High Court: Queen's Bench Division judgments, 2021

For a final charging order, the applicant must prove that the judgment debtor beneficially owns property registered in another person’s name. The ordinary…

For limitation purposes under Limitation Act 1980, reasonable diligence requires consideration of what a real claimant could have discovered in the…

A claim for misfeasance in public office cannot be sustained merely by showing an error, negligence or incompetence in a public function. The claimant must…

A contract may be binding before a contemplated formal document is executed. The question is whether, viewed objectively, the parties intended immediate legal…

Parties must plead the material facts establishing each cause of action. A general claim for payment does not ordinarily give adequate notice of an alternative…

In a libel claim, serious harm under Defamation Act 2013, section 1 must be proved as a fact by reference to actual impact and all relevant circumstances.…

For a possession claim against trespassers under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r.55.8, the court applies a test equivalent to summary judgment. The claim is not…

Specific disclosure must be shown to be relevant and necessary for the fair disposal of the issues or to save costs, consistently with the overriding…

In an international online libel claim against defendants domiciled abroad, the claimant’s centre of interests does not, by itself, confer jurisdiction for a…

Under Rome I Regulation (EC) No 593/2008, an implied choice of law is assessed objectively. An exclusive jurisdiction clause, references to local law and a…

Sanctions for deliberate contempt must reflect culpability and harm while serving punishment, compliance and rehabilitation. The court must first consider…

Commercial heads of terms may contain both binding and non-binding provisions. The question is whether the particular provision, objectively construed in…

Under the Recast Regulation, an insured person may sue an insurer in the courts of the insured person’s domicile. Where English law keeps the cause of action…

The court has a wide discretion when deciding whether to permit withdrawal of a pre-action admission. It must consider every factor in CPR Practice Direction…

For slander to be actionable per se on the ground that it imputes a criminal offence, the words must convey to ordinary reasonable hearers, in context…

Meaning in a libel claim is determined by the single natural and ordinary meaning which a hypothetical reasonable reader would attribute to the publication…

A final Venables injunction may be granted where cogent evidence demonstrates a real and immediate risk of serious physical harm or death. The claimant need…

Low-value, straightforward data-breach claims should ordinarily be commenced in the County Court and allocated to the small claims track where factual disputes…

Under section 4(2) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, reporting restrictions may be imposed where publication creates a substantial risk of prejudice to…

In determining the meaning of passages in a book, the court must assess the broad impression made on the ordinary reasonable reader by the publication taken as…

In a corporate defamation claim, the court must determine the meaning conveyed to the ordinary reasonable reader by the words read once in their proper…

Convention rights to religious manifestation and freedom of expression protect a broad range of speech, including unpopular or offensive speech, but they are…

An interim quia timet injunction may restrain protest on a highway where there is a serious issue to be tried that the conduct constitutes trespass or nuisance…

A person may be jointly liable in tort for another’s assault or battery where they materially assist the primary tortfeasor pursuant to a common design that…

A civil claim may be abusive where its inevitable effect is to mount a collateral attack on a foreign criminal conviction. The absence of an issue estoppel, or…

In a claim arising from the collapse of a structure adjoining a highway, the claimant must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that causative disrepair…

An “intimate search” under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, sections 55 and 65, requires physical intrusion into a body orifice other than the mouth.…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no properly arguable error and there is no realistic prospect that the…

An interim injunction against protesters must be precise, necessary and proportionate. An order against “Persons Unknown” must identify defendants by reference…

Parties and their solicitors must take positive and timely steps to identify, preserve and disclose documents falling within the disclosure duty. It is…

Where a protected party’s damages claim has been settled, the court must assess whether the proposed settlement is in that party’s best interests before…

An occupying family member who is not entitled to statutory succession does not acquire an assured tenancy in equity merely because the tenancy vests in the…

On a renewed application for permission to appeal from a solicitor-and-client costs assessment, the court held that there was an arguable issue whether CPR…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds cannot identify an arguable error with a real or realistic prospect of success. A trial judge…

When approving a settlement for a protected party, the court must be satisfied that the proposed terms are in that party’s best interests. The assessment…

Where a party loses a discrete application for a costs capping order, the ordinary principle that costs follow the event will generally apply. The costs of…

Capacity to conduct litigation is decision-specific and must be assessed by applying the statutory test to the particular litigation. The court must consider…

At the relief stage following summary judgment, a defendant cannot reopen issues conclusively determined by the liability judgment. Damages for harassment may…

In disciplinary proceedings conducted by an unincorporated association, fairness is assessed contextually by asking whether the procedure was actually unfair.…

A loan governed by onshore Dubai law does not become a trust or fiduciary arrangement merely because the agreement refers to a breach of trust. The court must…

A restrictive covenant in a commercial agreement is enforceable where it protects a legitimate business interest and goes no further than reasonably necessary.…

An application for an anti-suit injunction may be dealt with as an interim application, including where the relief sought is mandatory and would require…

On a forum non conveniens application, the court must assess the suitability and risks of the alternative forum without conducting a mini-trial of the…

At a remedies hearing following default judgment, the court may proceed in the defendants’ absence where satisfied that they had adequate notice and a fair…

A claim seeking rights under a victims’ rights directive was properly characterised as a public law claim. A claimant could not use Part 8 to avoid the…

A GDPR representative appointed under Article 27 is not thereby made jointly liable for the controller’s obligations or a substitute defendant in proceedings…

A local authority’s statutory child-protection functions do not, without more, create a common-law duty to investigate abuse or commence care proceedings. The…

Under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, the possibility of a fair trial is necessary but not sufficient for disapplication of the limitation period. The…

Retention of property under section 22 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 remains justified where it is necessary in all the circumstances for…

In interpreting a professional restoration application form, the court must consider the form’s wording, context and purpose. Statutory rules of interpretation…

A local authority does not generally owe a common-law duty of care to protect children from harm inflicted by third parties merely because it exercises…

A civil claim cannot be brought against an unidentifiable class of potential future wrongdoers merely because some member of that class may later commit a…

In a personal injury claim involving alleged mild traumatic brain injury, the court must assess the whole evidential picture. Genuine post-traumatic amnesia…

A contra mundum injunction may exceptionally be granted where cogent evidence establishes a real and immediate risk of death or serious physical harm if…

Under Regulation 261, connecting flights booked as a single journey are treated as one unit when assessing delay at the final destination. This applies where…

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

On an appeal from a case-management decision concerning non-party disclosure, the court must apply the statutory and procedural criteria to the documents…

An employer is not generally required to suspend its disciplinary process while a professional regulator considers the same conduct. The employer and regulator…

Under the Civil Procedure Rules, electronic service is effected by sending the document to the email address at which the recipient has agreed to accept…

Final injunctions in civil proceedings bind the parties identified and served when the order is made. They do not bind “newcomers” who later fall within a…

In a lost years claim, the recoverable loss is the claimant’s future earning capacity, less saved living expenses. The assessment is personal to the claimant.…

A Part 36 offer is assessed by reference to the circumstances existing when it is made. A later adjournment of the trial does not retrospectively change the…

In a defamation claim settled under the Offer of Amends procedure, compensation is assessed in two stages. The court first assesses general damages on ordinary…

An interim injunction may be granted under Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 187B, where the court is satisfied that it is necessary, proportionate…

An order providing a short period in which an existing interim-relief application may continue as a Part 7 claim does not prevent the claimant from commencing…

For an interim injunction under Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the court must be satisfied that there is a serious issue to be tried, damages would not…

An open compensation scheme is not protected by without prejudice privilege merely because it forms part of an alternative dispute resolution process.…

A foreign judgment registered under the Judgments Regulation may be challenged only within the limits imposed by that Regulation. “Enforceable” refers to…

For the statutory defence of truth, the court must determine whether the defamatory imputation conveyed by the publication is substantially true. The court…

An applicant seeking urgent interim mandatory relief owes the court a strict duty of candour and truthfulness. That duty applies equally to litigants in…

In an urgent application for interim relief, the court must assess whether there is a triable issue and consider its strength, the balance of convenience and…

When deciding whether to order a joint trial under Civil Procedure Rules 1998, r 3.1(2)(h), the court must further the overriding objective and conduct a…

For contempt arising from breach of a planning injunction, the court must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant knew of an unambiguous order…

An interim injunction will not be granted where the claimant has failed to establish a viable cause of action, comply with service requirements, or provide…

Under a loan agreement providing for increased default interest, the contractual redemption date is not extended merely because a later agreement permits…

Where a foreign court gives a clear and unequivocal answer to a request under Article 29(2) of the Brussels Regulation (Recast), the requesting court must act…

Immigration detention is lawful only while removal remains the purpose of detention, the period remains reasonable, and removal has a sufficient prospect…

Capacity to conduct litigation is decision-specific. The statutory presumption of capacity is displaced only where, on the balance of probabilities, the person…

When assessing an interim payment in a serious personal injury claim, the court must estimate the likely capital element of the final judgment conservatively…

Under the Rome II Regulation, rules determining when a limitation period is interrupted form part of the law applicable to the non-contractual obligation. They…

Contempt of court must be proved to the criminal standard. For disobedience of an order, the applicant must establish that the respondent knew the order’s…

Damages for unlawful underpayment may be assessed on the balance of probabilities even where the employer’s failure to keep records creates substantial…

When an English court receives a letter of request for evidence to be used in foreign civil proceedings, it must balance comity and the requesting court’s…

In a libel claim, the claimant must prove publication to a third party, reference, defamatory meaning and serious harm under Defamation Act 2013, section 1(1).…

Commercial lease rent remains payable during pandemic-related closure unless the lease, properly construed, provides otherwise. Rent cesser clauses referring…

A deliberate or reckless false statement verified by a statement of truth is inherently serious contempt because it undermines the administration of justice.…

A Part 36 offer accepted on behalf of a child or protected party remains subject to court approval under CPR 21.10. Until approval, the acceptance does not…

On an application for an interim injunction challenging a medical practitioner’s exclusion from work, the court applied the three-stage test in American…

On a summary assessment of costs, reasonableness and proportionality must be assessed in light of all the circumstances. Relevant considerations include the…

Where statutory and common-law rights compete, the court may determine which should take precedence by examining all the circumstances. Relevant considerations…

A deliberate breach of a restricted reporting order may constitute contempt of court even where the order contains no penal notice. Subjective recklessness as…

Permission to serve a witness summary under CPR 32.9 requires proof that the party was unable to obtain a witness statement. The requirement should be applied…

In a professional-negligence claim based on loss of a litigation opportunity, causation requires a two-stage inquiry. The court must first decide, on the…

Permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction requires satisfaction of the applicable jurisdictional gateway, a good arguable case on the merits, and…

A defendant may seek a finding of fundamental dishonesty under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 without pleading the allegation in a…

Summary judgment is appropriate where a party has no realistic prospect of success and there is no compelling reason for a trial. The court may decide a short…

Contractual exclusions in online gambling agreements must use clear language and prominent signposting if they are intended to exclude payment of apparently…

A preliminary issue should be ordered only with caution. The proposed issue must be precisely formulated and ordinarily concern a decisive question of law…

A prison authority owes prisoners a duty to take reasonable care for their safety. The operational duty under Article 3 is breached where the authority knew or…

In a protected-party damages claim, the court must be satisfied that a proposed settlement is in the claimant’s best interests before approving it. A…

A party cannot make a second application for permission to appeal to the same court, on the same grounds and evidence, immediately after permission has been…

In a road-traffic negligence claim, liability is determined by applying the standard of the reasonable driver to the facts found on the balance of…

A local authority is not vicariously liable for abuse by an employee of an independent children’s home merely because it placed a child there. The decisive…

The phrase “in the proceedings” in Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, s 17(1), does not create a bright-line rule excluding every expense incurred before a…

On an application for interim relief, the court should not resolve critical disputed facts or difficult, fact-sensitive questions of law which may determine…

A statement of case may be struck out where it fails to identify the precise words relied on in defamation or malicious falsehood. A claimant must identify the…

For limitation purposes, a claimant is not fixed with knowledge of a significant asbestos-related injury merely because respiratory symptoms or signs of…

Quia timet injunctive relief may be granted against persons unknown where there is a sufficiently real and imminent risk of trespass, and the threatened harm…

When approving a settlement for a party whose litigation capacity is disputed, the court may proceed on the premise that the party lacks capacity without…

A contract forms part of a bankrupt’s estate where it has value capable of vesting in the trustee. The exception for contracts requiring the bankrupt’s…

A local authority may use section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972 to seek relief concerning anticipated breaches of a site-licence condition…

In clinical negligence, the court must determine breach by applying the Bolam test, subject to the requirement in Bolitho that the professional opinion relied…

Development-plan policies stating that development in the countryside will be strictly controlled to uses appropriate to the countryside do not necessarily…

At the pleading stage, a claimant may advance malice by alleging both knowledge of falsity and a dominant improper motive. The court should not artificially…

Under section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, a claim for personal-injury damages must be dismissed where the claimant is entitled to damages…

Negligence in a road-traffic accident must be assessed by the standard of the reasonably careful road user, without imposing a counsel of perfection or relying…

Planning permission must ordinarily be interpreted from the permission itself and documents expressly incorporated into it. A planning application is not…

Meaning in a defamation claim is determined by the single natural and ordinary meaning which the hypothetical reasonable reader would understand, reading the…

An interim harassment injunction may restrain contact, attendance and publication where the evidence shows a course of conduct crossing the boundary from the…

Under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, harassment requires a course of conduct which is objectively oppressive and unacceptable, judged by reference to…

Where damage results from a component becoming detached after specialist work, res ipsa loquitur may assist only if the claimant excludes its own…

Permission to appeal should be refused where the proposed grounds have no realistic prospect of success and there is no compelling reason for an appeal. An…

A contractual provision allowing solicitors to exercise a lien for non-payment does not, without clear words, make that the client’s sole remedy or require the…

In a claim for damages arising from historic sexual assaults, the court may disapply the limitation bar where, considering all the circumstances, a fair trial…

In assessing general damages for defamation, the court must compensate injury to reputation and feelings, taking account of the gravity of the allegations, the…

A claim may be struck out as an abuse of process where the claimant’s misconduct in the litigation is so serious that permitting the claim to continue would…

In assessing damages for modern slavery-related employment torts, the court may award compensation for loss of autonomy, psychiatric injury, and sub-clinical…

When deciding an application for an interim injunction, the court should adopt the course likely to cause the least irremediable prejudice. A stricter…

A driver must take reasonable care, judged by the standard of the reasonably careful driver. The standard is not that of an ideal driver and does not impose a…

An extended civil restraint order may be made where a party has persistently issued claims or applications that are totally without merit. The threshold is met…

Contractual undertakings given to compromise threatened defamation proceedings are interpreted objectively, by reference to their wording, the agreement as a…

On strike-out and reverse summary judgment applications, the court must assume pleaded facts will be proved unless they are plainly unsustainable, and must…

In determining the meaning of words spoken in a foreign-language television programme, the court must identify the single natural and ordinary meaning conveyed…

In assessing damages for libel and harassment, the court should make a proportionate award which compensates injury to reputation and feelings and vindicates…

For an interim non-disclosure injunction, the applicant must ordinarily show that publication is more likely than not to be prohibited at trial. The court may…

A credit relationship is not unfair merely because its terms operate harshly against the debtor. The court must assess the relationship as a whole, considering…

Costs budgets must be based on sufficient evidence and must be reasonable and proportionate. Where the evidence does not permit a reliable final decision on…

A failure to pay an interim costs order may justify debarring relief, but strike-out is discretionary and must remain proportionate. The court must consider…

An application to set aside a regular default judgment under CPR 13.3 requires the applicant to show a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or…

Norwich Pharmacal relief is an exceptional jurisdiction directed to identifying a wrongdoer from information within the respondent’s knowledge. It does not…

When approving a settlement of a child’s damages claim, the court must decide whether the proposed terms are in the child’s best interests. The court may…

In a settled personal injury claim, the court may make an order for periodical payments where continuity of payment is reasonably secure. That requirement is…

The High Court may use its inherent jurisdiction to approve a settlement where neither party asserts incapacity but there is a sufficient concern about the…

A claim under CPR Part 8 cannot be used to pursue a claim which is, in substance, judicial review of an enactment or an alleged failure to perform a public…

When approving a settlement involving a protected party, the court must decide whether the proposed terms are in that party’s best interests. The assessment…

In determining the meaning of allegedly defamatory political journalism, the court must assess the article as a whole and from the perspective of the ordinary…

When deciding whether to adjourn or set aside a procedural order, the court must assess the interests of justice and the overriding objective in the context of…

The court must approve a proposed settlement for a protected party only where satisfied that it is in that party’s best interests. The assessment is holistic…

Indemnity costs require conduct or circumstances taking the case outside the norm of ordinary and reasonable litigation. A failed claim, without more, does not…

An oral contract requires agreement, an intention to create legal relations, consideration, and sufficiently certain and complete terms. Discussions about…

Meaning in a defamation claim is determined by the natural and ordinary meaning conveyed to the hypothetical ordinary and reasonable reader, assessed in its…

A section 7 order under the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act 1879 is available for a legal proceeding in the United Kingdom, not directly for foreign proceedings.…

Under Part III of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, personal-injury claims are generally governed by the law of the country…

Strike-out applications concerning defective pleadings require a holistic and proportionate assessment. A pleading may be struck out where it fails to disclose…

Adjournment of a fixed trial is a last resort. A counsel’s diary conflict and a party’s preference to retain existing counsel will not ordinarily justify an…

In assessing clinical negligence, the Bolam test requires consideration of whether the defendant’s treatment was supported by a responsible body of medical…

A contempt allegation for breach of an injunction must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The claimant must establish notice of an unambiguous order, a…

In a libel and data protection claim concerning a government report, meaning must be assessed by the impression made on the ordinary reasonable reader of the…

A minimum term may be reduced only on one of the prescribed grounds: exceptional and unforeseen progress during sentence; serious prejudice to the offender’s…

A minimum term imposed on a person detained during Her Majesty’s pleasure may be reduced where the offender has made exceptional and unforeseen progress during…

On an application to strike out a negligence claim against a local authority, the court must ask whether the claim is bound to fail. A claim should not…

Immigration detention is lawful only while the Hardial Singh principles are satisfied. There is no automatic maximum period, but every day requires active and…

On an interlocutory application, a claim arising from an employment dismissal may be within the Johnson exclusion area even where it is framed in libel or…

Contempt involving deliberate false statements and fabricated evidence in support of a grossly exaggerated civil claim is exceptionally serious because it…

The Rent Exception in the Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) Regulations 2021 requires both substantial rent arrears and a…

In an offer of amends case, indemnity costs under CPR rule 44.3 require conduct that is unreasonable to a high degree. Refusal to accept a non-Part 36…

A claimant alleging injury from medical treatment must prove breach of duty and causation on the balance of probabilities. Where a patient would have proceeded…

When a party seeks to introduce late expert evidence, the court must consider whether it is necessary or reasonably required, with proportionality and the…

On an application for interim injunctions, the court applied the three-stage approach in American Cyanamid v Ethicon Ltd [1975] A.C. 396: a serious issue to be…

A defendant debarred from defending does not automatically lose the claim. The claimant must still prove the facts establishing liability and entitlement to…

In determining meaning in a defamation claim, the court must read the publication as a whole and ask how the ordinary reasonable reader would understand it.…

When approving a settlement for a protected party, the court must determine whether the compromise is in the claimant’s best interests and whether the proposed…

At a summary judgment hearing, a party cannot rely on a contractual amendment to justify conduct outside the amendment’s terms. Where funds are required to be…

Joinder is discretionary. The court must first establish that one of the independent conditions in CPR 19.2(2)(a) or CPR 19.2(2)(b) is satisfied. It must then…

A secondary victim claim should not be struck out unless it is certain to fail. In clinical negligence cases, the relevant event for proximity may be a sudden…

A public authority may protect the identity of a person who confidentially reports concerns about a child’s care, health or development. That confidentiality…

Where proceedings in different Member States raise the same cause of action, the English court must use the mechanism in Article 29(2) of the Recast Regulation…

An application to reopen an unappealed judgment after trial may constitute an abuse of process where it repeats an earlier unsuccessful application or relies…

The exceptional Venables jurisdiction may protect the identity of a child offender where disclosure would create a real and immediate risk of serious self-harm…

Where a proposed settlement includes claims belonging to protected parties, the court must determine whether the settlement and any apportionment are in their…

Unauthorised recording, transmission or publication of court proceedings may amount to contempt even where the material causes no actual prejudice to the…

Variation of a group-litigation cut-off date is a pragmatic case-management decision guided by the overriding objective. The court must balance access to…

When approving a proposed settlement for a child, the court must determine whether the agreement is in the child’s best interests. The assessment should…

In a clinical negligence claim involving death from bacterial meningitis, causation was determined on ordinary but-for principles and the balance of…

Natural and ordinary meaning in a defamation claim is determined by reading the words as a reasonable reader would, without elaborate analysis or reliance on…

In costs budgeting, the court should adopt a broad-brush approach and approve budgeted costs only where they fall within the range of reasonable and…

A common-law deceit claim must identify the alleged representations, their falsity, the claimant’s knowledge and reliance, and the resulting damage with…

An application to adjourn a trial on medical or health-related grounds must be supported by adequate evidence addressing the party’s condition, its effect on…

Pre-action disclosure is exceptional. The applicant must first establish the jurisdictional requirements in CPR 31.16 and must then persuade the court, as a…

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

Service of a claim form at an English agent’s premises is valid only where the overseas company is present there for jurisdictional purposes, or where an…

A defence of substantial truth must plead sufficient and particularised primary facts capable of proving the defamatory meaning. In a claim concerning online…

Permission to appeal from a costs decision should be granted only where the proposed appeal has a real chance of success. A challenge to factual findings faces…

In a defamation claim, an allegation that a solicitor is dishonest or fraudulent ordinarily alleges fact rather than opinion. It cannot be converted into…

On a forum non conveniens application, the claimant must show both that the natural foreign forum will probably not be used for well-founded reasons and that…

On an application to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction, the claimant must establish both a real prospect of success and the relevant jurisdictional…

Contributory negligence is assessed by asking whether the claimant was at fault, whether that fault contributed to the damage, and what reduction is just and…

Schedule 12 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 does not require physical entry before an enforcement agent enters into a controlled goods…