High Court: Chancery Division judgments, 2012

A Land Registry adjudicator considering an objection to a unilateral notice must determine the underlying merits of the claim, not merely whether the notice…

A union body with constitutional responsibility for substantial expenditure must authorise any individual commitment to provide an official with accommodation…

For bankruptcy jurisdiction under the Insolvency Regulation, a debtor’s centre of main interests is determined by reference to the place where the debtor…

The court may grant a mandatory injunction requiring information and disclosure where this is reasonably ancillary to making earlier orders effective. The…

A corporate investment does not become a partnership merely because the investor regards the other participant as a business partner. Partnership requires a…

In director-disqualification proceedings under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, an earlier factual finding does not create an…

A fiduciary relationship may arise in a commercial setting where a person undertakes to act for another and the circumstances objectively create a legitimate…

Management costs under a chalet lease must be construed as a whole. A provision allowing reimbursement of fees paid to agents for professional services does…

On an application for summary judgment, the court may determine a short point of law or construction where the evidence is sufficient and the issue does not…

Trustees winding up a pension scheme may ordinarily buy out members’ benefits in stages, including by applying available assets before fixing and recovering…

A court may correct a statutory drafting error by adding, omitting or substituting words only in a plain case. It must be abundantly sure of the provision’s…

Competition Act 1998, section 47A, is cause-of-action neutral. It can encompass monetary claims founded on contract, restitution or unlawful means conspiracy…

The statutory stay on proceedings against a company in compulsory liquidation should not be lifted merely to enable a claimant to obtain summary judgment where…

For fraudulent misrepresentation, the claimant must identify the representation, establish its objectively understood meaning, falsity, materiality…

A covenant against parting with possession is breached only when the tenant wholly relinquishes legal possession. A third party’s operational control or…

On an appeal from a trade mark hearing officer, the court should interfere only for a distinct and material error of principle, not merely because it might…

Under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, insolvency may be established where a company’s assets cannot meet its liabilities and…

A pension trustee may adopt a general policy for exercising a discretionary power, provided it retains an open mind when each occasion for exercise arises and…

A court construing an order regulating provisional liquidators must determine the scope of the power from the words used in their factual and commercial…

The Pensions Ombudsman’s jurisdiction is limited in its wider, procedural sense. It should not entertain a complaint where the remedy sought would determine or…

A landlord’s break right, linked to overage provisions, must be construed in the context of the transaction as a whole. Where the commercial arrangement…

For inventive step, the inventive concept is derived from the claim properly construed, not from an enlarged reading of the specification. The specification…

An employer’s duty of trust and confidence in relation to a pension scheme requires a genuine and rational exercise of a contractual consent discretion. The…

When construing a conveyance, the court applies ordinary contractual principles and must reach a decisive conclusion as to the land conveyed. A plan stated to…

Survey evidence in passing-off proceedings should be admitted at an interlocutory stage only where it is likely to be of real value and its likely utility…

Where a Part 36 offer is accepted after the relevant period, the normal costs order applies unless departure from it would be unjust. The court must consider…

Compensation under a cross-undertaking is assessed by analogy with contractual damages, applying principles of causation, remoteness and mitigation, while…

For patent infringement, the court must give effect to the language of the claim. A limitation cannot be ignored because it appears unnecessary to the…

Interim injunctive relief may be granted where there is a serious issue to be tried and the claimant faces loss that damages may not adequately compensate. The…

Setting aside a gift procured by undue influence re-vests the equitable title to the gifted money in the claimant or estate. Where the money has been applied…

For UK unregistered design right, an aspect of an article’s configuration may include the relative arrangement of its parts or elements. The mere selection of…

Approval of a cross-border merger under regulation 16(1) involves more than checking that the prescribed pre-merger steps have been completed. The court must…

A document is not a sham merely because it contains inaccurate recitals, misdescriptions or artificial arrangements. The question is whether the parties shared…

Commercial lease provisions are construed by identifying what a reasonable person, informed by the language, contract, admissible background and commercial…

A freezing order requires both a good arguable case and a real risk that assets will be dissipated or secreted. Allegations of dishonesty, including bribery…

A local authority administering a building-repair scheme may contract with participating owners to organise and supervise the works without assuming the…

Contractual warranties in a share sale agreement do not become representations merely because they concern facts known to the parties before completion. The…

Trade mark specifications must be construed by their ordinary and natural meaning, assessed in the context of trade and the goods concerned. A product may fall…

Relief under section 25 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 requires a two-stage inquiry: whether the relief would be justified if the substantive…

For registration under Article 2 of the Directive, the subject matter must cumulatively be a sign, be capable of graphical representation, and be capable of…

The court may release or modify an undertaking restricting the use of documents obtained under compulsion where there are special circumstances, the release…

A constructive trust may exceptionally bind a purchaser of registered land to give effect to an unregistered third-party right. The purchaser’s conscience must…

A mortgage loan may provide that the whole debt becomes due automatically when arrears reach the specified contractual threshold. Clearing the arrears does not…

When permission is sought for witness-collection evidence or a survey in trade mark or passing-off litigation, the court must assess whether the evidence is…

Continuing proceedings amount to an abuse of process where a claimant maintains them without intending to bring them to trial. Delay alone is insufficient. The…

Under CPR Part 36.14, the question is whether the usual costs order would be unjust in all the circumstances. It is not whether the claimant acted reasonably…

Costs remain a discretionary remedy governed by all the circumstances. The general rule that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party remains the…

Where a bankruptcy order is set aside after a trustee has been appointed, the court has inherent jurisdiction to address the trustee’s reasonable expenses. The…

A claimant may establish participation in an initial joint venture through the parties’ conduct and contemporaneous documents, but a later entitlement to…

For an acquisition order under Part III of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, the statutory notice must give the landlord sufficient detail of the reasons for…

For a bankruptcy petition to be presented under Insolvency Act 1986, section 265(1)(c)(ii), the creditor must show that the debtor carried on business in…

Undue influence requires proof that influence invaded the claimant’s free volition. Independent specialist advice, informed participation and the absence of…

Contractual disciplinary codes and workplace policies must be construed objectively. An employee must be able to understand what conduct is prohibited…

Evidence of a spent conviction may be admitted in civil proceedings only where the statutory threshold is met: justice must require its admission. A conviction…

A contractual step before arbitration is enforceable only if its obligations or prohibitions are sufficiently clear and certain to receive legal effect. For a…

For the purposes of section 2(1) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, an agreement is a contract for the sale or other disposition of an…

Where contempt consists of a continuing failure to disclose information required by court order, imprisonment will ordinarily be appropriate. A substantial…

Trade mark specifications should be given their ordinary and natural meaning. They should not be construed unnaturally narrowly, but neither should broad terms…

When seeking an administration order under the Insolvency Act 1986, applicants must provide reliable evidence. That requires accurate and truthful evidence, a…

A director’s fiduciary duties are owed to the company and, where insolvency is doubtful, its creditors. A consultant or employee does not become a fiduciary…

A discretionary bonus arrangement may create a contractual duty to consider whether to award a bonus genuinely and rationally. Once a cash bonus is awarded, it…

When sanctioning a scheme of arrangement, the court must exercise an unfettered discretion. It should verify statutory compliance, proper class constitution…

Equitable remedies for dishonest assistance in a breach of trust are ordinarily personal remedies, including equitable compensation. They do not generally…

An implied reservation of an easement is not readily inferred from a transfer of land. The transferor should reserve the right expressly, because an implied…

Administration expenses are confined to the categories identified in the governing legislation and rules, subject to principles such as the Lundy Granite…

A figurative trade mark dominated by a common word may be invalid where the word describes an easily recognised characteristic of the relevant services. The…

Whether an insolvency office-holder is analogous to a liquidator under a contractual event-of-default clause depends on the legal characteristics and purpose…

The discretion under section 281(5) of the Insolvency Act 1986 to release a bankruptcy debt arising from family proceedings is unfettered, but must be…

English courts enforce foreign judgments only where the foreign court had international jurisdiction under English private international law. Physical presence…

Where the court has directed a sale by a chargee in possession and given that party conduct of the sale, the primary choice of estate agents remains with the…

The court may rectify a voluntary trust where there is convincing proof that the executed instrument fails to record the relevant intention. The remedy is…

An appointed representative is not automatically the agent of its authorised principal for contractual purposes. The contractual effect depends on the…

A statutory requirement to obtain permission before commencing proceedings in an insolvency context does not ordinarily make proceedings issued without…

The court may admit fresh evidence under CPR 52.11(2)(b) where doing so accords with the overriding objective. The criteria in Ladd v Marshall remain relevant…

In deciding costs after declaratory proceedings, success is assessed by substance and reality rather than by identifying which party must pay money. The court…

An assignment of rights which the assignor may later acquire or own can operate as a present assignment of future rights. It does not necessarily impose a…

A contractual permission to enter land for installing outward-opening windows does not authorise scaffolding for the demolition and reconstruction of an entire…

Service on an individual defendant is ordinarily valid when made at the defendant’s usual or last known residence. A separate correspondence address does not…

A surrender releases a tenant’s contractual liability only if the relevant breach or liability existed before the surrender. An obligation to reinstate works…

Contractual terms are implied only where the established requirements are met, including necessity for business efficacy, obviousness, clear expression and…

Where a claim against a defendant has been dismissed in its entirety, a freezing order founded on that claim should be discharged. The court may, however…

Under section 453C of the Companies Act 1985, failure to comply with a requirement imposed under section 447 may be dealt with as contempt where the court is…

Permission for a statutory derivative claim may be refused where the company itself can bring the proceedings effectively. Wrongdoer control is not an absolute…

Fraud must be pleaded expressly and with sufficient particularity to identify the fraud alleged, the primary facts relied upon and the defendant’s alleged…

An employee’s acceptance of varied contractual terms may be inferred from conduct only where the conduct is an unequivocal act referable only to acceptance of…

Where an employment contract contains a Russian governing-law and jurisdiction clause, claims concerning contractual, implied and equitable duties of…

For a prescriptive easement based on lost modern grant, 20 years’ use as of right will generally suffice. The use need not continue until the action or suit in…

Rectification of a pension scheme instrument requires an objectively established intention held by the relevant trustee and employer at execution, and a…

A national court must avoid deciding EU competition issues in a way that may conflict with proceedings initiated by the Commission. That obligation does not…

For director disqualification based on incompetence, insolvency alone is insufficient. It must also be shown that the director knew, or ought to have known…

Costs should be determined by reference to the issues decided and the outcome established, while recognising that costs follow the event is an important…

Where a conveyance identifies land by reference to an Ordnance Survey plan, the legal boundary follows the physical feature represented by the relevant map…

A winding-up petition cannot be used to determine a debt that is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds. The court must nevertheless examine the evidence…

Further generic disclosure should be ordered only where its likely value justifies its cost and remains proportionate to the issues requiring determination.…

Allegations of contempt of court must be proved to the criminal standard, namely beyond reasonable doubt. An undertaking must be construed according to its…

A solicitor may rely on instructions given by an agent with apparent authority where the company has represented that the agent is authorised to conduct the…

A person may be jointly liable for a company’s wrongful acts where he intended, procured and shared a common design that those acts should occur. The agreement…

A pure colour mark, properly defined by words and an internationally recognised colour code, is capable in principle of being a sign capable of graphical…

For a scheme of arrangement, creditor classes must be constituted by reference to the similarity or dissimilarity of their legal rights, rather than their…

For section 9 of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, entitlement is assessed immediately before death. A chose in action under a…

Contractual interpretation is an objective, unitary exercise directed to the meaning conveyed to a reasonable person with the relevant background knowledge.…

In disputes between spouses, the matrimonial property regime governing their relationship may determine rights in foreign immovables, unless the rights of…

Under section 35 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the court must start with the current tenancy terms. The party seeking change bears the burden of showing…

A Pensions Ombudsman dealing with maladministration must award an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused. Where incorrect pension information induced…

A fiduciary duty owed in the management of joint venture revenues does not ordinarily prevent a company or its director from defending genuine litigation…

For insolvency jurisdiction, an individual’s centre of main interests is determined objectively at the date of presentation of the bankruptcy petition.…

Where an initial creditors’ meeting rejects an administrator’s proposals, the administrator must apply to the court under paragraph 55 of Schedule B1 to the…

The court may remove a trustee where continuation in office would obstruct the proper execution of the trust or prejudice the welfare of the beneficiaries.…

Bringing professional-negligence proceedings against a solicitor impliedly waives legal professional privilege in relevant communications concerning the…

Permission for a derivative claim under the Companies Act 2006 requires a provisional evaluation of the statutory criteria, but the Act prescribes no universal…

Non-compliance with the 10-business-day period in paragraph 28(2) of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 does not automatically make a directors’…

Under Law of Property Act 1925 section 84(2), the owner seeking a negative declaration must prove entitlement to it on the balance of probabilities. A…

Relief under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 requires conduct of the company’s affairs, or an act or omission of the company, which causes prejudice to…

A director who decides, or seriously contemplates, carrying on a competing business while recommending that his company close must disclose that fact. Silence…

On an application for an interim injunction, the claimant must show a serious question to be tried, followed by an assessment of the balance of convenience.…

In the administration of an EEA credit institution, the home-state insolvency regime governs the effects of the administration on creditor proceedings, subject…

A passing-off claimant must establish goodwill, a defendant’s misrepresentation likely to deceive, and damage or a real likelihood of damage. Mere confusion is…

A sublease may incorporate the headlease’s tenant covenants mutatis mutandis, imposing corresponding obligations on the subtenant. A statutory duty to decide a…

The ex turpi causa defence does not defeat a company’s claim where the alleged fraud was directed at the company and the breached duty extended to protecting…

Commercial agreements must be construed as a unitary exercise, having regard to their language, commercial purpose, relevant background and business common…

A foreign company may fall within section 895 of the Companies Act 2006 even where, because of the EC Insolvency Regulation, it cannot presently be wound up in…

On a category 2 application, the court does not substitute its view for that of trustees or decide whether their proposed course is the best available option.…

Management and letting agreements cannot bind a mortgagee or fixed charge receivers where the property owner lacked authority to grant a proprietary interest…

A contractual authenticity warranty given by an auctioneer may coexist with an implied representation that the auctioneer had reasonable grounds for its stated…

Undue influence requires proof of a legal or equitable wrong which caused the claimant to enter the transaction. The court must examine how the claimant’s…

Tracing may be established by a strong inference that funds paid away in breach of fiduciary duty were transmitted through intermediate entities and accounts…

A majority power to bind minority security holders must be exercised for the benefit of the class as a whole. It cannot be used coercively to expropriate…

A contractual reservation permitting entry to install flow-regulating or monitoring systems is construed according to the function of the equipment, not the…

Contractual interpretation requires the court to ascertain the meaning conveyed to a reasonable person with the relevant background knowledge, reading the…

Consequential relief following established trade mark infringement is discretionary. An injunction pending appeal is not automatic merely because the claimant…

The court has a discretion whether to make an administration order even where the company is insolvent and administration is likely to produce a better result…

A court may revisit a costs order withdrawn before it has been entered. In deciding the appropriate order, the court may weigh the outcome on the pleadings as…

The jurisdiction to reopen a case or permit amendment after judgment exists, but must be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional circumstances. The court…

The Revenue Rule prevents direct or indirect enforcement of foreign revenue claims unless displaced by legislation or an applicable treaty. Mutual-assistance…

In determining the true position of a registered general boundary, the court must construe the underlying conveyance and plans. A later physical feature or…

Subrogation to an unpaid vendor’s lien and proprietary remedies in unjust enrichment require more than the claimant’s detriment and the defendant’s benefit.…

Fraudulent misrepresentation requires a false representation made knowingly, without belief in its truth, or recklessly, with an intention that it be relied…

In charity-related directions proceedings, a necessary representative defendant who acts properly will ordinarily receive costs from the relevant fund, even…

Trade mark infringement through likelihood of confusion requires a global assessment through the eyes of the average consumer. The allegedly infringing sign…

Costs in an unfair-prejudice petition remain a matter of judicial discretion. The court must consider all the circumstances, including the parties’ conduct…

In fixing a fair purchase price for shares under a buy-out order, valuation evidence is a means to the fair result rather than a strait-jacket. A discount…

A claim for damages or equitable compensation should not be struck out merely because the manufacture and sale of a later product was not itself a misuse of…

The rule against reflective loss does not bar a secured creditor from claiming loss where the creditor is primarily entitled to that loss and the relevant…

A mortgage condition prohibiting letting without the mortgagee’s consent is subject to an implied limitation that consent will not be unreasonably withheld. An…

A guarantor’s pleaded defence must have a realistic prospect of success to avoid summary judgment. A longstanding banking relationship does not, without an…

Rectification corrects a document that fails to express an agreement already reached. It does not improve a bargain made on a shared but mistaken assumption…

Under section 4 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, a liquidator may be disqualified for serious misconduct, including several breaches of duty…

Criminal contempt based on allegedly false evidence must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Where the allegation depends substantially on inference about a…

A failure to give prescribed notice of an intended appointment of administrators under Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986 does not invalidate the…

A claim for repayment of money paid towards an uncompleted purchase of foreign land is an in personam claim. It does not fall within the exclusionary rule…

A bankrupt generally lacks standing to appeal in his own name against a judgment enforceable only against the bankrupt estate vested in the trustee. The…

In a construction contract containing intermediate terms, prolonged delay may become repudiatory even where time is not of the essence and no notice making…

Under Article 104(1) of the CTM Regulation, proceedings concerning a Community trade mark must generally be stayed when validity is already before OHIM. A stay…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction is confined to the cause of action that satisfies the identified jurisdictional gateway. The court must…

A written agreement is enforceable where it contains sufficient mutual obligations, even if its terms require construction or may invite later litigation. The…

The definition of an “existing transferee company” in the Companies (Cross-Border Mergers) Regulations 2007 excludes only a company formed for a merger by…

A principal may be liable for fraudulent misrepresentations made by an agent acting within the agent’s actual or ostensible authority, even where the principal…

A party may impugn an agreement as a sham even where the agreement was intended to prevent a third party enforcing a judgment debt. A sham requires acts or…

Where a trust instrument secures obligations arising from multiple issues over a single pool of assets, references to bondholders and enforcement thresholds…

Permission under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 is governed by an unfettered discretion. The court must balance the protection of the public…

Where a dispute concerns assets, title or trust property situated abroad, the court should identify the forum with the most real and substantial connection to…

Costs following an appeal are determined by the court’s overall assessment of the parties’ success, the issues argued, and the costs generated by those issues.…

When controlling survey-derived evidence before trial, the court should prevent evidence proceeding where it is sufficiently clear that it will be…

In construing pension scheme rules, the court must undertake a unitary exercise, considering language, context and practical consequences. Where rules confer…

A jurisdiction or arbitration clause governed by autonomous European rules requires a real consensus, demonstrated clearly and precisely. Awareness of the…

A pension scheme member’s accounting entitlement does not create a separate sub-trust of scheme assets. The assets remain subject to a single trust, and their…

A court should be cautious before making declarations by consent where there has been no trial. It should be satisfied that the declarations are justified and…

In an unfair-prejudice petition, a proposed respondent should be joined where the court must determine an issue connected with that person and the issue may…

Where a settlement agreement contains reciprocal obligations but does not state when one obligation must be performed, the court must construe the agreement as…

When determining costs after a partly successful strike-out application, the court should balance the parties’ success and failure on the separate issues…

For the purposes of the proviso to section 3 of the Prescription Act 1832, a conveyance may constitute consent to the enjoyment of light where, on its true…

A patent infringement claim fails where the alleged product is no more than the inevitable result of carrying out the prior art, including ordinary and obvious…

Dishonest assistance requires a trust, a breach of trust, assistance by the defendant and dishonesty. Dishonesty is assessed by reference to the defendant’s…

The meaning of a right of way must be determined objectively from the language of the grant and its factual matrix. Where the grant permits use for the…

There is one civil standard of proof: the balance of probabilities. Allegations of dishonesty do not require an enhanced standard, although inherent…

Under Part 4 of Schedule 8 to the Energy Act 2004, the comparison required to determine whether a receiving pension scheme is appropriate is made against the…

Under CPR rule 5.4C(2), a non-party seeking court documents must identify the documents or classes of documents with reasonable precision. A general…

A solicitor is not negligent merely because a court later rejects a reasonably arguable construction. Where the legal issue is difficult and the client’s…

A transaction is a sham where the parties intend to give third parties the appearance of legal rights and obligations different from those they actually intend…

When permission is sought to add a limitation-barred cause of action, the court asks whether the proposed claim arises out of the same or substantially the…

An administration order may be made where the company is unable, or likely to become unable, to pay its debts and administration is reasonably likely to…

Piercing the corporate veil requires more than an individual’s ownership and control of a company, and more than a conclusion that piercing would serve the…

A limited partner’s right to inspect partnership books is assessed functionally by reference to the partnership’s business, governing documents and the…

For the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) 1346/2000, an establishment requires a place of operations where the debtor conducts a non-transitory economic…

A right granted in a lease to use an identified parking space may constitute an easement rather than a demise. Whether the right is capable of existing as an…

The open justice principle may yield only where privacy or anonymity is necessary, not merely convenient or desirable. The burden rests on the applicant to…

A joint account holder may acquire a beneficial interest taking effect on the other holder’s death, even though the first holder retains the right to use the…

Courts should generally avoid intervening before an expert determination has taken place. The parties have chosen the expert, rather than the court, to decide…

The pari passu principle and the anti-deprivation rule address different insolvency mischiefs. The former applies to assets available for distribution and…

A forged signature does not create a valid legal charge over the interest of the person whose signature was forged. It may nevertheless bind the forger’s own…

A document is a sham only where the parties intended it to create rights and obligations different from those it appeared to create. The court must determine…

In valuing shares bought out under an unfair-prejudice remedy, the court must select the basis that is fair between the parties and reflects what has actually…

In a sole-name case, a claimant seeking a beneficial interest must establish an implied trust, normally by proving an objectively assessed common intention.…

A senior bank employee breached fiduciary duty by accepting or expecting secret interests in projects financed by his employer, investing in one such project…

An employer and pension-scheme member may make a binding agreement that a pay increase will be only partly pensionable, despite apparently more favourable…

Trust instruments should be construed to give effect to the settlors’ objectively established intention where the wording, read in context, supports that…

Under section 279(3) of the Insolvency Act 1986, the court may suspend automatic discharge where the statutory threshold in section 279(4) is met. Where the…

Interim rent under section 24D of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 is the rent which it is reasonable for the tenant to pay. The open-market assumptions and…

In probate proceedings, the party propounding a will bears the legal burden of proving knowledge and approval. The evidential burden may become more demanding…

For the purposes of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Part VII, a Gibraltar-authorised insurer using passporting rights is not an EEA firm where the…

Rectification of pension-scheme rules may be granted where the employer and trustees had a common continuing intention, objectively established, which existed…

An administrative receiver’s agency of the company does not automatically make the receiver’s solicitor the company’s solicitor. A contractual retainer…

Under TUPE, a discretionary entitlement may still constitute a transferable right or obligation. The relevant question is the substance of the economic…

When administrators have substantially achieved the purpose of the administration through a business sale, the court may permit a landlord to exercise…

An issue estoppel may prevent a successor in title from advancing a private right of way inconsistent with an earlier final determination concerning the…

A conveyance plan used for identification may assist construction, and evidence of the physical layout at the relevant date may be admitted. Highway…

A settlement schedule must be construed as a whole when deciding whether it confers a proprietary interest. A contractual allocation of sale proceeds may…

A loan expressed to be for a particular purpose does not of itself create a Quistclose trust. The court must consider the wording and commercial context…

A solicitor may be restrained from acting against a former client where the solicitor holds confidential information belonging to that client which is, or may…

A fiduciary agent may forfeit contractual remuneration for breach of the fiduciary duties of loyalty and good faith without proof of a further mental element…

For secondary insolvency proceedings, an establishment must exist in the relevant jurisdiction when the proceedings are opened. A historical establishment…

Database right protects investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting data, but not investment in creating new information. Factual data collected and…

A winding-up petition may proceed where the company fails to show a bona fide dispute on substantial grounds about the petition debt. A mere assertion that…

An application to expedite a trial requires real, objectively viewed urgency. The court must first decide whether that threshold is met. Only then should it…

In assessing equitable compensation or damages for loss of a commercial opportunity, the court must determine the profit that would probably have been achieved…

At the interlocutory stage, applicable law need not be finally determined where the claimant shows a sufficiently arguable or prima facie case that the pleaded…

A failure to obtain the Financial Services Authority’s consent before appointing administrators under paragraph 22 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986…

The High Court may grant a website-blocking injunction under section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 where the applicant establishes that…

A trust for non-charitable purposes is invalid unless the trust property vests absolutely in ascertainable persons within the perpetuity period. A trust does…

Permission to bring charity proceedings is determined by the High Court in its own jurisdiction, rather than on appeal from the Charity Commission. The…

A trust of land may be sufficiently certain even where a schedule identifying the property is missing, if the intended subject matter can be established from…

Close-out amounts under the 2002 ISDA regime must generally be determined on a clean valuation basis. The valuation assumes that contractual payments and…

Open justice and natural justice are fundamental principles. A civil court may restrict public access only where necessary in the interests of justice, on…

A Part 36 offer does not lapse merely because the period for its ordinary costs consequences has passed. It remains open unless properly withdrawn under the…

A statutory charge under paragraph 99 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 arises over property to which the former administrator was legally entitled, or…

Summary judgment may be granted where the defence has no realistic prospect of success. The court must avoid a mini-trial, but may scrutinise evidence and…

An application for expedition requires consideration of four matters: whether good reason for expedition is shown, whether expedition would be consistent with…

A solicitor acting solely for one party to a conveyancing transaction does not ordinarily owe a duty of care to the other party merely because the transaction…

A recital in a deed may create an estoppel where the parties are to be taken to have agreed that the recited facts are true. The deed must be construed…

An amendment should not be allowed where it may deprive the defendant of a reasonably arguable limitation defence. Under Limitation Act 1980, s 32(2)…

A solicitor is not automatically barred from acting against a former client. Restraint is justified where the applicant establishes that the solicitor…

Where protest activity interferes with a landholder’s Convention rights, the court must balance those rights against the protesters’ rights to freedom of…

Where a winding-up petition fails because the debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds, the petitioner should ordinarily pay the costs. This principle…

Under Schedule 4 to the Land Registration Act 2002, a mistake in registration does not, by itself, justify rectification. Where the registered proprietor is in…

In a patent damages inquiry, the inquiry is ordinarily confined by the originating order and the causes of action established at trial. A claimant cannot use…

For the purposes of an income payments order under section 310(7) of the Insolvency Act 1986, a pension payment may constitute income even where it is a…

On an application for summary judgment in a professional-negligence claim, the claimant must show a real prospect that the alleged breach caused a different…

A pension rule providing an incapacity pension on retirement does not require a formal application before retirement, although the trustee must have sufficient…

A claimant seeking jurisdiction under the Community Designs Regulation must advance a positive and sufficiently clear case establishing the jurisdictional…

A break option requiring payment of rent reserved and demanded up to the termination date may require payment of the full quarter’s rent falling due before…

Disclosure of leniency materials in follow-on competition damages proceedings is governed by a case-by-case balancing exercise. The court must weigh the…

Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, the court must first decide whether the will made reasonable financial provision and…

An exclusive licensee with the right to occupy land has sufficient interest to claim in private nuisance. Deliberate obstruction of access to that land may…

Applications to transfer intellectual property proceedings to the Patents County Court are governed by the statutory transfer powers and the true scope of the…

A will may confer a power rather than create a trust where its language gives the trustee discretion over whether and how to distribute income. The court must…

The phrase “statutory next of kin” in a private settlement made before modern adoption legislation refers to the persons entitled under the statutory intestacy…

Rent payable in advance which fell due before the commencement of an administration or liquidation is provable in the insolvency but is not payable as an…

A trustee may exercise a broadly drafted power to amend a trust instrument where the amendment is not materially prejudicial to the relevant class of…

On a Norwich Pharmacal application seeking subscribers’ identities, the court must balance the applicant’s intellectual property rights against the affected…

Permission to amend pleadings should be granted where the proposed case has a realistic prospect of success. The court may examine the evidence sufficiently to…

Where a wrong causes loss to property, the owner’s subsequent assignment or disposal of that property does not, by itself, extinguish the loss or the accrued…

An allegation of fraud must be expressly made and supported by the specific facts relied on. Under the CPR, this requirement remains substantial where…

A cause of action is identified at the highest level of abstraction by the material facts creating the claimant’s legal right and remedy. Later particulars or…

Where directors appoint administrators and serve a notice of intention to appoint in Form 2.8B, the subsequent notice may properly be given in Form 2.9B even…

A foreign judgment containing multiple damages may still be recognised and enforced in respect of a distinct, separable compensatory award arising from…

Statutory implication of an easement under Law of Property Act 1925, section 62, requires proof that the claimed right was enjoyed with the conveyed land at…

The court has jurisdiction under paragraph 13(1)(f) of Schedule B1 to make an order concerning the costs of an administration application, even where an…

Where an overage charge secures payments subject to deduction of development costs, the relevant costs are those falling within the contractual definitions…

A contractor’s express confidentiality obligation may continue indefinitely after termination. Its enforceable scope may nevertheless permit personnel to use…

For an individual debtor, inability to pay debts under the Insolvency Act 1986 is primarily assessed by the cash-flow test: whether debts which have fallen due…

Where a responsible professional body seeks to replace insolvency office-holders with reputable and independent practitioners, the court should presume that…

The court may make a special administration order for an investment bank where it is satisfied that the statutory status requirement is met and either the…

Neither Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 nor the notification regulations required individual notice of a proposed insurance-business transfer to former…

A testamentary gift to an incorporated charitable body is ordinarily a beneficial gift forming part of its general assets. A separate charitable trust arises…

Where a party’s conduct makes an application reasonably necessary, the court may order that party to pay the application costs. That includes the costs of…

Under a pension scheme rule providing for increases by reference to RPI or any other suitable cost-of-living index selected by the trustees, members have no…

An indemnity in a fixed-rate loan agreement may apply alongside contractual early-redemption fees where the agreement states that the indemnity is payable in…

Where a settlement agreement requires related companies to make specified payments in return for a creditor refraining from insolvency and recovery…

An option granted to a lessee to acquire a reversionary interest may fall within the leasehold-option exemption from the rule against perpetuities, even where…

A solicitor who has acted jointly for co-executors must distinguish documents created during the joint retainer from documents created after one executor has…

An order requiring delivery of property also restrains the respondent from dealing with that property in a way which puts compliance out of his or her power.…

Contractual damages must reflect the value of the benefit actually lost. Where an agreement ends after the breach, the court must take that known event into…

Where a costs application substantially overlaps with pending committal proceedings, the court may postpone determination of the costs issues to avoid a real…

Where a contract fixes the amount payable in one currency but requires payment in another, the currency of account remains the currency in which the obligation…

Permission to appeal against the interest rate applied to costs was refused where the issue was an exercise of discretion and no arguable basis for an appeal…

In valuing shares under a prior judgment, the court may correct arithmetical errors and make consequential adjustments required by its valuation methodology.…

A contractual dispute-resolution scheme may assign a question exclusively to an expert, leaving no scope for a court rehearing of that question. Provisions…

For removal of a trustee, a requirement to provide reasonable security for indemnity does not require both an unqualified indemnity and separate security. The…

In an unfair-prejudice case, late amendments are not justified merely by a costs order. The court must assess the strength of the new case and its effect on…

Where unlawful VAT is paid by a final consumer through a supplier, the tax authority may be enriched by the full tax even though the supplier remits only its…

A pension scheme’s amendment power may be exercised by a deed which makes substantive alterations without rewriting the scheme’s existing text. Pension…

A party cannot ordinarily reopen a settled claim for damages by raising new legal or factual defences during an inquiry ordered by consent. The public interest…

There is no property in a dead body, but the personal representatives have the primary duty to arrange its proper disposal. An executor may obtain possession…

A contractual confidentiality obligation may protect information which the claimant has sufficiently contributed to creating for its own commercial interests.…

In assessing negligent professional advice, the question is whether the advice fell below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner in the relevant…

A passing off claim requires goodwill or reputation, a misrepresentation, and damage. The assessment is fact-sensitive and concerns the overall impression made…

For the purposes of the rule against perpetuities, a single instrument may create both an option and a right of pre-emption. A right of pre-emption is treated…

Where a party’s pleaded case depends on the ability to obtain finance, that issue remains subject to disclosure while it forms part of the case, even if the…

Proceedings issued against a company in administration without the required permission are not a nullity. They exist, but remain suspended and cannot be…

Access to court documents by non-parties depends on the document and the applicable rule. Amended or evolving pleadings remain statements of case and are prima…

A notice under paragraph 83 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 takes effect on receipt by the Registrar, even though administrative steps may complete…

A national court has jurisdiction over a counterclaim seeking revocation of a Community trade mark only where success on the counterclaim could provide a…

Interim relief restraining publication which may affect freedom of expression requires more than an arguable case. Under section 12(3) of the Human Rights Act…

An application to replace a deputy under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 must be determined by reference to the protected person’s best interests and all relevant…

Where a creditor’s winding-up petition is pending, that does not prevent the Secretary of State from presenting a separate public-interest winding-up petition.…

A contractual obligation is ordinarily breached when performance is due. A later failure to remedy that breach does not create a fresh breach or restart…

On interlocutory applications, costs remain in the court’s discretion even where a defendant abandons summary judgment. The court may order costs in the case…

Users of a peer-to-peer file-sharing service infringe copyright when they download protected works and make them available for uploading to other users. Such…

In insolvency proceedings, the power to review, rescind or vary an order is governed by Insolvency Rule 7.47(1), rather than exclusively by the conditions in…

Section 75F of the Charities Act 1993 is not confined to gifts made directly to a charity. Its purpose may apply where trustees hold the property and must…

After the statutory period has expired, Insolvency Act 1986, section 335A requires the court, unless circumstances are exceptional, to assume that creditors’…

A transfer scheme under the Water Act 1989 could transfer statutory rights to discharge through existing outfalls, even though the rights originated in implied…

An improperly executed lease may operate as an agreement for a lease. Where specific performance would be granted, the landlord may enforce accrued rent as a…

A patent application for a second medical use must disclose more than a bare assertion that the proposed treatment works. The specification must contain enough…

A public right of navigation over tidal canalised river water does not include a right to permanent mooring. Ordinary riparian rights likewise comprise access…

A Quistclose trust arises where money is not intended to be at the recipient’s free disposal and is to be used exclusively for a sufficiently certain purpose.…

An insolvency administrator acts as agent for the company when exercising statutory functions. Where that agency is disclosed, contractual liability ordinarily…

A court-ordered sale of charged shares may be made to the chargees themselves. A transfer at the market price, coupled with crediting that price against the…

Information obtained by a provisional liquidator under section 235 of the Insolvency Act 1986 may be used in contested winding-up proceedings where it is…

Showing broadcast works on television screens and speakers in a public house can constitute communication to the public by electronic transmission. A…

Statutory powers permitting NAMA to dispose of acquired bank assets do not, without clear contractual language, remove contractual restrictions governing the…

Following recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings, a foreign representative may seek both the minimum relief available under Article 21(1)(d) of the…

The court has jurisdiction under section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 to make a prospective costs order for a beneficiary involved in trust litigation…

In probate litigation, the general costs rule should be displaced only where the testator or another party caused the litigation, or where the circumstances…

Residual diplomatic immunity under Article 39(2) of the Vienna Convention is confined to acts performed by a former diplomat in the exercise of functions as a…

Security for costs under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 25.13, is discretionary. Satisfying a condition in rule 25.13(2) does not itself justify an order…

A commercial joint venture does not automatically create fiduciary obligations, nor does the use of a newly incorporated company establish a single-purpose…

Informal agreements concerning property and business interests must be construed objectively by reference to their terms and legal effect. Subjective…

A request for an adjournment followed by non-attendance does not compel the court to adjourn. Medical evidence should explain why the condition prevents…

The common law permits an English court to recognise and assist a foreign insolvency office-holder. Assistance may include doing what the English court could…

A director who has received company money, or seeks credit on a director’s loan account, must justify the propriety of the payment or credit. The duty reflects…

A solicitor holding mortgage advance monies on trust commits a breach of trust only to the extent that money is paid out contrary to the authority conferred by…

Domestic regulations implementing EU procurement directives must be interpreted purposively and, so far as possible, consistently with those directives. That…

The court may sanction a scheme of arrangement for a foreign company where it has jurisdiction under Companies Act 2006. A scheme is not necessarily a dispute…

A decision whether to split liability and quantum requires a pragmatic balancing exercise under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. The court must assess costs…

VAT exemptions must be construed properly and strictly applied, but not given an artificially narrow meaning. The claimant must establish that the relevant…

Commercial lending terms are not unfair merely because they permit repayment on demand, provide for repayment after a fixed term, include cross-default…

An EUA is property at common law and a form of intangible property. Its statutory framework, transferability, unique identification, permanence and market…

Where Council Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 applies, its prescribed method of service is mandatory. Insolvency proceedings are not excluded from the regulation…

Costs incurred before a creditor learned of an invalid out-of-court administrator appointment may properly be treated as an expense of the administration where…

Pre-action disclosure is discretionary and requires more than a plausible complaint about an insolvency administration or pre-pack sale. Under CPR 31.16, the…