High Court: Queen's Bench Division judgments, 2020

Negligence requires proof of duty, breach, causation and loss. A failure to complete or record a risk assessment does not itself cause injury. Liability…

In deciding whether a child claimant should sue anonymously, the court must balance open justice against the claimant’s privacy, welfare and access to justice.…

Indemnity costs may be ordered where the conduct or circumstances of the claim take the case out of the norm. Dishonesty is not required. Serious disclosure…

A report of disciplinary proceedings is protected by statutory qualified privilege where it is substantially fair and accurate. Minor technical inaccuracies or…

In an appeal from a civil jury trial concerning arrests and detention under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), issues should be withdrawn from a…

Particulars of claim must plead the material facts needed to establish the cause of action and remedy, rather than the evidence by which those facts will be…

The tort of malicious prosecution is concerned with the malicious abuse of court process. Although it extends beyond criminal prosecutions to certain civil…

The supplied material contains no judgment text. The legal principles and disposition cannot be determined.

A public body may pursue a private-law restitution claim against another public body where the claim can be determined without reviewing the validity of an…

Under Article 4 of the Rome II Regulation, the law indicated by habitual residence may be displaced where, considering all the circumstances, the tort is…

A person who is merely under state suspicion of crime ordinarily has a reasonable expectation of privacy in that fact and in the basis for the suspicion. The…

A statutory notice need not be executed under Companies Act 2006, section 44, where the governing legislation permits an authorised agent of a corporate…

A dispute about the construction of a section 106 agreement may ordinarily be brought by ordinary civil proceedings. The exclusivity principle in O’Reilly v…

In determining the meaning of social-media publications, the court must identify the single natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the hypothetical…

Section 1 of the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976 permits a child born disabled to claim where negligent advice causes an occurrence before…

In a libel claim involving numerous publications, proportional case management may require a defendant to state his case on meaning, defamatory status and fact…

A professional-ne negligence claim cannot be used to relitigate findings made in earlier proceedings where the claimant had a full opportunity to contest the…

The court may require a solicitor or other legal representative who has provided written evidence in interlocutory proceedings to attend for cross-examination.…

A breach of a general civil restraint order is appropriately analysed as civil contempt where no sufficient authority establishes that it should be treated as…

In examining a neighbourhood plan, the statutory basic-conditions test is distinct from the test of soundness applicable to a local plan. An examiner must read…

A preliminary reference to the CJEU should be made only where a question of EU law arises and its answer is necessary to enable the domestic court to determine…

In determining the meaning of a short televised news item, the court must identify the single natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to a hypothetical…

A settlement agreement is interpreted as a unitary exercise. The court considers the natural and ordinary meaning of the language, the agreement as a whole…

Where a foreign conservatory order concerns proceeds already placed under the control of another English court, the court considering adaptation should avoid…

Strike-out and summary judgment are distinct remedies. A defence should not be struck out under CPR 3.4 where it advances coherent factual and legal grounds…

Proceedings are an abuse of process where a civil claim would amount to a collateral attack on findings made by a competent criminal court, particularly where…

A secondary victim must satisfy the established control mechanisms for psychiatric injury. A close tie of love and affection requires appreciation that the…

In a clinical-negligence claim, a GP who is told that a patient has a persistent cough and is sweating at night must make further enquiries about the night…

A statutory duty to provide services may be expressed in the alternative as a duty either to provide them or to secure their provision. Where legislation…

When an employer’s conduct is alleged to breach the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, the question is whether it was undertaken without reasonable…

Professional disciplinary proceedings alleging unacceptable professional conduct must follow the procedure applicable to that allegation. A regulator cannot…

A claim assigned by administrators is not necessarily champertous merely because the assignee is not itself a creditor. The relevant question is whether the…

Where national legislation leaves a road-traffic victim without compensation because an insurer can avoid liability on grounds incompatible with the Motor…

In an asbestos-exposure claim, factual issues concerning a deceased witness’s recollection must be decided by the court on the totality of the evidence. Expert…

On an appeal alleging procedural unfairness, the appellate court must assess objectively whether the proceedings as a whole respected the common-law and…

A partnership may arise from an oral agreement where two or more persons carry on a business in common with a view of profit. Joint ownership of the business…

An appellate court may interfere with a discretionary limitation decision only for legal or procedural error, failure to consider relevant matters…

Applications for planning-control injunctions are determined by the court exercising an original, not supervisory, jurisdiction. The court must consider all…

An express right of way must be construed objectively, having regard to the grant, the transaction’s purpose, the physical characteristics of the way, and the…

On amendment applications, the usual order is that the party obtaining permission pays the reasonable costs caused by the amendment. That principle must be…

Summary judgment may be given on a short point of construction where the court has the evidence necessary to decide it fairly. The court must avoid a…

The supplied material identifies the judgment but does not include its substantive reasoning or outcome. No legal proposition can therefore be reliably stated.

The court may determine interim and case-management applications remotely where the parties have reasonable means to participate and the arrangements are…

In a clinical negligence claim, the claimant must prove that the treatment, investigation or omission fell below the standard of the ordinarily competent…

In a clinical negligence claim, a breach of duty does not establish liability unless it caused the injury complained of. Nursing staff should escalate a…

An employee’s post-termination restraint must protect a legitimate business interest and extend no further than reasonably necessary when assessed at the date…

Under section 42 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the High Court may restrain a litigant who has habitually and persistently, without reasonable ground…

For an interim payment in a claim governed by foreign substantive law, the application remains procedural and is determined under English law. The court must…

Cross-examination on a disclosure affidavit in the Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction is available only in exceptional circumstances. The governing question is…

On an application for security for costs under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, the claimant’s inability to pay must be assessed by reference to when the costs are…

Meaning is assessed by reading the publication once as a whole, from the perspective of the hypothetical reasonable reader, in its context and mode of…

Harassment by online speech requires objectively oppressive and unacceptable conduct beyond ordinary irritation or upset. Its assessment must respect freedom…

When assessing a conditional fee agreement success fee, the court must assess the risks as they reasonably appeared when the agreement was made, without…

Section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 requires a claimant to prove, as a matter of fact, that publication caused or was likely to cause serious harm to…

A barrister’s professional negligence is established only where the act or omission was blatantly wrong or quite plainly unjustifiable. The court must allow…

A highway authority is liable under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 only where the highway presents a danger which may reasonably be anticipated in…

On an opposed strike-out or amendment application, the court should determine a short legal point summarily only where the necessary material is available. In…

An adjournment application must be assessed against the overriding objective. The court considers what is at stake, any clear prospects of success, the effect…

Articles 29 and 30 of Brussels 1 recast require an extant concurrent proceeding in another Member State. A final judgment, even if it preserves a claimant’s…

The court may grant urgent interim relief under Arbitration Act 1996, section 44, where there is a good arguable jurisdictional basis and immediate…

An occupier’s duty is assessed by reference to all the circumstances, including the likelihood of an accident, the potential seriousness of injury and the…

Permission to amend a statement of case should be granted only where the proposed case has a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success and is adequately…

On a reference concerning a transferred foreign life sentence, the High Court must determine the tariff that would have applied to an equivalent discretionary…

On an application for default judgment, the court ordinarily proceeds on the claimant’s pleaded, unchallenged facts. Evidence on the merits is generally…

A trade union that assumes responsibility for advising and representing a member owes a duty to exercise the reasonable skill and care expected of a trade…

In clinical negligence claims, a healthcare professional must apply the guidance governing the task with appropriate skill and judgment. Where…

Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957, occupation depends on sufficient control of premises, not ownership alone. A construction company may be the sole…

In determining the natural and ordinary meaning of allegedly defamatory social-media publications, the court must identify the single meaning conveyed to the…

In determining the meaning of allegedly defamatory words published in a foreign-language article, the court must assess the natural and ordinary meaning…

In a committal application based on allegedly false statements in personal injury proceedings, each element of contempt must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.…

On a reference concerning a transferred life prisoner, the High Court must determine afresh the minimum term that would be appropriate under the Criminal…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction to restrain abusive litigation in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal, although those…

In a disputed road-traffic claim, liability is determined on the balance of probabilities by evaluating the evidence as a whole. The court may attach…

Permission to amend a statement of case depends on whether the proposed case has a real prospect of success, is adequately particularised and can be introduced…

On a jurisdictional challenge, a claimant must establish a good arguable case for each relevant jurisdictional gateway and for the elements of the domestic…

In construing a grant of an express right of way, the court must ascertain the meaning conveyed by the words of the instrument to a reasonable person with the…

The management of complex commercial litigation requires a pragmatic application of the overriding objective. Sampling is inappropriate where it creates…

An application to revive a struck-out appeal should not be granted where the proposed appeal has no prospect of success. An appeal bundle should be prepared…

A court may proceed in a litigant’s absence where there has been proper notice and the evidence does not establish that illness prevents a fair hearing, even…

An application for recusal must be determined by asking whether all the relevant circumstances would lead a fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that…

A claimant must prove, on the balance of probabilities, the position he would have occupied absent negligence. In assessing a counterfactual career and…

Fresh evidence on an appeal should not lead to a further trial unless it is particularly compelling and provides a very good reason to revisit the case.…

For an interim injunction affecting freedom of expression, Human Rights Act 1998, section 12(3), requires a probability of success: the claimant must be more…

Permission to appeal against factual findings and evaluative conclusions will ordinarily be refused where the proposed grounds merely reargue the evidence. An…

When deciding whether to extend time for serving a claim form or particulars of claim, the court must consider all the circumstances and apply the overriding…

A judge who has previously formed an adverse view of a party’s conduct may need to recuse himself or herself from later proceedings involving that party, even…

A court should not reopen substantive issues in a handed-down draft judgment except in exceptional circumstances. Where the applicable principles are clear…

University disciplinary procedures must comply with contractual and common-law requirements of natural justice. A student has no automatic right to legal…

For a tort governed by foreign law, the English court’s discretionary power to award interest under its own procedural law is governed by the lex fori. It is…

At a jurisdiction and summary judgment hearing, a claimant need show a real, rather than fanciful, prospect of success and a good arguable case on the relevant…

Summary judgment may determine an honest-opinion defence where admitted or incontrovertible facts show that an honest person could have held the opinion at…

A contractual right to terminate on notice may be lost where the other party commits a repudiatory breach before termination takes effect. The question is…

A reduction of a juvenile offender’s minimum term requires more than good progress in custody. Exceptional and unforeseen progress is a high threshold…

In determining the meaning of satirical commentary, the court must identify the single natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the hypothetical reasonable…

Under Defamation Act 2013, s 2, the defendant bears the burden of proving that the imputation conveyed by the publication is substantially true. The standard…

In a clinical negligence claim, a doctor must obtain informed consent by explaining material risks, the realistic benefits of the proposed treatment and…

Valid service of the Claim Form, or an order permitting alternative service or dispensing with service, is an essential prerequisite to jurisdiction over…

In a claim for psychiatric injury caused by cumulative traumatic events, the Bailey approach applies. The claim succeeds where medical science cannot establish…

In a libel claim concerning republication of a defamatory document, an author is liable for a third party’s republication as a joint wrongdoer only where the…

In assessing provisional damages for asbestos-related injury, the court may use an arithmetic approach which starts with a transparent full-and-final valuation…

In a slander claim, the claimant must prove, on the balance of probabilities, the precise words spoken by the defendant and their publication to a third party.…

A written instrument may form only part of the parties’ overall agreement. Where the surrounding words and conduct objectively establish an oral collateral…

Permission to bring committal proceedings for criminal contempt requires a prima facie case and a judgment that pursuing the proceedings is in the public…

A signed conditional fee agreement may bind the client even where its terms were not fully understood, subject to recognised exceptions such as…

An application to extend time for filing an appellant’s notice is approached with the same rigour as an application for relief from sanctions. The court…

The construction of a court order is a single coherent process. The court considers the order’s language in the circumstances known to the court and patent to…

Whether a company holds property beneficially for its controller is a highly fact-specific question. The court must apply the ordinary principles and…

Mitigation of wrongful-dismissal loss is assessed by reference to the benefit actually received and any concomitant tax liability. Where a claimant has…

Strike out and summary judgment are discretionary remedies. A court must distinguish pleading defects from the merits and consider whether a lesser sanction is…

Under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, foreseeable risk of injury must be assessed in the relevant occupational context, including the…

A solicitor cannot rely on Civil Procedure Rules r 46.9(2) merely by producing a signed retainer permitting recovery above inter-party costs. Because the…

A general civil restraint order may be made where a litigant persistently issues claims or applications which are totally without merit, an extended order…

Under section 41(1A) of the Highways Act 1980, a highway authority must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that safe passage is not endangered by snow…

Relief from sanctions may be granted where a breach is neither serious nor significant, causes no prejudice, and the overall circumstances favour permitting…

Where a defendant has threatened disclosure of confidential information, failed to provide requested undertakings, and then published the material, it may be…

Permission to bring committal proceedings requires a strong prima facie case, but that is necessary rather than sufficient. The court must also decide whether…

Penalty for contempt is a matter for the court. Available sanctions include no order, an unlimited fine, confiscation and imprisonment for up to two years.…

Relief from sanctions for late evidence remains a matter of judicial discretion under CPR 3.9. An appellate court should interfere with a case-management…

When substantive proceedings settle but costs remain unresolved, the court may determine costs summarily if the parties agree, using a broad-brush assessment…

The implied term of trust and confidence is fact-sensitive and requires consideration of all the circumstances. It is not confined in every case to positive…

A civil claim is not an abusive collateral attack merely because it concerns matters raised during an earlier criminal trial. The question is whether the later…

An employer is not generally liable for an employee’s practical joke merely because employment created the opportunity for it. Vicarious liability requires a…

Alternative service under CPR 6.15(2) requires a good reason to validate the method used and evidence that the claim form was, or was likely to be, brought to…

A false statement verified by a statement of truth constitutes civil contempt only where it is false, has interfered, or would likely interfere if persisted…

Permission to bring committal proceedings for false statements should be granted only where there is a strong prima facie case that the statement was false…

A non-party costs order is exceptional only in the sense that it falls outside the ordinary run of litigation. The governing question is whether making the…

An interim injunction may restrain publication where the claimant has a strong case that publication would disclose private information or identify a…

Contempt of court for breach of an injunction must be proved to the criminal standard, with the burden on the applicant. The court should identify each alleged…

For an arrest under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, suspicion requires both a genuine suspicion in the arresting officer’s mind and objectively…

A court may determine contempt allegations in a defendant’s absence where the procedural requirements are satisfied and the defendant has deliberately chosen…

A planning authority may seek an injunction under Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s 187B, whether or not it has used other enforcement powers. On an…

A police officer may remove and replace a detainee’s contaminated clothing for hygiene, health and dignity reasons. The restrictions in section 54(6C) of the…

A default judgment must be set aside where, when it was entered, an acknowledgment of service had been filed, even if filing occurred out of time. A claim may…

In committal proceedings, the court may proceed in the defendant’s absence where proper notice and a fair opportunity to participate are established, the…

On an application to continue an interim planning injunction, the court may grant relief where the evidence establishes a real prospect that the claimant will…

In assessing damages for property or business wrongfully lost, a claimant bears the legal burden of proving loss on the balance of probabilities. The court may…

An intentional failure by an employer to pay agreed remuneration, without contractual justification or prompt correction, will ordinarily amount to a…

Under section 3 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, dependency is assessed by identifying the pecuniary benefit which the deceased’s work would probably have…

Applications to replace a single joint expert with an independently instructed expert are governed by a broad, fact-sensitive discretion. A party’s good reason…

Where a lease is forfeited for non-payment of rent, the proviso for re-entry is ordinarily treated in equity as security for the rent. Once rent and costs are…

Whether an apology is defamatory of the author of an earlier article depends on the words used, their context and their overall effect. A reader cannot…

An employer may investigate and suspend an employee in relation to serious alleged off-duty criminal conduct where the employment contract and applicable…

In quasi-criminal committal proceedings, the court may proceed in the respondent’s absence only in exceptional circumstances and after carefully assessing…

Restoration of a dissolved company to the register for a personal injury claim remains subject to the court’s statutory discretion. The court must consider…

An uncontroverted expert report is not automatically binding. The court may reject a report that is literally a bare ipse dixit, but must not assess an…

A section 106 planning obligation is a freestanding legal instrument, distinct from the planning permission to which it may be linked. Its scope is determined…

Permission to amend should be assessed by balancing the applicant’s injustice if permission is refused against litigation finality and the prejudice to other…

Contributory negligence may arise where a passenger knowingly accepts a lift from a driver whose alcohol consumption has impaired the ability to drive safely.…

A wasted costs order is a summary remedy to be exercised carefully and only where the case is clear. The court should ask whether the legal representative…

Information held by ACAS in connection with an ACAS service is subject to the broad confidentiality prohibition in section 251B of the Trade Union and Labour…

Compensation following a qualified offer of amends is assessed in two stages. First, the court identifies the damages that would have been awarded without the…

On a strike-out application in a defamation claim, the court must be certain that the claim is bound to fail before terminating it. Where disputed facts bear…

Under Civil Procedure Rules 1998 r.45.29I(2)(c), reference to advice being provided for in the relevant protocol identifies the type of permitted disbursement.…

Capacity is decision-specific and is presumed unless proved absent on the balance of probabilities. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 requires the court to…

For CPR Part 6.40(4), the court must be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that proposed service abroad will comply with the law of the country where…

A court hearing remains a formal public process whether conducted remotely, face to face or in hybrid form. It is not lawful to livestream proceedings or…

Under section 187B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the court has an original and discretionary jurisdiction to grant inhibitory or mandatory…

Expert evidence in a road-traffic claim should be permitted only where it is reasonably required to resolve the proceedings. Experts must provide scientific or…

Where a personal injury claim is dismissed because the claimant cannot prove the nature or extent of the alleged injuries, dishonesty in presenting those…

Applications made under a general civil restraint order must comply with the notice and written-response requirements in CPR Practice Direction 3C.…

In a dispute between joint legal owners, the court must determine their actual intentions as to the beneficial shares at the time of the conveyance. Clear…

An interim injunction may be varied under CPR 3.1(7) where the issue was promptly raised, was genuinely overlooked, or falls within an express liberty to…

An injunction under Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 187B, may restrain preparatory or anticipatory steps which are not themselves breaches of…

Permission to amend a statement of case cannot ordinarily be granted in the abstract where the proposed amendment is controversial and goes to the existence of…

In assessing costs after trial, the court must first identify the successful party by asking who won in substance and reality. The amount recovered and the…

In assessing damages for defamation, the court must confine the award to the defamatory meanings pleaded and established by the judgment or admission. It must…

In determining meaning in a defamation claim, the court must identify the single natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the hypothetical reasonable reader.…

A search order is exceptional relief. The applicant must establish five cumulative requirements: a strong prima facie civil claim; serious danger or harm…

In assessing occupational disease claims based on events many years earlier, the court must evaluate the whole evidential picture. Human memory is fallible…

The apparent-bias test asks whether a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered all relevant circumstances, would conclude that there was a real…

In committal proceedings, contempt must be proved to the criminal standard, with the burden on the applicant. The court should identify and determine each…

An interim springboard injunction may be granted where the claimant shows a serious issue to be tried concerning unlawful conduct and an unfair competitive…

Under the Scottish childhood-abuse limitation regime, the abolition of the primary limitation period removes any presumption against stale claims and places no…

For service of a claim form on an individual, the usual or last known residence must be a place where the defendant has lived. An address cannot qualify merely…

The court’s inherent jurisdiction permits access by non-parties to documents placed before a court, subject to statute and the rules of court. The applicant…

Norwich Pharmacal relief requires a good arguable case of a recognised wrong, a respondent mixed up in the wrongdoing, possession or likely possession of…

For a destruction application under Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, s. 4B(1)(a), the six-month period in s. 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 runs from the…

A public authority owning land may regulate its use, but must act consistently with its statutory functions, public rights of way and Convention rights.…

An interim injunction against persons unknown must remain a private law remedy directed to parties alleged to have committed, or imminently threaten to commit…

On a summary judgment application, the court must accept the claimant’s factual case unless plainly fanciful and ask whether the claim is bound to fail without…

In a defamation reference-innuendo claim, the court asks whether a reasonable person possessing the pleaded extrinsic facts would understand the words to refer…

Permission to rely on surveillance evidence may be refused where the footage has only marginal relevance, does not materially contradict the claimant’s…

The court may reconsider a judgment only while the order remains unsealed. Once the order has been sealed, substantial challenge must ordinarily proceed by…

Where an interim injunction will substantially determine a claim because the restraint period will expire before judgment, the court should assess the…

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, whether information is personal data is assessed in its proper narrative context, by reference to the ordinary reader…

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

An interim injunction preventing unauthorised residential occupation of land may be granted where there is a sufficiently strong prima facie case, rather than…

An application for recusal based on apparent bias must be assessed by identifying all relevant circumstances and asking whether a fair-minded and informed…

In defamation proceedings, a defendant is generally entitled to justify the meaning which the claimant has placed on the words complained of. A prior criminal…

Variation of a freezing order to fund legal representation requires the defendant to satisfy the court that no alternative funding is available. The burden is…

The unsuccessful party will ordinarily pay the successful party’s costs. A defendant is not generally penalised in costs merely because it did not seek summary…

Issue-based costs orders are not justified merely because the successful party lost on some issues. They may be appropriate where a discrete issue caused…

Where an English court assesses damages under foreign law, it must apply the foreign law, including relevant practices and conventions, as a court in that…

Under Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the court’s discretion to order sale is wide. Where land is expressly held on trust for sale…

Applications to set aside interlocutory orders are governed by finality and procedural fairness. A party must advance all reasonably available points at the…

An application served less than the period required by the procedural rules may be heard only if the court directs that sufficient notice was given in the…

The court considering relief from sanctions under Denton v T.H. White Ltd must address three stages: the seriousness and significance of the breach, its…

A claimant who elects to serve a claim form must comply with the prescribed rules. A solicitor's request that communications be sent to it does not authorise…

Standard disclosure under CPR r.31.6 is narrower than the former discovery test. A document need not prove the falsity of the disclosing party’s case or…

A stay pending appeal depends on whether refusing or granting it risks injustice to either party. The court should weigh the merits and importance of the…

The tort of malicious prosecution requires the claimant to show that legal proceedings were instituted by setting the law in motion through an appeal to a…

On a summary judgment application, the court is not subject to an absolute rule that it may consider only matters expressly raised in the pleaded defence. The…

An application to set aside default judgment under CPR r 13.3 requires the defendant to show a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or some other…

A later claim arising from facts already litigated may be an abuse of process even where it is not res judicata. The question is a broad, merits-based…

An employer with an express contractual right to terminate employment during probation on notice may exercise that right without good reason, unless the…

When approving settlement of a child’s claim, the court must assess whether the proposed compromise is reasonable in light of the litigation risks and whether…

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the starting point was that hearings should take place remotely wherever possible. A party seeking an in-person hearing had to…

Permission to appeal is granted only where the proposed appeal has a real prospect of success or there is another compelling reason for it to be heard. An…

An anonymity order may be necessary even at a liability-only trial where identifying the child would create a jigsaw effect that substantially restricts…

A hospital clinician who diagnoses a recognised condition must still consider whether the whole presentation indicates a concurrent serious bacterial…

In a clinical negligence claim involving delayed diagnosis, the claimant must distinguish loss caused by the underlying condition from loss caused by the…

On an interim application, the court may require a claimant to clarify the cause of action against a defendant before requiring a defence, particularly where…

A director may incur personal liability to account for money belonging to another where she has sole control of a company and its account, the money is not…

An application to set aside an order made in a party’s absence engages different rules according to the nature of the hearing. For an interlocutory hearing…

Detention of a person suspected of an offence may, in principle, be justified under Article 5(1)(c) and Article 5(3) of the ECHR where it is necessary for that…

Before granting an interim injunction which may affect freedom of expression, the court must ordinarily be satisfied that the claimant is more likely than not…

A party seeking to vary a case-management direction must act promptly by appealing or applying for reconsideration. A later application requires a relevant and…

An unincorporated association’s constitution governs the contractual relationship between its members. The court may intervene to protect contractual rights…

Where a stay on possession proceedings is in force when an appeal hearing takes place, the court may defer handing down its reserved judgment so that the…

In determining the natural and ordinary meaning of defamatory publications, the court must read each publication as a whole and in its context, considering the…

A local planning authority may obtain an injunction under section 187 B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to restrain an apprehended breach of planning…

Under CPR 17.3, permission to amend requires a balance between the injustice of refusing the amendment and the prejudice to the opponent and other court users.…

The GMC’s jurisdiction under Medical Act 1983, section 35C, is not confined to conduct undertaken in a doctor’s medical capacity. Conduct undertaken while…

An ex parte freezing injunction should not be discharged for every omission. The court must assess the materiality and culpability of the non-disclosure and…

A post-judgment freezing injunction may be granted against a non-party where there is a good reason to suppose that assets held by that party would be…

For interim injunctive relief, the applicant must show a serious issue to be tried, namely a claim that is neither frivolous nor vexatious. The court then…

A later claim may be abusive even where it has a different cause of action and different nominal parties. The court must make a broad, merits-based assessment…

Permission to appeal may be refused where the proposed appeal is conceded to be bound to fail at the proposed appellate level and the alternative procedural…

Where the tax treatment of damages is uncertain, the court may gross up the award to guard against under-compensation, provided an undertaking or other…

Whether a trial should be adjourned during the Covid-19 restrictions depends on the overriding objective and the practical requirements of a fair hearing. A…

On an application to set aside a possession order made in a party’s absence, CPR 39.3 applies directly where a hearing labelled a disposal hearing is in…

A foreign judgment will not be refused recognition merely because its enforcement has an economic effect equivalent to enforcing an underlying claim which is…

Secondary-victim liability is governed by established control mechanisms. Courts may develop their application incrementally and coherently, but cannot enlarge…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction should be assessed by identifying the forum in which the claims against all defendants can most…

A landlord cannot determine a secure flexible tenancy during its fixed term unless the tenancy gives the landlord a right to determine it earlier. In cases of…

Relief from sanctions requires the court to apply the three-stage test under CPR 3.9 and consider all the circumstances. Personal blamelessness and the…

Frustration is determined by construing the contract in its commercial and factual context. The court must consider the contractual terms, the parties’…

Standard disclosure is governed by the categories in Civil Procedure Rules 1998, rule 31.6. The statements of case provide the essential starting point for…

Costs following interim applications generally follow the successful party. Indemnity costs require conduct or circumstances taking the case out of the norm…

A social-media publication must be assessed in its full context and by the impression it conveys to an ordinary reasonable reader. Highly sensitive information…

A worldwide freezing order requires solid evidence of an objectively real risk that assets will be dissipated or dealt with so as to frustrate enforcement. The…

In a preliminary libel trial, meaning is assessed by asking what the publication as a whole would convey to the ordinary reasonable reader. The reader may read…

An organiser of a motorcycle track day must take reasonable care to protect participants against foreseeable risks beyond those inherent in the sport. The duty…

A Calderbank offer to settle detailed assessment proceedings does not automatically lapse when the hearing begins. Its duration depends on whether, objectively…

In clinical negligence, compliance with a practice accepted by a responsible body of medical opinion does not automatically establish reasonable care. The…

An allegation of professional negligence must be supported by appropriately qualified expert evidence addressing breach, causation and loss. A claimant’s own…

A reporting restriction order supporting a procedural anonymity order is conceptually distinct from an interim injunction restraining publication. The rule in…

In determining defamatory meaning, the court must assess the publication as a whole and in context, through the eyes of the hypothetical reasonable reader. The…

A participant in a hazardous sporting activity generally accepts risks inherent in the activity and risks which are obvious to an adult exercising informed…

An application for further disclosure must be tied to a properly identified cause of action and to the statutory or procedural conditions governing the relief…

In determining meaning, the court must read the publication as a whole and adopt an impressionistic approach, while avoiding excessive textual analysis.…

In a mesothelioma claim, breach of duty and causation remain distinct. The claimant must prove that wrongful asbestos exposure materially increased the risk of…

The court may vary or discharge a property freezing order under section 245B of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 by exercising a broad discretion on familiar…

In deciding whether to admit evidence served after a court-ordered deadline, the court should apply the three-stage approach in Denton v TH White Ltd [2014]…

An appeal against refusal of relief from sanctions is ordinarily a review, not a rehearing. The appellate court may intervene where the first-instance decision…

A party seeking to reopen a judgment on the ground that it was procured by fraud must rely on fresh evidence or facts which were unknown to that party at the…

A particular lien requires more than work done with, using, or in relation to a chattel. The bailee must perform work on the chattel which improves it or gives…

In a defamation claim, the natural and ordinary meaning of an article must be assessed by reading the publication as a whole. The court must identify its…

Insurance cover depends on the essential or primary purpose of the journey, assessed from the insured driver's perspective and on the particular facts. A…

In a claim for delivery up of documents, the court determines whether the documents were retained by assessing the evidence on the balance of probabilities.…

In a credit-hire claim, where the claimant reasonably needs a replacement vehicle and is not relying on impecuniosity, damages are assessed by reference to the…

The court may grant retrospective permission for collateral use of documents disclosed in Employment Tribunal proceedings. The discretion depends on the…

Indemnity costs are discretionary and depend on all the circumstances. A time-limited settlement offer, failure to engage in directed alternative dispute…

A refusal by a lower court to grant permission to appeal is not itself appealable where jurisdiction is excluded by Access to Justice Act 1999, section 54(4).…

The open justice principle favours access to documents and materials placed before the court, especially material relied on in the court’s reasoning. It does…

The court has a broad discretion over the incidence, amount and timing of costs. Discrete interim issues may be finally determined before trial where the…

Specific disclosure applications should identify the documents or classes sought with precision and be supported by evidence addressing relevance and…

On an application for permission to appeal, an appellate court must not substitute its own view of the facts for that of the trial judge. The question is…

Harassment by media publication requires an objectively oppressive and unacceptable course of conduct of sufficient gravity to sustain criminal liability.…

On an urgent application to restrict publication of confidential information, the court should apply the approach applicable to an interim injunction. Under…

A claim for damages for misuse of confidential information requires the defendant to have sufficient knowledge that the use was unauthorised, in addition to…

A general civil restraint order may be extended where this is necessary to protect other litigants and the court’s finite resources from further vexatious…

An interim costs certificate for legal aid costs does not create an absolute, free-standing debt owed by the Lord Chancellor. It records an interim payment…

Fixed charge receivers owe the mortgagor separate equitable duties. Their primary duty is to act in good faith and for a proper purpose, principally securing…

For the purposes of section 70(4) of the Solicitors Act 1974, payment of a solicitor’s bill means payment of the entire sum billed. Part payment, or retention…

On an application for a payment on account of costs under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 44.2(8), the court should order a reasonable sum unless there is good…

In determining whether defamatory words convey fact or opinion, the court must assess the publication as a whole and in context. The distinction is…

An adjournment application based on medical unfitness must be assessed flexibly and fairly. The court must examine the nature of the hearing, the party’s role…

Costs ordinarily follow the event, even where a successful claimant fails on substantial issues. The court may depart from that rule where the claimant’s…

A confidentiality clause in an employment settlement agreement is not ordinarily a condition merely because it requires information to be kept strictly…

Disclosure of a child’s disability and behavioural information by a school engages privacy and data-protection rights. Without valid consent, processing…

An appeal is a review, not a rehearing. For limitation purposes, a written acknowledgement under sections 29(5) and 30 of the Limitation Act 1980 must…

The setting aside of a default costs certificate may in principle be made conditional on payment of outstanding judgment debts. Whether to impose such a…

Derogations from open justice require strict necessity. The court must closely scrutinise the proposed measures, consider whether a less restrictive measure…

An employee claiming constructive dismissal must establish conduct which, objectively assessed, amounts to a repudiatory breach of the implied term of trust…

An express lease covenant requiring access for broad categories of building works may extend beyond the landlord’s repairing obligations. A covenant of quiet…

Under Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, the law of the place where the tort occurred remains the general rule. It is displaced…

An appellate court reviewing an evaluative decision on breach of duty and causation must not conduct a fresh assessment merely because it has the same video…

A witness summons is not generally a means of evading sanctions imposed on a party who has failed to serve evidence. The court must identify the capacity in…

The natural and ordinary meaning of an allegedly defamatory publication is assessed objectively. The publisher’s intended meaning and individual readers’…

In determining meaning in a defamation claim, the court must identify the underlying conduct, condition or attribute said to be defamatory, rather than merely…

Meaning in a libel claim is assessed by the natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader or viewer, taking account of the…

Summary judgment may be granted where the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim and there is no other compelling reason for a…

An order requiring a judgment debtor to attend court under CPR 71.3 must ordinarily be served personally, although the court did not finally decide whether…

Where a successful party has failed on a separate issue, an issue-based costs order is not automatic. The court must identify a genuinely discrete or…

In a road-traffic negligence claim, primary factual evidence remains the principal means of determining what occurred. Expert evidence assists by testing that…

Whether payments constitute loans is determined by the ordinary requirements of contract formation. Written agreements are not essential, but the claimant must…

A novel duty of care may arise where a professional organisation subjects a worker or quasi-worker to an ethically unsafe working environment and thereby…

An employer’s common-law duty requires reasonable precautions against foreseeable risks, including mistakes which employees may make. The assessment must…

Under Article 27 of the 2007 Lugano Convention, the court first seised ordinarily determines jurisdiction, even where the proceedings in the other state…

A hospital may withdraw permission for a patient to occupy a bed and may enforce its proprietary rights, provided its decision is lawful in public law. Where…

Permission to issue a writ of possession under CPR 83.13 does not require service of the application itself on occupants. The court must instead be satisfied…

Under CPR 46PD para 6.15, a party may generally vary points of dispute, but the court may disallow a late variation or impose conditions. The discretion must…

Summary judgment requires both limbs of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 test to be satisfied: the defendant must have no real prospect of successfully defending…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed ground challenges a factual causation finding that was properly supported by the evidence and has no…

Medical professionals must take reasonable care to ensure that patients understand material risks and the consequences of available choices. Where…

In determining whether a later event breaks the chain of causation, the court must assess all the circumstances and decide whether the later event eclipsed the…

An appeal is a review of the lower court’s decision, not a rehearing. The appellate court must respect findings based on witness credibility and the trial…

A public authority ordinarily has no positive duty to protect individuals from harm. A duty of care may nevertheless arise where its intervention creates or…

A solicitor who instructs a medico-legal services provider under a contract is liable for the provider’s reasonable fees, including reasonable medical…

An application to discharge a contemnor from imprisonment before expiry is determined by evaluating all the circumstances as they have subsequently developed.…

A vehicle software function is a prohibited defeat device where it senses parameters associated with a prescribed emissions test, changes the operation of an…

For strike-out purposes, the court assumes the truth of the pleaded case and may act only where the claim is hopeless. Summary judgment requires a clear case…

A classic Tomlin order stays proceedings on contractual settlement terms. The scheduled terms are not an order of the court and do not require judicial…

A retrospective variation of an approved costs budget requires, at the least, a significant development within Practice Direction 3E para 7.6. An unforeseen…

The discretion under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 is broad and must be exercised by balancing all relevant prejudice. The statutory factors guide, but…

An injunction against persons unknown may continue where there remains a sufficiently real and imminent risk of tortious conduct and the order remains…

An appeal under section 204 of the Housing Act 1996 must be brought within 21 days of notification of the review decision. An extension is available only where…

In a professional negligence claim involving a lost property-development opportunity, the claimant must establish both the counterfactual steps that would have…

Where a contractual disciplinary procedure applies to concerns about conduct, competence, behaviour or performance, an employer cannot avoid it by relabelling…

A judgment in default conclusively establishes liability, but the claimant must still prove the recoverability, causation and amount of each head of loss at…

For disclosure purposes, a document is within a party’s control only where the party has possession, a right to possession, or a right to inspect or copy it.…

In a civil battery claim arising from the use of force by police officers, the defendant must justify the force relied upon, including by establishing lawful…

An emergency vehicle driver owes road users the same duty as any other driver. The driver may generally assume that pedestrians will recognise audible and…

Specific disclosure is discretionary. A party has no automatic entitlement to disclosure merely because the material may assist in challenging the opponent’s…

Relief from sanctions may be granted where a serious procedural default has no good reason, but the consequences of shutting out a substantial and potentially…

Under CPR rule 44.2(8), where costs are subject to detailed assessment, the court will ordinarily order a reasonable payment on account unless there is good…

Potentially large numbers of similar clinical negligence claims do not, without more, justify delaying claims that are ready to proceed. Where each claimant’s…

On an application to set aside a default judgment, the court must assess the defendant’s real prospect of success together with the nature and explanation of…

A parliamentary election petition does not automatically abate or end when Parliament is dissolved. Under the current statutory scheme, the High Court retains…

For limitation purposes, deliberate concealment under section 32(1)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980 ordinarily requires a legal duty to disclose where the…

Where a claimant beats an effective Part 36 offer, indemnity costs are the usual consequence unless it would be unjust to order them. The absence of…

A driver of a large goods vehicle must take reasonable steps to address a known blind spot before turning across the path of pedestrians. In appropriate…

In a clinical-negligence claim, a GP is judged by the standard appropriate to the task performed. A trainee receives no lower standard where the task is the…

Costs in a freezing-order application are not governed automatically by the approach applicable to ordinary interim injunctions based on the balance of…

An interim mandatory injunction is granted only where it is just and convenient. The court applies the flexible approach in American Cyanamid v Ethicon Ltd…

For non-domestic rating, occupation of part of a hereditament is insufficient where other parts are separately occupied by third parties. Rateable occupation…

In a defamation claim, serious harm to reputation is an essential ingredient of the cause of action. The claimant must plead the facts and matters relied on to…

A court may defer deciding whether a witness must answer questions about confidential sources until the disputed questions arise in evidence. This is…

In a clinical-neuropsychological assessment for litigation, the court may refuse to require an expert to permit audio recording where recording would create…

A criminal act is not necessarily a tort where consent is legally relevant to the civil claim. Whether a young person gave genuine consent is a question of…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the court must assess whether it is equitable to permit a late personal-injury claim by weighing all the…

In assessing damages for misuse of private information, breach of confidence and data protection breaches, the court must award proportionate and non-arbitrary…

An information for a summary offence may be amended after expiry of the six-month time limit where it was laid in time. This remains permissible even if the…

The discretion under Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, section 142, to vacate an unequivocal guilty plea must be exercised judicially and sparingly. Relief may be…

An insurer may avoid employers’ liability insurance for material non-disclosure or misrepresentation if the facts would have influenced a reasonably prudent…

Where expert evidence is permitted for a defined purpose and subject to a deadline, a party cannot unilaterally enlarge that permission after the deadline has…

An unreasonable refusal to engage in alternative dispute resolution may justify indemnity costs, but it does not automatically produce that sanction. The court…

In determining the natural and ordinary meaning of allegedly defamatory words, the court must read the publication as a whole and in its context. Headline…

Where a catastrophically injured child requires substantial funds for suitable accommodation and care, the court may order a substantial interim payment where…

Specific disclosure depends on relevance, necessity and proportionality. A party’s disclosure statement is an individual responsibility and must ordinarily be…

Summary judgment should be granted only where the defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim. A prospect is real if it is more than…

A Tomlin order compromises a claim on its scheduled terms. A stay of the proceedings is not equivalent to discontinuance, but the claim may be revived only on…

A purely verbal disclosure does not constitute the processing of personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998, whose scheme depends on recorded…

A libel claim accrues on publication. The serious-harm requirement in the Defamation Act 2013 does not postpone accrual until harm is confirmed. Disapplication…

Disclosure must be directed to the issues raised by the pleadings and ordered for trial. A list of disclosure issues is ordinarily a practical summary of those…

Specific disclosure must be confined to documents necessary to deal fairly and proportionately with the issues. Disclosure directed only to a witness’s…

A healthcare provider may owe a duty of care to a person outside the immediate doctor-patient relationship where there is a close proximal relationship and…

In a clinical-negligence claim involving statistical medical evidence, causation remains a question for determination on the balance of probabilities.…

The discretion to make a Sanderson order is governed by all the circumstances and the overriding objective. The court should first consider whether it was…

A late amendment will generally be refused where it requires an adjournment and the delay is unexplained, inexcusable, and causes disproportionate prejudice to…

Sentencing for contempt of court requires the court to impose the minimum sentence effective to punish the breach, deter others and secure future compliance…

Informed consent requires a patient to receive sufficient comprehensible information about the proposed treatment, its material risks and reasonable…

Where a litigant has failed to pay a final, unappealed costs order, the court may ordinarily make payment a condition of continuing the litigation. The court…

An application for an interim non-disclosure order made on short notice requires a positive and compelling justification for urgency. The justification must…

An indemnity costs order is exceptional but appropriate where the conduct of a party or other particular circumstances take the case out of the norm.…

A court may strike out a defence where a defendant, without explanation, neither attends trial nor adduces evidence in support of the pleaded case. The court…

In a personal injury claim, the ordinary but for test remains the starting point for causation. A claimant’s mistaken understanding of an injury, or treatment…

In determining whether publications are statements of fact or opinion, the court focuses on how the words would strike the ordinary reasonable reader in their…

In determining the meaning of allegedly defamatory words, the court must consider the publication as a whole and identify a single natural and ordinary meaning…

A foreign judgment on a foreign judgment may be registered under the Administration of Justice Act 1920 where the statutory definition of “judgment” is…

An appellate court should not reweigh evidence or substitute its own evaluation for that of the trial judge. Where findings depend on the judge’s assessment of…

For Francovich damages, a directive provision confers individual rights only where the claimed right is clear and its grant necessarily follows from the result…

A claim for misfeasance in public office requires properly particularised targeted or untargeted malice and proof that the public officer actually foresaw…

Under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, the court must determine whether the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest in relation to the…

Under CPR rule 3.1(2)(m), the court may direct Judicial Early Neutral Evaluation where it is appropriate to assist settlement. The process is flexible and may…

When costs are subject to detailed assessment, the court should order a payment on account of a reasonable sum unless there is good reason not to do so. The…

Where the QOCS regime applies, a costs order in favour of a claimant may be set off against costs for which the claimant is liable. Such a set-off is not…

Where an interim injunction may restrict freedom of expression, Human Rights Act 1998 section 12(3) requires the applicant to show a likelihood of establishing…

Libel damages serve three purposes: compensation for distress and hurt feelings, compensation for proved or inferable injury to reputation, and vindication.…

An appellate court must assess whether the trial was fair overall where a judge rejects a witness’s evidence on a significant ground that was not put to that…

Where unreasonable conduct causes a claim to leave a low-value personal injury protocol, the costs consequences are governed by the court’s discretion under…

Applications to enrol children’s Deed Polls must be handled compatibly with privacy and equality rights. Where publication of a child’s former and new…

In a defamation claim, the court may determine the meaning of a republication as a preliminary issue even where the claimant sues only on the primary…

A lawful forfeiture under the proceeds of crime statutory scheme cannot be indirectly reversed through private-law damages claims based on alleged impropriety…

Permission to rely on late expert evidence under CPR 35.4 is not governed by the relief-from-sanctions regime unless the rule contains an express or implied…

A trial of preliminary issues is unjust where the judge makes apparently binding findings on matters outside the defined issues without giving the parties a…

A judge may reconsider a decision before the order is drawn up and sealed. The power is not confined to exceptional circumstances. Fresh evidence must satisfy…

At the interim stage, a freely negotiated settlement agreement containing non-disparagement obligations may receive particular weight when the court applies…

In determining meaning and liability at common law, the court must assess the publication as a whole and identify the single meaning conveyed to the ordinary…

For a jurisdictional challenge, a claimant must show a good arguable case. This requires a plausible evidential basis for the relevant jurisdictional gateway.…

In a medical negligence claim involving radiological diagnosis, the court must distinguish factual findings about what imaging shows from professional…

An order for pre-action disclosure requires both the jurisdictional conditions in CPR 31.16 and a discretionary justification for departing from the ordinary…

A religious organisation may be vicariously liable for sexual abuse by an elder where the relationship is integral to its activities and the organisation…

For compulsory motor insurance, injuries arise out of the use of a vehicle only where there is a relevant causal connection between the injury and the…

The Venables jurisdiction permits a contra mundum anonymity order beyond a claimant’s 18th birthday only in exceptional circumstances. Where the competing…

In a credit-hire claim, impecuniosity means an inability to pay ordinary hire charges without making unreasonable sacrifices. The court may consider available…

An appellate court should focus on the substance of a trial judgment. Imperfect structure or expression does not justify interference where the reasoning can…

A judge must give an independently reasoned judgment identifying the issues vital to the result and explaining why each party has won or lost. Incorporating a…

A court may determine a claim on its merits in the absence of defendants who have chosen not to attend, provided they received fair warning of the proceedings…

Planning policies must be interpreted objectively, by reference to their language and proper context, and the development plan must be read as a whole. A…

A foreign judgment is impeachable for public policy only where recognition of the judgment itself, rather than merely the underlying transaction, would offend…

A police authority may owe a private law duty of care where its conduct creates or materially increases a danger to property, or where an assumption of…

For a breach of the statutory warranty of satisfactory quality, recoverable damages are governed by section 53(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. The question…

On an application for strike out or summary judgment, a claim should proceed where it has a realistic, rather than fanciful, prospect of success, particularly…

The temporal application of a later human-rights or equality measure depends on whether it would retrospectively alter rights fixed by past events. Wilson v…

A claim may be struck out where its essential facts and causes of action are not pleaded in a coherent and intelligible way. A litigant in person may receive…

The court enforcing a European order for payment cannot review its substance or declare it unenforceable because of an alleged service defect. Those matters…

In determining the natural and ordinary meaning of allegedly defamatory publications, the court must read the words as a whole from the perspective of the…

A Braganza duty is not implied merely because a contractual party forms an opinion about an alleged breach and then elects to exercise a contractual remedy.…

For the purposes of the lis pendens provisions of the Lugano Convention 2007, proceedings may involve the same cause of action even where one claim seeks…

An event organiser retaining overall control of a public site owes responsibility for managing the interaction between vehicles and members of the public…

For a statutory duty expressed in terms of reasonable practicability, an employer must take a practicable safety measure unless the sacrifice involved would be…

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 do not apply to activities outside Great Britain unless expressly extended by the relevant…

A distribution agreement does not generally confer a right to demand return of stock during its term unless the contract expressly provides for one or the…

In a clinical negligence claim, compliance with a professional guideline does not determine the appropriate treatment automatically. Guidelines must be read as…