High Court: Queen's Bench Division judgments, 2012

In a libel claim relying on a Chase level 2 meaning, a defendant must prove the primary facts which objectively gave rise to reasonable grounds to suspect the…

The terms of an entirely oral agreement are matters of fact. The court must determine what the parties actually agreed from the evidence as a whole. Relevant…

In complex group litigation, success for costs purposes is assessed by reference to the litigation as a whole. A party’s failure on individual issues does not…

Where a claimant fails to beat a defendant’s Part 36 offer, the usual costs order should be made unless it would be unjust. The court must consider all the…

A contempt application must identify the alleged breaches with sufficient detail to enable the respondent to meet the case, but the required precision depends…

A post-termination restraint in a franchise agreement should be construed, where the language permits, as protecting the franchisor’s legitimate goodwill…

A party who signs a contractual document is ordinarily bound by its terms, whether or not the document has been read. The court assumed, without deciding, that…

An accepted determination by the Financial Ombudsman does not, without more, merge the complainant’s cause of action so as to prevent a subsequent court claim…

When parties have agreed to use a single joint expert, the court retains a broad discretion to permit a party to obtain and rely on evidence from another…

After expiry of the limitation period, substitution under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 r.19.5(3)(a) and Limitation Act 1980 s.35(6)(a) is permissible where the…

On an appeal from a case-management decision, the court should interfere with the refusal to withdraw an admission only where the judge was wrong in principle…

A failed tax scheme is not necessarily fraudulent. Fraudulent misrepresentation depends on what was represented, whether it was false, the representor’s…

An employee’s contractual equity entitlement is construed according to the natural meaning of the agreement. A forfeiture clause triggered by leaving to engage…

A cause of action for breach of contract or duty accrues when the breach occurs. Knowledge of the defendant’s motive or explanation is not required. Under…

A privacy claim may be struck out as an abuse of process where continuation would serve no legitimate purpose, but that remedy is exceptional and…

An employee’s duty of fidelity may prohibit assistance to a serious prospective competitor before that competitor begins trading. The duty is fact-sensitive…

Under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, a corporate entity may seek an injunction under section 3A where harassment of individuals is intended to…

In an advice-based clinical negligence claim, the relevant injury may be the unintended conception itself. Where negligent advice causes conception, ordinary…

Under section 41A of the Medical Act 1983, the court exercises an original jurisdiction when reviewing an interim order. It gives appropriate weight to the…

When deciding whether to adjourn an application, the court must deal with the case justly by balancing prejudice to all parties. A defendant’s late or…

Section 1(2) of the Damages Act 1996 permits a different discount rate only where the case falls outside the category considered by the Lord Chancellor, or has…

At the end of a libel trial, striking out for lack of substantial tort remains an exceptional remedy. The court must apply the law in force, rather than a…

The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur is not a principle of law and creates no presumption. It is a conventional description of facts which disclose a prima facie…

On a meaning application, the court must identify the meaning reasonably conveyed by the publication as a whole. It must consider any competing account of a…

Restrictive covenants in an employment contract are enforceable during employment where they are reasonable in the interests of the parties and the public…

An insurance certificate complies with CPD 32.5(2)(c) if it shows the premium actually paid or payable at the stage when proceedings concluded. It need not…

A court fine imposed for contempt is not provable in the contemnor’s bankruptcy and is unaffected by it. Where imprisonment has been suspended on condition…

Under CPR 44.3(8), the court may order payment on account of costs at any stage after making a costs order. The application is distinct from an application for…

The power to add or substitute a party after expiry of limitation is a narrow statutory gateway. Under the Limitation Act 1980 and CPR 19.5, substitution must…

On an appeal under section 204 of the Housing Act 1996, the county court generally determines points of law by reviewing the housing authority’s decision on…

Civil Procedure Rules 1998 Part 36 is a self-contained procedural code. An accepted offer normally determines entitlement to costs incurred before acceptance…

Expert or factual evidence concerning the collection, editing and presentation of surveillance footage may be admitted where the witness has sufficient…

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

An order under Children and Young Persons Act 1933, s 39 may be insufficient where reports can be published through media other than newspapers or broadcasts.…

In a defamation action, a claimant’s serious misconduct during the proceedings may be relevant to damages and costs. An attempt to pervert the course of…

Permitted development under Schedule 2 Part 6 Class A of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 requires the particular…

Information contained in correspondence is not private merely because it appears in an email. The claimant must show a reasonable expectation of privacy in the…

An interim injunction requires a serious question to be tried. Where professional training regulations make membership of an Inn an entry condition, a student…

A contribution or indemnity claim requires the statutory conditions under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, including liability by the proposed…

On a meaning application in a defamation claim, the court decides whether words are capable of bearing the pleaded or another defamatory meaning, applying a…

Under CPR 19.2(2), a person should be joined as a defendant only where joinder is substantively desirable for resolving matters in dispute or a connected…

Where a claimant in fact lacks capacity to conduct proceedings, a settlement or consent judgment concerning the claim requires court approval, even if the…

A contract may be binding even though the parties contemplate a later formal document. The question is objective and requires the whole course of negotiations…

A claimant may recover damages for psychiatric injury caused by abuse only to the extent that the alleged condition and its consequences are proved on the…

For an interim injunction, the court applies the American Cyanamid questions: whether there is a serious issue to be tried, whether damages would be an…

A settlement with one alleged joint tortfeasor does not automatically release or satisfy claims against others. The settlement must be construed by ordinary…

On a strike-out application, the court must assess whether the pleaded claim has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success without conducting a…

A surety is released where the underlying agreement is materially changed, unless the surety consents or the change is necessarily beneficial. Consent may be…

On an application for summary judgment, a professional service provider is ordinarily taken to have undertaken reasonable skill and care, but may assume an…

Under the Land Registration Act 2002, adverse possession of registered land is pursued through an application to the Land Registry. The court does not…

Liability for conspiracy to use unlawful means requires awareness of the intended means, awareness that those means are unlawful, and agreement to their use.…

Part 36 is a self-contained and prescriptive procedural code. A party seeking its specific costs consequences must comply with the rules governing the offer…

In a clinical negligence claim, causation must be proved on the balance of probabilities by evidence relating to the individual claimant. Population statistics…

A Harbour Revision Order under section 14 of the Harbours Act 1964 cannot establish a new harbour authority for only part of an existing harbour while leaving…

Reports based on pleadings and other documents available for public inspection may attract privilege where they are fair and accurate. Minor errors or a…

Election Petition Rules 1960 rule 4 requires substantive compliance with the matters which an election petition must convey, but it does not require slavish…

In defamation and malicious falsehood claims, the court must strictly supervise compliance with procedural time limits, particularly where delay would extend…

In a libel action, meaning is determined objectively by the single meaning that the hypothetical reasonable reader would take from the publication as a whole…

Undertakings given to the court must be obeyed while they remain in force. A party who considers an undertaking inappropriate must apply to vary or discharge…

A freezing injunction requires a good arguable case, a real risk that a judgment will remain unsatisfied, and a conclusion that relief is just and convenient.…

A Norwich Pharmacal order requires an arguable wrong, a need for disclosure to enable proceedings, and involvement by a person able to provide information…

An intrusive forensic search of a party’s computers requires necessity and proportionality. Preservation and imaging of evidence may be justified, but that…

When parallel High Court and Employment Tribunal proceedings substantially overlap, the court may adjourn the High Court trial where the Tribunal is better…

For the purposes of CPR 45, non-freezing cold injury is not a disease. The word “disease” bears its natural and ordinary meaning, subject only to the specific…

On an application to terminate an interim suspension, the High Court exercises an original jurisdiction. It must decide whether the order was wrong, while…

For pre-action disclosure, the applicant need only show that the proposed claim is properly arguable and has a real prospect of success. The court should avoid…

In assessing damages for repudiatory breach, causation must be distinctly proved, but the court may assess loss on the evidence and commercial probabilities…

On a meaning application, the court must assess the words as a whole and in context, through the eyes of the hypothetical reasonable reader. That reader is not…

For the purposes of sections 308 and 314(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, consideration is executed only when all contractual promises forming the…

Under CPR rule 36.13(2), the fact of a Part 36 offer must not be disclosed to the trial judge until the case has been decided. In a split trial, “the case”…

Under Senior Courts Act 1981, a libel action remains jury-triable unless the case requires prolonged examination of documents which cannot conveniently be…

Private nuisance is assessed by asking whether the interference is sufficiently serious, viewed in all the circumstances. Relevant considerations include the…

The supplied text contains only the judgment cover sheet and does not state any legal principle, reasoning, or determination.

For statutory qualified privilege under the Defamation Act 1996, an extract from a court document may be a summary rather than a verbatim copy. Fairness and…

Immigration detention is lawful only where authorised by statute and exercised in accordance with material public-law duties and published detention policy. A…

At the disclosure stage, allegations of previous misconduct are disclosable where they are potentially probative of an issue in the proceedings. This applies…

Police entry under a search warrant is lawful where the statutory requirements for identification and production of the warrant are met. A constable may use…

Orders made pursuant to a foreign court’s Letter of Request must be directed to the proper person or entity and must specify the documents or matters involved…

Where insurers rely on a policy exception, they bear the burden of proving the excepted cause on the balance of probabilities. The seriousness of an allegation…

An interim non-disclosure order requires the court first to decide whether the claimant has a reasonable expectation of privacy and then to balance the…

A voluntary bill of indictment is an exceptional procedure. Leave should be granted only where good reason to depart from the normal procedure is clearly shown…

A legal assignee of rights under a regulated consumer credit agreement may become the statutory “creditor” under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 where the…

Safeguarding investigations by a local authority may attract judicial review even where the authority also has a contract with the care-home operator. Where…

Liability in negligence depends on whether the defendant failed to take reasonable precautions against a foreseeable real risk, assessed objectively in the…

When deciding whether to disapply the limitation period for a personal injury claim, the court must consider whether it is fair and just for the claim to…

A driver on a narrow, unlit country road must adjust speed to the road, visibility and the foreseeable presence of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.…

In a surgical negligence claim, the claimant must prove that the alleged operative error occurred and caused the pleaded injury. A surgical team must check…

For graduated-fee purposes, successive valid indictments do not necessarily create separate cases. The question is whether there were separate proceedings in…

Under sections 11 and 12 of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, the law of the country where a personal injury occurs is…

Strike-out and summary-judgment applications should not become mini-trials. Where factual disputes require resolution, or there are reasonable grounds to…

In assessing personal injury damages, the court may award the cost of private treatment despite equivalent NHS provision where the claimant would probably pay…

A safe system of work must be assessed in its operational context. In a military setting, the duty concerning service-vehicle driving was to ensure that…

Information concerning an intimate relationship, including private correspondence, photographs and financial details, may attract a reasonable expectation of…

Costs are determined by the outcome of the proceedings viewed as a whole, but the court must consider partial success, admissible settlement offers and the…

A claimant alleging misappropriation must establish each item on the balance of probabilities. A jointly appointed accountant’s categorisation of items by…

At the pleading stage, a defendant advancing justification need not show that the pleaded particulars are more consistent with the truth of the defamatory…

An interim privacy injunction may restrain disclosure of private information where publication is likely to interfere unjustifiably with the claimant’s private…

Consent orders preserving anonymity or confidentiality are derogations from open justice. The court must scrutinise whether each derogation is necessary and…

Damages for future care must reflect the claimant’s reasonable needs arising from the injury and the reasonable provision chosen to meet them. The court must…

A motorist who turns across the path of an approaching motorcycle is negligent where he fails to make a proper observation before manoeuvring. A motorcyclist’s…

A personal guarantee given as part of a package of security remains effective according to its terms unless a collateral agreement, warranty, representation or…

An insurance intermediary recommending payment protection insurance must take reasonable steps to communicate information clearly, fairly and without…

A guarantor is bound by the guarantee which he signed, even if he expected different terms or the creditor did not sign it. Where a facility agreement clearly…

A midwife’s conduct is judged by the standard of a reasonably competent midwife performing the relevant functions in the post-natal ward of a district general…

English law recognises no general tort of invasion of privacy. Physical intrusion must be founded on an established tort, such as harassment. A child may have…

Police authorities may charge for special police services only where the services are requested and extend beyond the ordinary common-law duty to keep the…

A solicitor’s lien over costs is not protected merely because the paying party knows of the lien. A compromise remains effective unless there is an intention…

On an application to end the automatic suspension of a public procurement under regulation 47H of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, the court applies the…

On an appeal by way of review from a costs assessment, the appellate court must identify an error of law, misdirection, irrelevant consideration or a decision…

Employees may owe contractual duties of good faith, fidelity and mutual trust and confidence, and may also owe a fiduciary duty not to divert sales…

Safeguarding procedures may apply to allegations concerning an adult pupil where the alleged perpetrator works with children, because the relevant purpose is…

When security for costs is justified because enforcement of a costs order abroad would face substantial obstacles or an extra burden, the amount must reflect…

A lender may waive contractual preconditions to drawdown by making an advance when those preconditions have not been satisfied. The effect depends on the…

A deliberate and substantial breach of a freezing injunction is a serious contempt because it interferes with the administration of justice and may justify…

Harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 requires a course of conduct involving at least two occasions. The conduct must amount to harassment…

Where parties have not made an express or sufficiently certain choice of law, the applicable contractual law is determined under the closest-connection rules.…

A statutory scheme conferring a right to claim financial loss after a death does not necessarily fall within the ambit of Article 8 merely because the claimant…

In determining whether words are capable of bearing a defamatory meaning, the court applies the understanding of the reasonable reader. The publisher’s…

For an interlocutory jurisdiction challenge, claimants must show at least an arguable case that the defendant is domiciled in England. Under Article 60 of the…

Immigration detention pending deportation must remain connected to a realistic prospect of removal and must last no longer than is reasonably necessary. The…

For defamation and malicious falsehood, words must be reasonably capable of being understood as referring to the claimant. An allegation attacking a group does…

An interim anti-harassment and non-disclosure order may be granted without notice where there is a real risk that notice would frustrate the purpose of the…

Rules made by a sporting governing body may give rise to an enforceable contractual promise where the circumstances show an intention to create legal…

A mortgage valuer must adopt a holistic, evidence-based approach to market value. This includes considering incentives, relevant new-build and second-hand…

A landlord’s repairing covenant extending to the structure of a dwelling may include safety features integral to a staircase, including bannisters. Their…

In a libel claim concerning reporting of scientific publishing practices, substantial truth, honest comment and responsible journalism were established. An…

Where a party has succeeded on all the agreed issues, the general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs. A court should depart…

Communications made by a barrister to the professional regulator in response to a request for comments on a complaint are protected by absolute privilege…

On an application for summary judgment or strike out, the court must decide whether the claim has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. It…

A solicitor may issue an interim statute bill during an entire retainer only under an effective contractual agreement or at a natural break in the work. The…

The standard of care owed by those organising hazardous activities for children is that of a reasonably careful parent, assessed in the context of the activity…

Where evidence indicates that giving notice may defeat the purpose of proceedings, the court may grant interim injunctions without notice. Restrictions on open…

Statutory notices for industrial action must enable the employer readily to deduce the total number of employees concerned, their categories and numbers, and…

For compulsory motor insurance, “arising out of” the use of a vehicle requires a causal or consequential relationship between the vehicle’s use and the injury.…

Where an employment contract provides for remuneration by bonus but leaves the amount or method of calculation unresolved, the employee is not thereby deprived…

A restrictive covenant is assessed for reasonableness when it is made. If it was void from the outset, later changes to employment terms do not revive it…

When a public authority classifies infrastructure under its published flood-mapping policy, the policy must be interpreted objectively and applied according to…

In a possession claim brought under CPR Part 55 and allocated to the multi-track, the claim is treated as a Part 7 claim for determining the route of appeal.…

A written commercial agreement is construed objectively, using reasonably available background knowledge. Unambiguous language must be applied, even where the…

For summary judgment, the claimant must show a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. The court must also consider whether another compelling…

A court may stay proceedings under CPR 3.1(2)(f) where an imminent decision of the Supreme Court is likely to determine or materially narrow the issues…

For the statutory motor-insurance exclusion to apply, the insurer must prove that the injured passenger knew, or had blind-eye knowledge, that the vehicle had…

Information does not cease to be protectable merely because it has received some publicity. The relevant question is whether it has become so generally…

On an application for summary judgment in a discrimination claim, the court must keep separate two questions: whether the claimant was treated less favourably…

An employer must apply contractual disciplinary and capability procedures according to their substance, not merely their labels. A confidentiality breach may…

A criminal conviction is admissible in civil proceedings, but it is not automatically conclusive. A defendant may challenge the conviction under section 11(2)…

When assessing proportionality under regulation 21 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the decision-maker must consider whether…

Justification in defamation is determined by the civil standard of proof. The seriousness of the allegation affects the evidence required and the care with…

An interim injunction enforcing a restraint which will expire before judgment ordinarily requires the claimant to show that it is likely to succeed at trial. A…

The core immunity attaching to parties, advocates and witnesses protects things said or done in the ordinary course of court proceedings, including conduct…

A trustee who undertakes to collect charitable receipts through a company may remain personally accountable to the charity where the arrangement is personal…

In a claim concerning obstetric brachial plexus injury, negligence cannot be inferred merely from the existence of the injury. The claimant must prove, on all…

Permission to appeal should be refused where none of the proposed grounds has a real prospect of success. A party’s non-attendance will not justify an appeal…

An application to set aside a judgment for non-attendance under CPR 39.3 requires satisfaction of three cumulative conditions: promptness, a good reason for…

The rate of interest on damages is discretionary. It should fairly compensate the recipient for being kept out of money, using a broad-brush assessment rather…

An employment reference is ordinarily protected by qualified privilege where the provider has a moral or social duty to give it and the recipient has a…

A planning document must be characterised according to its substance, not merely its title. Where it relates to part of a local planning authority’s area…

Under section 69(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the starting point is trial by judge alone. A jury may be ordered only where the court’s discretion…

In possession proceedings based on the mandatory rent-arrears ground, an adjournment to enable a tenant to reduce arrears is available only in exceptional…

Press publications will amount to harassment only in rare and exceptional circumstances. The court must interpret and apply the statutory test compatibly with…

Where legislation specifies service by post as a primary method of service, service is ordinarily effected when the document is posted, rather than when it is…

Disclosure is a continuing process and part of case management. The court may revisit an earlier procedural order where circumstances have changed or its…

A genuine mistake in a party’s name may be corrected where the intended party is identifiable and the mistake creates no reasonable doubt about identity. A…

In assessing alleged clinical negligence, the court must consider the individual facts and expert evidence while avoiding hindsight. The existence of a body of…

A claimant who discontinues proceedings is presumed liable for the defendant’s costs under CPR r 38.6. The claimant bears the burden of showing good reason to…

A claimant who suffers injury while participating in a joint criminal enterprise may be barred from recovery where the criminal conduct is directly causative…

A worldwide freezing injunction should not ordinarily be used to preserve assets situated in a foreign state where the defendant is resident there and the…

A bank may have an implied contractual term permitting it to refuse a payment instruction where it suspects money laundering and lacks appropriate consent…

Late amendments which introduce a fundamentally different factual case will ordinarily be refused where they jeopardise a fixed trial date, cause substantial…

Under the Rome Convention, an implied choice of law requires a real choice demonstrated with reasonable certainty by the contract or circumstances. The court…

Defamation proceedings are an abuse of process where they cannot provide meaningful protection or vindication of reputation and the likely benefit is wholly…

A credit reference agency must take positive and proportionate steps to keep personal credit data accurate and up to date. A system that relies solely on…

In a challenge to amended defences, the court held that a serious inference may be pleaded where the assumed facts make the inference legitimate and give…

A specialist registrar must exercise the skill and care expected of a reasonably competent doctor performing the relevant specialist function. During caesarean…

On an appeal under section 40 of the Medical Act 1983, the High Court exercises a genuine but secondary judgment. It must correct material errors of fact or…

An employer’s clear announcement of a guaranteed minimum bonus pool may create contractual obligations, even though individual awards remain discretionary. A…

Where negligent medical treatment is said to have caused injury by omission, the claimant retains the burden of proving causation on the balance of…

A CPR r.16 order permitting a claimant to issue proceedings anonymously is permissive, not an injunction or interim remedy. An application for such an order…

In malicious prosecution, reasonable and probable cause concerns the prosecutor’s honest belief, based on reasonable grounds, that the accused committed the…

A court may determine costs in a party’s absence where it provides a fair opportunity to apply to set the order aside. The timing of payment may then be varied…

Pending judicial review, legislation is presumed valid and ordinarily continues to operate according to its terms. An arguable challenge does not prevent the…

A parent owes a child a duty to take reasonable steps to secure the child in an appropriate car restraint. Whether that duty was breached is ordinarily…

Leave under section 139(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 requires only a realistic, non-fanciful prospect of success. An approved mental health professional’s…

When deciding whether to extend time for serving a claim form under CPR 7.6(2), the court must consider the claimant’s conduct throughout the entire period…

In a libel action, the court must determine the natural and ordinary meaning of the words as a reasonable reader would understand them in their publication…

A guarantee is not conditional upon further security unless that condition forms part of the contract and is objectively brought home to, and accepted by, the…

On an application for an interim payment, the court must make a conservative assessment of the likely final judgment and order no more than a reasonable…

A statutory scheme allowing a solicitor to challenge an intervention in the High Court within eight days is compatible with Convention rights where it provides…

A contractual exclusion of liability for loss of profits may cover damages for breach of contract, including damages following repudiatory breach, where its…

An employee’s general commercial knowledge is not ordinarily protected after employment ends merely because it was confidential during employment. Protection…

Summary judgment is appropriate where the factual basis of a claim is fanciful or entirely without substance, although the court must not conduct a mini-trial.…

Conversion requires deliberate dealing with goods inconsistently with another person’s rights, conduct which excludes that person from use and possession, and…

An employer’s duty to protect employees in a dangerous public service is judged by reasonable care in the circumstances. Employees accept risks inherent in the…

Where proceedings are brought to obtain an injunction or specific performance, achieving the practical objective does not necessarily make the opposing party…

On a standard-basis costs assessment, the assessor must consider all the circumstances, including conduct before and during proceedings and the parties’…

Strike-out for abuse of process requires more than procedural fault or potential prejudice. The conduct must place the fairness of the trial in jeopardy…

On a review of a minimum term under paragraph 3 of Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must first assess the matters specified in paragraph…

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires a public authority to give due regard to the statutory equality needs before and when making a substantive policy…

An employer may convene an ill-health panel to decide whether a doctor should remain employed with adjustments, take another role, or be dismissed, even where…

In civil recovery proceedings under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the claimant must prove unlawful conduct and the acquisition of recoverable…

In an application for interim privacy relief, intimate sexual images attract a very strong expectation of privacy. The court must first ask whether a…

For liability under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980, a claimant must prove that the highway was dangerous to traffic, that the danger resulted from failure…

An interim non-disclosure injunction affecting Articles 8, 10 and 6 must be justified by the statutory and Convention tests, and must go no further than…

Defamation proceedings may constitute an abuse of process where they serve no legitimate purpose in protecting reputation. However, a single publication and…

An express obligation to co-operate in good faith in a long-term commercial contract requires conduct consistent with the contract’s common purpose, fair…

In an interim privacy application, the court must assess each item of information and each proposed recipient separately. A bare fact of a sexual or family…

Where no claim form is issued, there is no litigation and therefore no order for the costs of litigation, including pre-action protocol costs. Once proceedings…

On an application for a ruling on meaning under Practice Direction 53 para 4.1, the court applies a high threshold before holding that words are incapable of…

In a defamation claim alleging match-fixing, the civil standard remains the balance of probabilities, but serious allegations require appropriately careful…

Constructive total loss may arise where insured goods remain physically in existence but recovery within a reasonable time has become unlikely. The assessment…

When approving a settlement for a protected party involving periodical payments, the court must be satisfied that continuity of payment is reasonably secure.…

In civil proceedings alleging dishonesty, the standard remains the balance of probabilities. Because dishonesty may be inherently unlikely, the evidence must…

Judgment entered in a defendant’s absence may be set aside under CPR r 39.3(5) where the defendant has a good reason for non-attendance, acted with all…

For service of a claim form outside the jurisdiction under CPR 6.40(3)(c), English law determines what document must be served, while the law of the country of…

Where the Mental Capacity Act 2005 applies, force or restraint is lawful only if its statutory conditions are satisfied. The decision-maker must reasonably…

At the strike-out stage, a claimant may rely on an inference that defamatory words were published to unidentified third parties where the surrounding…

Vicarious liability for the criminal acts of a non-employee depends first on whether the relationship is sufficiently akin to employment, assessed by the facts…

Harassment requires more than conduct which causes distress. The conduct must be targeted, objectively calculated to cause alarm or distress, and objectively…

Before proceedings are issued, the court may grant an interim non-disclosure order to protect information where there is a strong case that the information is…

At the permission or strike-out stage, a claim should proceed where the claimant shows an arguable legal basis and a real prospect that the court may grant the…

Information may retain its private or confidential character despite limited earlier publication where it remains inaccessible to the public. A claim for…

Compensation following an accepted offer of amends in a defamation claim should be assessed in two stages. First, the court assesses the sum that would have…

The unsuccessful party will ordinarily be ordered to pay the successful party’s costs. Where a costs schedule contains estimated figures rather than records of…

An Internet platform provider is not necessarily a publisher of user-generated defamatory material. Where its role is purely passive, and it does not create…

Relief from a procedural sanction depends on all the circumstances and the overriding objective. Where privacy proceedings are protected by an interim…

A person may qualify as a consumer under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 only where the contract’s business purpose is insignificant or…

Part 5 civil recovery proceedings are free-standing civil proceedings. A criminal acquittal does not prevent recovery on the balance of probabilities unless…

An unless order takes effect according to its clear terms. Where service is governed by Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Rule 6.26, deemed service governs even if…

Under Companies Act 2006, a former director remains subject to the duty to avoid conflicts of interest in respect of property, information or opportunities…

Where an interim non-disclosure injunction affects the Article 10 rights of third parties, the court must actively manage the proceedings. It cannot give the…

A defendant’s consent does not automatically justify a final non-disclosure injunction. The court must independently consider the effect of the order on…

Vicarious liability requires more than the opportunity created by an association with the defendant. The court must examine both the relationship between the…

In an application for a pre-publication privacy injunction, the claimant must show that publication is more likely than not to be prohibited at trial. The…

In an employer’s stress-at-work claim, liability requires both medical causation and legal fault. The claimant must prove that work caused the illness and that…

In a malicious falsehood claim, the claimant must identify and prove damage caused by the false words on which the action is founded. It must distinguish that…

An interim injunction may restrain publication and conduct where the evidence establishes a strongly arguable case of harassment and serious interference with…

Under Human Rights Act 1998, s 7(5)(b), the court may extend the usual one-year period where it is equitable to do so, having regard to all the circumstances.…

A defamation claim requires publication to someone other than the claimant and evidence of publication. Statements that a person has experienced mental health…

A person detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 is not prevented from paying for care or treatment from personal resources. Payment is permissible only…

An employee may owe duties of confidentiality through an express or implied employment term, and such an obligation may also arise independently of contract.…

An injunction may be granted where there is a good arguable case of breach of confidentiality, further breaches are threatened, and damages would not provide…

On an application for an interim injunction restraining industrial action, the court must assess the likelihood that the union will establish the statutory…

An unmarried partner of an EEA national has no automatic right of residence under the Citizens’ Directive. The host state must facilitate entry and residence…

For an interim non-disclosure injunction engaging privacy and freedom of expression, neither Article 8 nor Article 10 has automatic precedence. The court must…

An employer’s commercial reorganisation following an acquisition does not, without more, amount to a repudiatory breach of the implied term of mutual trust and…

In a libel action, meaning is determined by the natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader reading the publication once, viewed in…

In a libel claim concerning a long newspaper article, meaning is determined by the hypothetical reasonable reader considering the publication as a whole. Where…

In assessing damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity in mesothelioma claims, the duration of symptoms is relevant but is not determinative. The court…

An employee who obtains patient information in the course of employment holds it subject to duties of confidentiality owed both to the employer and to the…

In a libel action, allegations pleaded in aggravation of damages should be struck out where investigating them would substantially distract from the real…

Where a claimant’s Part 36 offer is withdrawn before trial, the automatic consequences under CPR 36.14 do not apply. The offer may nevertheless be a powerful…

A partnership formed to obtain and perform a defined commercial project may be governed by equitable partnership principles even where its agreement is…

Springboard relief must fit the facts, restrain the full spectrum of unlawful conduct that created the advantage, and be fair, just and equitable. It may…

A registered foreign maintenance judgment remains a valid and enforceable order where the time for appealing registration has expired; it cannot then be…

In a libel action, freedom of expression and protection of reputation are competing interests. Neither Article 10 nor a general public-interest defence…

The court has jurisdiction to extend time for serving particulars of claim where the application is made before the applicable time limit expires. The…

Where a party has reason to believe that a prior disclosure order has not been fully complied with because of inadequate technical understanding, the court may…

Senior employees breach duties of fidelity when they covertly organise a competing venture during employment, solicit colleagues or clients, misuse…

In a professional negligence claim against solicitors conducting a Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority appeal, the standard is that of the reasonably…

A driver must select a speed appropriate to the road, traffic and surrounding hazards, even when travelling within the posted speed limit. Where parked…

Where parties apply for a periodical payments order on the basis that they have consented to it, the court may treat the application as consensual, subject…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires a sufficiently strong merits case where the same issue determines whether a jurisdictional…

A peaceful protest may be conducted on a highway where it is reasonable, non-obstructive and does not amount to a nuisance. That limited right does not extend…

For a consent periodical payments order, the court’s task is to decide whether continuity of payment is reasonably secure. The court cannot vary the terms of a…

Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 44.3, the court must identify the successful party by considering the litigation as a whole and applying common sense to…

A statutory body may use a wide incidental power to prevent recipients of payments on account retaining money to which they are not entitled. Under the Legal…

An order requiring a defendant to provide evidence of alleged wrongdoing is an exceptional remedy. It must not be granted routinely or as a matter of course…

The grant of a declaration is discretionary. A party has no entitlement to declaratory relief as of right, even where the court has jurisdiction to make a…

The legality of an arrest under section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 depends on whether the officer actually suspected an offence, whether…

In deciding whether a multi-party trial should be adjourned, the court must balance the requirements of a fair trial against the public interest in the prompt…

A commercial contract is interpreted according to its language and structure. Background negotiations and surrounding documents may assist only where the…