High Court: Chancery Division judgments, 2009

An appeal from the Copyright Tribunal lies only on a point of law. The appellate court must not substitute its own assessment of facts or matters of fact and…

A person may be liable for a company’s wrongdoing according to the substance of his conduct, rather than the label applied to his role. A person who controls a…

Representations made by a limited liability partnership do not, without more, impose personal liability on its members. A claimant alleging deceit must prove…

Where a winding-up petition is dismissed after payment of the petition debt or provision of satisfactory security, the court may order the company to pay the…

For the purposes of art 23 of the Brussels Regulation, a jurisdiction agreement must demonstrate clearly and precisely that the parties consented to…

The rule in Cherry v Boultbee may apply in an insolvency administration where a claimant owes, or may owe, an indemnity to the fund. A contractual exclusion of…

A partnership asset appearing on a partnership balance sheet is not necessarily beneficially owned by the partnership. The court must determine the parties’…

For a contractual uplift payment based on development value, an arm’s-length valuation concerns the land triggering the payment, not unrelated comparable…

Allegations of fraud and dishonesty in civil proceedings remain subject to the balance of probabilities. The seriousness and inherent improbability of the…

A will is revoked by the formation of a civil partnership unless the statutory exception applies. The exception requires the will itself to show both that…

Confidentiality is not, by itself, a sufficient reason to resist disclosure. The governing question is whether disclosure is necessary for the fair disposal of…

For residual input tax, an apportionment method must fairly and reasonably represent the extent to which inputs are used in making taxable supplies. In an…

The statutory trust created by CASS7 arises when client money is received, or when the firm appropriates its own money to meet a client-money obligation. A…

In a domestic property dispute, substantial contributions to a shared project do not themselves establish a constructive trust or proprietary estoppel. The…

Issue estoppel arising from a consent order is confined to issues actually determined or compromised, including issues shown by the antecedent circumstances to…

A contractual subordination clause preventing a guarantor from making any claim against a debtor in competition with a bank is not limited to claims arising…

An unincorporated association is not automatically an “association” capable of being wound up under Part V of the Insolvency Act 1986. The court must consider…

On a summary judgment appeal, a defence is arguable where expert evidence raises a genuinely triable issue about a company’s capacity and the validity of…

In sanctioning a solvent scheme of arrangement affecting with-profits policies, the court must be satisfied that the class meetings were fairly constituted and…

The general rule is that costs incurred in obtaining funding for litigation are not recoverable from the opposing party. However, costs of reasonably…

Under article 28 of Council Regulation (EU) No. 44/2001, proceedings are “related actions” only where their connection is sufficiently close and the risk of…

Under Trustee Act 1925, s 57, the court may confer administrative powers where the transaction is expedient and any effect on beneficial enjoyment is…

Under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the court must decide as a question of fact whether the director’s conduct, viewed…

Under regulation 6(4) of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt) Regulations 2005, an employment cessation event depends on whether the employer…

An insurer is not entitled to an insurance premium where the insured risk never attached. Where insurance and lending form a single scheme, the insurer is not…

An accrued right to payment under a costs order is a debt and therefore property capable of assignment, even where the amount remains to be quantified through…

Rent accruing under a lease is payable as an expense of an administration where the administrator uses or retains the premises for the benefit of the…

An expedited trial is a discretionary case-management order. The applicant must establish objective urgency: a genuine need for the issues to be decided before…

The Pensions Ombudsman has jurisdiction to investigate and determine a complaint even where the comparable court action would be statute barred. Regulation 5…

A trustee’s power to amend the rules of a commercial life assurance scheme is ordinarily ancillary to its duty to administer and manage the scheme. It does…

A recipient who has unsuccessfully challenged a statutory demand cannot ordinarily reopen the same issues through separate proceedings, absent a material…

Adverse possession requires both factual possession and an intention to possess. Factual possession means a sufficient degree of exclusive physical control…

For the purposes of Patents Act 1977, s 41(2), the hypothetical transaction following a disposal to a connected person is not assessed by reference to that…

An interim injunction restraining publication should be granted only where the claimant is likely to establish at trial that publication ought not to be…

On a summary judgment application under Insolvency Act 1986, s 214, the court must decide whether the director has a realistic prospect of defending the claim…

Where liquidators hold funds and potential proprietary claims are doubtful, the court must balance the need for a conclusive determination against the…

HMRC approval of a taxpayer’s VAT apportionment method does not ordinarily create a binding contract. Its legal effect may instead be governed by substantive…

An agreement to refer a dispute to a religious tribunal may constitute a contract for arbitration under English law. An award arising from that agreement may…

An appellate court reviewing a case-management discretion conducts a review, not a rehearing. It should intervene only where the first-instance judge erred in…

A company incorporated as a Luxembourg Société en Commandite par Actions, possessing separate legal personality, constitution and shareholders, falls within…

Computer-implemented inventions remain excluded where their real contribution is merely data processing, presentation of information, or an abstractly improved…

In deciding whether amendments and expert evidence should be permitted, the court held that the relevant question in recovering sums paid under a third-party…

An apparent-bias application is determined by asking whether the fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was a real possibility of bias.…

An administrator’s allegedly wrongful termination of a creditor’s contract does not, without more, establish a breach of the duty to act in the interests of…

A pension promise may become contractually enforceable through the parties’ conduct and surrounding circumstances, even where no formal scheme or side letter…

A commercially negotiated termination clause must be construed in light of its language and commercial purpose. Where a contract gives a right to terminate for…

Section 249(6)(b) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 treats an enhanced scrip dividend received by trustees as income for trust-law purposes as well…

A communication marked “without prejudice” carries a rebuttable presumption that it forms part of settlement negotiations. The court must assess the…

A constructive trust may arise when land is transferred pursuant to a common intention that it will be held for another, even where the claimant had no…

In cross-border insolvency proceedings, judicial comity may justify communication between courts to reduce the risk of conflicting orders. Any request should…

A judge may reconsider an oral judgment after delivery but before the consequential order is sealed only for strong reasons, and the jurisdiction is reserved…

UK thin-capitalisation rules breached Article 43 EC where they applied an arm’s-length test but gave taxpayers no separate opportunity to establish genuine…

An indemnity costs order is exceptional. The normal basis is standard costs, and the question is whether the conduct of the action or the circumstances of the…

Under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006, prejudice and unfairness are distinct questions assessed objectively. A genuine need for capital does not make a…

The statutory machinery for challenging a tax assessment is generally exclusive, but it does not prevent the High Court from staying recovery proceedings while…

On an application for a stay under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996, an arbitration clause may be subject to the common-law rule that onerous or unusual…

Insolvency proceedings may be served outside the jurisdiction under the wide discretion conferred by rule 12.12(3) of the Insolvency Rules 1986. Even if the…

A settlement is binding where the parties have objectively agreed all material terms. The fact that the agreement is intended to be embodied in a court order…

A pension-scheme trustee may exercise a buy-out power only to apply a fair share of scheme assets in securing substitute benefits. It may not use the power to…

A pension-scheme amendment power cannot be used indirectly to remove a restriction which protects accrued or prospective member benefits. A conversion from…

An unappealed decision of a competent tribunal may create cause of action estoppel, issue estoppel or an abuse of process in later proceedings between the same…

An exclusive jurisdiction clause is construed broadly in accordance with the parties’ commercial purpose. Claims fall within the clause where determination of…

Where a company is already subject to a voluntary winding-up, the court may order a compulsory winding-up at the petition of a contributory if the…

A licensing agreement must be construed objectively, in its contractual and commercial context. Whether clothing is specifically intended for use on the field…

On an application for an interim injunction, the claimant must show a triable issue, that damages would not provide adequate compensation, and that the balance…

An undertaking to the court is construed objectively in its context. An undertaking expressed without a best-endeavours qualification is ordinarily…

In a multi-party VAT arrangement, the court must distinguish two stages. First, it must identify the parties’ true contractual rights and obligations by…

A contractual exit mechanism providing that either shareholder may initiate the procedure “at any time” should be given its ordinary meaning unless the…

In construing a commercial contract, the court must start with the language chosen by the parties in its commercial context. A provision is not corrected…

A solicitor’s conveyancing undertaking to redeem or discharge a charge should generally be enforced promptly where the solicitor can procure compliance and no…

A contractual condition concerning planning permission is satisfied when permission with the required characteristics is granted by the contractual deadline.…

A revocation of a will is ineffective where the person executing it lacked testamentary capacity. Capacity requires understanding the nature and effect of the…

A transfer is within section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 if defeating or prejudicing creditors was a real and substantial purpose. That purpose need not be…

On a summary judgment application, the court applies a reality test, not a balance-of-probabilities test. A party resisting judgment must show a real, rather…

Where a savings-scheme agent acts for the scheme operator, payment by a customer to the agent is legally payment to the operator. A customer cannot establish a…

A mistaken assertion that contractual obligations have been transferred does not amount to repudiation unless, viewed objectively, it clearly indicates an…

In contested probate proceedings, the unsuccessful party ordinarily pays the successful party’s costs. A departure requires a positive case based on the…

Under a detailed commercial agreement, proprietary rights depend on the parties’ objective intention. Clear custody language, segregation provisions and…

Transmission of a case stated within the statutory period establishes the High Court’s jurisdiction to entertain a tax appeal. It does not displace the…

In an MTIC fraud case, denial of input-tax deduction does not require HMRC to prove that the defaulting trader was the original importer. It is sufficient to…

A settlement negotiated under a subject-to-contract qualification becomes binding only if the parties expressly, or by necessary implication, remove that…

The court may release parties from an undertaking restricting the use of evidence obtained through court-ordered cross-examination where it is just and…

A statutory derivative claim under Part 11 of the Companies Act 2006 must arise from a director’s negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust. It…

Under section 111 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the court must decide whether an insurance business transfer scheme is, in all the…

A broadly worded undertaking not to infringe copyright is not confined to infringements contemplated when it was given. Unless expressly limited, it applies to…

On a summary judgment application, the court may decide a difficult point of law, including contractual construction, where the relevant factual background is…

Under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, the person propounding a will bears the legal burden of proving due execution. An attestation clause may support a…

In calculating Permanent Injury Benefit, “rates in operation” refers to the statutory rate properly applicable to the deductible benefit at the date employment…

Contractual warranties about a company’s financial position may also operate as representations of fact and support a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation…

The jurisdiction under section 236 of the Insolvency Act 1986 is wide. It is not limited to documents needed to reconstitute the insolvent company’s knowledge…

The Ramsay principle is not a general rule permitting tax-motivated or circular steps to be ignored. The court must first construe the relevant legislation…

In a negligence claim concerning a forged conveyance, actual damage arose when the solicitor released the forged transfer into circulation, because that…

Under Rules 251 and 278 of the Land Registration Rules 1925, land may form part of a registered title despite its omission from the red edging on the filed…

A tenancy excluded from the statutory assured-tenancy regime may remain a common-law contractual tenancy. Where its terms permit termination by contractual…

Proprietary estoppel requires an assurance relating to sufficiently identified property, reasonable reliance and detriment, assessed in context and with…

Claims by liquidators under the Insolvency Act 1986 should not ordinarily be resolved summarily where the evidence leaves a real issue about insolvency, a…

In an administration, insolvency set-off is governed by the true construction of the applicable Insolvency Rules. The account of mutual dealings is taken at…

On an application for summary judgment or strike out, a claim should proceed where the evidence raises a genuinely arguable breach, causation issue or…

Insurance proposal questions are construed objectively. Where a question is genuinely ambiguous, the contra proferentem principle may apply, and the insured’s…

For the purposes of a tax-geared penalty under section 95 of the Taxes Management Act 1970, the additional tax payable may be established by a binding…

A private company may acquire its own fully paid shares otherwise than for valuable consideration only within the statutory exceptions. Unpaid shares cannot be…

A solicitor advising on a purchase conditional upon planning permission must identify and explain material risks which may elude an intelligent lay client.…

For service under CPR 6.9(2), an individual may have more than one residence. The court assesses whether a property is a residence by examining the quality of…

An agreement to form a company for equal ownership may give rise to enforceable contractual rights or a constructive trust, even where one participant is not…

A privileged will under section 11 of the Wills Act 1837 may be made by any mariner or seaman who satisfies the statutory condition of being “at sea”. The…

Rent under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 is an objective assessment of the open-market rent for the agreed tenancy. The court must assess what a…

A claimant who discontinues is ordinarily liable for the defendant’s costs. The court may order indemnity costs where the conduct or circumstances take the…

A procedural insolvency rule may create an actionable statutory duty where its language, purpose and context show that it is intended to protect an…

An employee who appropriates an employer’s database and confidential business information to obtain a competitive head start may be restrained by a permanent…

Proceeds from selling land acquired with qualifying contributions under the landfill tax credit regime are capital, not “income” or “income derived” from those…

A scheme under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 cannot bind dissenting creditors where its essential purpose is to distribute, pool or extinguish property…

A contract for the sale of land is not rendered void under section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 merely because a separate…

On an application for an interim injunction in a trade mark dispute, the claimant must show a seriously arguable case before the court assesses the balance of…

A contractual provision may infringe the deprivation principle even where insolvency is not the immediate triggering event and the provision was negotiated in…

Relief under the UNCITRAL Model Law may be made subject to appropriate conditions. Where a foreign insolvency court is considering whether a creditor’s…

A company may select the creditors with whom it enters a scheme and need not include creditors whose rights are unaffected or who have no real economic…

A private right of way is actionable only where an obstruction causes a real and substantial interference, assessed objectively by the court. The relevant…

Under section 1(1) of the Variation of Trusts Act 1958, the court may approve an arrangement which introduces a new perpetuity period, including a period…

Where a bankruptcy petition is adjourned on the clear direction that payment of a specified sum will result in dismissal, and the debtor pays that sum in time…

The court has an inherent power to direct an ancillary English liquidator to remit assets to a foreign liquidation where the foreign law provides for pari…

An extended civil restraint order requires persistent claims or applications that are totally without merit. Persistence requires more than the two…

A trustee in bankruptcy inviting offers for estate property ordinarily makes an invitation to treat, not an offer to sell to the highest bidder. The trustee…

A binding tariff information is prospective and may be relied on only by its holder for goods corresponding in every respect to those described in it. A BTI…

The Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 may apply to a foreign insolvency proceeding concerning an entity which lacks separate legal personality under…

A contractual entitlement to share agricultural subsidies depends on the proper construction and temporal scope of the agreement. A payment made after…

A costs assessment must give effect to an earlier costs order according to its proper construction. Costs awarded for a discrete interim issue are ordinarily…

Patent claims must be construed according to the language chosen by the patentee and the meaning which the skilled reader would give it. A limitation is not to…

Where jurisdiction is properly founded on Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, an EU court cannot stay or decline jurisdiction on forum conveniens…

A pension scheme amendment power requiring the trustees to obtain written actuarial advice must be given its clear, all-embracing effect. The court cannot…

The court’s supervisory jurisdiction ordinarily requires a solicitor to perform an undertaking given in the course of practice. An undertaking to redeem or…

In a probate action, a will is presumed to have been made by a capable testator where it is duly executed and rational on its face. The objector must first…

Testamentary capacity is task-specific and must be assessed in the context of the particular testator, estate and potential beneficiaries. The Banks v…

On a rehearing of a without-notice order extending time for service of a claim form, the principal question is usually whether the claimant had a good reason…

A solicitor drafting a will owes a duty to secure, so far as intended to benefit the claimant, the testamentary provision instructed by the testator. Where…

A cross-undertaking in damages provides equitable compensation for loss caused by an interim injunction which was wrongly granted. The beneficiary must…

Break clauses in leases are subject to strict compliance with their contractual conditions precedent. A tenant must deliver genuinely vacant possession on the…

Valuation work carried out pursuant to a court order and as an essential step in determining relief in existing proceedings is contentious business. A…

In a probate action, the court may construe a will to identify the persons entitled to a grant of probate. For that purpose, the court may consider the persons…

Whether a debenture creates a fixed or floating charge over book-debt proceeds depends on the rights and obligations created by the instrument and the…

Proprietary estoppel requires a sufficiently clear assurance, reasonable reliance, and substantial detriment caused by that reliance. Foregoing the certainty…

The anti-deprivation principle invalidates arrangements that remove property from an insolvent estate or contract out of mandatory insolvency distribution…

A pension trustee or administrator has no general duty to volunteer advice about a member’s entitlements. The duty is to take reasonable care that information…

Goods in transit through the Community, and subject to suspensive customs procedures, are not “counterfeit goods” for the purposes of the Counterfeit Goods…

Specific performance is discretionary. A mistake which does not avoid a contract may nevertheless justify refusing specific performance where it induced the…

A director’s duty of loyalty prevents competition with his company, exploitation of its corporate assets or maturing business opportunities, and solicitation…

In a forum non conveniens application, the claimant must show that England is the proper forum where permission has been given to serve defendants out of the…

Permission to commence proceedings against a company in liquidation under section 130(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986 involves a broad discretion to do what is…

A worldwide freezing order requires solid evidence of a real risk that a future judgment will remain unsatisfied because assets may be dissipated or secreted.…

An application to strike out a statement of case under CPR rule 3.4 is discretionary. The court should consider whether the pleaded case discloses reasonable…

An employee may owe fiduciary duties in limited respects arising from the context of particular contractual responsibilities. Such duties do not automatically…

Where several defendants have jointly benefited from services giving rise to a quantum meruit, liability may properly be joint where each accepted and…

A contractual obligation to make a contingent payment is not lost merely because redemption is delayed beyond the contractual maturity date, particularly where…

Permission to appeal from an arbitral award under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 requires a stringent showing that the arbitrator’s decision was…

The duration of a trustees’ power of appointment depends on the intention disclosed by the governing instrument, construed as a whole and against its factual…

A former director’s fiduciary duties do not create a general post-termination prohibition on soliciting the company’s customers. The duty concerning corporate…

The court may intervene in a trustee in bankruptcy’s decision where the decision is utterly unreasonable, but that is not the whole scope of its supervisory…

A prior judgment deciding only part of a dispute does not create res judicata or abuse of process in respect of issues left for later determination. Section…

Shares must be valued by reference to assets and rights owned by the company at the relevant valuation date. Intellectual property developed by a separate…

Costs are governed by the court’s broad discretion under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 44 and the overriding objective. Deliberately advancing a false case…

Harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 requires conduct sufficiently grave to cross the boundary from unattractive or unreasonable behaviour…

A trust’s purpose must be characterised by considering the substance and context of the gift. A provision for assistance to a defined class may be charitable…

For the purposes of a preference, the benefit must be received by a creditor, surety or guarantor in that capacity. A person is not preferred merely because…

Where cohabitants hold a home jointly, equality is the starting presumption, but their beneficial interests may change as circumstances change. The court must…

Under CPR r. 19.2(2), joinder is desirable where it is necessary to resolve the matters in dispute, assessed through the overriding objective. A person with…

A party who has invoked a statutory procedure on the footing that a planning obligation is enforceable may be prevented from later challenging the obligation’s…

Under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, the fairness exclusion for the main subject matter or price applies only to the core bargain…

A trust required by a regulatory notice was constituted when the first matching payment was made into the segregated account. The expressions “customers” and…

A person may hold shares as nominee or trustee even where the trust property is subject to a right of reimbursement, lien or indemnity. A later declaration of…

An application for permission to appeal must ordinarily be made to the lower court at the hearing at which the decision was made. The court has no jurisdiction…

Where a strike-out application requires prolonged and serious argument, the court should generally decline to hear it unless striking out would avoid a trial…

A constructive trust arising from an informal property venture requires a sufficiently clear express accord, although contractual certainty is unnecessary. The…

When sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme, the court exercises a discretionary jurisdiction. It must consider whether sanction is appropriate in…

During an interim moratorium under Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, the presentation of an ordinary winding-up petition is prohibited without the…

For cross-border insolvency recognition, a company’s centre of main interests is determined by objective factors that are ascertainable by third parties. The…

Eligibility under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 depends on the statutory criteria applied to the whole evidential picture.…

For the purposes of an application for a restriction, a claimant need not establish a proprietary interest in the registered estate. A sufficient interest may…

For limitation purposes, an amendment which adds loss consequential upon an already pleaded breach does not introduce a new cause of action merely because the…

A court may vary or set aside an exclusion from an interim receiving order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, including where free assets later become…

An application to restrain presentation of a winding-up petition should be granted only where the petition is bound to fail. The relevant question is whether…

Where two opposing applications have both failed, the court may make no order as to costs where the applications are materially similar and a reciprocal costs…

Restrictive covenants expressed to benefit an estate, or parts of it for the time being remaining unsold, benefit only land retained by the original vendor…

Where confidential information has been misused, the claimant is generally entitled to an injunction against further use or disclosure if there is a sufficient…

In a sole-ownership case, the legal owner is presumed to have the entire beneficial interest. A claimant must first establish a common intention that she…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds have no real prospect of success. Detailed findings of fact, particularly findings based on…

A broadly worded joint venture restriction on assignment may catch the vesting of a beneficial share in newly appointed trustees. An express exception for…

A break notice must clearly and unambiguously communicate that the person entitled to exercise the break right is determining the lease. The notice is…

A claimed beneficial interest arising from an oral arrangement must be assessed according to the arrangement’s actual terms. Where an interest is promised in…

For employment-expense deductions, the statutory test requires an objectively necessary obligation imposed by the duties of the employment themselves. The…

For disqualification under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the court must apply the statutory test and decide as a question of…

The forfeiture rule applies to unlawful killings, including manslaughter. Under Forfeiture Act 1982, s.2, relief requires the applicant first to show that…

The principle of open justice ordinarily outweighs a taxpayer’s limited privacy interest in personal financial information disclosed during a tax appeal. A…

The court may remove an administrator under paragraph 88 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 where there is a proper ground, even without misconduct or…

An industrial and provident society is not a “company” for the purposes of Part III of the Insolvency Act 1986 unless the statutory context clearly requires…

Trustee Act 1925, section 27 protects trustees only against claims of which they had no notice at the time of distribution. The section applies in principle to…

For the purposes of section 72(1A)(b) of the Finance Act 1994, a “separate contract” means a contract distinct from, and not the same as, the taxable insurance…

Legal professional privilege is not waived merely because privileged legal advice is relevant to a pleaded issue, including a person’s state of mind about the…

Where a claimant betters a Part 36 offer, the court should ordinarily impose the enhanced interest and indemnity-costs consequences unless doing so would be…

After judgment but before the final order, the court may admit further evidence where it is needed to achieve a fair and proportionate remedy, particularly in…

A profit appurtenant must accommodate the dominant tenement by having a real connection with its normal enjoyment. The law does not impose a separate threshold…

Where goods are supplied on hire with a possible later purchase, the court must determine the parties’ objective intention as to title and price. An agreement…

Sanction of a liquidator’s compromise is a matter for the court’s own discretion. The court must decide whether the compromise is in the best commercial…

A pre-contractual understanding does not create an equity where the parties intended their legal relationship to be governed by a later, professionally drafted…

An estate agent’s contractual entitlement to commission depends on the language of the particular agreement, construed in its factual and commercial context.…

Permission to continue proceedings against a company in administration should be granted where delay would principally improve a secured creditor’s position…

Commercial information contained in customer invoices may possess the necessary quality of confidence even where elements could be discovered from customers or…

A national court considering a follow-on competition claim has a general discretion to decide when proceedings should be stayed while a Commission decision is…

A claimant cannot recast the issues after trial where the pleadings, interim relief, evidence and submissions reasonably presented a different case. A private…

An assignee of the benefit of a restrictive covenant may enforce it under section 78 of the Law of Property Act 1925 even where the assignment is not an…

Estoppel by convention in non-contractual dealings requires an expressly shared assumption, responsibility for that assumption, actual reliance in subsequent…

Unlawful means conspiracy requires a combination, unlawful conduct that is the instrumentality of the loss, and an intention to injure. Foreseeability or vague…

An appeal tribunal reviewing a refusal of retrospective entry to the VAT Flat-Rate Scheme must apply the statutory test and must not substitute its own…

A court should not release money subject to a solicitor’s charging order where doing so would leave the solicitor without adequate security for fees which…

The principle of fiscal neutrality ordinarily treats apparently similar or identical supplies as being in competition. A taxpayer establishes a distortion…

Interest on costs ordinarily runs from the date judgment is given, but the court may order a different starting date under the Judgments Act 1838 and the Civil…

Clause 4 of a charitable trust deed, enabling a body to identify successors when doubt arises about continuity or identity, is triggered only by a genuine and…

For intra-Community supplies claimed at zero rate, apparently valid transport documents are not conclusive. The supplier must establish the statutory and…

Pending trial, an injunction may be granted where the claimant shows an arguable contractual breach, damages would not adequately compensate the threatened…

Where a contract incorporates a statutory definition by cross-reference, the provision is construed as part of the contract and in its contractual, commercial…

In a contra-trading case, HMRC may deny repayment of input VAT only if it proves that the claimant knew, or ought to have known, that its purchase was…

Under section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court has a complete discretion whether to wind up a company in the public interest, having regard to the…

An application for a paediatric six-month extension of a supplementary protection certificate must satisfy the substantive conditions in Article 36 of the…

A litigant is not a legally assisted person for costs-protection purposes while actively acting in person, even if seeking replacement legal representation and…

Where a dispute raises difficult and necessary questions of harmonised European trade mark law, and existing references may not resolve all the issues, the…

A person who facilitates trade mark infringements is not thereby liable as a joint tortfeasor. Liability requires procurement of an identifiable infringement…

For film tax relief, exploiting a film requires exploitation of the film’s physical master negative, or—if intellectual property rights form part of the…

Permission for a statutory derivative claim must be assessed by applying the Companies Act 2006 criteria to the company’s purposes, interests and practical…

A landlord may reasonably withhold consent to an assignment where there is a genuine and reasonable fear that the assignment will enable the proposed assignee…

A trader loses the right to deduct input VAT where, having regard to objective factors, it knew that its purchase formed part of a transaction connected with…

On an application for sale of a bankrupt’s home, the court must apply the statutory scheme in Insolvency Act 1986, including the presumption that, after one…

A fee-sharing arrangement is not void for uncertainty merely because it does not specify the consequence of every possible circumstance. Where the agreement…

A liquidator’s failure to obtain insolvency sanction before issuing proceedings does not invalidate the proceedings. It ordinarily prevents recovery of the…

Domestic VAT legislation must, so far as possible, be interpreted consistently with the Sixth Directive and the EU principle of avoiding non-taxation. Where a…

Proprietary estoppel requires an assurance sufficiently clear in its context, reasonable reliance, and detriment. The remedy is discretionary and should do the…

For court-fee purposes, the claimant is the person making the claim presently before the court, rather than necessarily the person named as claimant in the…

For the VAT exemption for insurance transactions, an insurance intermediary may qualify by introducing prospective insured persons to insurers. The…

In deciding whether to make an administration order where a pre-pack sale is proposed, the court must remain alert to obvious abuse which may disadvantage…

A director may prepare to compete after resignation and may use his general skill, knowledge and contacts, subject to continuing protection for confidential…

A declaration of right without a trial is governed by a rule of practice, not law. The court may grant declaratory relief where refusing it would deny the…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where the outcome of a trade mark infringement claim depends on a fact-sensitive assessment of the similarity of the marks…

Adverse possession of the bed of a tidal river is possible where an unregistered title is claimed. Continuous physical contact with the land is unnecessary.…

The statutory scheme in the Value Added Tax Act 1994 for repayment of overpaid VAT and statutory interest is exhaustive as a matter of domestic law. However…

Rectification is available for pension scheme deeds and rules where the employer and trustees shared a common intention about their legal effect, but the…

Under section 40 of the Companies Act 2006, a person dealing with a company in good faith may rely on the directors’ power to bind the company, despite…

In public procurement, a fixed tender deadline and a requirement for one complete submission may be enforced strictly where they serve transparency, equal…

A trustee claiming reimbursement for expenditure bears the burden of proving that it was properly incurred for trust purposes. Missing vouchers do not…

A forged signature does not make a corporate document incapable of having legal effect for every purpose. Although a forgery lacks actual authority, a company…

A fiduciary who acts in a clear conflict with the interests of the principal forfeits the right to remuneration under the relevant arrangement. The principal…

Commercial contracts are construed objectively, by reading their words as a whole against the relevant factual background. The agreements required the airline…

On an application under Insolvency Act 1986, section 375(1), a rehearing requires exceptional circumstances involving a material difference from the material…

An administration order may be made retrospectively where the validity of an out-of-court appointment is questionable, provided the court has power to do so…

A bankruptcy petition may be adjourned for payment only where there is a reasonable prospect that the petition debt will be paid in full within a reasonable…

An appellate court has all the powers of the lower court. Its specific statutory or procedural powers do not necessarily exhaust that jurisdiction. Where the…

An employed partner is not necessarily a partner in law. The relationship depends on substance, including whether the parties carried on business in common…

An alternative route, including a route available through an equitable right of deviation, does not extinguish an existing legal right of way or prevent…

An express easement securing the passage of services does not ordinarily impose a positive obligation on the servient owner, including an obligation to grant a…

For an interim payment under CPR 25.7(1)(c), the claimant must show on the balance of probabilities that, if the claim went to trial, judgment for a…

A fiduciary agent with authority to operate a principal’s account may make payments for the agent’s own benefit only with the principal’s informed consent.…

Where one party is substantially successful, the starting point is that it should receive its costs. A modest adjustment may be appropriate for discrete issues…

Under a double-taxation treaty, successive periods of residence must not be converted into simultaneous residence for the whole tax year unless the treaty or…

CPR rule 19.6 permits representative proceedings only where the represented persons have the same interest when the claim is begun. The class must have a…

Contractual provisions excluding set-off and counterclaim are effective according to their terms. They may exclude legal set-off as well as equitable set-off…

Equity may set aside a voluntary transaction for mistake where the disponor did not intend it to have the effect it produced. The mistake may be one of law or…

For the exemption from aggregates levy, the specified mineral and the other rock must have been extracted or won together before the relevant separation…

An action for breach of confidence requires confidential information, circumstances importing an obligation of confidence and unauthorised use to the…

For an urgent interim injunction, the court applies the three-stage test in American Cyanamid v Ethicon: serious question to be tried, adequacy of damages, and…

Testamentary capacity requires the testator to understand the nature and effect of the will, the extent of the property, and the claims to which effect should…

A fiduciary relationship does not necessarily impose contractual exclusivity. It does require loyalty, avoidance of conflicts and full, express informed…

On a solicitor-and-own-client detailed assessment, an inaccurate costs estimate is not a fixed-price cap. The court must first determine whether the client…

A covenant to provide and maintain landscaping must be construed by reference to its words, the document as a whole, the relevant planning permission and the…

Where a company transfers valuable property under a deed in return for agreed consideration which is not paid, the court may find that the consideration…

A contractual discretion must be exercised honestly, in good faith and rationally. Where a contract requires a decision-maker to take specified criteria into…

The rule in Saunders v Vautier cannot be used where potential beneficiaries may still acquire an interest under a pension trust. An unauthorised transfer made…

A contractual clause providing that assigned copyrights shall forthwith revert on specified unremedied material breaches can operate as an automatic reverter…

A letter of intent may create a binding lock-in or exclusivity agreement where its terms expressly identify the obligations intended to be legally binding. A…

The tort of abuse of process exists separately from malicious prosecution. It does not require proof of malice, want of reasonable and probable cause, or…

Client-money protection depends on the existence and ascertainability of trust property. A statutory client-money trust may arise when money is received, even…

For a conditional contract, Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, section 28 determines when the disposal and acquisition occur. That time also determines…

The court may convene meetings for a scheme involving a foreign company where it has jurisdiction to wind up that company under Part V of the Insolvency Act…

An appellate court should interfere with an interlocutory case-management decision of a tribunal only where the decision is plainly or clearly wrong. It should…

A settlement deed must be construed objectively as a whole, having regard to its structure, express provisions and commercial context. Where a provision…

A solicitor instructed to implement an agreed commercial bargain is entitled to rely on clear instructions and is not generally required to invite the client…

A contractual termination notice may bring the parties’ relationship to an end even though the notice period has not expired. Where an obligation to complete…

Practical completion is a contractual concept assessed by reference to the works which the contractor agreed to provide. Where a certificate is final and…

Trustees and other fiduciaries are generally entitled to an indemnity from trust assets for costs properly incurred in administering or seeking guidance on the…

On an appeal from a specialist tribunal, the High Court may intervene where the tribunal’s factual conclusion is unsupported by the evidence or is one which no…

A commercial contract is construed objectively, by reference to its language and the relevant factual background. The parties’ subjective understandings do not…

“Mines and minerals” in a reservation is a context-dependent expression. The court must construe the conveyance objectively, considering its language, the…

Where the requirements in article 17(1) of the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 are established, and the public policy exception does not apply, the…

For VAT purposes, transactions must generally be analysed individually by reference to their objective character. An ultimate intention to make exempt supplies…

On an appeal from a specialist tribunal, the High Court should respect the tribunal’s primary findings and factual inferences. Intervention is justified only…

An enduring power of attorney may appoint attorneys in the alternative or in succession. The requirement that multiple attorneys be appointed to act jointly or…

A partnership may exist where the parties carry on a business in common with a view to profit. The statutory conditions in section 1(1) of the Partnership Act…

For the purposes of article 4.5(2) of the Sixth Directive, the risk of competition distortion must be assessed by reference to the activity as such, rather…

The use of a firm name identifies the partners liable at the time when the cause of action accrued. A later change in partnership composition does not, without…

For Article 13 of the EU Principal VAT Directive, “a body governed by public law” is an autonomous Community-law concept. The body must be part of the public…

The court will not require a party apparently entitled to security for a contractual debt to surrender that security in exchange for uncertain future payments…

VAT exemptions for services closely linked to sport require more than a general benefit to sporting participants. The services must be ancillary to…

For a bankruptcy petition based on solicitor’s fees, the petitioning creditor must establish a debt for a liquidated sum under the Insolvency Act 1986. An…

A mortgagee exercising a power of sale owes an equitable duty to the mortgagor and others interested in the equity of redemption to take reasonable precautions…

A bankruptcy court is not required automatically to adjourn a petition founded on a judgment debt merely because the debtor has issued an appeal, review…

A partnership may acquire beneficial ownership of land even where legal title is taken in one partner’s name. The legal owner must hold the property for the…

Where a recipient claims a substantial payment under an alleged oral agreement, the recipient bears the burden of proving that agreement. If the agreement is…

On summary judgment, a claimant must show a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. The case must carry some degree of conviction and be more…

Personal data may be transferred outside the European Economic Area where an applicable exemption to the eighth data protection principle is satisfied. A…

A party should be debarred from defending only where its conduct creates a substantial risk that a fair trial cannot take place or that any judgment in its…

Under section 252 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, an exclusion for legal expenses is not required merely because the respondent has no property formally…

Whether an arrangement is a mortgage depends on its legal substance, not merely the form of the documents or its economic purpose. In assessing a composite…

A claim to reopen an extortionate credit bargain under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 is a statutory cause of action and an action upon a specialty. It is…

Under Arbitration Act 1996, the court may determine a question of law arising in an arbitration where the statutory conditions are satisfied and the question…

A settlement agreement governing the sale of a company must be construed objectively and as a coherent scheme. Where one party is given responsibility for…

For capital gains tax purposes, the consideration for disposing of an asset is identified by construing the parties’ transaction as documented. Where the…

A person seeking to appear and oppose a winding-up petition as a contributory must at least claim to belong to that class. A person who consistently denies…

Partnership accounts prepared under an agreement may bind former partners where the agreement, construed as a whole, identifies all persons who were partners…

A trust deed establishing a scheme for maintaining private estate roads should be construed in light of its commercial purpose and intended durability. An…

Where competing parties claim control of a company and the disputed shareholdings and board composition cannot be resolved before trial, the court may regulate…

The High Court has an inherent jurisdiction to issue a letter of request to a foreign court where appropriate. In cross-border insolvency, the duty of…

Where a solicitor’s firm takes possession of documents which may contain privileged or confidential material, an application to restrain the firm requires…

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, decisions made for a person lacking capacity must be based on that person’s best interests, not substituted judgment.…

A director who diverts company property to another company without authority breaches fiduciary duty. Where the recipient knows the material facts making…

A person holding shares may hold them on trust for another where the evidence establishes that the shares were acquired for, and paid for by, the parties as…

On an application for summary judgment, a claim should proceed where the claimant has a real prospect of establishing that no further termination term can be…

Unfair prejudice is assessed by reference to the parties’ legal bargain and any equitable obligations arising from their relationship. In a quasi-partnership…

Costs should reflect the parties’ actual success, the relationship between overlapping claims, the conduct of the litigation and the fairness of requiring one…

Under section 172(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court retains a discretion whether to direct a liquidator to convene a creditors’ meeting to consider…

Advice on investments may fall within the United Kingdom regulatory prohibition even when given by telephone from abroad. The relevant activity is not…

For VAT purposes, transactions containing several elements must be assessed objectively from the standpoint of the typical consumer and from an economic…

In a structured investment vehicle, contractual payment priorities govern the distribution of secured assets. Where the documents provide for payment of…

A trader may lose entitlement to deduct or recover input VAT where, assessed by objective factors, it knew or should have known that its transactions were…

Under section 176A(5) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court may disapply the prescribed-part regime only where distribution costs would be disproportionate to…

A statutory demand may be set aside where the debtor has a genuine and sufficiently arguable counterclaim, set-off or cross-demand equal to the debt. The…

A charging order over one co-owner’s beneficial interest in a family home may be enforced by sale, even where the other co-owner is not personally liable for…

Section 18 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 distinguishes an agreement made up of separate parts from one agreement falling within more than one statutory…

Under a software maintenance agreement, maintenance charges are payable automatically unless the licensee gives the contractually required notice of…

On an application to vary a freezing order, the court should ask whether the claimant has an arguable proprietary claim, whether the respondent has arguable…

Customs tariff headings must be interpreted by reference to the wording of the Combined Nomenclature, its notes and the objective characteristics of the goods.…

A virtual assignment transfers economic benefits and burdens without necessarily transferring a legal or equitable estate. It does not ordinarily amount to an…

A contract for the sale of shares may arise before a contemplated formal document is signed if the parties’ objective intention has changed so that they are…

For business property relief, the value transferred may be attributable both to transferred assets and to a business retained by the transferor. The…

Committal for contempt requires proof beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant breached an unambiguous order. The breach must be deliberate, although an…

Dishonest misappropriation by a company director is a fraudulent breach of fiduciary duty for which no limitation period applies under section 21(1)(a) of the…

Relief restraining the advertisement or further prosecution of a winding-up petition is discretionary. The normal practice is not to entertain a petition…

For the purposes of calculating the policyholders’ share of relevant profits under sections 88 and 89 of the Finance Act 1989, “Case I profits” means the…

A patent is addressed to the notional person or team capable of performing the invention, identified from the patent specification and its practical subject…

A solicitor’s undertaking to redeem or discharge a mortgage requires payment of the sum needed to secure redemption when performance is sought, including later…

A patent claim is construed by asking what the skilled person would understand the patentee to mean, without importing limitations that the claim does not…

HMRC may refuse repayment of input VAT where an exporter knew or should have known, on objective facts, that its transaction was connected with VAT fraud. The…

A bankrupt has no standing to pursue an appeal concerning property or causes of action vested in the trustee in bankruptcy. A disposition made between…

The Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction may require disclosure where there is a reasonable basis for alleging wrongdoing, the information is needed to identify or…

A tribunal must comply with mandatory procedural notice requirements unless the parties agree otherwise. A party cannot transform an application made under the…

Where an application is made under sections 336 or 337 of the Insolvency Act 1986 for possession of a bankrupt’s matrimonial home, the court must identify…

In exercising a costs discretion, the court should consider all relevant circumstances and give each proper weight in a principled and proportionate manner.…

The supplied judgment text is materially corrupted and does not permit a reliable extraction of the governing legal propositions or disposition.