether the opposing party had fair warning and could deal with it properly, including…

Section 11A of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 validly limits judicial review of an Upper Tribunal decision refusing permission to appeal from…

For section 2(1)(b)(i) of Immigration Act 1971, the words in the United Kingdom or in any of the Islands qualify birth, adoption, naturalisation and…

Under the Charities Act 2011, section 67, a cy-près scheme requires a value judgment about alternative charitable purposes, having regard to the spirit of the…

In a medical negligence claim based on delayed care, factual causation must be assessed on the correct but for scenario. Where the evidence establishes what…

Where a proposed disposal involves more than one building, section 5(3) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires the transaction to be severed for the…

In urgent best-interests proceedings concerning a critically ill child, a court may resolve how an existing care plan is to be implemented by reference to the…

A written contract is interpreted objectively, by considering its language, relevant background, purpose and commercial consequences as a whole. A family…

A blanket exclusion in a finance company’s standard hire-purchase terms of liability for the quality of goods is prima facie unreasonable under the Unfair…

A statutory appeal from a collective-proceedings decision of the CAT is not confined to an order quantifying damages. Under section 49(1A)(a) of the…

In a split patent trial, a patentee may in principle raise unadjudicated infringement issues during an inquiry as to damages or an account of profits. That…

Where a person is sought to be added after expiry of the limitation period, the ordinary joinder power in CPR r 19.2(2) is displaced by r 19.2(1), and r 19.6…

Rights conferred by Part Two of the Withdrawal Agreement are directly effective in domestic law through section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.…

In adversarial civil litigation, the issues for trial are defined by pleadings, agreed case summaries and other pre-trial documents. A party cannot ordinarily…

On a point-of-law appeal, a mistake of fact giving rise to unfairness is a distinct ground of challenge where the parties share an interest in achieving the…

The rule in Henderson v Henderson depends upon a previous judicial determination or other final resolution. It cannot prevent a litigant from raising a claim…

A warranty that there has been no material adverse change since an earlier accounts date requires comparison of the company’s actual prospects at the two…

An appellate court deciding whether an error of law in a protection appeal was immaterial must first identify the error, its extent and its effect on the…

Section 137(1) of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 imposes two separate conditions on share exchanges. The entire exchange must be effected for bona…

An interim care order does not, by itself, justify removing a child from parental care. Separation at an interim stage must be necessary and proportionate. The…

An alleged oral declaration of trust must demonstrate an intention to create a trust, but it is not subject to a heightened civil standard of proof. The…

A doctor’s expression of a minority medical opinion does not itself amount to professional misconduct. Disciplinary action may, however, be justified where a…

The relief-from-sanctions regime applies only where breach of a rule, practice direction or order attracts an express or implied sanction which has already…

Where pension-benefit recoupment is disputed, section 91(6) of the Pensions Act 1995 requires the relevant monetary obligation to have become enforceable under…

For double-identity trade mark infringement, a sign must be strictly identical with the registered mark. A plural ending which creates visual, aural and…

For direct discrimination under article 14, an alleged other status must be a characteristic independent of the impugned treatment. It cannot be defined merely…

For the standard HMO test under the Housing Act 2004, “use” concerns what occupiers do with living accommodation, while “purpose” concerns why that use is…

In care proceedings, the Children Act 1989 section 31(2) threshold must be assessed at the relevant date. Past and recent facts must be evaluated together…

A court considering whether to revoke placement orders must assess each child’s welfare individually. Similar risks within a shared home do not make the…

In an urgent child medical-treatment case, a court may authorise withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment where, viewing the child’s condition as a whole…

In a cessation case, the decision-maker must ask whether a significant and non-temporary change means that the circumstances which caused refugee recognition…

A person is not in contempt of a mandatory order unless compliance was within that person’s power. The applicant bears the burden of proving deliberate…

For Part IV proceedings, the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention is the first port of call. Jurisdiction based on habitual residence must initially be…

On an appeal against a committal sentence, the appellate court should intervene only for an error of principle, a material omission or inclusion, or a sentence…

Paragraph 45 of Schedule 10 to Finance Act 2003 requires a question of market value arising in an SDLT appeal to be referred to the Upper Tribunal (Lands…

An appellate court may review a Court of Protection decision on serious medical treatment where there is an arguable concern about the comparison of treatment…

Membership of one partnership does not automatically make its partners members of another. Partnership membership depends on agreement, consent and the…

Under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the court may assess fault-based grounds by considering the tenant’s conduct from the notice or…

In a TOEIC proxy appeal, ETS evidence that a result was invalid, combined with evidence that the test centre was a fraud factory, can create a strong prima…

Under the Abbott v Philbin rule, a court should ordinarily follow an appellate decision from another UK jurisdiction on an identical issue concerning…

The English court may restrain foreign proceedings brought in breach of an English-law arbitration agreement, although the arbitration has a foreign seat.…

Articles 57(1)(f), 77 and 78 of the UK GDPR do not require the Information Commissioner to determine the merits of every complaint. The Commissioner must…

Articles of association are interpreted from their natural and ordinary language, their scheme and purpose, publicly ascertainable facts about the company, and…

For purposes of section 239 of the Insolvency Act 1986, the relevant decision to prefer a creditor may precede the payment, but the court must identify the…

The UK sanctions regime does not prevent a designated person from pursuing a civil claim or obtaining a money judgment. A cause of action is an economic…

Section 282(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986 confers a genuine discretion to annul a bankruptcy order which ought not to have been made. There is no…

For dishonest assistance, the assistant may be ordered to account for profits personally made, but is not liable to disgorge profits made by the fiduciary.…

In a fact-finding rehearing concerning a sequence of childhood injuries, the court must evaluate all the evidence in its full context. A finding that a parent…

A conditional fee agreement which fails to satisfy section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 is unenforceable as a whole. A solicitor cannot sever…

For VAT purposes, a supply of staff is conceptually distinct from a supply of the services performed by those staff. That distinction remains relevant when…

For deprivation of citizenship obtained by naturalisation, concealment under section 40(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981 must be dishonest and concern a…

For proceedings which remained governed by the Lugano Convention after IP completion day, amended CPR 6.33(3) permitted service outside the jurisdiction…

Brain stem death, correctly diagnosed under the applicable medical code of practice, is the proper indicator of death in law. On an application for a…

Where a decree nisi was obtained on the basis of behaviour and irretrievable breakdown, the same structured approach governs an application to rescind it under…

On judicial review of a compulsory-jurisdiction decision by the Financial Ombudsman Service, the applicable standard depends on the statutory scheme and the…

Commercial litigation lenders are not necessarily equivalent to ordinary unsecured creditors in financial remedy proceedings. Where a loan funded the…

A solicitor-guardian’s non-expert opinions are not subject to a blanket rule of inadmissibility. Under Civil Evidence Act 1972, section 3(2), an opinion which…

In care proceedings, the threshold under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 may be assessed by considering the totality of the evidence. Matters insufficient…

Compensation under an insurance policyholder protection scheme is confined to claims for liabilities owed under the contract of insurance, unless the scheme…

A charterer cannot limit its liability under the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims against a shipowner for loss suffered by that…

Compulsory solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance may cover liability for damages including a fee earned under a retainer, even where the fee was…

In urgent interim care proceedings, the court must assess alleged risk by reference to all material evidence and the wider context. It must not treat inability…

The inherent jurisdiction may be used to declare that a foreign marriage is not recognised in England and Wales even where the marriage is voidable, rather…

Vicarious liability requires both a relationship akin to employment and a sufficiently close connection between the authorised activities and the wrongdoing. A…

The natural and ordinary meaning of a social-media post depends on the objective impression made on the ordinary reasonable reader in its particular medium and…

The public sector equality duty requires a public authority to give due regard to the specified equality needs when exercising its actual statutory function.…

An appeal under section 4 of the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 is not a rehearing of the merits of a barring decision. The Upper Tribunal may…

The equitable jurisdiction to award compound interest remains confined to its established special categories. Under the fraud category, the defendant must have…

Accommodation which is suitable for the purpose of ending the relief duty under section 189B(7)(a) of the Housing Act 1996 may, in principle, still be…

A final care order under the Children Act 1989 may permit a child to live at home, but it should be made only for exceptional reasons and must be necessary and…

Convention compatibility of investigatory powers is assessed by the totality of the safeguards governing each power and each stage of its use. The court must…

A personal representative is entitled to an estate indemnity only for expenses properly incurred while acting on behalf of the estate. Unreasonable conduct can…

Section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 grants a right of access to the commons on foot or horseback for open-air recreation. It is not confined to a…

An age assessment interview must be fair, but fairness is fact-sensitive and does not require every procedural safeguard in every case. There is no rule of law…

A person who married an EU national only after the end of the transition period does not fall within Article 10(1)(e)(i) of the Withdrawal Agreement. Inability…

An appellate court should not disturb factual findings unless compelled by a compelling reason. In child-injury fact-finding, the judge must assess the…

A duty requiring NHS England to make arrangements to ensure that at least 92% of relevant patients wait less than 18 weeks is a target duty. It requires…

A local authority may use standing orders to regulate committee members’ entitlement to vote on deferred planning applications. The power in paragraph 42 of…

Where a company seeks interim protection against directors or shareholders for alleged breaches of fiduciary or contractual duties, the court must assess the…

Under the Insolvency Act 1986 section 303(1), court supervision of a trustee in bankruptcy is exceptional. Intervention requires bad faith or fraud, or a…

Under the Pension Schemes Act 1993, s 46(1), a guaranteed minimum pension is deducted from a Category A or Category B retirement pension by the lesser of the…

For paragraph 2(1)(c) of Annex B to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, the words concerning a threat causing fear of immediate violence take their…

In a planning challenge, the court must read an inspector’s decision letter as a whole and respect the evaluative nature of planning judgment. Harm to an…

Under Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, the female spouse or civil partner of a gestational mother is presumed to be a legal parent following…

For the purposes of Housing Act 1996, a place occupied under a licence may constitute accommodation even if it is temporary or supported. Whether a place is…

In a protection appeal, the tribunal must apply the real-risk standard without demanding cogent direct evidence of a foreign state's covert monitoring where…

Defamation damages must compensate for actual reputational harm and provide appropriate vindication. In assessing them at trial, the court may consider…

An application to set aside a default judgment under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 r 13.3 is an application for relief from sanctions. The Denton three-stage…

Under rule 16.29 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, the question is whether this child has sufficient understanding to instruct a solicitor in the particular…

A final appellate determination may be reopened under CPR Part 52.30 only in truly exceptional circumstances. The earlier proceedings must have been critically…

The foreign act of state rule does not prevent an English court from considering an act merely because it occurred within a wider sovereign course of conduct.…

The competence of a European Works Council is confined to transnational matters. Under an agreement adopting the statutory scheme, the definition of a…

In children proceedings, the usual order is no order as to costs. That approach applies equally to appeals and alleged child-abduction cases. A costs order…

A patient with capacity may accept or refuse treatment and may choose between clinically available options, including one the clinician considers less…

In a defamation claim, an unnamed claimant is identified if the words would reasonably lead persons acquainted with the claimant to believe that it was the…

A civil restraint order may be made on the court’s own initiative, without notice or an oral hearing, where the circumstances warrant that course. Fairness…

For a medical-use patent, obviousness is assessed by asking whether the prior art, read with common general knowledge, made it obvious to try the claimed use…

An RTM company may apply to the First-tier Tribunal under section 168(4) of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 for a determination that a tenant has…

A material and actual conflict between members of a proposed collective class must be addressed when the proceedings are certified. A class representative may…

When recusal is sought because of a judge’s conduct of continuing proceedings, the court should ask whether a fair-minded and informed observer would conclude…

When deciding whether to accept undertakings forming part of a settlement, the court must give proper weight to the agreement and to the public interest in the…

A common-law company derivative action is an exceptional claim pursued on behalf of a company to remedy harm suffered by it for its benefit. The company must…

A refusal by the Upper Tribunal to set aside, under rule 43, an earlier refusal of permission to appeal is itself appealable to the Court of Appeal under…

A copyright work and its fixation are distinct. A structure may be fixed without content which expressly describes or labels that structure. It is enough that…

A court enforcing an arbitral award against a foreign state may make an ex parte enforcement order where the material establishes that state immunity does not…

A procedural defect in care proceedings justifies appellate intervention only where it was serious and caused an unjust decision. Non-disclosure of material…

Receivers may acquire a lease connected with secured property where their powers authorise acts that seem conducive to exercising a power of sale. Whether the…

Where an interim injunction is granted merely to hold the ring pending trial, the usual order is that the costs of the application are reserved. A departure…

In assessing obviousness, the statutory test in section 2 of the Patents Act 1977 remains controlling. The structured approach in Pozzoli is an aid to applying…

Information recorded in a document may retain relative confidentiality where a publicly available product reveals it only through inspection or reverse…

For the purposes of section 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974, payment of a solicitor’s bill means a transfer of money, or its equivalent, in satisfaction of a…

When reviewing a broadcasting penalty that restricts political expression, the court must conduct a close and penetrating examination of its factual…

Under rule 53A of the Prison Rules 1999, a governor must refer a charge to an Independent Adjudicator where it is so serious that additional days would be…

A respondent requires permission to appeal where it seeks to challenge or vary the lower court’s order. Permission is unnecessary where it seeks only to uphold…

Where a code-right agreement is a lease, a concurrent lessee entitled to its benefit and burden is a party to the agreement for the purposes of Part 5 of the…

An appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission under section 2B of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 is an appeal, not judicial…

Under CPR 45.29I(2)(h), an independent interpreter’s fee can be recovered as a disbursement where it is reasonably incurred to enable a party or witness who…

A determination under section 73 of the Arbitration Act 1996 about whether a party has lost its right to challenge an award is a decision under section 67 or…

A court may strike out a claim for abuse of process under rule 3.4(2)(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 even where neither a rule nor an order has been…

Where children are habitually resident in one Contracting State but present in another, the habitual-residence State retains primary jurisdiction for…

An adjudicator cannot determine a dispute which is the same or substantially the same as one decided in an earlier adjudication. The inquiry is one of fact and…

Under the Immigration Rules, a visitor who comes to the UK to care for an employer is intending to work by providing services, even where the employer…

The Gunning requirements apply only where a public authority proposes a sufficiently specific decision which is likely to affect a person or defined group…

When a local plan protects significant trees but also provides that, where removal is imperative, adequate replacement planting will be secured, the latter…

The duty arising when a British national seeks diplomatic or consular assistance abroad is ordinarily a duty to consider the request on an informed basis. It…

Permission to bring contempt proceedings based on a false statement requires a strong prima facie case, capable without more of satisfying the criminal…

An application for leave to revoke a placement order is made under Part 18 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010. The child is a party to the application and a…

A structural engineer’s conventional duty to exercise reasonable skill and care protects its client against the economic loss caused when a negligent design is…

In an urgent dispute about a deceased child’s funeral arrangements, the court must determine the competing interests of those with a significant relationship…

In an appeal against deprivation of nationality under British Nationality Act 1981, the First-tier Tribunal must consider the decision under challenge as a…

The common-law right of effective access to justice is assessed by asking whether arrangements create a real risk of effectively preventing access in…

In a patent claim to a product defined by functional language such as “adapted to”, the product is ordinarily within the claim if it is suitable or capable of…

Where preliminary issues are ordered to establish general standards and avoid extensive disclosure, the court may determine them on that basis at the scheduled…

Where emerging local-plan policies continue the relevant spatial strategy in an adopted plan, an inspector may address their shared conflict through the…

The withdrawal-related amendments to the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 prevented new European Works Councils from…

Court approval of a transaction proposed by a trustee or office-holder creates no automatic or blanket immunity from later claims. Any protection ordinarily…

The one voice principle requires courts to align their treatment of a foreign state’s acts and judgments with the executive’s recognition of the relevant…

A fact-finding judgment must give sufficient reasons to show how the court evaluated the decisive evidence and why it preferred one case to another. It need…

When asylum seekers are removed without determination of their claims, the court must decide for itself whether substantial grounds show a real risk of…

A decision leading to adoption requires a rigorous evaluation of every realistic option for the child’s future. The court must identify the nature, likelihood…

Qualified one-way costs shifting rules govern the enforceability of costs orders and need not be restated in a declaratory order where their meaning is…

A loan made without a fixed or minimum term is prima facie repayable on demand. A term that prevents an individual lender from recovering an interest-free loan…

In care and adoption proceedings, a psychological assessment may be necessary where a parent’s psychological profile may affect parenting and the support…

On an appeal against a local housing authority’s licensing decision under Parts 2 or 3 of the Housing Act 2004, the First-tier Tribunal must decide whether the…

A tribunal exercising a statutory judicial-review jurisdiction cannot impose a fixed, judge-made cap on recoverable costs that is unrelated to the parties’…

A statutory right to carry back a trading loss does not itself determine how relief affects an earlier corporation-tax return. Under Finance Act 1998, Sch 18…

Section 296A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 imposes a broad statutory bar on enforcement steps concerning Crown land without the appropriate…

On an application for permission to appeal, the Court of Appeal held that a party should not introduce an unpleaded contractual case on appeal where it was not…

For permitted development involving demolition, an exclusion applies only if all three statutory limbs are satisfied: the building was rendered unsafe or…

Detention following lawful revocation of a licence and recall to prison is not arbitrary merely because administrative delay, inaccurate reassurance or failure…

A judicial review costs capping order is not automatically invalidated when circumstances later change, including when legal aid is granted retrospectively.…

The statutory power to award simple interest under section 35A(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 is broad, but applies only in proceedings for recovery of a…

Under article 6(2) of the UK/Canada Double Tax Convention, a right to payments as consideration for working natural resources is immovable property only where…

An injunction bearing penal consequences is construed strictly, but its clear language retains its natural meaning when read in its known historical context…

When a biological father without parental responsibility applies to join care proceedings, the court starts from a presumption in favour of joinder. The father…

A speedy trial requires good reason and real, objectively assessed urgency. The court must also consider the administration of justice, prejudice to other…

Where proprietary estoppel is satisfied by ordering that a partnership deed be read as if its terms were varied, the resulting option may be treated, between…

Fairness in family proceedings must be assessed by considering the hearing as a whole. Active case management is permitted, but excessive and challenging…

The statutory distinction between married and unmarried parents concerning revocation of parental responsibility is compatible with articles 8 and 14 of the…

An appellate court may entertain a point not pleaded or taken at trial, including a pure point of law, but admission remains discretionary. The court must…

In a probate court, a testator’s intention when making or revoking a will may be established from evidence outside the document. A general revocation clause is…

Relief from sanctions requires the three-stage inquiry established in Denton: seriousness and significance, the reason for default, and all the circumstances.…

In a clinical-negligence claim, an appellate court will not ordinarily entertain an allegation that was neither pleaded nor put to the relevant clinician…

Habitual residence requires a global factual assessment of whether a child has achieved sufficient integration in a sufficiently stable social and family…

A pleading of causation is adequate where, read as a whole, it identifies the alleged wrongful conduct, the mechanism by which it caused loss, and the…

A procedural error in a timely application disputing jurisdiction may be rectified under rule 3.10 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 where the application and…

Before making a third-party deduction from social security benefits for utility charges, the Secretary of State must give the claimant an opportunity to…

An action to set aside a judgment for fraud is a free-standing cause of action concerning the conduct of the earlier proceedings. The claimant must establish…

Rule 70 requires a broad assessment of the interests of justice. The tribunal must balance the applicant’s injustice if reconsideration is refused against the…

On an appeal from an evaluative obviousness decision, the Court of Appeal should intervene only for an error of law or principle. A judge must assess…

Where the 1996 Hague Convention applies, the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction is controlled by the Convention’s jurisdictional code. Article 13 requires…

A contractual provision stipulating that a lease will terminate immediately upon a future event ordinarily produces automatic termination where its language…

A taxpayer need not give witness evidence of a subjective belief in order to establish a reasonable excuse for late payment. The tribunal must assess all…

A claim form is issued when the court seals it. The date entered on the form must be the date of actual sealing and issue. The Civil Procedure Rules 1998…

Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, the statutory definitions of a “long lease” operate as alternative gateways. A shared ownership lease…

For the four-year immunity under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the relevant question is when the operations forming the alleged new building were…

An appellate court should not interfere with a trial judge’s findings of primary fact, evaluation or inference unless the decision is plainly wrong or…

Section 1(1B)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires a claimant without a National Insurance number to provide information or evidence that…

Article III, rule 6 of the Hague Visby Rules applies to a claim for misdelivery after discharge. Although the Rules generally regulate carriage by sea from…

For the purposes of section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986, acts by which a debtor causes a controlled company to transfer an asset at an undervalue may…

Continuing to work after an employer implements a contractual change may amount to acceptance, but only where the employee’s conduct unequivocally indicates…

For the “unduly harsh” test in foreign-criminal deportation cases, the decision-maker must make an individualised assessment of the actual impact on the…

A pleading may set out alternative cases, but it must not advance contradictory assertions as part of the same case. Under the Land Registration Act 2002…

An immediate custodial sentence for contempt in family proceedings remains a measure of last resort. It may nevertheless be necessary where repeated…

Being photographed on a public beach does not automatically remove a reasonable expectation of privacy. The question is fact-sensitive. Relevant matters…

On an application for a financial remedy consent order, the court retains an independent inquisitorial duty. A D81 and the parties’ agreement do not require…

In the equitable jurisdiction to set aside a voluntary disposition for mistake, the court applies the three-stage framework in Pitt v Holt [2013] 2 AC 108: a…

A court may refuse to stay enforcement of a final charging order where the judgment it secures remains in force and the applicant has not issued a fresh claim…

A local authority’s operational duty under Article 3 arises where it knows, or ought to know, of a real and immediate risk that an identified child will suffer…

For costs purposes, a claimant is the successful party where the claim establishes a substantial legal result, even if the point was imperfectly pleaded and…

An appointed decision-maker may use an internal officer to assist with the decision-making process, including by carrying out a site visit, reporting on the…

A prior appellate order preserving a judgment despite alleged collateral dishonesty does not impose an absolute bar on a later claim to set aside that judgment…

An HMRC extra-statutory concession is construed objectively by reference to what an ordinarily sophisticated taxpayer would reasonably understand from its…

A Local Government Ombudsman who has completed an investigation and issued a final report has no implied power to withdraw that report or reopen the…

A document headed heads of terms may create binding obligations in whole or in part. Its label and the absence of an express subject-to-contract qualification…

A judge is not bound by the parties’ agreed interpretation of legislation. However, natural justice requires the judge to warn the parties of the proposed…

A party which serves the draft pleading required by an unless order within the specified deadline complies with that order. A subsequent application to…

An appellate court may interfere with a trial judge’s findings of fact only where there is a very clear justification. It must not retry the case, reallocate…

An appeal against a finding of contempt following an admission may succeed where the admission was vitiated, the proceedings were an abuse of process, or the…

An implied contract inferred from conduct requires a sufficiently certain agreement, an intention to create legal relations, consideration, and necessity for…

A patent claim to a single chemical compound requires more than disclosure of the compound’s structure and synthesis. Where patentability depends on an…

A bill of lading issued to a voyage charterer is usually a mere receipt, because the charterparty governs the parties’ relationship. That is a presumption…

A deliberate breach of a civil restraint order is a criminal contempt where it is designed to interfere adversely with the administration of civil justice…

On an application to introduce a new ground of appeal, an appellate court must first identify whether the point was fairly and squarely raised below. A…

A professional adviser to the seller in an arm’s-length investment transaction does not ordinarily assume responsibility to prospective investors merely…

An application to reopen a finding of fact in children proceedings requires a three-stage approach. At the permission stage, the court must balance finality in…

When a local authority uses a final accommodation offer to discharge the homelessness relief duty, it must comply with section 208(1) of the Housing Act 1996.…

Honest concurrent use is not a free-standing defence to trade mark infringement. It is relevant when assessing whether the statutory conditions for…

Contractual interpretation is a unitary and iterative exercise directed to the objective meaning of the parties’ language, viewed with the background knowledge…

In care proceedings, evidence about whether harm was caused by ill-treatment and evidence about the possible perpetrator may need to be assessed together. The…

Habeas corpus may lie against a person without physical custody where they have de facto control. The authorities concern a person responsible for the original…

For dishonesty, the fact-finder must first establish the defendant’s actual knowledge or belief as to the facts, then apply the objective standards of ordinary…

Article 14 requires a difference in treatment to be assessed against a relevantly similar comparator and justified by a legitimate aim pursued through…

In an appeal on patent obviousness, the claimed invention must be assessed as a whole and with care against hindsight. A logical sequence of routine steps…

Under the Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, Article 11 is the starting point for deciding which Member State’s legislation applies. An economically inactive child…

For property insurance covering physical loss, the assured must prove that goods capable of being insured and lost physically existed at the relevant time.…

Planning permission is construed objectively by asking what a reasonable reader would understand the words to mean in the context of the permission as a whole.…

Being a co-insured under a composite policy does not itself provide the same cover as another insured or prevent claims between co-insured parties. The court…

An applicant for a freezing injunction must ordinarily give an unlimited cross-undertaking in damages. A provisional liquidator may in an appropriate case…

Under the Directive 2004/38/EC, a third-country national’s derivative residence right under article 7.2 must continue seamlessly until divorce is final.…

An application for leave to oppose an adoption order under section 47(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 involves two stages. The court must first find a…

Under section 77(1)(c) of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, a local authority cannot direct a person to leave occupied land while that person…

For a multiple employment tribunal claim, the pre-2020 rules required the form to give the name and address of each claimant and respondent, but required only…

Leave of the High Court under section 42 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 is a jurisdictional condition precedent to proceedings brought by a person subject to a…

Article 14 requires a structured comparison between the claimant and a person in a relevantly similar situation. In an exclusion case involving an Irish…

Informality does not displace ordinary principles of objective contractual interpretation. Context may carry greater weight for an informal document, but it…

Under the limitation rule in the Financial Ombudsman Service scheme, “the complainant” cannot invariably mean the trustee in bankruptcy whenever the trustee…

A placement order may be made only where adoption is required by the child’s welfare throughout life. The court must undertake a rigorous and proportionate…

On an interim application to enforce an employment restraint, the court should determine the covenant’s proper construction where it can fairly do so. A…

For capital allowances under Part 3A of the Capital Allowances Act 2001, expenditure incurred “in connection with” conversion, renovation or repair requires a…

In applying the statutory duty to preserve a listed building or its setting, the decision-maker must assess the harm caused by the development actually…

In care proceedings involving alleged sexual abuse, the court must rigorously analyse the evolution of the child’s accounts, the circumstances of the first…

The High Court has jurisdiction in end-of-life proceedings to make reporting restriction orders protecting the integrity of proceedings and persons connected…

A court considering adoption or another profoundly interventionist public-law order must conduct a rigorous, holistic comparison of every realistic option. It…

In a deceit claim determined after trial, limitation under section 32(1)(a) of the Limitation Act 1980 is assessed by reference to the fraud found proved…

An extended civil restraint order may be made only where a party has made at least three claims or applications that are totally without merit and has acted…

For excise-duty purposes, “holding” is an autonomous EU-law concept. Subjective intention to assert control over excise goods is irrelevant. Physical…

An innocent third party from whom disclosure is sought should generally recover from the applicant the reasonable costs of resisting disclosure. The protection…

For the extended limitation period under section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980, knowledge that a professional adviser’s act or omission caused loss requires…

For the purposes of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, a claimant who is not personally present at a small-claims hearing nevertheless attends if represented by a…

When discharging homelessness functions, a local housing authority must generally try, where possible, to secure out-of-borough accommodation as close as…

Local Government Act 1972 section 233 applies where a local authority serves a notice which an enactment requires or authorises. Its scope does not depend on…

A statutory defence to criminal liability for carrying a kirpan does not create a positive right of access to a court building. Court security authorities may…

A fiduciary must account for all unauthorised profits falling within the scope of the fiduciary duty. A pre-existing right to remuneration from the principal…

In a contract providing standby charges for delay caused by late delivery of the other party’s materials, services or facilities, those words take their…

A contractual dispute resolution procedure which conditions access to the court must be sufficiently certain to be enforceable. The court considers the…

A fresh inquest under Coroners Act 1988, section 13 may be desirable where fresh expert evidence could enable findings about a material contribution to a…

The 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention determines international jurisdiction but does not allocate child-welfare jurisdiction between England and Wales and…

A person is presumed to have capacity unless sufficient evidence establishes a decision-specific and time-specific inability to understand, retain, use or…

On an appeal challenging factual findings, it is insufficient that a different conclusion was open to the trial judge. The appellant must identify a flaw in…

A summary assessment is, by definition, an assessment by the judge who heard the case or application. Under the Civil Procedure Rules, the court may either…

The judgment concerns permission applications arising from challenges to the Rwanda removal scheme. A later decision remade after further material is the…

A specialist statutory tribunal does not acquire an inherent power to award costs merely because it is designated a superior court of record. Its powers depend…

Section 45 of the Finance Act 2003 is a relieving provision addressing the transfer of contractual rights before completion. It applies where a subsale…

HMRC’s statutory confidentiality duty does not prevent disclosure of taxpayer information where a statutory exception applies. Under sections 18(2)(a) and…

In a claim under Syrian law alleging that a bank facilitated terrorist funding, the material issue is the destination of the funds and the bank’s knowledge…

Family Court fact-finding in private law children proceedings is concerned with establishing, on the balance of probabilities, what happened and how that…

Where Parliament provides a specific statutory route for enforcing data-protection rights, judicial review will generally be refused if that route is adequate.…

Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, a building owner’s statutory rights to carry out party-wall works depend on a prior party structure notice, subject to…

Procedural fairness in the publication of a regulator’s critical inspection report is context-specific. It will usually be met where the regulated provider has…

In a fast-moving road accident, a trial judge may avoid artificially precise findings where forensic and eyewitness evidence is limited. Expert calculations…

A claim that was identified informally, including in an unpermitted draft amendment, but was not formally brought before the court remains within the scope of…

Activation of a suspended committal order is discretionary, not automatic. The judge must consider the contemnor’s past and current position, the gravity and…

An English court may restrain foreign evidence-gathering proceedings where, considering all the circumstances and the purpose of the application, the conduct…

For special jurisdiction under article 5(3) of the Lugano Convention, financial damage occurs where the damage claimed actually manifests itself. No universal…

Objective comparability in a freedom of establishment claim requires comparison of the actual situations producing the alleged difference in treatment. The…

Under section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 2013, a statement is defamatory only if, and to the extent that, its publication causes or is likely to cause serious…

An asylum claim requires an assessment of future risk, not proof of past facts on the balance of probabilities. A well-founded fear exists where persecution…

When deciding whether to adjourn proceedings after a party loses legal representation, the court must assess the fairness of the proceedings as a whole. It…

An oral reorganisation agreement may contain an implied term changing beneficial ownership of shares where that term is necessary for commercial or practical…

When determining the article 13(b) exception to summary return, the court must assess the alleged risks cumulatively. The gravity of a risk depends both on its…

Under section 26(6)(a) of the Local Government Act 1974, the Ombudsman cannot investigate an action or omission which may be brought before a tribunal for…

A family court may order forensic extraction of mobile-phone and social-media material held by a party without first obtaining consent from third-party…

An individual committed to prison for contempt, including under a suspended committal order, may appeal as of right against the committal order and challenge…

A permitted development right under Class AA of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015…

A pending appeal should not be treated as academic where substantive grounds may remain relevant and a statutory limitation issue remains live. At an…

A final prohibitory quia timet injunction may be granted where a threatened tort creates a strong possibility of imminent infringement and grave, irreparable…

Eligibility under an exceptional relocation policy for those working “alongside” a government entity requires a direct relationship with that entity. An…

Development-plan policies are interpreted objectively by their language in context, rather than as statutes or contracts. Where a policy permits redevelopment…

In deceit, the claimant must prove a false representation, knowledge or recklessness, an intention to induce reliance, actual reliance and resulting loss. The…

A court deciding whether to direct a fact-finding hearing in care proceedings must conduct a flexible proportionality analysis. The central question is whether…

A dual national who voluntarily leaves the United Kingdom and is abroad when deprived of British citizenship is not ordinarily within United Kingdom…

In a split trial, a quantum hearing proceeds on the liability findings already made; it is not an opportunity to add breaches of duty. A claim in knowing…

When managing disclosure of highly confidential material in intellectual property litigation, the court must balance effective access to relevant documents…

In a novel negligence case, a duty of care must be developed incrementally and by analogy with established authority. Foreseeability, proximity and whether a…

A superior court may impose successive terms of imprisonment for repeated failures to comply with mandatory orders. The two-year maximum in section 14 of the…

An appellate court may interfere with a trial judge’s factual finding where it rests on a material legal error, has no evidential basis, demonstrably…

On a financial remedy claim restored after an order was set aside for fraudulent non-disclosure, the court has wide flexibility to devise a bespoke procedure.…

A novation may be inferred from conduct where all parties consent and the inference is required to give business efficacy to what occurred. It may replace only…

For a single composite supply for VAT purposes, the predominant element test is the primary test where a predominant element can be identified. The assessment…

Admission of fresh evidence on an interlocutory appeal may be approached less strictly, but evidence that could and plainly should have been produced below…

For a freezing injunction, the applicant must establish a good arguable case, a real risk that judgment will go unsatisfied through disposal of assets, and…

For Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 section 611, receiving income and being entitled to income are distinct concepts. The provision may apply…

The general case-management power in rule 3.1(7) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 cannot be used to reopen a sealed final order determining an appeal on its…

Liability for fraudulent trading under section 213 of the Insolvency Act 1986 is not confined to persons who manage or control the insolvent company. An…

Reduced-rate VAT exceptions in Schedule 7A are interpreted strictly but not restrictively, by giving the statutory words their ordinary and fair meaning. Note…

In a computer-implemented means-plus-function patent claim, means for performing a function may require apparatus adapted or programmed to perform it, but…

A planning authority acts irrationally if it gives substantial weight to the benefits of development facilitated by proposed infrastructure while excluding the…

A planning decision-maker may rationally give no weight to an extant development plan policy where later national policy has rendered its underlying approach…

On an application challenging service outside the jurisdiction, the court may decide a question of law but need not do so. It should avoid determining…

In a nuisance claim involving Japanese knotweed, a claimant may recover diminution in value where the loss is consequential on an actionable physical…

A court may treat a child as being at risk of future harm only where the risk rests on proven facts. Unproven allegations, professional concerns and a…

A patent confers only the statutory monopoly defined by its claims. It gives no right to prevent, or avoid compensating for loss caused by preventing, activity…

On an application for permission to appeal in a libel claim, the Court of Appeal reaffirmed that appellate review is not a re-run of the trial. Findings of…

A notice increasing rent under the Housing Act 1988 must state that the new rent will take effect at the beginning of a new period of the tenancy. For a weekly…

A chief officer’s instruction restricting a police officer’s private life is lawful only if it falls within one of the categories in regulation 6(2) of the…

A clause making law and jurisdiction accord with the country of issue, followed by an English jurisdiction provision introduced by otherwise, ordinarily…

Under the 1973 business rules, business experience and qualifications are not prerequisites for Turkish nationals seeking leave to establish themselves in…

An embargo on an unhanded-down draft judgment confines disclosure to the parties and their legal representatives for the permitted purposes. Disclosure of the…

An oral commercial arrangement does not create an overarching contract unless the parties undertake sufficiently definite, enforceable commitments beyond their…

Parallel court proceedings concerning a dispute already before a construction adjudicator are legally permissible, but adjudication enforcement should…

An employment tribunal considering a restriction on open justice under Rule 50 must address the common law interests-of-justice ground separately from…

In care proceedings, the threshold under section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989 may be established although the court cannot choose between alternative causes…

An agreement to assign future property is effective in equity only if it contains a clear outward expression of an immediate and irrevocable intention to…

In a mixed-injury road traffic claim, Civil Liability Act 2018 section 3 fixes the award for qualifying whiplash injuries but does not alter the common law…

In an obviousness appeal, the absence from a patent specification of a stated advantage over prior art does not generally prevent reliance on a claimed…

Entitlement to an away-from-home allowance under the Secretary of State’s Annex U determination depends on the objective meaning of its terms. Each version…

Chikwamba is potentially relevant only where leave to remain has been refused on the narrow procedural basis that the applicant must leave the United Kingdom…

Contractual construction remains an objective, language-led exercise. The court must read the agreement as a whole and assess commercial consequences, but…

An out-of-country tribunal hearing conducted by video link is not unlawful or a nullity under domestic law merely because the foreign state has not expressly…

A prisoner's detention pursuant to a lawful sentence of a competent court does not depend on the continuing existence or possession of a warrant of…

A regulator is not unlawfully passive merely because it has not adopted every investigative or enforcement measure suggested by a claimant. At the permission…

Under section 40(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the legality of a deprivation order depends on the Secretary of State’s state of mind when the order…

A planning committee’s resolution to defer consideration of an application, where it is minded to depart from an officer’s recommendation, is not an…

Under Article 14, justification of indirect discrimination is a substantive question for the court. It must assess whether the outcome is objectively…

A claimant’s right to discontinue cannot ordinarily be displaced merely to remove qualified one-way costs shifting protection. Although the court has a broad…

Damages for infringement of a UK patent may include losses arising from overseas transactions. Territoriality creates no separate duty-nexus restriction. The…

A binding CJEU ruling must receive full effect on questions of EU law, but it does not require a national court to determine every remaining factual or…

A parental order requires the surrogate’s consent to be free, informed and unconditional. Reluctance does not invalidate consent, but the court must assess its…

A solicitor generally owes a duty of care only to the client for whom the solicitor has agreed to provide services. Foreseeability, proximity and an alignment…

Where the executive voluntarily considers compliance with an unincorporated treaty, a domestic court may review whether its view was legally tenable rather…

A stakeholder’s authority is determined by the contract. A clause requiring evidence that a legal charge has been registered as a first charge, or that…

In an insurance policy, the unqualified expression “caused by” is presumed to require proximate causation. The proximate cause is the dominant, effective or…

Under a GAFTA default clause, damages are ordinarily assessed by reference to a notional substitute contract on the same terms as the parties’ bargain, save as…

An express contractual obligation must be construed before any question of implying terms arises. A court must not use an assumed implied term to determine the…

Section 20 accommodation has no statutory time limit and may be used for a longer or long-term period where it remains voluntary, its purpose is considered…