High Court: Queen's Bench Division judgments, 2018

An interim injunction preserving a trader’s position pending a full application for relief may be granted under the American Cyanamid principles where the…

For a declaration under section 6 of the Justice and Security Act 2013, the Secretary of State need only have considered whether to claim public interest…

For jurisdiction in an international libel claim, publication in England and Wales may support the mosaic jurisdiction for damage sustained there. An…

A local authority operating a housing assistance scheme may make payment conditional on completion of a specified form where that requirement is consistent…

A contractual power to terminate a legal-aid contract on receipt of a report may be engaged by a report from the contracting agency itself, where the contract…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the claimant bears the burden of showing that it is equitable to disapply the limitation period. The court must…

In a pre-LASPO conditional fee agreement case where liability has been admitted, a success fee must reflect the risk that solicitors will fail to recover…

A judge must identify the issues critical to the decision and explain how they were resolved. A general conclusion is insufficient where it does not address…

When deciding whether to exclude property frozen under a property freezing order to meet living expenses, the court must determine what expenses are reasonably…

In a civil claim involving police detention and use of force, the judge may withdraw an issue from a jury where, taking the claimant’s case at its highest, the…

A person who entrusts another with publishing campaign material on his behalf may be liable in defamation where the publication is made in performing that…

A company is not generally vicariously liable for torts committed by police merely because it requested police assistance, supplied vehicles or equipment, or…

Natural and ordinary meaning in defamation is assessed from the words themselves as understood by the ordinary reasonable reader. Allegations of falsity…

For an interim injunction against a public authority conducting a criminal investigation, the court applies the American Cyanamid principles. A serious issue…

Meaning in a libel publication is determined from the overall impact of the words in context, as understood by the ordinary, reasonable reader. Sufficiently…

Without-notice relief is exceptional. Notice may be dispensed with where it would enable the defendant to defeat the purpose of the injunction, but the court…

Urgent vascular referral for suspected limb ischaemia depends on the clinical picture. In the circumstances considered, the relevant combination was…

When determining whether a protected person should be told the value of a personal-injury settlement, the court must apply the Mental Capacity Act 2005…

Permission to appeal should be granted where proposed grounds raise an arguable case that an employer’s risk-assessment duty is preventative and proactive. A…

An employer must adequately assess foreseeable work risks, including non-obvious risks, and implement a safe system of work. For tipping near overhead power…

Applications concerning an honest-opinion defence in a defamation claim should be determined against the meaning actually found by the court. The supporting…

A contract must be construed as a whole. An intermediary is not entitled to charge an undisclosed margin where the contract provides for reimbursement of media…

Parliamentary privilege under Article IX of the Bill of Rights 1689 bars claims which challenge the correctness of a parliamentary report or seek damages for…

A conditional fee agreement remains capable of transfer between law firms, including where the original firm ceases to practise. A firm’s inability or…

For malicious prosecution, the claimant must establish each element separately, including both absence of reasonable and probable cause and malice. Reasonable…

A doctor may owe a direct duty of care where, knowing a patient's psychological vulnerability, he exposes her to an unreasonable and avoidable risk of…

A mortgage lender does not ordinarily owe a borrower a tortious or implied contractual duty to assess or advise on the suitability or prudence of a mortgage…

A clinician assessing whether to discharge a patient must consider the totality of the available clinical information, including pre-hospital records and the…

The two-stage trafficking identification process has different purposes and standards. The initial reasonable-grounds decision is a protective filter…

Permission to rely on additional expert evidence should be granted only where the evidence is relevant, necessary and proportionate to resolving issues that…

A local authority may seek an injunction protecting private as well as public sites within its area where this promotes or protects residents’ interests.…

For the purposes of Representation of the People Act 1983, an allegation that a candidate is lying about his address is ordinarily a statement about his…

Relief from sanction under CPR 3.9 is required only where a rule, practice direction or order imposes an express sanction, or where the default has a…

On an application for an interim payment, the court must make a conservative assessment of the likely final judgment and ensure that the payment is no more…

Under Limitation Act 1980, each allegation must be assessed separately when deciding whether it is equitable to disapply limitation. The claimant bears the…

On an application for summary judgment under Insolvency Act 1986, the court must ask whether the opposing case has a realistic prospect of success. A defence…

In deciding whether an employer may refer alleged misconduct by a doctor to a disciplinary panel, the court asks whether the investigated facts, taken at their…

Consumer jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regulation (recast) depends on whether the trader directed its commercial or professional activities to the…

In substantial preliminary trials in media and communications cases, the parties should obtain an order for the preliminary issue before the hearing and…

Where an injunction may restrain freedom of expression or assembly, the claimant must show that it is more likely than not that relief will be granted at…

A court may make an extended civil restraint order where a party has persistently issued claims or made applications that are totally without merit. The court…

A hospital and doctors treating a patient do not ordinarily owe the patient’s partner a personal duty to safeguard the partner’s welfare or protect against…

Dangerous driving by a claimant does not, without more, bar a negligence claim against another driver whose conduct materially contributed to the injury. The…

An application for an account may be struck out as an abuse of process where it repeatedly reopens matters previously raised or determined, is unsupported by…

MHPS procedures were not incorporated into the consultant’s contract by the Secretary of State’s directions, custom and practice, or the contractual reference…

Permission to prefer a voluntary bill after dismissal of an indictment is exceptional. It ordinarily requires a clear or obvious error of law, new evidence, or…

In a preliminary factual trial concerning asbestos exposure, the court must make findings that enable causation to be assessed, while recognising the limits of…

An appellate court should not rehear the evidence or substitute its own view for that of the trial judge. Intervention is justified only for an error of…

A product may be defective under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 only if its safety falls below the level persons generally are entitled to expect, assessed…

Permission to commence contempt proceedings for false statements must be granted cautiously. The applicant must show a strong prima facie case, but the court…

In determining meaning, the court must consider the publication as a whole, including its headlines, context, readership and known circumstances. Separate…

A written contractual variation is effective where it satisfies an applicable no-oral-modification clause and clearly identifies the contractual change, even…

Registration of a foreign judgment under Administration of Justice Act 1920, section 9, remains discretionary after the statutory bars have been considered. An…

The Hardial Singh limitations govern the exercise of immigration detention powers. They do not directly regulate conduct before detention, although earlier…

A mother may be a primary victim where negligent obstetric treatment occurs before her child’s birth, because mother and unborn child are treated as one legal…

An English court cannot adjudicate a claim dependent on treating acts within the United Nations trusteeship and decolonisation scheme as domestic wrongs where…

On an application to stay a trial of a preliminary issue, the court should not determine a wider question of Francovich liability unless that is necessary to…

For the statutory public-interest defence, the statement complained of must itself be on a matter of public interest. A private club’s internal affairs are…

Where a payment is made expressly on condition that it will be repaid if the payer succeeds on appeal, objective assessment of the circumstances may establish…

A solicitor may terminate an ongoing retainer only for good reason and on reasonable notice, unless the retainer provides otherwise. Reasonableness is assessed…

At common law, a claimant alleging defamation need establish only that the publication had a tendency substantially to affect the attitude of ordinary…

The court’s jurisdiction under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is original, not merely supervisory. The court must decide whether an…

Sections 87–88 of the Housing Act 1985, including the exception for judicial assignment following matrimonial proceedings, were not incompatible with articles…

A Norwich Pharmacal order in support of a proposed private prosecution is exceptional. The applicant must show an arguable wrong, a genuine need for disclosure…

Summary judgment is available in clinical negligence claims, but it will rarely be appropriate before the relevant expert evidence has been exchanged and…

An appeal court may admit fresh evidence only where the applicable criteria are satisfied and admission accords with the overriding objective. The Ladd v…

On an interlocutory application to strike out witness evidence, the court should intervene only where it is quite plain that the evidence will never be…

Under paragraph 7.6 of Practice Direction 3E, a significant development is assessed factually by reference to the scale and complexity of what has occurred. A…

A materially incomplete costs budget engages the default sanction in CPR 3.14 unless the court orders otherwise. Agreement between the parties does not, by…

The High Court has jurisdiction to judicially review an interlocutory decision of the Crown Court acting in its appellate capacity, although such intervention…

A defendant who files an acknowledgment of service but applies out of time to challenge jurisdiction may obtain relief from sanctions where the breach is…

A mental-health practitioner is not negligent merely because another responsible body of opinion would have reached a different clinical judgment. The Mental…

Compensation under section 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 requires both a contravention and damage caused by that contravention. The infringement itself…

Contempt of court consists in conduct which interferes with the administration of justice. For contempt based on a false statement verified by a statement of…

An employer may owe a duty to manage a workplace harassment complaint promptly, confidentially and in accordance with its applicable procedure. Delay…

Medical negligence is assessed by asking whether the treatment accorded with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of relevant clinical opinion…

The inherent jurisdiction over solicitors, as extended by Solicitors Act 1974, s.68, does not permit the court to order a solicitor to supply copies of…

In exercising the costs discretion, the starting point remains that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party’s costs. A departure is justified where…

Sections 21(1A) and 21(1B) of the Housing Act 1988 require six months’ notice only where the relevant assured shorthold tenancy remains a fixed-term tenancy…

On an appeal against a discretionary possession decision, the appellate court should interfere only for an error of principle, consideration of an irrelevant…

Clear and unambiguous exclusion clauses are given their ordinary effect. They may exclude claims concerning discretionary remuneration, but do not ordinarily…

Disclosure must be confined to documents relevant to the issues for trial and proportionate to those issues. Documents directed solely to the general…

A motor insurer’s compulsory liability under Road Traffic Act 1988, section 145, is geographically limited to use of a vehicle on a road or other public place.…

A proposed amendment made after expiry of a limitation period cannot be allowed where it adds a new cause of action which does not arise from the same, or…

Open justice remains the starting point for anonymity applications. A claimant seeking indefinite anonymity must provide clear and cogent evidence of…

A compromise agreement providing funding for further reasonable second-line immunotherapy was not limited to the particular drug being administered when the…

A freezing injunction operates in personam and does not create proprietary security or priority for the claimant. An interim third-party debt order is…

An employer’s exclusion or restriction of a medical practitioner must remain rationally justified throughout the relevant investigation and disciplinary…

Applicants for a group litigation order must allow sufficient time for pre-application coordination. The claims must be sufficiently developed for the group…

On an application for an interim injunction, the court applies the American Cyanamid principles. A mandatory injunction requires particular caution because it…

Under section 2(4)(b) of the Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975, an order for documents must identify particular existing or likely…

An enforcement agent exercising powers under a writ of control must comply with the statutory conditions governing notice, location, entry and ownership. A…

An interim exclusion of an employee must be justified by necessity under the applicable contractual policy. The employer must identify the relevant risk…

When deciding whether to disapply the primary limitation period in a historic abuse claim, the court must assess whether a fair trial remains possible. The…

A company is liable in deceit where its agent makes materially false representations about the size and quality of its available customer pool, intending the…

An employer commits a repudiatory breach where it deliberately withholds declared remuneration by imposing contractual conditions outside the power relied…

Driving-other-cars cover may constitute the insurance required by Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for the vehicle being driven. The expression “the…

A claimant alleging negligent driving must prove both that the defendant fell below the standard of a reasonably competent driver and that the breach caused or…

Damages following a fatal asbestos-related illness must reflect the evidence for each recoverable head of loss. Funeral expenses do not include the cost of a…

In a clinical negligence claim, the standard of a nurse practitioner’s history-taking was reasonable where the evidence established that he had elicited the…

An injunction under s187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 involves an original and discretionary jurisdiction. The court must consider all the…

In a claim concerning sudden unexpected postnatal collapse, the claimant had to prove on the balance of probabilities that the proposed mechanism caused the…

A contractual variation is determined objectively from the parties’ words and conduct in their commercial context. A compromise of a genuinely disputed…

The discretion under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 requires a balance of prejudice in all the circumstances. The claimant bears the ultimate burden.…

Time for filing an appellant’s notice runs from the date the lower court pronounces its decision, normally the date judgment is handed down, rather than the…

A driver is not negligent merely because he failed to see a pedestrian. The question is whether, in all the circumstances, he failed to take reasonable care.…

The qualified one-way costs shifting regime applies automatically to proceedings consisting only of a claim for damages for personal injury, subject to the…

An agreement creates a tenancy where it grants exclusive possession of residential premises for a term in return for payment, subject to exceptional cases…

A solicitor is not professionally negligent merely because another solicitor might have taken a different course. Where a retainer permits a range of…

Once a court has determined a publication’s actual single meaning as a preliminary issue, a truth defence must address whether the resulting imputation is…

Contributory negligence in a child pedestrian case requires a fact-sensitive assessment of the child’s conduct by reference to the standard reasonably expected…

A court may re-list and rehear an application decided in a party’s absence under CPR Part 23.11. The power is flexible but should be exercised sparingly. The…

A request for caesarean section made by a woman in extreme labour pain must be understood in its clinical context. The appropriate response may be to address…

For chronic bronchitis claims, diagnosis must be determined by applying ordinary principles of evidence to the whole case. Claims-handling guidance may assist…

On an appeal limited to a review, the appellate court must respect the trial judge’s advantage in hearing and assessing witnesses. It may reconsider primary…

Anonymity for a statement in open court is a derogation from open justice. It may be allowed only where strictly necessary to secure the proper administration…

For the serious-harm threshold in the Defamation Act 2013, a publication must be assessed by reference to each defamatory imputation it conveys. A claimant…

Contributory negligence requires proof that the claimant failed to take reasonable care for his own safety and that the failure contributed to the damage. A…

Permission to appeal should be granted where the proposed appeal raises powerful arguments requiring full and fair consideration at an appeal hearing. This may…

A defence of honest opinion cannot dispose of a defamation claim where the publication is capable of conveying a defamatory allegation of fact, even if other…

Where a claimant seeks an interim injunction for a period likely to expire before trial, the court should assess the claimant’s prospects of success, while…

In a clinical negligence claim, causation is determined on the balance of probabilities by comparing the actual course with the counterfactual course that…

When deciding whether to disapply a primary limitation period in a historic abuse claim, the court must balance all the circumstances, including the length and…

A claim may be struck out as an abuse of process where it is pursued for harassment or another improper collateral purpose, or where litigation would yield no…

Indemnity costs require conduct or circumstances taking the case out of the norm. The court retains a broad discretion, and mere error, hindsight or failure on…

The natural and ordinary meaning of a publication is its single objective meaning to the hypothetical reasonable recipient, assessed from the publication as a…

A Bullock or Sanderson costs order may be appropriate where claims against several defendants are sufficiently linked, even though they are not strictly…

A driver joining a dual carriageway must act as a reasonably competent driver, taking account of all road users and allowing a reasonable margin of safety. The…

At summary-judgment stage, a bank cannot defeat a customer’s contractual claim merely by asserting that it genuinely suspected money laundering. The bank must…

A police authority may owe a private law duty of care where, in response to an emergency call, it assumes responsibility for a particular person’s welfare. The…

An injunction may be extended or varied where the evidence shows that the prohibited conduct is likely to resume or has developed into new forms. The court…

In a malicious prosecution claim, the claimant must prove prosecution by the defendant, favourable termination, absence of reasonable and probable cause, and…

On an application to set aside default judgment, the court must first decide whether the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. It…

Damages for deceit are assessed by identifying the loss directly flowing from reliance on the deceit and placing the claimant in the position she would have…

A claim is brought for limitation purposes when the claim form and request to issue are received by the court, provided any procedural default by the claimant…

Assessment of incurred costs involves two questions. First, whether it was objectively reasonable to instruct the solicitors chosen, having regard to all…

Compensatory damages must meet the claimant’s reasonable needs arising from the injury. The court assesses both the reasonableness of the claimed loss and its…

In a personal injury claim involving disputed diffuse axonal injury, the claimant bears the burden of proving causation on the balance of probabilities. In…

Defamatory opinion remains capable of causing serious reputational harm. The fact that criticism is recognisable as opinion, and is based on facts which are…

The indemnity principle is not infringed where a successful party establishes a contractual retainer under which it is liable for the relevant costs, even…

An appellate court should interfere with a costs decision only where the judge below exceeded the generous ambit of reasonable disagreement, erred in principle…

In a personal injury claim, a court may find fundamental dishonesty where the claimant deliberately exaggerates or fabricates symptoms so as to substantially…

In closed-material proceedings, the court must first decide whether disclosure would damage national security. If it would, the court must then decide whether…

For malicious prosecution, the claimant must prove prosecution, acquittal, absence of reasonable and probable cause, and malice. In a public-authority…

In a defamation claim, natural and ordinary meaning is assessed objectively by asking what the hypothetical ordinary reasonable reader would understand from…

In a personal injury claim alleging negligent supervision of an abseiling exercise, the claimant must establish both the injury-causing event and the act or…

A local authority may obtain a High Court injunction against persons unknown to restrain street cruising where its statutory powers and the evidence establish…

A final injunction with continuing effect may be varied to reflect a genuine change of circumstances and preserve its original purpose. The court must…

On an interlocutory appeal concerning expert evidence, the court may adopt a more generous approach to new evidence than on an appeal from a final hearing. The…

On an application for summary judgment, the claimant need only show a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. The court must avoid a mini-trial…

Defence of another may, in principle, justify an act which would otherwise breach an undertaking or injunction and defeat a committal application. The…

Post-termination restraints are enforceable where they protect a legitimate business interest and go no further than reasonably necessary. The assessment…

On a Part 24 application, the court may decide a short point of contractual construction summarily where the evidence is sufficient and the parties have had a…

An employer’s contractual disciplinary procedure must be applied consistently with the general law of gross misconduct. Conduct listed as negligence, breach of…

Parliamentary privilege protects proceedings in Parliament, but its scope is determined by the court according to law and with Convention rights in view. A…

For Norwich Pharmacal purposes, England and Wales may be an arguable place of damage where a claimant suffers distress here from the alleged destruction or…

A driver turning right must make a proper final observation before committing to the turn. That duty applies even where an approaching motorcyclist is…

Contempt for breach of a court undertaking requires proof beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had notice of the undertaking, performed a prohibited act…

The court has an inherent jurisdiction to restrain a vexatious litigant who persists, without reasonable cause, in bringing proceedings before inferior…

For contempt proceedings, the applicant must prove to the criminal standard that the defendant intentionally committed conduct contrary to a clearly stated…

A local housing authority’s statutory duty to secure interim accommodation does not, without more, create a private law claim for damages. For a recognised…

On an application for summary judgment in a clinical-negligence claim, the claimant must show a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success. The court…

CPR r 30.3(3) does not require transfer of County Court proceedings merely because national-security material is the subject of a public interest immunity…

An insurance broker must exercise reasonable skill and care in helping a client comply with the duty of disclosure. The broker must advise on that duty…

A court may intervene in the implementation of a consent order under the Civil Procedure Rules even where the order records an agreement. The jurisdiction is…

Under CPR 44PD 12.4(c), the court has an unfettered discretion to direct determination of an allegation of fundamental dishonesty after a claimant has…

Unauthorised commercial operations on land comprising a public highway may constitute trespass where the use is unreasonable. Establishing a business…

Where a risk assessment identifies a foreseeable hazard and requires participants to be warned, failure to give the warning may amount to a breach of duty. For…

Fear, distress or other normal emotional responses, without a recognised psychiatric condition or other actionable physical impairment, do not constitute…

An appellate court may reverse factual inferences where the weight of the evidence shows that the lower court’s conclusion was unsustainable, although it must…

An appellate court may interfere with a trial judge’s findings of fact where the relevant conclusion is an inference from established facts, or where the…

A publication is defamatory only if it conveys an imputation which tends to cause serious reputational harm by the standards of reasonable society generally.…

For limitation purposes, section 32(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980 postpones time only where a fact necessary to complete the claimant’s cause of action has…

Contempt arising from a staged road traffic accident requires proof beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants deliberately deceived the claimant, intended to…

Failure by a pedestrian to use a designated crossing does not, without more, constitute contributory negligence. The question depends on the road layout…

In determining the natural and ordinary meaning of words complained of in a libel claim, the court must adopt a reasonable, impressionistic and non-technical…

Equitable accounting between co-owners is fact sensitive. Although a co-owner would ordinarily receive a proportionate share of rental profits, the decisive…

A single joint expert’s evidence does not automatically bind the court or trump other lay or expert evidence. The court must evaluate it alongside all the…

In assessing clinical negligence, the court must consider the risks and benefits of the treatment, the patient’s individual circumstances and whether the…

Under Part I of the Consumer Protection Act 1987, a product is defective only if its safety falls below the objective level persons generally are entitled to…

A contract may be immediately binding even though the parties contemplate a later, more detailed agreement. The question is whether the agreed terms are…

Letters of request issued by a foreign court should be given effect so far as possible, but comity does not require the receiving court to defer where the…

In a clinical negligence claim, breach of duty and causation are separate questions. Under Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee and Bolitho v City and…

An accident at work does not establish employer or occupier liability without proof of negligent breach of duty and causation. After section 69 of the…

Costs remain discretionary. The starting point is that the successful party should recover its costs, but the court must consider all the circumstances…

An insurer’s liability under an insurance indemnity is a claim sounding in unliquidated damages, rather than debt, where established authority treats the…

A claimant may recover reasonable credit-hire charges where the contractual liability to the hire company is contingent on recovery from the tortfeasor. Such…

On an interim application to restrain broadcast, the court must ordinarily be satisfied that success at trial is more likely than not, although exceptionally…

In committal proceedings, the applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt both the breach of a clear order and the respondent’s ability to comply. For a…

Professional negligence proceedings may consider whether competent legal advice would have produced a better litigation outcome. They become an abuse of…

In determining the meaning of allegedly defamatory words, the court must identify the natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the ordinary reader. The…

An appellate court must respect a trial judge’s findings of fact and evaluative judgment unless material error is shown. A reasonable shopkeeper may foresee a…

A claimant relying on Article 7(2) of the Recast Brussels Regulation must establish a good arguable case that the harmful event occurred, or may occur, in the…

A redaction order permits only the deletions, and any strictly necessary grammatical insertions, required to reflect the court’s ruling. It does not authorise…

Where a claimant discontinues, the starting point is that the claimant pays the defendant’s costs. Departing from that position requires a good reason…

A defence of truth to a Chase level 2 meaning must identify facts which objectively afforded reasonable grounds to suspect the claimant at the time of…

An interim declaration determining parties’ contractual rights is a very exceptional remedy. The court should ordinarily determine private contractual rights…

A surety instrument may impose both primary and secondary obligations. Its character depends on construction of the instrument as a whole. An indemnity…

On an application for strike-out or summary judgment, the court may decide whether negotiations produced a contract where the material communications are…

On an appeal from summary judgment in a false-imprisonment claim, the court must determine the pleaded case. Unpleaded allegations of conspiracy and a…

For ex turpi causa to bar a personal injury claim arising from dangerous driving, the claimant must have participated in a criminal joint enterprise with the…

On a committal application for contempt, the applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent knew of the order, breached it, and knew the…

An order for costs against a non-party under Senior Courts Act 1981, section 51, is a fact-sensitive discretionary remedy. The court must decide whether the…

Contempt of court may be established where a party deliberately gives false accounts of disability to experts, intending to interfere with the administration…

An appeal against refusal of an EEA residence card is not suspensive merely because it may be brought from within the United Kingdom. Unless an express…

Witness immunity generally bars civil claims based on evidence given in judicial proceedings, including claims framed as misfeasance in public office. It…

In a wrongful-dismissal claim, an employer may generally justify dismissal by relying on employee misconduct discovered after termination. That principle…

A claimant may proceed against an unnamed driver where the proceedings may confer a real benefit, even though the insurer’s liability under section 151 of the…

A contractual obligation to act in good faith may be breached by covert and opportunistic conduct, even where the contract contains no exclusivity or…

The common-law defence of illegality requires a policy-based and proportionate assessment. The court must consider the purpose of the prohibition, any…

Incorporation of external employment documents depends first on whether the parties intended them to form part of the contract, and secondly on whether the…

Sentencing for contempt must reflect both the seriousness of the breach and the purpose of securing compliance with court orders or undertakings. Deliberate…

Relief from sanctions under CPR rule 3.9 requires a structured assessment of the breach, the reason for it and all the circumstances of the case. A breach is…

Different workplace safety regulations may apply to the same accident, but they should be construed so far as possible to avoid overlapping application.…

Agency may arise without formalities where the parties’ words and conduct objectively show authority for one party to act on behalf of the other. The court…

Confidentiality protects the product of confidential analysis, even where its component materials are publicly available. The relevant confidential information…

A person who obtains confidential documents by computer hacking is subject to an obligation of confidence. Where publication is threatened and the claimant is…

A stay of an order for payment on account of costs depends on all the circumstances and the interests of justice. The court should assess the risk of injustice…

Default judgment may be set aside under CPR 13.3 where the defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or there is another good reason to…

An internet search-engine operator cannot ordinarily invoke the journalism exemption merely because it facilitates access to journalistic material published by…

In a clinical negligence claim involving communication difficulties, a responsible professional practice must be assessed by the Bolam and Bolitho standards.…

Under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, failure to establish a head of personal injury damages does not, without more, establish…

A motorist must drive with the care of a reasonable and competent driver, taking account of the road, visibility, traffic conditions and the vehicle’s…

For an interim injunction restraining publication, s 12(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998 requires a claimant to show that publication is more likely than not to…

In proceedings involving a proposed closed material procedure, the court should ensure that the court and parties can understand the issues before the…

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 protect employees against foreseeable personal injury caused by workplace noise, not only conventional…

Where a claimant seeks to introduce a new limitation argument late in a complex trial, the issue must be pleaded if it materially changes the case the…

Under CPR 36.17(4)(d), the court has no power to award the additional amount until the case has been decided. A case is decided only when all issues have been…

An implied contract is not established merely because an individual is subject to a national governing body’s rules, is registered for administrative purposes…

not stated in the judgment.

A court may proceed with a contempt hearing without representation where the respondent has received repeated opportunities to obtain legal advice, has made no…

A sonographer undertaking a 20-week fetal anomaly scan must be judged by the standards of a reasonably competent and well-informed sonographer at the time of…

A claim in deceit requires a clearly identified representation that was false, dishonestly made, intended to be relied on and in fact relied on. The court…

In committal proceedings, strict compliance with the procedural requirements is ordinarily a prerequisite to imposing a contempt sanction. The court must also…

On an interlocutory application, a pleaded case should be struck out only where it discloses no reasonable grounds, is abusive, or is otherwise hopeless.…

Deceit may be established in an intimate relationship where a party deliberately makes false representations intending the other to act on them. The defendant…

A client’s contractual agreement to a conditional-fee success fee does not, without more, establish informed approval or reasonableness under CPR 46.9. The…

When interpreting a court order, the court may use the reasons for making it to clarify ambiguous language. Those reasons cannot be used to contradict the…

Permission to amend a statement of case should be granted where the proposed claim has a real prospect of success. The court must assess whether the claim has…

Claims for personal injury and other forms of loss may fall within CPR r.44.16(2)(b) even where they arise from the same facts, breach of duty and evidence. No…

An agency relationship may arise by implication from the parties’ words and conduct. The parties need not use the words agent or agency, or consciously…

Where parties settle all substantive issues but leave costs to the court, the court may determine costs, but need not do so if the exercise would be…

Schools owe children in their care an enhanced duty of reasonable care, reflecting the children’s vulnerability, the school environment and the degree of…

A reference writer owes the subject a duty to exercise reasonable skill and care so that the reference is true, accurate and fair. The writer must objectively…

Where a party is entitled to costs, the court may order an interim payment on account by making a provisional assessment of the likely recoverable costs. The…

On consequential matters following a successful appeal, the court should confine itself to issues properly before it and leave outstanding disclosure questions…

The reflective loss principle is not confined to claims based on breach of a duty owed to the company. It applies where the company has a cause of action for…

A party must generally bring forward in one action all claims arising from substantially the same facts. The question is whether, considering all the…

A business providing recreational facilities must take ordinary and basic steps to identify and mitigate foreseeable risks to users. Where children are given…

On applications for strike out or summary judgment, the court must distinguish issues suitable for determination as a matter of law from fact-sensitive…

On a summary judgment application, fact-sensitive limitation issues may be decided on paper where the evidence discloses no material dispute of primary fact…

A court may determine an application without a hearing under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 where it considers a hearing inappropriate. Consent neither compels…

A springboard injunction may restrain otherwise lawful conduct where unlawful acts have given a defendant an existing competitive head start. The remedy is…

Under a claims-made directors’ and officers’ policy governed by German law, knowledge of a breach required positive knowledge of the relevant conduct and an…

A withdrawn Part 36 offer no longer attracts the automatic costs consequences of Part 36, but remains an admissible offer to settle that the court must…

An employer breaches the implied term of mutual trust and confidence by refusing a short adjournment of disciplinary proceedings where the employee faces…

Monthly invoices under a discounted conditional fee agreement are not interim statute bills merely because they state a precise sum, are described as final…

An appeal from an order setting aside extensions of time for service of a claim form is ordinarily a rehearing where the underlying application was made…

In a clinical negligence claim involving competing medical explanations, the claimant retains the burden of proving breach and causation on the balance of…

Committal for contempt requires a clear order and a clear breach proved to the criminal standard. An ambiguous order cannot support committal where two…

A genuine agency arrangement does not justify implying a contract of employment between a supplied worker and the end-user. Such a contract may be implied only…

In determining the meaning of allegedly defamatory words, the court must assess the broad impression conveyed to the hypothetical reasonable reader by the…

A public authority exercising statutory registration and taxation functions does not thereby assume responsibility to prospective purchasers who rely on…

Under the Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975, the court must distinguish evidence genuinely sought for use in civil proceedings from…

A train operator’s duty of care is one of reasonableness, not a guarantee of passenger safety. In a highly regulated industry, applicable safety standards must…

The court has a narrow discretion to determine a public-law issue which has become academic between the parties. The discretion must be exercised cautiously…

In a claim for payment for work or services, the cause of action ordinarily accrues when the work is completed. That position changes only where the contract…

Rules 85.4 and 85.5 of the Civil Procedure Rules provide the ordinary procedure for disputes over controlled goods, but they do not address every enforcement…

Interim anonymity and reporting restrictions must be strictly necessary and clearly justified. The court must balance protection of proceedings with open…

The discretion to order a non-party to pay costs under section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 must be exercised justly. The authorities identify relevant…

An interim injunction restraining speech in a harassment claim ordinarily requires proof that the claimant will probably succeed at trial. Harassment requires…

A prison authority owes a direct duty arising from custody to take reasonable care regarding risks created by custody and to facilitate access to healthcare.…

Meaning in a defamation claim is determined by the broad impression made on the hypothetical reasonable reader or viewer, considering the publication as a…

On an application under CPR 3.4(2)(a), the court assesses the pleaded claim, not disputed evidence or speculative inferences. Strike-out is appropriate only…

An interim injunction may be granted without formal notice where the statutory conditions for proceeding without notice are met. In an application affecting…

Where a claim depends on proving asbestos exposure from a particular material, the claimant bears the burden of proving that material’s asbestos content on the…

Where a claimant obtains an outcome at least as advantageous as a Part 36 offer, the consequences in CPR rule 36.17(4) are the default. The court may depart…

Educational negligence claims require proof of breach, causation and legally recognised loss. A student’s under-performance, even in one examination, does not…

An injunction under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 involves an original and discretionary jurisdiction. The court must assess all the…

A doctor must take reasonable care to ensure that a patient understands material risks of proposed treatment and reasonable alternatives. The discussion must…

A commercial agreement may be binding even though it contemplates a later, more formal contract. The question is one of objective construction. A later…

To establish contempt for breach of an injunction, the applicant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent knew the order’s terms, breached it…

An interim injunction affecting freedom of expression cannot be granted against the wrong corporate entity. Where the service provider is a foreign…

A claim brought under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may be finally determined under the Part 8 procedure even though default judgment under Part 12…

A court may grant a binding declaration of fact even where no damages or other remedy is claimed. The power is discretionary. The court should consider justice…

Variation of a Group Litigation Order should be refused where the claim proposed for removal raises common or closely related issues with claims remaining in…

Permission to bring contempt proceedings requires a strong prima facie case assessed on the evidence as a whole. Expert evidence need not, by itself, establish…

When a contemnor seeks to purge contempt or obtain an early reduction of imprisonment, the court must assess whether the punishment already suffered is…

Anonymity for non-party witnesses may be ordered under the common law where fairness requires protection from risks such as violence or loss of livelihood. A…

In valuing a dependency claim based on income from a deceased person’s property-development work, the court may assess the cost of replacing the deceased’s…

In a civil claim alleging dishonest conspiracy, the seriousness of the allegations requires clear and adequately particularised pleading, but the applicable…

A successful party does not automatically lose costs because it failed on particular issues. The court should assess whether the unsuccessful issues were…

Maintaining proceedings without any present intention to bring them to trial is an abuse of process. The court may strike out such proceedings where the…

A court has an inherent power to suspend an injunction enforcing a planning obligation under section 106(5) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, but the…

A personal injury claimant is fundamentally dishonest under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 where dishonesty substantially affects the…

Flood-risk management policies do not necessarily constitute control of, or interference with, property under A1P1. The court must assess the measures…

For the purposes of an assessment under Solicitors Act 1974, a document is a bill of costs only if the solicitor has sent it to the client as a demand or claim…

Under Peruvian law, prescription for non-contractual claims cannot be interrupted by an extra-judicial notice where the claim falls within the rule requiring…

In a conversion claim, the claimant bears the burden of proving ownership or a right to possession and an unlawful dealing with the goods. The court should…

Applications for reporting restrictions in proceedings concerning anonymised claimants must be strictly necessary and clearly justified. The court must balance…

In a civil claim alleging fraud, the claimant bears the burden of proof on the balance of probabilities. Where the allegation is inherently improbable…

For malicious prosecution, the professional prosecutor is ordinarily the Crown Prosecution Service. An investigating police force, or another person, will be…

On an appeal concerning discretionary possession proceedings, a tenant’s honest belief that alterations or conduct were authorised does not prevent a breach of…

Article 2 permits force resulting in death where it is absolutely necessary to defend a person from unlawful violence. The court must assess the force used and…

For private international law purposes, a cause of action in tort is located where, in substance, it arose, assessed by looking back over the events…

An appeal requires an arguable legal or evaluative error, not merely strong disagreement with the trial outcome. A trial judge’s assessment of negligence and…