High Court: Queen's Bench Division judgments, 2010

Claims under regulation 100(8) of the Civil Legal Aid (General) Regulations 1989 accrue when the assisted case concludes, even though the final fee assessment…

A failure by a prison to comply with an internal mandatory direction does not, without more, establish the unlawfulness required for misfeasance in public…

An employee who removes confidential business information for possible use in future disputes is ordinarily in breach of the duty of good faith and any…

On an application to continue an interim privacy injunction, the court must assess the likely outcome at trial on the evidence available and weigh the…

A libel action should be stayed where determining the pleaded defences would require the court to adjudicate on religious doctrine or the legitimacy of a…

Goods supplied for a particular purpose must be reasonably fit for that purpose, including the ability to carry the specified payload lawfully and with any…

Qualified privilege protects limited publications made for a proper business or professional purpose. The privilege is defeated only by proof of malice…

Permission to amend pleadings is governed by the interests of justice and the need to identify the real dispute. Similar-fact or course-of-conduct allegations…

A driver emerging from a minor road onto a major road must take particular care where visibility is restricted, but is required to take only reasonable…

In internet defamation claims, the claimant must prove publication, reference and a sufficiently serious defamatory meaning. Where publication is speculative…

Fair comment may protect an unreasonable, offensive or prejudiced opinion, provided that it is honestly capable of being expressed on the basis of facts that…

An arrangement implementing Directive 84/5/EEC may lawfully use an inquisitorial compensation scheme administered by a private body which both investigates…

Under the statutory scheme governing removal of vehicles in London, the lawfulness of removal depends on whether the parking attendant had reasonable grounds…

On an application for an interim injunction enforcing restrictive covenants, the court must first identify a serious issue to be tried and then consider the…

Anonymity in privacy proceedings is an essentially case-sensitive question. The court must balance the claimant’s and family’s rights under article 8 against…

In an application to lift the automatic standstill in a public procurement challenge, the court applies the American Cyanamid guidelines. A claimant need show…

An insurance intermediary advising on a single payment-protection product must investigate the customer’s demands and needs and assess suitability under the…

An application to restrain publication of personal information requires a two-stage analysis. The claimant must first establish a reasonable expectation of…

A statement of case may be struck out for serious non-compliance with procedural rules or court orders where the breaches cause substantial delay or prejudice…

Where a party succeeds on an interlocutory application, the court may award its costs in full if the overall charge is proportionate to the complexity and…

In a carefully negotiated, detailed agreement, a term is implied only where it is necessary to give business efficacy and so obvious that it goes without…

Contracts of guarantee are construed by the ordinary principles applicable to commercial contracts. Extrinsic evidence may identify an inadequately described…

An estate agent claiming commission must establish that its services were the or an effective cause of the sale, where that term is implied into the agency…

Interim privacy and confidence relief may be continued where the claimant establishes a high degree of probability that publication will be restrained at…

Minor criticisms of an employee’s performance are not defamatory merely because they are made in a formal capability process or are said to be false. Whether…

A non-party costs order is exceptional in the sense that it is not usual, but neither funding, control, personal benefit, nor bad faith is an indispensable…

An interference with private life under Article 8 does not automatically justify an injunction or anonymity order. The court must determine whether further…

A deed signed by one party and sent to the other may be delivered as an escrow. It becomes irrevocable on delivery and takes effect when the specified…

A general civil restraint order may be made where a party persists in issuing claims or applications that are totally without merit and an extended civil…

In assessing damages for abuse-related psychiatric injury, the court should adopt a broad-brush approach where several possible causes contribute to the…

Restrictive covenants in employment contracts are enforceable only so far as reasonably necessary to protect legitimate business interests, including…

In a libel action, the extent of publication should not ordinarily be tried as a preliminary issue merely to support an application to strike out for abuse of…

An expert report sent confidentially to the court to assist in approving a settlement retains privilege. A procedural order requiring service of evidence does…

Summary disposal under sections 8 and 9 of the Defamation Act 1996 is appropriate where the claim has no realistic prospect of success and there is no…

A libel claim may be struck out where the statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds, is an abuse of process, or persistently fails to comply with court…

Anonymity in privacy proceedings is a derogation from open justice and cannot be granted merely by consent. At the return date, the court must independently…

Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 applies only to false statements of fact which directly concern a candidate’s personal character or…

Anonymity is an exception to the principle of open justice and must be justified on the particular facts. In an approval hearing for a settlement involving a…

Costs following an unsuccessful application to strike out a claim or obtain summary judgment are ordinarily assessed on the standard basis unless the conduct…

A professional adviser is judged by the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner with the relevant expertise, assessed in the light of information…

An individual who is personally referred to and defamed may sue, even where the publication concerns the management of a governmental body. The Derbyshire v…

Where a claimant obtains permission for a late amendment, the court should not ordinarily treat all pre-amendment costs as wasted merely because the amended…

For an application to set aside a judgment entered in a party’s absence under CPR 39.3, the applicant must satisfy all three requirements in CPR 39.3(5). In…

A settlement with one publisher does not ordinarily extinguish a claimant’s separate libel claim against another publisher for a related publication. Each…

Acceptance of a Part 36 offer gives the claimant the costs entitlement under Part 36.10(1) unless the offer relates to part only of the claim and, at the time…

In exercising its discretion as to costs, the court must consider all the circumstances, including the parties’ conduct before and during proceedings, the…

Parties are ordinarily identified in judgments and orders, including proceedings concerning private information. Anonymity and reporting restrictions require a…

Under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a civil claim requires a course of conduct on at least two occasions which is targeted at the claimant…

Where preliminary issues are discrete, free-standing and capable of separate success or failure, costs may be allocated by reference to the outcome of each…

In a claim involving alleged harassment and nuisance, an amendment seeking exemplary damages should not be struck out where the pleaded case is that the…

A professional negligence claim fails where the claimant knew, when signing, that he was entering a personal guarantee. A solicitor’s duty to a non-client may…

A conditional fee agreement is reasonable where existing before-the-event insurance has been exhausted and no other funding source is available, even though…

A contractual description of an historic or reconstructed vehicle must accurately identify features material to the transaction. Generic club or registration…

When an appeal is compromised after partial success, costs should reflect the extent of the success actually achieved against the relief sought. The court must…

For honest comment, the words must be comment rather than fact, based on facts which are true or protected by privilege, and represent an opinion which an…

Summary judgment in a defamation claim is appropriate only where the claimant has no real prospect of success. The application is not a summary trial or…

An interim injunction may restrain disclosure of private information about marriage or sexual relationships whether the information is true or false. The court…

A seller’s negative answer to a property information enquiry is not a misrepresentation where the seller neither received nor read the relevant notice and…

A contractual right of first refusal is construed in the context of the agreement as a whole and its commercial purpose. Where a literal construction would…

On an application for an injunction under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the court exercises an original jurisdiction and must make an…

Interim injunctions in defamation proceedings are rare, but the court has jurisdiction to grant one under Human Rights Act 1998 section 12 where the evidence…

In assessing damages for internet libel, the court considers the gravity of the allegation, the extent of publication and the likely harm to the claimant’s…

Interim restraint of publication affecting freedom of expression requires a sufficiently favourable prospect that publication will be prohibited at trial. In…

A contract for logistical services must be construed as a whole. A detailed contractual allocation of risk will generally prevent a court from treating one…

A contractual obligation to provide a stated minimum quantity of services is not reduced merely because a separate, conditional benefit cannot be obtained.…

Where the law is developing or materially contested, strike out and summary judgment should be approached cautiously. The court should avoid deciding…

Applications for judgment on admissions should ordinarily result in payment within the applicable period. The court has a discretion to allow more time, but…

When assessing the proportionality of relocation under a non-derogating control order, the court must subject the measure to intense scrutiny and examine…

A Crown defendant’s liability in tort is confined by Crown Proceedings Act 1947, s.2. The Act does not permit creation of a new direct, non-delegable duty of…

A procedural defect in transferring an immigration detainee between places of detention does not, without more, make the detention unlawful or support damages…

A court may make an unless order requiring compliance with disclosure obligations supporting a freezing order, even while an application to challenge…

A prosecution is not malicious merely because criminal charges are dismissed or the defendant is acquitted. A claimant must show both absence of reasonable and…

A local authority’s statutory power and assumption of responsibility to claim criminal injuries compensation for a child do not, without more, create a…

A claimant may recover the reasonable value of gratuitous palliative care provided by a charitable hospice where the care is a reasonably necessary consequence…

For claims arising from non-contractual events occurring on or after 20 August 2007, Rome II applies where the applicable law is determined on or after 11…

On an application for an injunction under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the court generally accepts the planning authority’s…

At the preliminary stage of a libel claim, the court asks whether the words are capable of referring to the claimant. The question is governed by…

Disciplinary procedures incorporated into an NHS doctor’s employment contract may create enforceable contractual obligations, although vague, advisory or…

A civil claim under the Human Rights Act 1998 may be brought in the High Court where the relevant immigration tribunal cannot grant the remedies sought…

A common-law duty of care cannot be imposed on a public authority where it would be incompatible with the statutory scheme governing the authority’s functions.…

In historic personal injury claims, the discretion to disapply the limitation period must be exercised claim by claim. The court must weigh the reasons for…

A claimant’s preference for periodical payments is a factor, not a determining right. The court must consider all the circumstances and decide which form of…

In disputes where an intermediary performs services while negotiations continue, the court must determine objectively whether the parties intended immediate…

Immigration detention is lawful only while the statutory and common-law limits on detention are satisfied. The Hardial Singh principles require a genuine…

An indemnity costs order requires conduct that is out of the ordinary and takes the case out of the norm. A party’s unsuccessful or opportunistic case…

When reviewing a minimum term under Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must consider the seriousness of the murder, the principles in…

When reviewing the minimum term of an existing prisoner under Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court may reduce the notified term but cannot…

On an application by an existing prisoner under Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court may reduce an existing minimum term only where the…

The temporal scope of Regulation (EC) 864/2007 (Rome II) could not be determined conclusively without guidance from the European Court of Justice. The…

A contractual term entitling a vendor to receive sums from the purchaser is not an unlawful distribution by a company merely because the sums relate to the…

Non-party costs orders are exceptional. The central question is whether making the order is just, having regard to all the circumstances. A family member who…

Contractual wording is construed in its factual matrix, excluding prior negotiations and subjective intentions. A prior course of dealing may form part of the…

Defamation proceedings may be struck out as an abuse of process where any likely award would be very modest and wholly disproportionate to the cost, time and…

For summary judgment, a contractual repayment obligation is construed from the agreement’s express terms and commercial operation. Where an agreement…

The meaning of settlement correspondence is determined objectively, having regard to its wording and the relevant background. A reference to accepting an offer…

In a clinical negligence claim, the claimant must prove on the balance of probabilities that the breach caused the injury for which damages are sought. Where…

An employer’s discretion under a discretionary bonus clause may be subject to a subjective contractual assessment. Where the contract leaves performance to the…

For a regulated running-account credit agreement, the contractual interest rate is the stated monthly or annual rate. The APR is a statutory information…

In an unwell, febrile child, meningococcal disease must be considered. If three red or purple spots are non-blanching, the child must be referred urgently to…

Payment protection insurance is included in the total charge for credit only where it is required by the creditor as a condition of making the credit…

The Secretary of State may withdraw an immigration decision under appeal where she genuinely intends to reconsider it in light of new or relevant matters.…

In construing an employment contract, the court must identify the meaning a reasonable person would give the document in its commercial and factual context.…

A court determines the legal character of an arrangement for goods by examining the whole agreement and the parties’ obligations. A transaction may constitute…

Employers are liable for psychiatric injury caused by work-related stress only where illness to the particular employee was reasonably foreseeable and the…

Where a claim concerns dishonest receipt of money, the court may award compound interest from the dates of receipt to judgment where that better reflects the…

When fixing a minimum term for a mandatory life sentence under the transitional provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the reviewing judge must conduct a…

An employee cannot claim contractual payment for overtime, shift work or expenses unless the employment contract, a valid variation, or a separate agreement…

An anonymity order under CPR 39.2 requires proof that non-disclosure is necessary to protect the interests of the relevant party. Consent, or the fact that…

An exclusive image-rights representation agreement may fall within the doctrine of restraint of trade even though it concerns only commercial exploitation and…

In an application for interim relief engaging privacy and freedom of expression, the question under section 12(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998 is whether the…

An occupier may be liable for a nuisance created by trespassers where, knowing or having presumed knowledge of it, the occupier has sufficient time and fails…

On a review of a notified minimum term, the court must assess the seriousness and culpability of the offence by applying the statutory criteria, including the…

In reviewing a minimum term for a mandatory life sentence under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must assess the seriousness of the…

On a review of a notified minimum term for a mandatory life sentence, the court must apply the statutory criteria in Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act…

On a review of a minimum term under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must assess the seriousness of the offence, relevant custody and…

On a review of a notified minimum term under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must assess the seriousness of the offence by applying the…

When reviewing a minimum term under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must assess the seriousness and culpability of the offence, have…

Freedom of expression in political broadcasting receives a high degree of protection, including protection for offensive expression. That protection does not…

While Harrow LBE v Qazi remains good law, a lower court cannot treat the rule in Hammersmith LBC v Monk as incompatible with Article 8. A seriously arguable…

An appellate court should interfere with a costs decision only where the judge erred in principle or reached a decision outside the generous ambit of…

A defence of justification should not be struck out at an interlocutory stage where an amendment could identify a possible victim of the alleged harassment…

A claimant must prove injury, causation and loss on the balance of probabilities. Where a claim depends substantially on reported psychological symptoms, the…

Late service of a business-rates demand notice under regulation 5 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989 does…

On an application to determine meaning in a libel claim, the court must read the words complained of in their full publication context, while excluding…

A person seeking possession of publicly accessible land need not hold the legal estate. It is sufficient to establish a better right to physical possession…

A unilateral notice to quit served by one joint tenant validly determines a periodic joint tenancy unless the tenancy terms provide otherwise. The remaining…

When assessing an interim payment in a personal injury claim, the court must conservatively assess the likely final judgment and order no more than a…

On a review of a life sentence under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must consider the seriousness of the offence, the principles in…

In determining the meaning of allegedly defamatory words as a preliminary issue, the court must identify the natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to an…

An application to strike out procurement claims or obtain summary judgment should be refused where the pleaded case raises disputed or developing issues…

An employer may recover from an employee the amount of a bribe or secret commission received in connection with the employer’s business. The remedy is…

Where relevant documents are held by a defendant but disclosure is substantially delayed, the court may order staged disclosure before the wider disclosure…

In a personal injury claim, causation must be established on the balance of probabilities. A claimant’s sincere belief about the cause of an accident does not…

Defamation requires a threshold of seriousness which excludes trivial claims. That requirement applies to personal and professional defamation and reflects…

In determining costs after preliminary issues, the court applied the usual rule that a successful party should receive its costs, subject to a fair allocation…

In public procurement, a contracting authority has no discretion to comply only partially with its duties of equality, transparency and objectivity. Its…

Contract formation is determined from the relevant circumstances and the whole of the parties’ communications. A party cannot isolate a document which appears…

Where legislation provides a procedure for making an executive order, the court should not ordinarily superimpose a judge-made requirement for prior…

A doctor is not negligent merely because a tumour is present but is not detected during an examination. The question is whether the examination was performed…

Under the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2007, the phrase “every case on indictment” refers to proceedings in the Crown Court on one or more counts…

A written commercial agreement is construed objectively, by reference to the meaning it would convey to a reasonable person with the relevant background…

Relief protecting an enforcement officer from proceedings is discretionary. The court must assess whether the claimant has suffered a real and substantial…

On an application for summary judgment, a claim has a realistic prospect of success where reasonably arguable factual or legal issues may affect the outcome.…

In assessing damages for traumatic brain injury, a claimant’s apparently successful employment history does not necessarily demonstrate an ability to sustain…

Where a claimant establishes some future disadvantage caused by personal injury but the evidence provides no reliable mathematical basis for quantifying future…

A person is not liable for publishing defamatory matter merely because he knew of a proposed publication and could have prevented it. Liability requires…

Representations are actionable in deceit where they are false, known to be false, intended to induce reliance and contribute substantially to the claimant’s…

The discretion to disapply the one-year limitation period for defamation and malicious falsehood claims is broad. The court must assess all the circumstances…

In a medical negligence claim, the question is not whether treatment involved clinical judgment, but whether the particular decision fell outside the range…

A contract is not void for uncertainty merely because an outstanding term remains to be determined, where the parties have agreed a sufficiently certain…

In an insurance claim, the insurer bears the burden of proving deliberate loss or fraud. Serious allegations require clear and cogent evidence, although the…

The statutory power to detain a person pending deportation is confined to purposes properly connected with making and effecting removal from the United…

Contractors carrying out works must take reasonable steps to prevent mud or other hazardous material escaping onto adjoining highways and footways where it…

Courts should abstain from deciding religious or doctrinal disputes, including questions concerning religious succession, ordination, spiritual status…

For statutory protection from liability for inducing employees to take industrial action, a union must comply with the statutory ballot requirements, including…

A commercial agency may be subject to the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 where the parties expressly incorporate them, including by…

A defamation claim may be struck out as an abuse of process where, after subsequent events, it can achieve no real benefit in protecting or vindicating the…

In determining whether a prisoner convicted of murder should ever be released on licence, the court must decide what sentence is necessary to meet the…

Defamation proceedings may be struck out as an abuse of process where the claimant cannot realistically obtain meaningful vindication and any damages would be…

ATE insurance premiums may in principle be recovered as costs where authorised by Access to Justice Act 1999, section 29. Late procurement does not…

In rescuer cases, the question is whether the rescuer took reasonable steps for their own safety in all the circumstances. The law is slow and cautious to find…

An authority’s statutory power to appoint an officer to administer its financial affairs does not, without more, require the appointee to be its employee. The…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the discretion to extend time is unfettered and must be exercised by weighing the individual circumstances…

After a preliminary liability hearing, the normal course is to reserve costs where a payment into court or Part 36 offer may affect the eventual costs result.…

Rules requiring disclosure of information about conditional fee agreements and after-the-event insurance do not generally require disclosure of the policy…

Specific disclosure and information orders must be directed to documents or information relevant to issues in the litigation. The court will not permit a party…

The terms scheduled to a Tomlin order are a binding settlement contract, not terms ordered by the court. The court therefore has no general procedural power to…

A procurement authority has a broad discretion to abandon a tender procedure, including where the procedure has been affected by mistakes or a fresh procedure…

A non-party costs order is an exceptional, fact-sensitive exercise of discretion. The ultimate question is whether, in all the circumstances, making the order…

Newspaper items concerning the same subject must be read together when their content, presentation and cross-references make them sufficiently closely…

The three-month period for seeking a costs order against the Legal Services Commission under regulation 5 of the Community Legal Service (Cost Protection)…

Article 2 imposes an operational obligation on a hospital authority where staff knew or ought to have known that a detained mental-health patient faced a real…

Abuse of process is assessed by a broad, merits-based judgment addressing the public and private interests and all the circumstances, with attention to whether…

Findings by an employment tribunal may create an issue estoppel in later High Court proceedings where they determine an issue essential to the claimant’s legal…

Compensation under the offer of amends procedure is assessed on the same principles as damages at trial. The court should consider the gravity of the…

Prior notification in privacy injunction applications affecting media non-parties is governed by proportionality and the individual facts. There is no blanket…

On an interlocutory application concerning post-termination restraints, the court may assess the likely outcome at trial where the restraint will expire before…

A consent order will not ordinarily be set aside where the party understood the relevant facts and was not misled. A landlord’s statutory gas-safety duty to…

In a clinical negligence claim based on events many years earlier, the claimant must prove the factual foundation of the alleged breach on the balance of…

In assessing damages for personal injury, the court must evaluate the claimant’s actual disability, pain, recovery period and future risks against the…

On a meaning application in libel, a pleaded meaning should be rejected summarily only where a jury would be perverse to uphold it. The exercise should be…

A defamation claim dependent on innuendo requires a realistic prospect of proving that readers possessed the extrinsic facts giving the words their defamatory…

A registered social landlord exercising a possession power through a starter-tenancy procedure must comply with its own published procedures and apply…

A claim must plead the essential elements of each cause of action relied upon. For misfeasance in public office, the pleading must identify the required state…

Under section 50(6) of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, a local authority assumes only liabilities forming part of the resident’s existing arrangements…

A franchisor may owe a prospective franchisee a duty of care in tort where the parties have a sufficiently close relationship, loss from negligent advice is…

On an appeal concerning recoverable solicitor costs, the reasonableness of instructing a higher-rate or geographically distant firm must be assessed by…

For the hosting exemption under Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, the relevant service is assessed by reference to the particular…

A contractual success fee may be payable where an acquisition occurs within the agreed post-termination period, even if the adviser was not involved in, or an…

Section 25(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 protects an owner who acquires bunkers from a charterer in possession if the statutory requirements are satisfied.…

A common-law claim for damages arising from disciplinary breaches before dismissal falls within the Johnson exclusion where the alleged loss results from the…

A recovery order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is not a confiscation of unexplained wealth. The claimant must prove, on the balance of probabilities…

On a meaning application in defamation, the court must assess the words as an ordinary reader would understand them in context. Words may bear a defamatory…

When construing an order for enhanced interest under CPR Part 36, “interest” ordinarily means compensation for being kept out of money that is presently…

In a professional-negligence claim, wound dehiscence following surgery does not, without more, justify an inference of negligent treatment. The claimant bears…

In an online libel claim, archived articles must be assessed in the context in which a realistic reader would encounter them. Where linked articles contain…

In assessing damages for severe traumatic brain injury, losses caused by the psychiatric and behavioural consequences of the injury are recoverable where they…

An application form for a regulated credit-card agreement may itself be an executed agreement. Where the debtor signs an offer on stated terms and the creditor…

Under article 28.3 of Regulation 44/2001, a stay for related proceedings requires a real risk of irreconcilable judgments. The court must identify the issues…

A solicitor’s duties are defined by the scope of the retainer. There is no general obligation to investigate or pursue every matter affecting a client’s…

In a personal injury claim based on alleged negligent failure to respond to symptoms, the claimant must prove each factual link necessary to establish…

A person commits deceit where he knowingly or recklessly makes a false factual representation, intending it to be relied upon, and it materially induces the…

An employee may rely on objectively assessed conduct that seriously damages trust and confidence to justify termination, even if that conduct did not cause the…

A partnership may be liable for a partner’s dishonest or negligent conduct where the conduct is sufficiently closely connected with authorised acts to be…

A court exercising supervisory jurisdiction over a sporting disciplinary body reviews legality, fairness and rationality; it does not substitute its own…

A householder does not assume control of construction work merely by restricting contractors’ access to parts of the property. Control under the relevant…

Qualified privilege is not lost merely because a communication contains inaccurate language, careless reasoning or excessive zeal. The claimant must prove…

A claimant induced by fraudulent misrepresentations to enter a commercial agreement may rescind the agreement and recover loss measured by restoring her to the…

In a defamation claim arising from a television broadcast, liability depends on the defamatory imputations for which each defendant is shown to be responsible.…

For personal liability under the Company Directors' Disqualification Act 1986, a person need not be a registered director. The statutory test extends to anyone…

On an application for an interim payment where future damages may be paid periodically, the court must assess the likely capital award conservatively, leaving…

In civil recovery proceedings, the claimant must prove on the balance of probabilities that property was obtained through unlawful conduct. Suspicion…

The normal order is for costs on the standard basis. Indemnity costs require conduct or circumstances taking the case outside the norm. A claim which fails is…

For a transfer to fall within the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, there must be an economic entity whose identity is…

An employer may be liable in contract for work-related psychiatric injury where harmful stress was reasonably foreseeable and the employer failed to take…

A tour operator may assume contractual responsibility for an excursion arranged by its resort representative, even where the excursion was not included in the…

On an application to set aside a judgment entered after non-attendance at trial, Civil Procedure Rules rule 39.3(5) requires prompt action, a good reason for…

Collective agreements may be incorporated into an individual employment contract only where the parties objectively intended that result and the relevant…

In a claim alleging that asbestos exposure caused fatal pulmonary fibrosis, causation is determined on the balance of probabilities by evaluating all relevant…

Under the former Part 36 regime, an offer which was no longer available for acceptance was not necessarily withdrawn. Where the offeror had not unilaterally…

In a road-traffic negligence claim, the court must determine the point of impact and responsibility from the whole evidential picture. That includes reliable…

Harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 requires more than distress, annoyance or unreasonable conduct. The conduct must be targeted…

Rome II applies to a claim against a compensation body where the underlying road accident creates a conflict of laws and the claim arises from the tort or…

A general practitioner assessing a possible breast lump must take a history sufficient to identify relevant earlier consultations and the location and…

Under the tenancy-deposit provisions of the Housing Act 2004, the requirement to pay a deposit into an authorised scheme is an initial requirement of the…

A driver must exercise the care expected of a reasonably prudent driver, assessed in the circumstances and without imposing a counsel of perfection or relying…

A hirer’s acceptance of goods under a hire purchase agreement does not, by itself, remove the right to reject goods for breach of the implied condition of…

Summary assessment of costs is inappropriate where correspondence reveals material disputes about whether individual items were costs of and incidental to…

A term is implied into a contract only where the contract, read as a whole against its relevant background, would reasonably be understood to contain it.…

Where a water company encounters a minor fire-hydrant leak, it may repair or replace the hydrant under section 57(3) only if the statutory conditions…

Where witness statements are required by an agreed case-management order, a party should comply unless a proper application justifies variation. The existence…

Medical negligence is assessed by the Bolam standard, subject to the requirement that expert opinion have a logical and defensible basis. In cases concerning…

A school owes its pupils a duty to take reasonable care to keep them reasonably safe during school hours and for a reasonable period afterwards while they…

Summary judgment may be granted where the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim. The hearing is not a trial, and the court should…

An agreement expressed to acknowledge completed services cannot be construed as covering future services where the surrounding circumstances do not support…

A university’s contractual relationship with a research student may include an obligation to act reasonably and in good faith. Additional specific terms should…

At an without-notice interim application, the court must balance privacy, freedom of expression, open justice and fair-hearing rights without giving…

An assured tenancy may arise where the parties’ objective conduct demonstrates an agreement for exclusive possession at a rent. A landlord’s uncommunicated or…

On an application for an interim payment where periodical payments may be ordered at trial, the court must preserve the trial judge’s discretion. The total…

Summary judgment in a libel claim should be granted only where a properly directed jury could not rationally decide the issue for the claimant. The judge must…

A tariff review following R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Smith [2005] UKHL 51 requires evidence of progress that is both exceptional…

An insurer may rely on a professional indemnity exclusion for dishonesty or fraud where an insured director knowingly facilitates a fraudulent transaction or…

An interim injunction restraining publication of confidential information requires evidence of a threat to publish, together with identification of the…

Whether precautions are required for a recreational or competitive activity depends on a balance between the risk of serious injury and the activity’s…

A local authority’s duty to safeguard children does not automatically exclude a duty of care to their parents. A potential conflict between parental and child…

An expert witness retained by a party to litigation was immune from a negligence claim concerning a joint expert statement under the binding authority of…

In a professional negligence claim concerning a lost opportunity to litigate, the claimant must show a prospect of success that is more than negligible or…

An interim suspension of a public procurement exercise requires consideration of whether there is a serious issue to be tried, whether damages would be an…

Liabilities arising from injuries suffered by former employees before a statutory transfer may transfer under a provision vesting all liabilities comprised in…