High Court: Chancery Division judgments, 2013

An application to vacate a fixed trial date requires a case-management balancing exercise under the overriding objective. The court must weigh proportionality…

The High Court has an inherent jurisdiction to regulate or cancel a unilateral notice registered under the Land Registration Act 2002, including where the…

When deciding whether to try an issue as a preliminary issue, the court must balance all relevant factors and ask whether the procedure will further the…

When deciding whether to lift a stay imposed in respect of an insolvent company, the court has a broad discretion to do what is right and fair in the…

In a civil claim alleging forgery of a will, the legal burden remains on the party making the allegation and the standard remains the balance of probabilities.…

An unless order requiring a defendant to file and serve a defence requires a defence in proper form complying with the Civil Procedure Rules. Filing a document…

Where a freezing injunction permits a company to spend a reasonable amount on legal representation, and the company incurs those costs but cannot access the…

On summary judgment, the court must decide whether the defence has a realistic prospect of success, without conducting a mini-trial. It must consider evidence…

On an application under Arbitration Act 1996, section 42, the court has a discretion whether to enforce a tribunal’s peremptory order. The application is not a…

Contribution notices issued under sections 47–50 of the Pensions Act 2004 are not subject to an implied aggregate cap equal to the shortfall sum. Each notice…

Commission under a commercial referral agreement is generally payable only where the referral is the effective cause of the transaction, unless the contract…

Court-appointed receivers are officers of the court. They investigate, obtain information to appropriate but not excessive lengths, and report to the court.…

Technical errors in regulated consumer-credit agreements do not, without more, create an unfair relationship or justify repayment. Where a creditor threatens…

A beneficiary who receives an equitable interest under a declaration of trust is entitled to the income arising from that interest unless the beneficiary has…

Where a creditors’ voluntary winding up has proceeded without the required creditors’ meeting or statement of affairs, the court may extend the statutory time…

Contractual provisions governing the removal of a shareholder-director and compulsory transfer of shares are not displaced merely because their operation is…

Rectification may be ordered where the document may already accord with the parties’ true intention, provided there is sufficiently compelling evidence of…

Applications for summary judgment and strike-out will succeed where the pleaded case has no realistic prospect of success, discloses no reasonable cause of…

Specific disclosure must be assessed by reference to relevance, proportionality, cost and the overriding objective. A party and its solicitors must take an…

For insolvency purposes, liability for non-domestic rates for an entire chargeable financial year may constitute a contingent liability existing at the date of…

Disapplication of a foreign limitation period requires an exceptional assessment of whether its application would deprive a claimant of a claim when the…

For a bankruptcy petition to succeed, the petitioner must establish a debt which is not defeated by a bona fide cross-claim on substantial grounds. A judgment…

A company may withdraw or materially modify a proposed scheme of arrangement before court sanction, since the scheme has no legal effect until sanctioned…

A signed settlement agreement is enforceable where the evidence shows that the parties intended it to have legal effect. A party alleging that an express…

A court may permit a late amendment where it concerns the real dispute, is properly supported, has a realistic prospect of success and any prejudice can be…

For the purposes of charity proceedings, a person may be “interested in the charity” without being a beneficiary, but must show an interest materially greater…

Section 47A of the Competition Act 1998 provides a procedural route for bringing an existing competition-law cause of action before the Competition Appeal…

A foreign-incorporated company may use a scheme under Companies Act 2006 Part 26 if it is liable to be wound up in England. The court will sanction the scheme…

A solicitor’s percentage-based fee agreement is not necessarily a conditional fee agreement or champertous arrangement. The statutory restrictions on…

For the purposes of cost protection, “attributable to” does not mean simply “incurred during”. Where proceedings are partly funded, a successful non-funded…

Income received after a bankruptcy order but before an income payments order may be claimed under section 310 of the Insolvency Act 1986. The relevant phrase…

Costs are governed by all the circumstances, including conduct, success, the reasonableness of pursuing issues and whether a proportionate issues-based order…

Permission to amend or withdraw an admission is discretionary. The court must consider all the circumstances, including new evidence, the parties’ conduct…

Where a statement of case is struck out under an unless order, judgment may be entered under CPR 3.5 for a qualifying monetary claim even though unrelated…

A binding agreement may arise even where the parties expect to document or refine some matters later, provided the essential agreed terms are sufficiently…

Testamentary capacity requires more than an understanding that a will is being made and that it disposes of property. The testator must understand the nature…

On an application for an interim injunction in a trade-secrets claim, the court applies the American Cyanamid principles flexibly. The court may give proper…

For a scheme under section 895 of the Companies Act 2006, jurisdiction depends on whether the company has a sufficiently close connection with England and…

For a scheme under Companies Act 2006, jurisdiction depends on a sufficiently close connection with England and Wales, usually but not invariably shown by…

Summary judgment may be granted in a complex fraud claim where the claimant establishes, on the evidence available, that the defendant has no real prospect of…

Costs ordinarily follow the event, but probate litigation may justify a different or hybrid order where the testator caused the dispute or investigation of the…

On an application to restrain presentation or advertisement of a winding-up petition, the court will not determine a genuinely disputed debt. The applicant…

For parallel imports of pharmaceutical products, objective necessity to replace the original trade mark is established only where prohibiting replacement would…

A manuscript note recording commercial negotiations will not create a binding contract where the parties objectively intended further formal documentation…

Foreign residence alone does not justify security for costs. The court must identify an objectively justified enforcement or execution burden arising from the…

At the convening stage of a scheme of arrangement, the court must identify the least number of classes necessary to ensure that creditors whose rights are…

On an application for reverse summary judgment, the court must decide whether the claimant has a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. It must avoid…

A contractual notice must comply with the substantive provision defining the matter to which it relates, as well as with the machinery for giving notice. A…

A freezing injunction requires an existing cause of action for the relief whose enforcement it is intended to protect. The possibility of a future order for…

A court may fortify a cross-undertaking only where the evidence shows a sufficient causal link between the interim order and a realistic prospect of…

For an injunction under section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the claimant must establish that the defendant is a service provider, that…

An appeal concerning disclosure of a commercially sensitive lending-policy document was dismissed. Standard disclosure under CPR 31.6 is confined to the…

Ratification may validate a contract for the sale of land despite the principal not having personally signed it. An agent may sign in the principal’s name…

Case-management decisions concerning evidence may be overturned on appeal only where the tribunal made an error of law, including by excluding a material…

Testamentary freedom permits a person to leave property in an unexpected, inexplicable, unfair or hurtful way, provided the testator has testamentary capacity.…

At the pleading and summary-judgment stage, covert wrongdoing claims may proceed on a properly supported inference where the relevant evidence is likely to be…

At the interim stage, the court asks whether there is a serious issue to be tried and which course is likely to cause the least irremediable prejudice. The…

On an application for permission to appeal an interim decision, the court must ask whether the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success or whether there…

Trade mark infringement and passing off require an assessment of the relevant consumer or public, viewed globally and in context. Judicial impression remains…

Where parties agree to share profits from a separately operated distribution business, the court should not readily imply an obligation to share losses. Such a…

Variation of an order under CPR 3.1(7) is subject to principled limits. The jurisdiction should normally be exercised only where there has been a material…

Under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, information that a trader’s service is available free from the very providers with whom it will…

A company in administration retains authority to challenge the validity of the administrators’ appointment. That authority does not depend on the directors…

Where domestic tax legislation treats foreign dividends less favourably than domestic dividends, it must be construed, so far as possible, to comply with…

Whether a pension arrangement is an occupational pension scheme depends on the statutory definition, construed objectively by reference to the purpose and…

A solicitor is not negligent merely because a limitation argument later fails. Where the issue is genuinely arguable, the solicitor must exercise independent…

A redemption tender may be valid where the mortgagor tenders the whole sum due, including costs, keeps the money available, and payment is to occur…

On a detailed assessment under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974, sums disallowed because the solicitor had no retainer are outside the bill for the purposes…

The Authorisation Directive permits Member States to require individual spectrum licences where justified by public security, harmful interference or efficient…

A winding-up petition based on unfair prejudice or the just and equitable ground is concerned with the company’s affairs, not with adjusting the parties’ wider…

Interim mandatory relief should be refused where damages provide an adequate remedy, including where delay merely increases a quantifiable loss. An order…

Damages for breach of confidence are assessed by reference to the claimant’s financial loss, rather than the value of the confidential information as such.…

The exemption for pre-1857 mooring chains preserves the facility of mooring, including like-for-like replacement of roots and chains. It does not permit…

An entire agreement clause may operate as a contractual estoppel, so prior agreements concerning the same subject matter cannot be used to guide construction…

A solicitor is negligent if, in the particular circumstances, he fails to explain a significant contractual provision clearly enough for the client to…

A senior employee and director must not divert business opportunities learned of through the company, even where the opportunity falls outside the company’s…

Relief from a debarring sanction may be granted on a second application where there has been a material change of circumstances, including subsequent…

The court may appoint provisional liquidators to an unregistered overseas company where the statutory jurisdictional conditions are met and appointment is…

Conversion requires deliberate conduct inconsistent with another’s rights, which substantially excludes that person from use and possession of the chattel. A…

A shadow director will ordinarily owe fiduciary duties in relation to the directions or instructions given to the de jure directors. Those duties normally…

An order for costs against a solicitor who represented an unsuccessful litigant is not justified merely because the solicitor financed the litigation or would…

Permanent mooring of vessels and pontoons may constitute private nuisance by interfering with a riparian owner’s right of access, and public nuisance where it…

An expert determination expressed to be final and binding may be challenged only within the tightly confined exception for manifest error. An arguable error…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires a serious issue to be tried, a good arguable case within a jurisdictional gateway, and England…

When approving completion of a cross-border merger, the court must scrutinise the proposed merger from the perspective of stakeholders in each merging company.…

Money received by an agent for a principal is not automatically held on trust, but an agency relationship does not prevent a trust from arising. The court must…

A later setting aside of a council tax liability order does not establish that a bankruptcy order ought not to have been made under section 282(1)(a) of the…

For an unless order requiring standard disclosure, the relevant question is whether the ordered reasonable search was conducted, not merely whether documents…

A stay of patent proceedings pending parallel European Patent Office proceedings is discretionary. The court must balance justice, commercial certainty, delay…

When a company faces a real, rather than remote, risk of insolvency, its directors must consider creditors’ interests. Those interests are paramount once the…

An employee’s duty of fidelity is defined principally by the terms of employment, including the employee’s role and responsibilities. A senior manager may be…

Under section 426 of the Insolvency Act 1986, an English court has a discretion to apply the insolvency law of another United Kingdom jurisdiction to property…

For proceedings to be brought within a limitation period, the claimant must establish that the claim form was delivered to the court in time, accompanied by a…

The court may commence a Companies Court process where it cannot yet be said that the process will inevitably waste the court’s time or lead to refusal of the…

In administering a solvent estate with insufficient liquid assets, the court must apply the statutory rules governing abatement unless the beneficiaries agree…

A trade mark registered for a broad category of goods may be partially revoked where genuine use is proved only for a coherent sub-category. The specification…

An administration should ordinarily end once its statutory purpose has been achieved, even though the administrators’ remuneration remains disputed. The…

On an application to appoint a provisional liquidator pending a public-interest winding-up petition, the court must consider whether another remedy would…

Sanctions for breach of a court order must be assessed in the light of the overriding objective, including enforcement of compliance and the wider fairness of…

Applications to amend pleadings shortly before trial require the court to strike a fair balance between the relevant factors. These include the history and…

Approval of a cross-border merger requires more than proof that the prescribed pre-merger steps have been completed. Under regulation 16 of the The Companies…

A solicitor is not negligent merely because the court later prefers another construction of a commercial document. The advice is competent if the construction…

An agent’s duties in a complex syndicated lending transaction are determined primarily by the detailed finance documents. A general duty to pass on all…

An individual voluntary arrangement approved by creditors creates a statutory contract which its supervisors must implement and supervise. Contractual…

A company may use statutory disclosure notices to obtain wide-ranging information about interests in its shares, including arrangements concerning voting…

Courts should require exceptional circumstances before interfering with the candidate-selection process of a political party. Detailed express rules governing…

Disenfranchisement provisions in note documentation must be construed by applying ordinary principles of contractual interpretation. Where “Seller” is defined…

Undue influence requires proof that the transaction was procured by improper pressure or by abuse of a relationship of influence. A presumption may arise where…

In construing a rent review clause, the valuer must apply the wording of the lease as a whole. Where the clause requires regard to be had to rents actually…

A distribution from a client money pool reduces the client’s parallel contractual claim and the amount provable in the firm’s insolvency. The client money…

Relief from sanctions under the revised Civil Procedure Rules 1998 is not granted merely because default was unintended or caused no immediate prejudice. The…

Leave under section 17 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 is protective and must not undermine the purpose of disqualification. The court must…

A liquidator generally acts as agent of the company in dealing with its property and data. The company remains the data controller for personal data processed…

An injunction pending appeal is governed by the principles applicable to interim relief pending trial. The applicant must show a serious issue to be tried, but…

A statutory pension employer debt must be calculated by reference to the scheme’s assets and liabilities at the statutory trigger date. Later clarification or…

For the purposes of transactions at an undervalue, a company may be unable to pay its debts under either the cash-flow test in section 123(1)(e) of the…

Summary judgment may be given where the defence has no real prospect of success and the evidence permits the issue to be determined without a trial. An…

An oral agreement made through an authorised agent within England may give the English court jurisdiction over a commission claim, even where preliminary…

The sale of a garment bearing a celebrity’s image is not, without more, passing off. The claimant must establish goodwill, a misrepresentation that purchasers…

Documents supplied during contractual negotiations may constitute representations of fact, and a recipient is generally entitled to rely on them without…

An individual voluntary arrangement approved and reported to the court is not ordinarily vulnerable to a later collateral attack on the ground that an…

A solicitor retained on a conveyancing transaction must exercise reasonable professional judgment within the scope of the retainer. Where the solicitor becomes…

In a stand-alone competition action parallel to a European Commission investigation, the national court retains discretion to allow proceedings to progress…

Under paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the Limitation Act 1980, a periodic tenancy is treated as determined, and the landlord’s right of action as accrued, even…

Under Insolvency Act 1986, s 279, the court may suspend a bankrupt’s discharge where it is satisfied that the bankrupt has failed, or is failing, to comply…

A genuine claim is not an abuse of process merely because proceedings were brought for a tactical or collateral advantage, including to secure determination by…

Goodwill generated by a small, local boxing gym did not extend to clothing merely because the name appeared on garments worn by gym members or boxing…

The court has jurisdiction to direct an arbitrator to give oral evidence about the reasons for an award, despite the policy of limited court intervention in…

At the convening stage of a scheme of arrangement, the court determines jurisdiction and the proper constitution of creditor classes. It does not decide the…

Where commercial parties made an unwritten agreement about funding a joint venture, the court must determine its terms from the evidence as a whole.…

The principle of finality in litigation has real and independent value, although it is not absolute. A party cannot use a fresh appeal against a consequential…

A failure to provide contractual accounts is not necessarily repudiatory. Repudiation requires conduct showing an intention to abandon the contract or a breach…

A notice to admit facts should be answered at the earliest date that is reasonably practicable, convenient and proper. Its purpose is to identify factual…

For bankruptcy jurisdiction based on carrying on business in England and Wales, the petitioning creditor must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the…

A transaction involving the grant of a lease and the sale of a business may remain wholly subject to contract where the parties intend legal obligations to…

When a party seeks an order that may lead to the reopening of evidence after a trial or hearing has closed, the decision-maker must require a good reason for…

Testamentary capacity requires the testator to understand the nature and consequences of making a will, the extent of the property disposed of, and the claims…

A shareholder agreement may establish membership even where the company has failed to maintain a register or issue share certificates. In a company formed as a…

An arbitration clause providing that disputes shall be settled by arbitration, coupled with a contractual time limit for commencing arbitration, may time-bar…

Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 permits a blocking injunction against an internet service provider where users or website operators…

A registered deed granting rights over land is construed objectively. Background material inaccessible to persons who may later rely on the register should not…

Interest on a judgment sum should reflect the circumstances in which the money was held and its potential to earn a return. A rate modestly above base rate may…

The consultation requirements for a qualifying long-term agreement under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 apply only where the agreement is entered into by an…

The Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction is not confined to cases in which the respondent participated in or facilitated the original wrongdoing. The essential…

A partnership is not presumed to include a right to remuneration for a partner’s services. Such a right requires agreement by the other partners. Nor may a…

For a freezing injunction, the claimant must show a good arguable case, relevant assets, substantial grounds for a real risk of dissipation and that the order…

A person is not a de facto or shadow director merely because he exercises substantial influence over a company. The court must examine what the person actually…

Deliberately advancing a substantial civil claim by relying on a fabricated and forged document is a serious contempt of court. In an appropriate case…

Passing off requires goodwill, a material misrepresentation which deceives or is likely to deceive a substantial part of the relevant public, and damage or a…

Testamentary capacity requires the testator to understand the nature and effect of making a will, the extent of the property disposed of, and the claims to…

Where an administration will last only a few days and the company will then enter liquidation, the court may direct administrators not to comply with the…

Under paragraph 83 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, an administration may convert into a creditors’ voluntary liquidation when the prescribed notice…

In trade mark and passing off proceedings, evidence from a person working in the trade is not automatically expert evidence under the Civil Procedure Rules…

A court-appointed receiver who initiates an application against a third party is generally treated like a litigant in another capacity who brings proceedings.…

A claimant cannot recover money paid under an agreement with an illegal object where recovery requires reliance on that agreement. The locus poenitentiae…

A written agreement is construed according to its language and commercial context. Rectification requires convincing evidence, on the ordinary civil standard…

On an application for interim injunctive relief, the court must first identify a serious issue to be tried and then assess adequacy of damages and the balance…

An appeal under section 151(4) of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 is confined to points of law. It may challenge the construction of a pension instrument and the…

Where rent is payable in advance under a lease, the date on which it falls due determines whether it is provable in an administration or payable as an…

A warranty that no act has been done which might cause intellectual property rights to cease to be valid or enforceable may be capable of breach before…

Costs in an application by a personal representative are governed by the CPR and the established principles concerning trustee and estate litigation. The usual…

Likelihood of confusion under trade mark law requires a global assessment through the eyes of the average consumer. A composite sign may be assessed by its…

Contractual construction begins with the language used, read as a whole and in its factual and commercial context. Commercial common sense may assist where the…

In a domestic mortgage transaction, a lender is put on inquiry as to undue influence only where it is aware that one borrower is effectively standing as surety…

Permission to continue a derivative claim may be refused without applying a fixed merits threshold. The court should form the best provisional view it can from…

The court may convene a creditors’ scheme meeting where the company is liable to be wound up in England and there is a sufficient connection with the…

For an interim injunction restraining publication which engages freedom of expression, Human Rights Act 1998, section 12(3) requires prospects of success…

A fiduciary who acts dishonestly throughout a long-running relationship may forfeit remuneration, even where the relationship involved substantial legitimate…

A litigation receiver appointed with power to defend proceedings does not, without express wording, have power to appeal from the first-instance decision or…

Presumed undue influence requires proof of a relationship involving trust, confidence, dependence or ascendancy, together with a transaction that cannot be…

A binding contract does not arise where parties negotiate a package of obligations and fail to agree terms concerning an essential element. Agreement on other…

Sections 994–996 of the Companies Act 2006 provide a wide and flexible remedy for unfair prejudice. Non-members alleged to be responsible for the conduct may…

A settlement sum payable under an agreement connected with employment is ordinarily understood as payable net of PAYE properly due from the employee, unless…

On an appeal against the admission of a creditor’s claim for voting purposes in an individual voluntary arrangement, the court must decide whether the…

A contractual misnomer is ordinarily resolved by construing the agreement objectively in its factual background. No special rules apply merely because the…

A tenant’s right to remove fixtures depends first on the general law and may be excluded by the lease only in clear terms. The court must distinguish chattels…

The court’s inherent jurisdiction to supervise trusts permits directions enabling trustees to distribute trust property on practical assumptions where this is…

On an application concerning provisional liquidators appointed after presentation of a creditor’s winding-up petition, the court should first ask whether the…

Permission to amend a statement of case is governed by the overriding objective in CPR 1.1. There is no additional or elevated burden merely because an…

Conveyances referring to an Ordnance Survey plan must be construed objectively as a whole. Where the parcels clause, plan and schedule are consistent, the plan…

An extension of time under an unless order requires a party to show proper and compelling reasons for the delay, supported by a full and particularised…

Unfair prejudice under Companies Act 2006, section 994, cannot ordinarily be established by a member complaining of conduct expressly authorised or ratified…

Presumed undue influence arises where the claimant proves a relationship involving trust, confidence, reliance, dependence or ascendancy, together with a…

For trade mark infringement, arranging for an advertisement to appear when a consumer searches for a protected sign may constitute use of that sign, even where…

The court may remove personal representatives where a breakdown in relations has directly impeded, or is likely to impede, the administration of an estate.…

When construing pension scheme rules, the court must read the words in their factual and commercial context and give the scheme a reasonable and practical…

Committal for contempt requires proof to the criminal standard of a deliberate breach of an unambiguous court order by a person who knew the facts making the…

A contractual demand may validly accelerate repayment where the mortgage conditions provide that notice is deemed served on posting, even if the borrower…

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…

Permission to conduct and adduce survey evidence in a trade mark or passing off case requires a decisive cost-benefit assessment. The court must be satisfied…

An application made before expiry of a procedural deadline is governed by the court’s discretion under the overriding objective, rather than the…

A contract must be construed according to its express terms and the objective meaning conveyed in its commercial context. A mathematically prescriptive royalty…

The standard form of freezing order does not ordinarily restrain dealings with assets beneficially owned by a company merely because the respondent is its sole…

A donatio mortis causa requires: contemplation of impending death; a conditional gift revocable before death; and delivery of the property or its essential…

In a case involving parallel foreign proceedings, the existence of an earlier foreign action is a factor in the forum non conveniens assessment. It is not…

In construing pension scheme documents, the court must read the document in its factual and legal context and adopt a practical and purposive interpretation.…

A bare statutory right to appeal a tax assessment is not property within Insolvency Act 1986, s 436, and cannot be assigned by a liquidator under Schedule 4…

When deciding whether to extend the time for an application under CPR 3.12(a), the court may use the checklist in CPR 3.9 as relevant guidance. It must assess…

Contractual terms are determined objectively, by asking what a reasonable person in the position of the relevant party would understand from the communications…

A statement in an investment memorandum that an investment was intended or anticipated to last 12 to 18 months did not, in its context, create a contractual…

A beneficiary does not qualify under a will merely because he works in a farming business. Where the will uses terms such as employee, partner and fulltime…

A squatter in adverse possession has a legal estate in fee simple absolute in possession, even though the paper owner has a relatively better title until…

An equity arising from a promise, reliance and detriment may constitute property for bankruptcy purposes even though its ultimate value or enforcement depends…

A restrictive covenant binds successors in title only where, when imposed, it was intended to benefit and was capable of benefiting the covenantee’s land, and…

An exclusive trade mark licence defined by reference to a business carried on at a specified date is construed at a reasonable level of generality and over a…

Keyword advertising triggered by a trade mark infringes the origin function where the advertisement does not enable reasonably well-informed and reasonably…

Insolvency alone does not justify an administration order. The court must be satisfied that administration is reasonably likely to achieve one of the statutory…

Software created for, and used as the foundation of, a partnership business may be partnership property even where the author originally owned the copyright…

Where a commercial lease requires rent to be paid quarterly in advance, a tenant must pay the full instalment when, at the payment date, a conditional break…

An anti-suit injunction restraining foreign insolvency-related proceedings is an exceptional remedy. The court must consider comity and whether the foreign…

Contractual payments are characterised according to the parties’ actual intention when made, rather than by later commercial rationalisation. Damages for…

An appellate court should not reverse a factual decision based substantially on witness credibility unless satisfied that the primary decision-maker was…

A validation order under section 127 of the Companies Act 1985 is exceptional where a winding-up petition is based on an undisputed debt. The court ordinarily…

Under the amended Civil Procedure Rules, the court must enforce compliance with rules, practice directions and orders as part of dealing with cases justly and…

Under section 283A of the Insolvency Act 1986, an application is made when it is filed with or received by the court. A later dismissal following a valid…

A contractual release may extinguish all claims connected with employment where its language covers all monies due, even if particular claims are not expressly…

At the first stage of a cross-border merger, the court’s function is principally to ascertain whether the prescribed pre-merger requirements have been complied…

Testamentary capacity requires the testator to understand the nature and effect of the testamentary act, the extent of the property concerned, and the claims…

A partnership agreement is a contract of utmost good faith. Partners must co-operate in preparing accounts and must exercise equal management rights where the…

An undertaking to take a FRAND licence may be construed by reference to the particular form of patent identified when the undertaking was given. Where that…

The court’s power under paragraph 63 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 is expressed in wide terms. It may extend to directing administrators to cause…

An arbitration award must explain why the essential issues were decided as they were. In an expert valuation dispute, the reasons must engage with the…

Summary judgment is inappropriate where determining whether a claim has a realistic prospect of success would require a mini-trial of disputed facts, extensive…

A wasted costs application is suitable for summary determination only where the applicant shows a strong prima facie case that the legal representative acted…

A tenant may directly enforce a landlord’s statutory duties to provide service-charge information where the statutory scheme protects a defined class of…

On an application for a receiver over a deceased person’s estate, the court’s focus is the best interests of the estate, including beneficiaries, creditors and…

Permission to withdraw a formal admission should be granted only where the proposed defence is realistically arguable and the court’s discretion, considered in…

A railway operator leasing station premises may control access to private land and require licensed taxi drivers who wish to ply for hire there to obtain…

In enforcement proceedings, the court may enforce the judgment debt but may not vary it or add contractual liabilities arising from the original transaction.…

An agreement to sell a business together with the right to occupy premises is an agreement relating to land. If it fails to comply with Law Reform…

A scheme regulating enfranchised property must be construed in the light of its stated purpose. Once the scheme requires consent, the Trust may consider…

A registered industrial and provident society may be wound up under the Insolvency Act 1986 in the same way as a registered company. The court may act under…

Unlawful means conspiracy may be established where a defendant knowingly combines with others to injure the claimant through criminal conduct. The unlawful…

In assessing inter partes costs, the court must distinguish the receiving party’s liability to its solicitor from the amount the paying party must pay. Where…

The jurisdiction to appoint a receiver over an estate lacking a current representative is exceptional and must be directed to a demonstrated practical need…

A prescriptive several fishery may extend over land added to the foreshore by gradual and imperceptible accretion, including sandbanks that become accessible…

Where the meaning of an exclusion from patentability under Directive 98/44/EC is unclear, and material scientific facts differ from those before the Court of…

Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 35 regulates evidence prepared by a person instructed to give or prepare expert evidence for the proceedings. It does not…

Section 426 of the Insolvency Act 1986 permits an English court to assist a foreign insolvency court in relation to insolvency activity undertaken, or intended…

Damages for trade mark infringement may be assessed on the user principle by reference to the sum that reasonable parties would have agreed for permission to…

The court may order a foreign party to give ordinary inter partes disclosure even where compliance may contravene a foreign blocking statute. The critical…

On an appeal against findings of dishonesty, the appellate court asks whether the evidence provided an adequate basis for the decision, not whether it would…

A party cannot avoid the statutory formalities for a land sale by recharacterising part of a single bargain as a collateral contract. The pleaded facts must…

Costs following a successful appeal on the interpretation of a lease are determined afresh where the lower court’s costs order depended on a different result.…

Strict liability under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher does not apply to naturally generated stythe gas arising from disused coal workings. A landowner who did…

Where security for costs has already been ordered for a defined stage of proceedings, a further application covering that same stage requires a subsequent…

Leave for a victim to bring proceedings under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 requires more than proof that the applicant may have been prejudiced. The…

A judge who has heard the substantive proceedings should ordinarily determine a subsequent wasted costs application arising from that case. Criticism of…

In deciding whether to order security for costs against a company bringing a counterclaim, the court must consider all the circumstances and whether the…

For disqualification under the Company Directors’ Disqualification Act 1986, a person may be a de facto and shadow director without formal appointment.…

A Woolwich restitutionary claim is confined to a claimant who was liable for, and paid, the relevant tax to the public authority under an apparent statutory…

In an extended passing-off claim, a geographical description can support goodwill where it has independent drawing power for a substantial section of the…

A lender cannot accelerate a loan on the basis of sums already held in its account where contractual deductions were unauthorised and sufficient to meet the…

Permission to appeal requires a properly formulated challenge showing a real prospect of success. A bare assertion that the first-instance judge was wrong does…

On an application concerning forum non conveniens, the claimant need not prove on the balance of probabilities that a foreign trial will be unfair. The…

An expert must comply with the duties governing expert evidence, including independence, objectivity, proper expertise, and a clear separation between fact and…

In a substantial claim producing only a small recovery, costs depend on who won in substance and reality, rather than mechanically on which party received…

Interference with a costs discretion is justified where the lower court applied the wrong principle or failed to consider a material matter. A person joined to…

Where circumstances surrounding execution of a will arouse suspicion, the propounder bears the burden of proving that the testator knew and approved its…

Equitable compensation aims to restore a claimant for being deprived of money, but interest is assessed pragmatically where neither borrowing cost nor…

Section 20(1)(b) of the State Immunity Act 1978 gives limited personal immunity to members of a sovereign’s family who form part of the sovereign’s household.…

In assessing likelihood of confusion between trade marks, each sign must generally be considered as a whole. However, a component of a composite sign may…

A foreign judgment can support issue estoppel in England only if it satisfies the English requirements and would also be treated as res judicata in the foreign…

A successful party may receive less than its full costs where it pursued significant, costly and severable issues and lost them. There is no automatic…

An administrator’s appointment made before a secured demand has become enforceable may be an irregular exercise of an existing power, rather than a nullity.…

A will may be invalid where the testator lacked testamentary capacity or did not know and approve its contents. Testamentary capacity requires understanding…

Copyright infringement under Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 is territorial. Online communication to the public requires a United Kingdom target and…

Formal agreements, especially a document executed as a deed, will ordinarily be binding where their language and commercial context show an intention to create…

Under section 282(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986, a bankruptcy order may be annulled at a later stage where grounds existing when the order was made show…

The court has jurisdiction under CPR 31.12 to order disclosure of documents relevant to a witness’s credibility in an exceptional case. Such disclosure is not…

Testamentary capacity requires understanding of the nature and effect of the act, the extent of the property and the claims deserving consideration, free from…

Applications for third-party costs orders under section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 are ordinarily dealt with summarily. The court must do the best…

Rectification under Administration of Justice Act 1982, section 20, requires the court to identify the testator’s intention, determine whether the will fails…

The presumption against double portions applies where a parent makes a substantial lifetime gift to a child and also leaves that child a substantial…

An application to review, rescind or vary a bankruptcy order under section 375 of the Insolvency Act 1986 engages a wide discretion, but the applicant must…

A trade mark specification receives its natural and usual meaning, confined to the core of general wording. Genuine use preserves protection only for a fair…

Where an application to set aside a statutory demand is dismissed, the restriction on presenting a bankruptcy petition falls away automatically. Rule 6.5(6) of…

Under section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the High Court may order an internet service provider to block access to a website where the…

Presentation of a further bankruptcy petition without prior permission under Insolvency Rule 6.26 does not necessarily render the petition a nullity. The court…

Section 78 of the Law of Property Act 1925 ordinarily passes the benefit of a land covenant to successors in title and owners or occupiers of the benefited…

A statutory derivative claim under Chapter 1 of Part 11 of the Companies Act 2006 is an exclusive code only for claims brought by a member of the company in…

A gratuitous and informal copyright licence is construed objectively and extends no further than is necessary to give effect to the purpose for which it was…

An escrow arrangement outside the law of deeds depends on an enforceable contract or undertaking with sufficiently certain terms. Payment into a solicitor’s…

When deciding whether to extend time for a defence served substantially late, the court must consider all the circumstances and apply the overriding objective…

For a claim under section 238 of the Insolvency Act 1986, the company must have entered into a transaction with the alleged counterparty at an undervalue. A…

When giving directions under a complex commercial scheme, the court must construe the scheme as a whole and in its commercial context. Detailed wording should…

Where an individual voluntary arrangement is reconsidered at a further creditors’ meeting convened under the Insolvency Act 1986, the creditors entitled to…

Permission to adduce consumer evidence in a trade mark case depends on whether the evidence is likely to be of value and whether that value justifies the…

A validation order under Insolvency Act 1986, section 284, may preserve dispositions from automatic invalidity without conclusively approving the underlying…

An application under paragraph 74 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 requires proof both of harm and of unfairness. The court should not micromanage…

A court will grant a negative declaration or injunction only where it serves a useful purpose. Relief concerning title to immovable property situated outside…

Apparent authority is founded on estoppel, so the customer must have relied on a representation by the principal as to the agent’s authority. Personal…

A service-charge lease requiring the landlord to furnish an account does not necessarily require full audited accounts prepared on an accruals basis. The…

An agency relationship is determined from the substance of the parties’ agreement and the circumstances of the particular transaction. A commercial agent may…

The doctrine of marshalling may apply where a guarantor’s creditor seeks access to securities held over property belonging to the principal debtor, even though…

Interest on damages is compensatory. It normally runs from the date when the cause of action and loss accrue. Ignorance of liability, uncertainty about…

A sub-licence does not automatically end when the head licence ends. Its survival depends on the scope of the authority granted by the head licensor, construed…

The principle of open justice applies to trials and interlocutory hearings. A private hearing is an exceptional derogation and is permissible only where…

A claim for loss caused by alleged misrepresentations must plead a coherent causal case with a real prospect of success. Where loss is said to result from the…

On an application for an interim injunction alleging abuse of a dominant position, the claimant must establish a serious question to be tried, or a real…

A bank receiving money for its customer is not enriched where the receipt is matched by its contractual liability to the customer. Even if enrichment is…

A national court should exercise restraint before making a preliminary reference where the questions may prove academic or the factual context is incomplete.…

Arrangements may constitute a collective investment scheme under Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s 235, even though they are not legally binding and…

For Article 27 of the Brussels I Regulation, the court compares the claims in the two proceedings, not later defences. Proceedings do not involve the same…

A copyright owner has no proprietary claim to money generated by infringement of the copyright. The proceeds of infringement are not equivalent to stolen…

Applications under paragraphs 74 and 75 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 must be distinguished from personal professional-negligence claims. Paragraph…

A fact-finding judgment in a claim concerning property allegedly lost from a trunk held by a bank for safe custody. The civil standard is the balance of…

A guarantor’s liability is not discharged merely because the principal debtor’s interest rate changes pursuant to a contractual option. A guarantee covering…

In a professional-negligence claim concerning separate transactions, a solicitor’s duty and cause of action may arise independently for each transaction, even…

Descriptive words used in a television channel name cannot ordinarily be monopolised by one trader. Whether such use causes confusion remains a question of…

A claimant seeking a commission for introducing a development opportunity must establish the contractual or restitutionary basis of the entitlement.…

A declaration of rights does not require proof of an actual or imminent infringement. The court has a discretionary jurisdiction to declare present or future…

A non-test claimant in group litigation may seek an interim payment where the conditions in CPR rule 25.7(1)(c) are satisfied. The existence of a group…

A contractual term will not be implied merely because one party’s disposal of property may make performance more difficult. The court must construe the…

A case management stay of English proceedings should be granted only where the circumstances are sufficiently rare and compelling and the likely benefits…

Client money entitlements following a primary pooling event must be calculated under the Client Assets Sourcebook rules. Open positions are valued notionally…

An injunction prohibiting trade mark infringement and passing off must be applied by reference to findings conclusively established in the earlier proceedings.…

Permission to adduce survey evidence should be granted only where the evidence is likely to have real value and that value justifies the cost. Reliability is…

Registration of a forged transfer under the Land Registration Act 2002 vests the legal estate in the registered proprietor, but does not necessarily displace…

Where legislation provides that an adopted person is not to be treated as the child of a natural parent, that rule applies to earlier wills unless the…

Copyright in a computer program does not protect its functionality, programming language or data-file formats from being copied as such. Those matters are not…

A disclaimer of a lease by a liquidator or the Crown determines the insolvent tenant’s rights and liabilities, but does not ordinarily discharge the tenant’s…

A settlement agreement may grant a licence to use intellectual property rights without using the word “licence”, if that is its natural implication when read…

Allotments transferred to a parish council by statutory operation and brought within the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 are governed exclusively by…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed appeal has no real prospect of success and no other compelling reason supports an appeal. Fresh…

For the purposes of section 98 of the Companies Act 2006, “holders” of the requisite percentage of a company’s issued share capital means persons registered as…

Summary judgment may be granted on a complex contractual construction issue where the court reaches a clear view and a trial has no realistic prospect of…

An interim freezing order made without notice should be granted only where notice would create a real risk that the order’s purpose would be defeated, or where…

Section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 applies to an executor named in a will even where probate has not been granted. An executor derives title…

On summary judgment, the court must decide whether the claim has a realistic prospect of success, without conducting a mini-trial. The court may analyse the…

A claimant cannot avoid the limitation consequences of a claim in malicious falsehood by recasting the complaint as negligence based on assumption of…

A settlement with one joint tortfeasor ordinarily releases all joint tortfeasors, unless the agreement is a covenant not to sue or expressly or impliedly…

A mortgagee exercising its power of sale must take reasonable care to obtain the best price reasonably achievable at the date of sale. The duty is assessed…

In assessing damages for breach of warranty, the court must compare the value of the company as warranted with its actual value on a consistent basis. Where…

For interim relief against threatened publication, the court must assess whether the claimant is more likely than not to obtain relief at trial. In misuse of…

For a notification under a claims-made professional indemnity policy to be effective, the insured need not identify every affected transaction, possible…

Due execution of an apparently rational and fair will ordinarily satisfies the evidential burden of proving knowledge and approval. Where circumstances arouse…

In a testamentary undue-influence claim, there is no presumption of undue influence. The person alleging it bears the burden of proof. The court must determine…

Where co-owners acquire land intending eventually to divide it between them, partition is the direct and natural means of achieving that objective. The court…

A bankrupt cannot pursue a personal claim forming part of the bankrupt estate unless authorised by the trustee in bankruptcy. Such claims vest in the trustee…

A litigant in person must be given a fair opportunity to understand and answer the opposing party’s case. Where an earlier hearing was unfair, an appellate…

Costs ordinarily follow the successful party, but the court may make an issue-based order where discrete issues generated substantial additional costs and the…

On an appeal from a bankruptcy restrictions order, the appellate court must respect factual findings unless they are against the weight of the evidence, while…