Court of Appeal (Civil Division) judgments, 2025

For novelty under the Patents Act 1977, a prior-art document must disclose the claimed invention in a way that is enabling. Where disclosure is implicit, the…

A patent claim to an instantaneous water heater must be construed by reference to the heater itself, rather than to the use or larger apparatus in which it may…

The absence of a costs schedule does not, by itself, deprive a successful party in an appeal of an order for costs to be assessed in detail. Where the rules…

Membership of a particular social group and a risk of trafficking are distinct questions. Refugee status requires a causal link between feared persecution and…

The duty to refuse relief under the Senior Courts Act 1981, section 31(2A)(a), is displaced only through the two-stage mechanism in section 31(2B). The court…

For section 238 of the Insolvency Act 1986, the relevant transaction is one which the insolvent company itself entered into. A dividend cannot be treated as…

Section 5 of the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980 bars enforcement of the whole amount of a foreign multiple-damages judgment. The bar includes the…

In a financial remedy appeal, an appellate court gives very substantial weight to a trial judge’s factual findings, evaluative conclusions and discretionary…

Under section 111(2) of the Equality Act 2010, but for causation is only a threshold requirement. The court must then evaluate the defendant’s causal…

Ordinary disputes about tax liability, including liability to register for VAT, do not engage the criminal-charge protections of Article 6. The taxpayer…

An appeal under sections 103(1) and 103(2) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 permits the First-tier Tribunal (Asylum Support) to examine the foundational…

On an application to strike out an unjust-enrichment claim, the court may decide a pure question of law summarily where the pleaded case is clearly outside the…

Patent obviousness must be assessed against the claim as properly construed, using a fact-specific inquiry without hindsight. A structured Pozzoli analysis is…

Paragraph 297(i)(f) of the Immigration Rules does not require only one parent to be present in the United Kingdom. A child may qualify for indefinite leave to…

Permission to appeal may be granted where a proposed ground has a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of establishing legal error. Where issues depend on…

In age-assessment judicial review, a strong prima facie case is not a separate gateway requirement for interim relief. The merits threshold is whether there is…

For rule 37(5), whether a document-submission error is minor is assessed by the extent of compliance with rule 3(1), not by the importance of the omitted…

In settled judicial review proceedings, a claimant who obtains the decision sought will ordinarily be the successful party, unless there is a good reason to…

In judicial review costs disputes, obtaining the relief sought does not by itself establish entitlement to costs. Where proceedings become academic for reasons…

In a professional regulatory appeal, quashing a fitness-to-practise committee’s findings does not make remittal automatic. Under the Nursing and Midwifery…

Trade mark exhaustion permits resale of goods first marketed by the proprietor or with its consent, but Trade Marks Act 1994, s 12(2) preserves legitimate…

On an application to separate a child from parents during interim care proceedings, the court must apply the high standard of justification required by the…

Relief for a loss from discount on a gilt strip under paragraph 14A of Schedule 13 to the Finance Act 1996 concerns real economic losses. The statutory formula…

On dissolution of a partnership, an open-market sale is the normal method of realising assets under the Partnership Act 1890, but it is not an absolute rule. A…

Under para 115(b) of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012, an accepted award may be reopened only where the applicant’s medical condition has…

Under Article 13(a) of the 1980 Hague Convention, acquiescence ordinarily depends on the wronged parent’s actual state of mind. Exceptional objective…

Under the Finance Act 2003, the Case 3 exception to the market-value rule is aimed at preventing distributions from sidestepping group-relief clawback. A prior…

For liability on an unoccupied hereditament, the person with the immediate legal right to actual physical possession is ordinarily the owner under the Local…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years, section 117C(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 requires a full Article 8…

In a deceit claim, the claimant bears the burden under section 32 of the Limitation Act 1980 of showing that the fraud could not have been discovered with…

Commercial contracts are interpreted objectively, as a whole and in context. Where a party is said to relinquish a valuable right, clear words are required…

Right-to-buy leases must be construed objectively, in the context of the lease as a whole and the statutory background. General wording requiring works…

In family proceedings, an unexplained self-recusal does not establish apparent bias or invalidate earlier fact-finding. The recusing judge should seek the…

A gambling operator does not breach customer-interaction duties in the Licence Conditions and Code of Practice merely because a customer incurs substantial…

In assessing an Iranian asylum claim based on sur place political activity, the tribunal must apply the country guidance to the established facts. The absence…

A weakly distinctive trade mark has a narrower scope of protection, but remains capable of being infringed by a sufficiently similar sign. Similarity and…

Disclosure remains a procedural default in English civil litigation. Where a party relies on foreign-law confidentiality, the court must assess the real or…

For intentional homelessness, “deliberately” refers to the act or omission causing the loss of accommodation. The applicant need not have intended, or…

Under section 19(1)(a) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the question is whether it was reasonable, in all the circumstances existing when the landlord…

Under paragraph GEN 3.1(1)(b) of Appendix FM, could sets a lower threshold than would, but requires a real risk or realistic possibility that refusal would…

A patient’s outstanding application for discharge under section 75(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 is subsumed when the Secretary of State recalls the patient…

In a called-in planning inquiry, an authority’s withdrawal of support after its expert made a damaging concession in cross-examination is not, without more…

A witness of fact generally has no legitimate ground of appeal against adverse findings where the criticisms were fairly put in cross-examination and the…

In public law, a matter is a mandatory relevant consideration only if it is so obviously material that it would be irrational for the decision-maker to omit…

Judicial proceedings immunity does not protect an employer from a statutory whistleblowing detriment claim based on commencing court or arbitral proceedings…

Care and placement orders that permanently sever the relationship between parent and child require exceptional justification. The court must assess the type…

On late redelivery of a vessel under a time charter, the ordinary measure of damages remains the difference between the market rate and the charter rate for…

Under Article 1 of the First Protocol, compulsory divestment to address a national-security risk may be proportionate without guaranteeing the owner the…

Articles 24(2) and 25(2) of the Withdrawal Agreement preserve, rather than create, residence rights already existing under EU law for children in education and…

For adult siblings, family life under article 8(1) requires additional elements of dependence involving more than normal emotional ties. Real, committed or…

Section 91 of the Law of Property Act 1925 does not give a defaulting mortgagor a general right to take conduct of a sale from a mortgagee or its receivers.…

Under Gateway 3 of CPR Practice Direction 6B, a person is a proper party if, assuming all parties were within the jurisdiction, they would properly be joined…

A residual statutory discretion to grant immigration leave outside the Immigration Rules cannot be fettered by a published policy. A policy may guide recurring…

For a non-contractual obligation arising from unfair competition affecting only a specific competitor, Rome II Regulation directs attention to the law of the…

A court order cannot be varied by agreement between the parties; an application must be made to the court. Repeated and serious breaches of court orders…

Natural and ordinary defamatory meaning is determined from the impression made on the ordinary reasonable reader by the publication as a whole. The repetition…

Paragraph SW2.2 of the Immigration Rules creates separate suitability bars. An applicant must not be in breach of immigration laws, subject to the limited…

Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 preserves the substantive rights attached to earlier leave, but does not itself require immediate digital proof of that…

A judge may disclose provisional thinking during ongoing proceedings, and robust indication can assist the parties, provided the judge remains open to…

Intentional homelessness under the Housing Act 1996 requires a two-stage inquiry: whether deliberate conduct caused the applicant to cease occupying…

In IPEC proceedings, applications are ordinarily determined on the papers. An oral hearing is required only where the court considers it necessary. Fairness…

An acquisition constructive trust may arise where a person takes legal title on the agreed basis that it will be held for another. Actual fraud, dishonest…

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Court of Appeal held that it was bound by Timis v Osipov [2018] EWCA Civ 2321. An employee may therefore amend an…

Judicial notice is confined to facts that are so notorious or clearly established that evidence is unnecessary, or that can be demonstrated immediately from…

In contempt proceedings concerning an injunction, the order’s terms define the court’s purpose. An injunction respondent cannot be held in civil contempt for…

Courts and tribunals must make reasonable adjustments to alleviate substantial disadvantage caused by disability in participation in proceedings. The duty…

Under section 54 of the Corporation Tax Act 2009, deductibility turns on the taxpayer’s actual object or objects in incurring an expense, assessed at the time.…

Part 5A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 applies across the statutory deportation regime. It governs an Article 8 appeal against refusal to…

A caravan site licence must operate in harmony with the express planning permission relied on to obtain it. The licensing authority may impose tighter controls…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds cannot affect an adverse factual finding that independently determines the case. An…

In Hague Convention proceedings, a return order may be set aside where a subsequent change is fundamental and undermines the protective arrangements on which…

A finding of civil contempt for disobeying a court order requires criminal-standard proof of notice, an intentional act or omission that objectively breached…

A claim form is issued, for the purposes of Civil Procedure Rules 1998 rr.7.2 and 7.5, on the date entered on it by the court when it is sealed. It is not…

Waiver by election requires the electing party to know both the facts giving rise to the choice and that it has the relevant right. This requirement applies…

An appellate court retains discretion to hear an academic public-law appeal, but must exercise it cautiously. It should ordinarily do so only where there is a…

When a payment made under a court order is later set aside on appeal, the payer is in principle entitled to restitution. Interest on the restitutionary amount…

In a planning reasons challenge, a decision-maker need not address every aspect of a policy separately where the policy criteria and underlying spatial…

Immigration Rules (HC 395 as amended) are administrative policy statements, not delegated legislation. They are construed objectively according to their…

Indirect discrimination requires evidence that a provision, criterion or practice causes a particular disadvantage to the protected group compared with the…

In an unlawful means conspiracy, it is enough that one conspirator uses unlawful means. Another participant may be liable even if that participant’s conduct is…

A pay first clause in a marine liability policy can qualify the insured’s right to enforce an indemnity without negating the insurer’s underlying obligation.…

For Article 12(2) of the Hague Child Abduction Convention 1980, settlement is assessed holistically from the child’s perspective. It requires physical…

A standard-essential patent owner does not act in bad faith merely by using properly available infringement proceedings to press for determination of fair…

Rule 4(1)(b) of the Election Petition Rules 1960 requires a parliamentary election petition to show the date on which the return was made to the Clerk of the…

When a discretionary power to cancel limited immigration leave is exercised under the Immigration Rules paragraph 9.8.8, procedural fairness applies both to…

Contractual interpretation is an objective and unitary exercise. The court must begin with the natural meaning of the language, but read it in its immediate…

Under section 31(2) of the Children Act 1989, the court itself must be satisfied on the evidence that the threshold criteria are proved. Party agreement…

An ombudsman may assess whether a regulated firm adequately complied with the requirements for treating a client as an elective professional client. Signed or…

In care proceedings, future risk of harm must be assessed on facts proved to the requisite standard and proper inferences from those facts. Unproved…

In defective-construction litigation, a claimant may recover diminution in value, usually measured by reasonable remedial cost, and may also recover residual…

The early conciliation requirement in section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 is a statutory precondition to the institution of relevant proceedings.…

An out-of-district homelessness placement may be lawful where accommodation in the authority’s district is not reasonably practicable, including because of a…

A relocation policy adopted in response to an exceptional data breach was rational where it prioritised those at the highest risk, defined as high-profile…

In an appeal from a decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, the court must identify the true basis of the tribunal’s decision. An alternative issue…

Valid service of a claim form triggers a defendant’s obligations under CPR Parts 9–11. Where the court decides that service was invalid or late and refuses an…

An Issues Resolution Hearing may determine a care application finally only where the procedure is fair, the necessary evidence is available, and any material…

For registration under the applicable trade mark regime, the requirements that a sign exist, be graphically represented with sufficient clarity and precision…

Trade mark registrability requires the subject matter to be a sign, capable of graphic representation and capable of distinguishing the relevant goods or…

On an appeal against deprivation of citizenship under section 40(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the First-tier Tribunal decides disputed allegations…

Section 184 of the Housing Act 1996 governs initial inquiries into homelessness. It does not impose additional notification or review-notice requirements when…

By a majority, the court dismissed a judicial review challenge to permanent exclusion. The statutory scheme entrusts exclusion decisions to the headteacher and…

Serious reputational harm may be inferred from the gravity of a defamatory imputation, the scale and circumstances of publication, and the claimant’s…

A costs-capping order on an appeal is discretionary, even where costs recovery was limited or excluded at first instance. The court must consider all the…

An application to deproscribe an organisation, with an appeal to POAC, is not an alternative remedy for challenging the lawfulness of the initial decision to…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction to order the return of a British child abroad, including where the child is not habitually resident in the…

Where a lease gives a landlord a discretion to designate expenditure as a service charge item and requires the landlord to act reasonably, the tribunal is not…

An amendment to a pleading is late if it could have been advanced earlier, but lateness remains relative. At an early stage of a quantum phase, before…

An application for security for costs involves a two-stage inquiry. The court must first determine whether a specified condition is satisfied, then decide…

At the pleading stage, the facts relied on are decisive. A claimant need not attach an express legal label if the pleaded facts disclose harassment at common…

A contract's legal classification depends on the legal effect of all its terms, not the parties' label or asserted intention. A single agreement may govern…

A public authority proposing to depart from its published policy must have, consider and contemporaneously articulate a good reason for the departure. Where…

Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 required the Secretary of State, when it came into force, to ensure that the rules and policy…

For limitation under the Limitation Act 1980 section 32(1)(c), time starts when a claimant, exercising reasonable diligence, could recognise that a mistake of…

The common-law core immunity bars every form of civil claim founded on statements made by an advocate in court. It applies irrespective of malice, alleged…

Redaction of a judgment is governed by one fact-sensitive question: whether, in the circumstances, the interests of justice require open justice to yield. A…

Where a claim form for service outside the jurisdiction is not validly served within six months because the claimant omitted the mandatory Form N510, the…

For notice of a decision varying leave to remain, the statutory scheme creates a rebuttable presumption that notice was given when it was sent by an authorised…

Clause 29 of the BIMCO Barecon 2001 form does not give owners an unrestricted right to nominate a distant place that suits them for repossession. Read with…

For residual input tax used in making both taxable and exempt supplies, the turnover-based standard method is the default. Under the Value Added Tax…

On an appeal from the Family Division, the general costs rule does not apply, but the successful party’s success may remain the decisive factor where there is…

Where a party elects to keep a repudiated contract alive, it must continue to perform its own contractual obligations; affirmation does not create an…

Under Norwegian Saleform 2012, Clause 5 implies an obligation on sellers to use reasonable or due diligence to be ready to deliver by the Cancelling Date…

The majority held that section 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925 requires written evidence of a declaration of trust over land to be signed personally…

A contractual provision deeming a shareholder to have served a transfer notice after a material or persistent breach must be construed according to its wording…

In an Article 8 appeal concerning revocation of a deportation order, the statutory framework must be applied rather than a free-standing proportionality…

An interim injunction application issued before a substantive claim form may itself constitute proceedings. The CPR can therefore govern the application even…

A deficient or absent housing-needs assessment under section 189A of the Housing Act 1996 does not automatically invalidate a later suitability decision. The…

Under paragraph 42(b) of the 2001 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, “other resultant losses” are losses caused by the criminal act and distinct from the…

For employment claims by staff of a diplomatic mission, state immunity depends on whether the employee’s functions are sufficiently close to the mission’s…

A court order must be obeyed while it remains in force. A person cannot justify deliberate non-compliance by disagreeing with the order, believing it unlawful…

For leave under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, “substantial ground” means a solid basis for a claim. The inquiry is analogous to…

For section 220(1) of the Insolvency Act 1986, “association” has a context-specific meaning. It requires a body whose constituent persons have substantive…

For an interim planning injunction, the court must assess the balance of convenience in its statutory context and minimise the risk of injustice. A defendant’s…

A civil or family court has a limited common law power to withhold identifying information and restrict its reporting where that is strictly necessary in the…

Article 13(b) requires a two-stage, child-focused assessment. The court must first ask whether, assuming the allegations are true, return would potentially…

For classification as an electronic communications service under the Communications Act 2003, any content-service element must be left out before applying the…

“Processing” under the General Data Protection Regulation has a broad meaning. A data protection claim may therefore arise from operations performed on…

For an interim injunction, the court compares the remedies available to both parties and selects the course likely to cause the least irremediable prejudice.…

A limited civil restraint order may be made where the procedural requirements are met and repeated applications certified as totally without merit consume…

On an application for a payment on account of costs, the court must order a reasonable sum, not automatically the irreducible minimum or a fixed percentage of…

A binding commercial contract may be concluded although the parties expect a formal long-form document and further non-essential terms. The court must assess…

An indemnity costs order is justified where the parties’ conduct or other circumstances take the proceedings out of the norm. The relevant norm is ordinary and…

Open justice is the starting point for anonymity orders and reporting restrictions. The party seeking a derogation bears the burden of proving that it is…

In an excessive-pricing claim under section 18 of the Competition Act 1998, a Cost-Plus comparison is only the first limb. A significant excess does not…

Fact-finding, particularly at a split hearing, must provide a fair and sufficient factual foundation for later welfare decisions. The court must therefore…

A contractual time limit for appealing an arbitral award under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 runs from the date the award is made where the agreement…

For novelty, a prior disclosure must clearly and unambiguously disclose subject-matter which, if performed, would necessarily fall within the claim. A list and…

For divorce jurisdiction under Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, a party who has established an English domicile of choice retains it unless the…

On a without-notice application, the duty of full and frank disclosure includes material disputed allegations where the fact that the allegations were made may…

Holding pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme does not, by itself, mean that an EU national resides in the UK on the basis of the Withdrawal…

A nuptial agreement is not generally invalid merely because the parties exchanged no full asset disclosure or legal advice. But where the parties expressly…

Indirect discrimination requires a genuine provision, criterion or practice capable of applying to a comparison group and producing a particular disadvantage…

A fact-finding hearing in care proceedings is a core case-management decision. The court must apply the Oxfordshire factors flexibly and ask whether the likely…

For succession to a secure tenancy, a policy based on a closed family list may use a bright-line meaning of stepchild: a child of a spouse or civil partner…

Contempt sanctions serve both to mark the court’s disapproval of disobedience and to secure future compliance. A contemnor’s present assertion that they will…

Felling controls under Part II of the Forestry Act 1967 pursue statutory forestry objectives and operate alongside, rather than beneath, the planning regime.…

In a marine war-risks policy, an exclusion for detention under customs or quarantine regulations and similar regulations is not an exclusion for every…

Under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, an equitable lessee can be a qualifying tenant where no legal lease exists and the…

An application to set aside a freezing order for material non-disclosure or fabricated evidence is different from an ordinary application to discharge an…

On summary judgment, the court must assess whether a claim or defence has real rather than fanciful substance. It may evaluate contemporaneous evidence, but…

In wardship, the court must make an independent determination of the child’s future welfare, giving it paramount consideration under the Children Act 1989.…

On an appeal from the sanction of a restructuring plan, the ordinary costs approach under CPR rule 44.2 applies. Even if a different approach is appropriate at…

When an arbitration award is challenged for lack of substantive jurisdiction over one claimant, the court must assess the award made for each claimant…

In fact-finding proceedings involving allegations of child abuse, the court must evaluate each allegation rigorously and guard against a totalising inference…

A Minister's duty to have due regard to environmental principles applies throughout the making of policy, including development, formulation of options and…

For a foreign criminal sentenced to at least four years’ imprisonment, the full Article 8 proportionality assessment must be undertaken through the statutory…

In tribunal proceedings, a later finding that a litigant lacked capacity, or was otherwise unable to participate fully, does not automatically invalidate the…

A tenancy is void for uncertainty where the agreement creates a minimum fixed term but permits termination on notice at any time thereafter, so that its…

SIAC must apply the same legal approach to appeals against deprivation of British citizenship on any ground that deprivation is conducive to the public good…

In the national minimum wage scheme, time work is a technical concept which must be construed by reading the relevant provisions together. Regulation 34 deems…

For variant use under Trade Marks Act 1994, the comparison asks whether differences between the mark as registered and the mark as used alter its distinctive…

A court attaching conditions to an order under rule 3.1(3) of the Civil Procedure Rules must identify their purpose and decide whether they are a proportionate…

Where an arbitration is seated in England and Wales, the courts of that seat have exclusive supervisory jurisdiction over challenges to the award. The losing…

A litigation funding agreement is not a damages-based agreement merely because the funder’s return is paid from, or capped by, proceeds. The decisive question…

Appellate intervention in a multi-factorial trade mark assessment requires an error of law or principle, such as a gap in logic, inconsistency or failure to…

A party’s failure to identify a consideration arising after a planning inquiry has closed does not create an absolute procedural bar to a statutory review. The…

In patent obviousness appeals, the Court of Appeal should intervene only for an error of law or principle in the trial judge’s multifactorial, fact-sensitive…

In a direct race-discrimination claim, actual employees may be used as evidential comparators even where material differences prevent them being statutory…

An interlocutory decision creates issue estoppel only for the precise issue finally decided. Broad directions for further consideration do not require a court…

Where an insurance policy covers an employer who has to pay more to complete works because a contractor becomes insolvent or commits fraud, the insolvency or…

A breach of a public body’s procedural rule does not automatically make a decision unlawful. The claimant must establish material prejudice and procedural…

For an interim injunction pending a further appeal, the court must first ask whether the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success. If it does, the court…

In a commercial income-sharing clause, costs are “directly incurred” in generating income only where there is an immediate relationship between the outlay and…

In care proceedings, a judge need not structure a fact-finding judgment by slavishly following the local authority’s threshold document. The essential…

A judicial appointments body may design a selection process that obtains evidence-based information about candidates through a statutory consultee and…

Whether a treaty condition limits an investor’s right to arbitrate is a question of international-law interpretation. Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of…

A child’s habitual residence is determined by a child-focused, global analysis of all relevant circumstances. The court must compare the child’s practical…

Plausibility is not a freestanding validity requirement. It is the standard used to assess whether a patent makes a claimed technical effect sufficiently…

Absent a special contractual provision or statutory assignment, a third-party claimant has no proprietary right in liability insurance proceeds paid to the…

An Article 3 claim based on feared ill-treatment by non-state actors requires a fact-specific assessment of both effective state protection and internal…

In a permanent international relocation application, the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration under the Children Act 1989. There is no…

A worldwide freezing order has distinct domestic and overseas dimensions. Failure to establish the respondent’s overseas assets does not necessarily require…

A concerted practice requires concertation, subsequent market conduct and a causal connection. Consensus remains necessary, although it may arise from tacit…

A restocking notice under section 17A of the Forestry Act 1967 may be served where it appears to the appropriate forestry authority that an offence has been…

For jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 6.33(2B), a claimant must show a good arguable case that the jurisdiction agreement binds the…

For tenancy-deposit information, a landlord may satisfy Article 2(1)(g)(vi) of the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 by referring…

Paragraph 9 of Schedule 8 to the Building Safety Act 2022 applies to legal or professional costs connected with liability for a relevant building defect. The…

For the purposes of the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004, an agency worker may be employed by the supplying agency even though the user…

An RCO under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022 is discretionary. The FTT must consider whether making the order is just and equitable in light of the…

On an appeal concerning interim relief in public law proceedings, the appellate court reviews the lower court’s exercise of discretion. It does not rehear the…

Under the Electronic Communications Code, a site provider cannot rely on paragraph 31 to terminate a code agreement merely because a contractual break clause…

An appellate court will rarely grant permission to challenge detailed findings of fact, expert evidence or evaluative conclusions after a lengthy specialist…

Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 guarantees effective and non-discriminatory access to an established system of education. It does not require education of a…

A valid application for an EEA family permit made before the end of the transitional period remains capable of being granted after revocation of the…

The open justice principle permits access to court documents for purposes connected with scrutiny of judicial decision-making or public understanding of the…

When considering contact at the placement-for-adoption stage, the court must apply the child’s lifelong welfare interests and consider the proposed…

“Place of effective management” in a double-tax treaty is an autonomous, internationally construed concept. It is not automatically equated with domestic…

For the “no worse off” condition under section 901G of the Companies Act 2006, the court compares the financial value of a creditor’s existing rights in the…

Settlement agreements are interpreted by ordinary contractual principles in their legal and statutory context. A broad release and agreement not to sue…

Where a highway authority constructs a vehicle crossing under section 184(11) of the Highways Act 1980, the request may be made by any person. The authority…

For SDLT purposes, whether a building is “suitable for use as a dwelling” is a fact-sensitive question of suitability, not a requirement of immediate…

Enhanced protection against expulsion under article 28(3)(a) of Directive 2004/38/EC and regulation 27(4) of the Immigration (European Economic Area)…

Section 554A(1)(c) of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 does not require employment to be a reason for a loan or other benefit. It requires an…

Under Highways Act 1980, whether a highway is in disrepair and dangerous is fact-sensitive. Ordinary traffic may include pedestrians or cyclists using a grass…

Parallel civil contempt and criminal proceedings arising from the same facts are not inherently unjust. Civil contempt proceedings serve the distinct purpose…

An unqualified security assignment of a lessor’s rights may entitle a security trustee to terminate a lease for a lease default before an enforcement event…

In a sporting-negligence claim, the question is whether the defendant failed to exercise the degree of care appropriate in all the circumstances. The claimant…

Once a claimant issues protective Part 8 proceedings to preserve limitation while continuing under a pre-action protocol, the court may manage the Part 8 case…

A contractual reference to an open price does not necessarily make a long-term commercial supply agreement an unenforceable agreement to agree. The court must…

When deciding whether to order search-based extended disclosure under CPR Practice Direction 57AD, the court must identify key issues requiring contemporaneous…

Failure to complete the assessment and personalised housing plan required by section 189A of the Housing Act 1996 does not automatically invalidate a…

Where the statutory threshold for a care or supervision order is satisfied, the court must assess the child’s future care by considering the totality of the…

The construction of pleadings is objective. A general reference to pornography can include lawful and unlawful material, including CSAM. However, a general…

Under the Traffic Management Act 2004, the statutory objectives of network management concern the expeditious movement of traffic. They do not require or…

Where a QOCS-protected road-traffic claim combines personal injury with credit hire charges based on alleged impecuniosity, the credit hire company will…

An unless order requiring a litigant to certify that funding arrangements and a banking route were in place must be answered accurately and substantively.…

Whether a child is in need and requires accommodation under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 ordinarily involves professional social-work judgment. An…

On a second appeal, an appellate court may disturb a trial judge’s factual finding only where there is an identifiable error, such as a material error of law…

A non-party cannot circumvent statutory restrictions on appeals by challenging adverse findings that form an integral part of the decision under appeal. Under…

Under the Infrastructure Act 2015, section 21 imposes a precise duty to specify the objectives of a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy and the financial…

A director’s duty under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires honesty towards the company. The court must ascertain the director’s actual knowledge or…

In asylum claims based on sur place political activity, tribunals must not impose an unrealistic evidential burden concerning covert surveillance by a foreign…

In an asylum or humanitarian protection appeal, whether return to a proposed third country would expose a claimant to persecution, serious harm or refoulement…

Under the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, secured debt is generally…

Where an appeal against a bankruptcy order succeeds on jurisdictional grounds, the order should be set aside and the bankruptcy petition dismissed. The setting…

For the bankruptcy jurisdictional test in section 265(2)(b)(i) of the Insolvency Act 1986, a debtor must have had a place of residence in England and Wales…

Filing a compliant claim form in the Competition Appeal Tribunal makes and commences a follow-on claim there for the purposes of the Tribunal’s limitation…

A compulsory purchase order may confer an express right to create a new outfall and discharge into a private watercourse without reproducing statutory…

Whether a body is a public authority under section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 is fact-sensitive. A political party’s election of its leader is a private…

Immigration Rules are construed objectively according to their natural and ordinary meaning, read as a whole. Under the original paragraph (b)(ii)(bb)(aaa) in…

A non-refugee foreign national with leave to remain who applies for a certificate of travel must provide evidence that the relevant national authority has…

The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 does not give a parent an entitlement to have a solicitor or other lawyer present at a…

Judicial review examines the legality of a planning decision, not the merits of national energy or climate policy. A decision-maker assessing the significance…

The agricultural exemption under Local Government Finance Act 1988 requires two distinct conditions. A building must be occupied together with agricultural…

For a freely tradeable asset whose value is reduced by wrongful conduct, the claimant must ordinarily mitigate by using an available market to sell and, where…

An application for summary return to a country outside the 1980 Hague Convention is determined solely by the child’s best interests. Convention concepts such…

The majority held that, under regulation 5(2)(a) of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, part-time status must be…

Under section 11A(4)(c)(ii) of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, jurisdiction exists where there is a genuinely disputable question whether the…

An injunction cannot be enforced by committal unless its terms are clear, certain and unambiguous. A general order requiring compliance with a contractual…

Under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925, a restrictive covenant may secure a practical benefit of substantial value or advantage even where the…

Article 10 cannot provide a defence to civil contempt where a party has freely undertaken to the court, with legal advice, not to make derogatory comments, the…

An appellate court may interfere with factual findings where there is an identifiable error, including a material misunderstanding of evidence, a critical…

HMRC may deregister a taxable person who, although not the direct VAT defaulter, knew or should have known that it was participating in transactions connected…

Where a claim began in a costs-capped specialist court and the agreed costs cap survived its transfer, it remains proceedings in which costs recovery was…

Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention applies only where the challenged act or omission contravenes a national legal provision whose purpose is to protect or…

Public law litigants must plead their grounds clearly and obtain permission before pursuing new grounds. Renewed applications and skeleton arguments cannot be…

Section 234 of the Insolvency Act 1986 is a summary procedural power. It creates no new proprietary rights and cannot give an administrator a better right to…

An appellate tribunal must respect the First-tier Tribunal’s fact-finding role and must not recast disagreement about facts as an error of law. However, a…

The retail sequential test gives priority to town-centre sites, then edge-of-centre sites, before out-of-centre development is considered. Policy…

Whether accommodation is reasonable for a homeless applicant to continue occupying is fact-sensitive. Temporary accommodation, including a hotel room, is not…

At the strike-out or summary-judgment stage, the question is whether a secret-trust claim has a realistic prospect of success, not whether the claimant has…

For proceedings instituted before the end of the Brexit transition period, Article 86(5) of the CD Regulation remains effective where required by Article 67(1)…

Under rule 37(5) of the Employment Appeal Tribunal Rules 1993, whether an appellant has made a “minor error” is assessed by reference to the extent of…

Relief from a sanction imposed by an unless order remains a discretionary, fact-sensitive exercise. The court must assess the particular breach, its cause and…

Under rule 19.2(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, matters “in dispute” are matters “in issue”. Joinder may therefore be ordered even where the existing…

In an excessive-pricing case, workable competition is a description of normal and sufficiently effective competition, not a bright-line legal test. A…

Capacity to conduct litigation is both decision-specific and time-specific. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the court must identify the particular…

An appellate court should interfere with a trial judge’s factual findings only in rare circumstances, such as where there is no evidential basis, a material…

For indirect discrimination, the provision, criterion or practice must be assessed as a whole and in its factual context. A condition requiring employees to…

Under Arbitration Act 1996 section 73, a party which does not raise before the tribunal a complaint that its opponent's jurisdiction objection was late cannot…

For the purposes of paragraph 12 of Schedule 6 to the Land Registration Act 2002, land in an unadministered estate is not subject to a trust merely because…

A Henry VIII power to make regulations about the meaning of a statutory threshold permits clarification and exemplification within that threshold. It does not…

In a professional-negligence claim against a valuer, showing that a valuation falls outside the acceptable bracket is necessary but not sufficient for…

A public authority with a justiciable policy must ordinarily follow it, but may depart where it has a good reason. The court determines the policy’s meaning…

For Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005, s 402(4), the character of a dividend from a non-UK company is determined under UK law by applying the…

In fixing FRAND terms for a standards-essential patent portfolio, the court should identify the closest comparable licence or licences and evaluate…

In an asylum or humanitarian protection appeal, preserved primary facts do not necessarily include the tribunal’s evaluative conclusion on future risk. The…

Under Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 section 117C(4)(c), the tribunal must make a broad, objective and fact-sensitive assessment of whether…

A local authority cannot provide valid consent to confinement which it has itself imposed or arranged for a child in its care. The State cannot thereby remove…

Whether a post-employment commission clause restrains trade depends on its practical effect at the date of contracting, not its label. The court should apply a…

An asymmetric jurisdiction clause may confer exclusive jurisdiction on the English courts for all claims brought by one party while allowing the other party to…

Planning permission must be assessed by reference to the development actually proposed. The benefits of hydrocarbon exploration and appraisal may include…

Under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 31(2A), the court must assess the actual effect of the legal error on the decision-making process and the decision made.…

A failure to publish a proposed or completed planning obligation as required by article 40(3)(b) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management…

Under section 42(3) of the Children and Families Act 2014, a responsible commissioning body has an absolute and non-delegable duty to arrange the health care…

On an interim-injunction application, the American Cyanamid guidelines remain binding. Where there is real doubt about the adequacy of damages for either side…

An application to extend time for appealing against a committal sanction is governed by the ordinary three-stage relief-from-sanctions approach. A serious…

A direction under section 37(1) of the Children Act 1989 may concern only a child whose welfare is a question for determination in the family proceedings. It…

In opt-out collective proceedings, section 47C(3) of the Competition Act 1998 permits the Competition Appeal Tribunal to order that a funder’s return and…

Where an arbitral award contains a distinct final section stating the tribunal’s operative orders, that section will ordinarily be treated as a comprehensive…

In a fact-finding appeal, an appellate court must respect the trial judge’s advantage in seeing and hearing the evidence. It must nevertheless intervene where…

When asked to impose a restructuring plan on a dissenting class, the court must examine how the benefits preserved or generated by the plan are allocated among…

In a mesothelioma claim governed by the special causation rule, the claimant need establish that the defendant’s breach materially increased the risk of…

The construction of a company’s articles is a question of law. The articles must be read as a whole, in light of reasonably ascertainable company and…

Relief from a procedural sanction requires consideration of the seriousness and significance of the default, the reason for it, and all the circumstances. A…

Under paragraph SW 1.6 of the Immigration Rules, an application failing a mandatory validity requirement may be rejected as invalid and not considered. In that…

For assessors appointed in discrimination proceedings, the judge has a broad discretion to decide what assistance is required. An assessor may evaluate the…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Rule 52.30 provides a strict and exceptional jurisdiction to reopen a final appeal decision, including a refusal of…

Allocation of an intellectual-property claim between the IPEC multi-track and small claims track depends on the ordinary case-management criteria, including…

For VAT, the insurance exemption extends to related services supplied by insurance brokers or agents where those services are integral to the insurance…

In public-law applications for interim relief, the strength of the underlying challenge is a significant factor in the balance of prejudice or risk of…

Permission to appeal is relevant but not determinative when deciding whether to make an unless order. Such an order may dismiss an appeal automatically if a…

The appointment of an intermediary in family proceedings is governed by Family Procedure Rules 2010 Part 3A and Practice Direction 3AA. The test is whether…

A placement order is a last-resort welfare decision. The court must compare all realistic placement options and weigh the benefits and risks of each, including…

A custody officer exercising the power under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 54(4)(a), need only genuinely believe that a detainee may use…

The public sector equality duty applies when a local authority reissues or maintains a charging policy. It requires due regard to specified equality needs, but…

A boundary agreement whose purpose is to identify an unclear boundary, rather than to transfer land, has proprietary effect. It defines the physical extent of…

Whether a contractual requirement is a condition precedent depends on the words used in their contractual context. Clear conditionality is normally required…

An issue estoppel may arise from a determination of law, fact, or mixed law and fact, provided that the determination was fundamental to the earlier decision.…

In civil contempt proceedings for breach of a court order, the claimant must prove to the criminal standard that the order was served and that the defendant…

Article 14 does not require identical protection for every group affected by a whistleblowing scheme. Job applicants are capable of having an other status, but…

An appellate court has an exceptional discretion to decide an academic appeal. The discretion is generally exercised where the issue is of wider public…

An anti-suit injunction is a discretionary and exceptional remedy. In a single-forum case, the absence of an alternative English forum is not a legal threshold…

A programme of measures under the Directive 2000/60/EC and the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 is not merely…

A registered design must depict one product. A complex or modular product can qualify, and a set of articles can qualify where aesthetic and functional…

The First-tier Tribunal has jurisdiction under section 27A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and Schedule 11 to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002…

On an appeal against revocation of protection status, the tribunal must examine whether the revocation decision breaches the United Kingdom’s…

When an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is lodged within time but a required document is missing, the case must be distinguished from one in which the…

In an article 8 proportionality assessment, family life is not a single category. The nature and quality of the relationship must be assessed before its weight…

An exceptional assurance under the Coronavirus Exceptional Assurance policy does not grant immigration leave. The recipient remains an overstayer, although the…

An application to determine whether admitted or proved conduct breached a court order may be resolved by declaration where no contempt sanction is sought. CPR…

In fact-finding proceedings concerning gonorrhoea in a child, the infection is not determinative of sexual abuse, but expert evidence that it is strongly…

For the purposes of sections 78 and 79 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, the circumstances in which an appeal remains not finally determined…

Detention under paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971 is lawful while an arriving passenger is being examined and while the decision whether…

Where an application for early release on compassionate grounds is based on the prisoner’s health, a prison governor must submit it to the Public Protection…

An injunction must be obeyed unless and until it is set aside. Its alleged invalidity is not a defence to deliberate breaches. A contemnor’s right to legal…

Under the Value Added Tax Act 1994, a statutory note stating that confectionery includes a specified class of product is ordinarily conclusive. A product…

A fiduciary’s core duties are defined by the agency contract. Matters such as sophistication, vulnerability and what the principal could have discovered…

The discretion to extend a time limit under rule 8(5) of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Procedure) Rules 2003 requires an appellant to show, on…

Commercial contracts, including provisions limiting liability, are construed by ordinary objective principles. The court gives primary weight to the language…

Internal relocation in a protection claim is determined by asking whether it would be unreasonable, in the sense of unduly harsh, to expect relocation within…

A review under section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 is confined to the particular statutory decision or decisions identified in the applicant’s request. A…

In child sexual abuse fact-finding, medical evidence must be assessed as part of the totality of the evidence. The court should consider alternative…

For capital allowances, expenditure is on the provision of plant where, viewed objectively and with hindsight, it informed the plant’s design or installation.…

For Insolvency Act 1986 section 423(3), a transaction entered into to prevent a tax liability from arising is not, without more, a transaction entered into to…

In committal proceedings, heightened procedural fairness requires the court to decide only the contempt alleged in the application notice. A late change from…

A conditional fee agreement is construed by ordinary principles of contractual interpretation. The court identifies objective meaning from the words used, read…

A determination by a statutory tribunal of an identical issue between the same parties can bind the Secretary of State in a later administrative decision. The…

Statutory guidance governing vulnerable adults in immigration detention does not require the vulnerability and detention assessment to be completed immediately…

In a conduct dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal must decide for itself whether it was reasonable to treat the conduct as sufficient…

In a trade mark infringement appeal, likelihood of confusion must be assessed by reference to the relevant average consumer as a single class, although…

The potential impact of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on medical implants is not automatically a material consideration in every telecommunications…

Where an administrator’s remuneration is fixed by reference to time properly spent, an application under rules 18.24 and 18.28 to increase the amount is…

A post-2000 sentence of detention during His Majesty’s pleasure includes a minimum term fixed by the sentencing court. The absence of an executive-clemency…

When a mandatory ground for revoking a worker sponsorship licence is established, the Secretary of State has no duty to assess the impact of revocation on the…

At the permission stage, an alleged error in an entry-clearance decision will not justify an appeal where it is not realistically arguable that the error…

In public-law care and adoption proceedings, there is no right or presumption that a child must be raised by the natural family. Once the threshold is crossed…

An undertaking under the ETSI intellectual property policy obliges each standard-essential patent owner to license its own patent portfolio on FRAND terms. It…

For extended family member status under regulation 8(2), dependency requires material support needed to meet essential living needs. Whether a particular…

Promptness in judicial review is contextual. Where relief could unwind an urgent transaction and cause serious harm to third parties, knowledge of the…

Insurance policy provisions must be construed by their substance, wording and temporal operation. A clause requiring an insured to trade during the policy…

A governing body considering whether to reinstate a permanently excluded pupil makes the ultimate decision for itself. A procedural error by the headteacher…

An employment tribunal does not err in law merely because it does not repeat every issue in a list of issues, provided its findings and reasons adequately…

Findings of fact made by a competent body under Schedule 3 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 are not binding on the DBS or the Upper Tribunal…

The reasoning in Chikwamba has narrow modern scope. It is potentially relevant only where leave to remain is refused solely because the applicant must leave…

Under the statutory and policy scheme introduced on 30 January 2023, transitional provisions for confirmed victims of trafficking must be read against…

A standard-essential patent owner must perform its obligation to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms in good faith. Where an implementer…

For a secondary-victim claim arising from witnessing a traumatic incident or its immediate aftermath, the established control mechanisms remain sufficient. The…

An Employment Tribunal must determine claims which objectively emerge from the parties’ statements of case and fall within its jurisdiction. A list of issues…

In proceedings concerning children, the general practice is to make no order for costs. The court may depart from that practice in exceptional circumstances…

A right-to-buy lease may impose an implied covenant requiring the landlord to repair the structure and exterior of a flat and its building, including the roof.…

The material contribution doctrine is an exception to the but for test. It arises only where the evidence cannot establish, on the balance of probabilities…

Where a pending UK Supreme Court decision may materially bear on the jurisdiction or evidence relevant to an appeal, the Court of Appeal may adjourn the…

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 operates on a binary conception of gender. Its overseas route cannot require a Gender Recognition Certificate recording a…

Statutory claims for double taxation relief must comply with the applicable domestic procedural rules, provided those rules are reasonable, fixed in advance…

Overlap between an existing claim and a proposed amended claim does not, by itself, make it unfair to try the existing claim first. A judge may adjourn a late…

In care proceedings, a court assessing future risk must conduct a structured and realistic evaluation. It must identify the harm, its likelihood and…

A composite insurance policy comprises separate contracts with the separately insured parties. Whether a policy limit is shared or separate remains a question…

An Article 4 ECHR protection duty is triggered only where the relevant state authority knows, or ought to know, circumstances giving rise to a credible…

For section 13(3) of the State Immunity Act 1978, written consent is established by construing the words of the relevant agreement under its governing law. The…

An appellate tribunal must determine asylum, humanitarian protection, Article 3, integration and Article 8 claims separately, even where the evidence overlaps.…

The adequacy of judicial reasons is fact-specific. It depends on the nature of the case, the circumstances, and the parties’ state of knowledge. A judgment…

In an Article 3 removal case, risk must be assessed by reference to the foreseeable consequences of removal, the general situation in the receiving country and…

A care order must be necessary and proportionate. It cannot be made merely to oblige a local authority to deliver a care package which it already has statutory…

Public procurement documents must state any disqualification consequence clearly and transparently. In context, a term providing that excess prices would be…

On an appeal from the Upper Tribunal, the Court of Appeal reviews points of law and does not reweigh factual findings. The statutory might in future condition…

Under paragraph 22(4) of Schedule 45 to the Finance Act 2013, the exception to counting a day in the UK is a composite test. The circumstances must be…

An employer directly discriminates because of religion or belief if it dismisses an employee merely for expressing a protected belief, including because third…

When determining whether an exception to state immunity applies, an English court applies ordinary English substantive and procedural law unless the State…

A final anti-suit injunction may, in an appropriate and exceptional case, be varied or revoked under CPR Part 3.1(7). The importance of finality remains…

In a negligence claim arising from sporting contact, the applicable standard is the objective standard of the degree of care appropriate in all the…

For malicious prosecution, reasonable and probable cause requires an honest belief by the prosecutor that there is sufficient evidence for a prima facie case.…

A court may separate a child from the family only after rigorous and adequately explained reasoning. It must identify the type, likelihood and consequences of…

A local housing authority’s main housing duty ceases automatically under section 193(7AA) of the Housing Act 1996 when a properly informed applicant accepts or…

Section 180(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 protects post-commencement acts only where arrangements were lawfully made before commencement…

An academic appeal should proceed only in the exceptional case where it raises an issue of wider application. It is unnecessary to hear an appeal merely to…

An exclusion of liability for anticipated profits is construed by ordinary principles of contractual interpretation and according to the contract’s wording and…

A substantive suspension directed after a finding of impaired fitness to practise and an immediate suspension order pending appeal are distinct statutory…

On an appeal against imprisonment for civil contempt, the appellate court may take account of belated compliance with court orders and an apology when…

An unrecognised and unregistered foreign money judgment has no direct operation in England and Wales. It cannot be used as a sword to invoke the collective…

When the risk of future harm may determine a child’s welfare, the court must conduct a solid and fact-specific assessment. It should identify the type…

A court may make a final child-arrangements order at a Dispute Resolution Appointment where the written evidence and submissions show that further…

A claim against an insurance broker for failing to arrange cover is not necessarily defeated because a conventional liability policy would respond only to…

A contractual call option was exercised when the option-holder sent the prescribed irrevocable notice. Exercise did not depend on acceptance or the creation of…

In a market investigation concerning a long-term public-service contract, the fact that a future replacement service falls within the same product market does…

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) are both statements of national planning policy, although they serve…

A court may make a declaration of incompatibility where legislation is incompatible with a Convention right, but the declaration should be confined to the…

For Jersey trusts, English trust law supplies the background unless displaced by Jersey statute or customary law. A fiduciary power exercised within its scope…

A Court of Appeal decision applying assimilated EU law binds a later Court of Appeal where it has applied the relevant CJEU authority as part of its ratio. The…

Qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) applies to proceedings that include a claim for damages for personal injury. It does not depend on the cause of action…

A timely amendment to a statement of case should ordinarily be permitted unless the proposed claim or defence has no real prospect of success. In a rapidly…

Open justice applies fully to family proceedings, subject to closely defined statutory and common law exceptions. A judge should ordinarily be identified even…

The Padfield principle concerns statutory purpose, not the efficacy of an individual decision. A discretionary power is lawfully exercised when used to further…

A representative claim is not preferred merely because the representative rule’s same interest threshold is met. The court retains a broad discretion under CPR…

Where a breach delays an income-producing development, benefits obtained through a reasonable mitigating development must be brought into account if they were…

An allegation of dishonesty does not transfer the legal burden of proof from the Secretary of State. The burden remains on the Secretary of State throughout…

Where a refugee is reasonably regarded as a danger to national security, the danger must be real and serious. The Refugee Convention, the materially…

A police misconduct panel determining sanction must apply three stages: assess the seriousness of the misconduct; keep the purposes of disciplinary sanctions…

Infringement under section 10(3) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 may occur without confusion or detriment where use of a similar sign takes unfair advantage of a…

Whether a child is a “child in need” under section 17(10) of the Children Act 1989 is an evaluative question for the local authority, subject to ordinary…

Procedural fairness is context-sensitive, but whether a procedure was fair is a hard-edged question of law for an appellate court. A duty to notify a migrant…

An exclusive jurisdiction clause binds an entity only if it is party to the agreement, including through an agent with actual or apparent authority.…

A public authority should apply its published policy consistently. It must consider departing from that policy only where the applicant makes representations…

A statutory rule prevents deductions for fines or penalties imposed under a legislative regime, even where they arise from trading activities. The rule is best…

The salaried-member rules deem an LLP member to be an employee for tax purposes only when all three statutory conditions are met. Under Condition B…

Under section 199 of the Housing Act 1996, a local connection must be real and based on normal residence, employment, family associations or special…

A local housing authority may treat a successive homelessness application as no application only where it is identical in substance to the earlier application…

In contempt sentencing, a deliberate breach of a freezing order may justify immediate custody because it attacks the administration of justice, even where the…

The prohibition on blacklisting trade-union participants in the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 includes employees who take part in…

In an appeal under section 40(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the First-tier Tribunal reviews the Secretary of State’s decision on causation and on the…

On an appeal against deprivation of citizenship under section 40(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the First-tier Tribunal must determine for itself any…

Interpretation Act 1978, section 7 applies only where an enactment authorises or requires a document to be served by post. It does not apply merely because a…

Procedural fairness ordinarily requires a person significantly affected by a statutory power to have an opportunity to make representations before the…

A public regulator entrusted with specific responsibilities under a statutory regulatory scheme may have an incidental power to seek an injunction protecting…

In negligence, the police generally owe no duty to protect an individual from criminal harm caused by a third party, or to warn of it, where their conduct is…

A validly made adoption order cannot be set aside at first instance through an originating exercise of the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction, whether the…