High Court: Queen's Bench Division judgments, 2005

For summary criminal disclosure, primary disclosure occurs when the prosecutor serves a statement under section 3 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations…

The Judgments Regulation is to be read subject to the international law of state immunity. It does not permit proceedings against a foreign state, separate…

A solicitor who negligently fails to pass on material information and advice is liable for foreseeable loss caused by that omission. Where the lost benefit is…

A failed asylum-seeker who is in the United Kingdom in breach of the immigration laws may be excluded from support under paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 to the…

In a defamation claim involving a defence of qualified privilege, information and documents may be ordered where they materially bear on the defendant’s…

Contributory negligence requires: (i) objectively assessed fault; (ii) causation; and (iii) an apportionment that is just and equitable. Fault does not require…

An occasion of qualified privilege requires a present interest or duty in the maker to communicate the information and a corresponding present interest or duty…

A doctor may owe a duty of care to a person who is not the patient, but the existence of such a duty depends on the circumstances. Foreseeability of economic…

A party may abuse the court’s process by raising in a costs assessment matters which could and should have been pursued in earlier proceedings. The question is…

Where the statutory criteria against jury trial are satisfied, the court should assess the appropriate mode of trial by reference to the action as a whole. It…

A statutory obligation to execute works necessarily carries power to execute them. Where authorised works are physically inconsistent with an easement, the…

For service by post under the statutory postal deeming provision, the ordinary civil standard of proof applies. A notice claiming the right to buy may be…

A claimant deceived into making payments does not lose access to civil remedies merely because the fraud involved apparent irregularities, generous returns or…

A person giving a reference must take reasonable care to provide information that is accurate and fair. A reference may properly identify genuine compliance…

Compensation under Regulation 17 of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 protects the goodwill generated by a commercial agent. The loss…

Damages for future care should provide such care as is reasonably required to secure, so far as possible, the injured claimant’s independence and ability to…

In a costs ruling following substantial but partial success, the unsuccessful party generally pays the successful party’s costs. A reduction is not required…

Section 10 of the Defamation Act 1952 prevents an election candidate from obtaining a special privilege merely because defamatory material concerns an issue in…

Under section 1(3)(a) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the relevant purpose is subjective, not objectively reasonable. The intended crime must…

An employment contract is frustrated only where, without fault by the party relying on frustration, performance has become impossible or radically different…

On an application for an injunction to restrain a continuing breach of planning control, the court exercises an original and discretionary jurisdiction. It…

A utility undertaking may owe another utility a duty of care where both operate infrastructure beneath the same streets and their activities may affect each…

A party cannot use an appeal against a later enforcement order to reopen an earlier order which was not appealed. Where an earlier injunction expressly permits…

Specific disclosure is an exceptional and proportionate case-management remedy. The applicant must establish that it is reasonable to suppose that the proposed…

Transitional provisions governing the recall of prisoners released on licence before a statutory regime changed must be construed in the context and purpose of…

The natural and ordinary meaning of an allegedly defamatory publication is the single meaning conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader. The court must assess…

An intentional assault claim seeking damages for psychiatric injury is an action founded on tort subject to the six-year limitation period in section 2 of the…

A conspiracy to injure by unlawful means requires a combination pursuing a common intention, an intention to injure the claimant, unlawful acts, and loss…

Summary judgment may be entered where credible evidence shows that the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim and no other…

When determining a minimum term under Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must assess the seriousness of the murder by applying the general…

When fixing a minimum term under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must assess the seriousness of the murder by selecting the appropriate…

The tort of deceit requires a false representation, knowledge of falsity, absence of honest belief or recklessness, an intention that the claimant rely on it…

An injunction restraining residential occupation in breach of planning control is a discretionary remedy, but a later committal court does not ordinarily…

When determining a minimum term under Criminal Justice Act 2003 Schedule 22, the court must apply the Schedule 21 starting points and relevant aggravating and…

A solicitor retained to advise on litigation and related monetary claims must consider the substance of correspondence received from the opposing party…

An agent is entitled to commission where its work was the effective cause of the transaction. Other contributing causes do not prevent recovery. The same…

An interim injunction may restrain unlawful conduct connected with picketing, while preserving peaceful assembly and communication. The court must distinguish…

When determining a minimum term under the transitional provisions for murder, the court must assess seriousness by reference to the statutory principles, the…

Under the Graduated Fee Scheme, remuneration is calculated by applying the statutory formula to the trial of the individual assisted person, not to the entire…

An agreement extending a limitation period is ordinarily construed objectively as a simple extension to a specified date. Unless the parties expressly agree…

A tour operator is contractually liable for improper performance of a package holiday, including failure to provide facilities complying with applicable local…

Private nuisance may arise where land is used to create a hazardous state of affairs carrying a foreseeable risk of damage to neighbouring property. The…

An expert psychiatric diagnosis cannot determine disputed historical facts. Where the diagnosis depends on the claimant’s account, it cannot compel the court…

The automatic imposition of notification requirements on a person convicted of knowingly participating in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on importing…

A veterinary surgeon who agrees to observe another surgeon’s treatment may owe a duty to obtain sufficient information about the proposed treatment to assess…

Restrictive covenants must be construed in their contractual and factual context. A non-solicitation covenant may protect the stability of a small workforce…

A challenge to an arbitral award under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 requires a serious irregularity causing substantial injustice and falling within…

An interim privacy injunction requires the claimant first to show that the proposed publication concerns personal information in respect of which there remains…

In assessing damages for childhood sexual abuse, the diagnostic label attached to a claimant’s mental illness is secondary to its effect on care needs and…

A structure projecting from one property into the airspace immediately above neighbouring land constitutes trespass. The claimant need not prove substantial…

Medical negligence requires proof that the defendant’s conduct fell outside the range of reasonable medical practice and caused the claimant’s injury. A court…

A right of way granted for access connected with present and future agricultural use may extend to activities which the parties treated by convention as part…

An acceptance is generally ineffective until communicated to the offeror. The postal rule does not apply where an acceptance is misdirected through the…

Where a minimum term for a mandatory life sentence has been fixed on materially incorrect information about time spent in custody on remand, the court may…

Statutory qualified privilege should not be struck out at a preliminary stage where parts of a publication are arguably protected, even if its practical…

An injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may continue where the defendant’s past conduct makes further harassment likely, but the court…

In civil proceedings alleging participation in a violent attack, the applicable standard is the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of the allegation…

When assessing a young child with a high temperature and possible meningococcal infection, a general practitioner must assess the aggregate of the presenting…

On reviewing a mandatory life sentence minimum term, the court must assess the seriousness of the offence and associated offences, apply the relevant…

A general civil restraint order may be imposed where, despite an extended civil restraint order, a litigant persists in making applications that are totally…

The reasonableness of a conditional-fee success fee is assessed by reference to the circumstances known, or reasonably knowable, when the agreement was made. A…

A promise to pay a bonus made after the promised performance has been fully completed is gratuitous and unenforceable for want of consideration. The…

A surgeon who adopts a wait and see approach after postoperative imaging reveals displaced spinal cages must maintain heightened vigilance and carefully…

In assessing clinical negligence, the court must apply the professional negligence principles stated in Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee and…

Where a claimant establishes reasonable future care needs, a defendant who contends that a local authority or other body will meet all or part of those needs…

A prospective costs-capping order is permissible where there is a real risk that costs will become disproportionate or unreasonable, that the risk cannot be…

A statutory regulator exercising a discretionary power to enforce licence conditions may take into account the United Kingdom’s obligations under international…

In an offer of amends assessment, the court should first identify the damages that would have been awarded after trial without significant mitigation or…

In an assessment of compensation under section 3(5) of the Defamation Act 1996, the court applies the ordinary principles governing libel damages. Evidence of…

Summary judgment under Part 24 is appropriate only where the claim has no realistic prospect of success and there is no other reason for a trial. The court…

Under the summary disposal procedure for defamation claims, the court may determine the claim without a trial where the defendant has no real prospect of…

An interim injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may restrain an actual or apprehended course of conduct connected with public protest. The…

Liability for consequences of negligent personal injury depends on both causation and the reasonable foreseeability of the type of loss claimed. The claimant…

An employer is liable where an employee fails to comply with mandatory ladder-safety requirements and that failure causes injury. A ladder exceeding three…

A market authority may refuse or terminate permission to use a market stall where the proposed use is unrelated to the market’s commercial purpose. A political…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires the claimant to show that it has a cause of action with a reasonable prospect of success, that…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must conduct a broad balancing exercise, having regard to all the circumstances. The claimant bears a…

In a breech caesarean delivery, the obstetrician must create an opening large enough to deliver the whole baby safely. If gentle traction does not deliver the…

On an application for an interim injunction enforcing restrictive covenants, the court must first determine whether there is a serious issue to be tried. The…

In a libel claim based on allegations that a police officer had conducted incompetent investigations, justification required proof that the defamatory meanings…

Proceedings under Human Rights Act 1998 cannot be used as a collateral attack on judicial decisions made in other proceedings. A complaint concerning a…

In representative proceedings brought for members of an unincorporated association, the represented members are bound by the judgment even though they did not…

A planning permission must be construed by reference to its operative grant, including documents expressly incorporated into it. The description of the…

A body distributing discretionary public grants owes applicants no private-law duty to fund a project or compensate them for time, earnings or expenditure when…

For limitation purposes, a claimant does not have knowledge that an injury is attributable to alleged negligence merely because the claimant knows that a…

Qualified privilege protects a communication made pursuant to a legal, social or moral duty, or to protect a legitimate interest, where the recipient has a…

A temporary police containment may amount to a deprivation of liberty under Article 5, even where imposed to prevent disorder and protect those contained.…

An election petition must comply strictly with the statutory and procedural requirements governing presentation, security for costs and service. A served…

For misfeasance in public office, serious negligence, incompetence or corporate failure is insufficient. The claimant must identify an unlawful act or…

Under the Athens Convention, liability for a passenger’s death during carriage depends on proof of an incident caused by the carrier’s fault or neglect. The…

Interim injunctive relief under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may restrain conduct which is not itself tortious or otherwise unlawful where the order…

Where a defendant fails to comply with an unless order requiring procedural documents, the defence may be struck out and judgment entered, subject to…

In assessing damages for catastrophic personal injury, the court must make the best estimate reasonably available of the claimant’s life expectancy. Clinical…

Summary judgment is appropriate where a claim has no real prospect of success and no other reason requires a trial. The court must assess the claim…

A claimant cannot ordinarily increase damages for one defamatory publication by relying on later publications which are not sued on separately. Later…

A court must take reasonable measures to protect individuals against serious threats to life, physical integrity and psychological health. An injunction…

Damages for future care must reflect the claimant’s reasonable needs, assessed on the evidence. A claimant’s preferences are relevant, particularly in the…

A school’s duty of care towards pupils requires reasonable care for their health, safety and educational needs. In assessing an alleged failure to respond to…

Information disclosed by public authorities in an established child-protection relationship may attract qualified privilege even where it is unverified…

The status of a communication as without prejudice is determined objectively. The court asks whether, viewed in its factual context, it is a negotiating…

An agreement marked subject to contract may become binding where, after signature, the parties have performed the obligations contemplated by it. Contractual…

Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 24, the court may refuse summary judgment yet make a conditional order where the defence is possible but improbable to…

In a deceit claim, the claimant must prove the fraudulent misrepresentation and its causal effect on the transaction. Where a defendant knowingly understates a…

For temporary deemed employment in vicarious liability, the paramount consideration is the nature and extent of the putative employer’s control over the…

An unlawful-means conspiracy is not confined to cases involving injury to trade or business. Fraud, including cheating the public revenue, is capable of…