Earlier reported cases judgments, 1998

In proceedings to recover possession from an introductory tenant, compliance with the notice requirements of section 128 of the Housing Act 1996 both…

Section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 is procedural. It applies only where a mortgagee brings possession proceedings and permits the court to…

The statutory right to return to work after maternity absence is effectively exercised by giving the prescribed notices; physical attendance on the notified…

An accountant providing litigation support services is subject to the same confidentiality principles as a solicitor. A former client must establish that the…

A mortgagee holding security over shares is not under a general duty in negligence, contract or equity to intervene in the company’s affairs merely to preserve…

The fair dealing defences in section 30 of the Copyright Designs and Patent Act 1988 require an assessment of the derivative work in its context. The user’s…

Where concurrent tortfeasors cause the same harm, the injured person may recover the loss only once. A settlement with one tortfeasor extinguishes the claim…

Section 3 of the Brussels Convention 1968 is a self-contained and exclusive jurisdictional code for matters relating to insurance. An insurer cannot rely…

A trustee which directly employs staff to perform services supplies those services for VAT purposes. It does not merely arrange for its employees to supply…

Contractual damages compensate for the value of the legal rights lost. The contract-breaker is ordinarily assumed to perform its legal obligations in the…

In a purchaser’s negligence claim arising from a negligent valuation, actual economic loss is sustained on exchange of contracts where reliance on the report…

For the gifts-with-reservation provisions, the relevant property is the specific beneficial interest given, rather than the physical asset in which that…

An employee is treated on racial grounds where an employer requires the employee to implement a racially discriminatory policy against third parties. The…

When deciding whether a contractor or subcontractor owes a duty of care for physical damage, the court considers foreseeability, proximity and whether the duty…

A transitional saving for persons already receiving disability living allowance protects the existing entitlement which was in force when the new…

For section 14(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, a sale is made in the course of a business unless it is a purely private sale outside the seller’s business.…

In an express dismissal, a claim cannot avoid the rule in Addis v Gramophone Company Limited [1909] AC 488 by pleading failure to follow disciplinary…

The court held that, in exceptional circumstances, a police officer may owe a legal duty of care to a fellow officer to intervene where the officer has assumed…

For a restricted patient, the discharge inquiry under section 64(1)(a) of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 includes the statutory requirement that, for…

Liability for pure psychiatric injury remains subject to categorical controls. A claimant within the range of foreseeable physical injury is a primary victim.…

An exclusion for disability resulting from a sickness, disease, condition or injury “for which” the insured received medical advice, treatment or counselling…

An occupier does not ordinarily owe an adult trespasser protection against an obvious danger which the trespasser understands and willingly accepts. Under…

A bank’s actual authority to make a customer’s payment is construed objectively from the customer’s instruction and the facts known to both parties. A mistaken…

Where property is put into another person’s name for an illegal purpose, the transferor may nevertheless establish a resulting trust if the beneficial interest…

A former Head of State retains immunity from United Kingdom criminal process only for acts performed in the exercise of functions which international law…

Compensation under section 322(3)(b) of the 1985 Act is confined to loss resulting from the transaction which contravened section 320(1). Where the transaction…

A solicitor who accepts instructions to prepare a will assumes responsibility towards its intended beneficiaries. That duty may exist even where rectification…

Clear exclusion and indemnity clauses in a negotiated commercial contract must be given their ordinary meaning. A court must not adopt a strained construction…

In a negligent survey and valuation claim, diminution in value is the prima facie measure of loss. A purchaser may recover additional reasonable costs of…

A condition that merely requires a contracting party to perform an obligation within its control does not prevent a specifically enforceable contract from…

A whole-life tariff for a mandatory life prisoner is lawful. It represents a decision not to fix a determinate tariff because the offence is so serious that…

An educational psychologist employed to advise a local education authority does not assume a duty of care to a pupil merely by assessing the pupil…

A failure to serve a bill of costs on a party entitled to be heard is an irregularity, but it may justify disallowance where the default is serious. The power…

A defendant who voluntarily submits to a foreign court’s jurisdiction in an action may thereby submit to properly brought claims by existing parties which…

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981, a dismissal because of a transfer is effective, although it may be unfair. It…

Money paid under a mistake of law is recoverable in restitution on the same general basis as money paid under a mistake of fact, subject to ordinary…

Documents disclosed by the prosecution as unused material under its common law obligations are subject to an obligation imposed by law. The recipient must not…

Under the Housing Act 1988, a landlord cannot rely on a reasonable-belief defence where its belief that a joint secure tenant had ceased to reside rested on an…

A car park is not ordinarily a “road” within the compulsory motor-insurance provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1988. A road is a defined or definable route…

Where a conveyancing agreement describes land as property known as a stated address, extrinsic evidence is admissible to identify what property bears that…

For statutory trade-dispute immunity, the dispute must be between workers and their employer and must relate wholly or mainly to a permitted subject, such as…

For the purposes of eligibility for a housing grant, an owner's interest is not confined to a legal estate. The statutory reference to a term of years absolute…

On a statutory appeal against a decision of a quasi-judicial decision-maker, the decision-maker is not ordinarily a proper respondent where no relief is sought…

Fostering regulations governing local-authority placements do not determine the outcome of a genuine private-law application for a residence order. The court…

Where the Court of Appeal has granted leave and determined an appeal, the applicant has standing to apply to the Appeal Committee of the House of Lords for…

For limitation purposes, a claim in the action means a demand for relief. A positive averment made only by way of defence does not amount to such a claim.…

A winding-up petition founded on an undisputed debt should ordinarily be dismissed or stayed where the company has a genuine and serious cross-claim, has been…

A police force may owe a duty of care to a member of the public requested to act as an appropriate adult during the questioning of a mentally disordered…

Under Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992, section 3 confines contractual liabilities to a lawful bill-of-lading holder who enforces, or seeks to enforce, rights…

A competent adult may accept or refuse medical treatment, and detention under the Mental Health Act does not of itself remove that capacity. A court…

State immunity depends on the character and official context of the act, not solely on the defendant’s formal status under the Visiting Forces Act 1952. An…

This judgment holds that a contractual right of pre-emption over land can be "property" within the meaning of Insolvency Act 1986 s.436 and thus vests in the…

A solicitor instructed to implement testamentary wishes must take reasonable steps to ensure that a specifically intended gift can take effect. Where the…

A contract is one personally to execute work or labour where its dominant purpose is to secure the contracting party’s personal performance of the essential…

Most elements of the procedure identified in Director of Public Prosecutions v Warren for obtaining blood or urine specimens are guidance designed to secure an…

Limitation Act 1980 section 24(1) bars only a fresh action upon a judgment. It does not impose a six-year statutory bar on execution of the original judgment.…

Under section 1(1) of the Extradition Act 1989, an extraditable person may be “accused” although no formal criminal charge has been made. The issue is a…

A periodic tenancy ends by effluxion of time when the final period for which the tenant has consented to its continuation expires. Giving notice to quit…

For the purpose of calculating a pension reduction, a pension payable under the NHS Regulations means the initial pension, excluding statutory index-linked…

For continuity-of-employment purposes, “the time of the transfer” of a trade, business or undertaking may comprise a period rather than a single instant.…

A County Court has no inherent power to grant an injunction. Its jurisdiction must come from statute. Under section 38 of the County Courts Act 1984, read with…

On an application concerning a child’s surname, the child’s welfare is paramount. The court must refrain from making an order unless it would be better for the…

Passing off may arise when a dealer registers another trader’s distinctive name as an Internet domain name. Registration can itself falsely represent an…

Compensation for injurious affection under section 10 of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965 reflects the common-law cause of action that statutory works would…

When a person makes a further homelessness application, the mandatory duty of inquiry under section 62 of the Housing Act 1985 arises if there is an…

A publication must be read as a whole when deciding whether it is capable of a defamatory meaning. Where part of it is defamatory if read alone, an apparent…

Where a defendant did not act with the purpose of killing or causing serious bodily harm, a jury may find the intention required for murder only if death or…

An official receiver is absolutely immune from suit for statements made in the course of bankruptcy proceedings and within the scope of statutory powers and…

Discrimination motivated by sexual orientation is not, without more, discrimination on the ground of sex under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. It may…

For a regulated consumer hire agreement, a default notice under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 must accurately state what the hirer must do to remedy a…

An expert witness is immune from suit for evidence given at trial and for a report adopted or incorporated in that evidence. The protection cannot be…

Qualified privilege for publication to the public depends on the circumstances of the particular occasion. In modern conditions, the media’s duty to inform and…

A statutory power of arrest without warrant is not removed by section 26(1) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 merely because it appears in a…

A sub-tenancy is not automatically destroyed where a head landlord and head tenant agree to use a notice to quit to obtain possession from the sub-tenant.…

An incapacitated person who requires treatment for mental disorder may be admitted informally under section 131(1) of the Mental Health Act 1983 if the person…

A contractual break notice containing an incorrect termination date may nevertheless be effective where a reasonable recipient, knowing the lease, would have…

An appellate court should not displace a trial judge’s findings of fact merely because it would have assessed conflicting evidence differently. The trial…

In a personal injury claim involving an uninsured driver, an interim payment may be ordered against the driver where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau will meet the…

Late acceptance of a payment into court before trial does not give a claimant an automatic right to payment out. The court has a discretion under the County…

Damages for breach of a business-sale warranty compensate the buyer’s actual loss. A price/earnings calculation is appropriate where it reflects the basis on…

A later authoritative judicial interpretation of a statute states what the law has always meant. An official cannot justify detention beyond the true statutory…

In ancillary relief, a genuine working partnership between spouses changes the starting point. The court should first identify each party’s financial…

An occupier’s liability for injury to a child depends on whether the accident was of a type or kind that was reasonably foreseeable. The law does not require…

A liquidator’s application for directions about realising a chose in action may use the procedure developed for a trustee deciding whether to sue a…

The time-of-supply rules must first be applied to identify the extent and time of a supply, including a supply between companies in a VAT group. Value Added…

Possession of land is a sufficient title against anyone unable to establish a prior and better right to possession. Where a hedge and ditch mark an established…

Under section 10 of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965, compensation for injurious affection is confined to loss of value or damage to land or an interest in…

For a certificate of appropriate alternative development under the Land Compensation Act 1961, the relevant date is the date on which the land becomes proposed…

The principle of open justice permits anonymity only where it is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice. The applicant must show that…

For the purposes of section 7(1)(a) of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, physical damage is not confined to conventional physical deterioration.…

A tribunal is not a court for criminal-contempt purposes merely because it decides issues judicially, sits in public, hears sworn evidence or follows…

A stay of properly constituted proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for abuse of process is exceptional. The inherent jurisdiction…

For the Child Support Act 1991, benefit is “claimed” or “paid” when it is claimed or actually paid. The statutory provisions do not require the parent with…

A person who undertakes an activity giving control over a source of danger owes a duty of care to a contemplated class exposed to a foreseeable risk of…

A solicitor’s standard undertaking to a lender concerning purchase money is not a warranty of title. It authorises the solicitor to release money only in…

An unsuccessful appellant may be ordered to pay the respondent’s costs. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords may be refused even where the case raises…

An appellate tribunal exercising a jurisdiction confined to questions of law may interfere with an industrial tribunal’s procedural or interlocutory decision…

A purchaser exercising the statutory right to buy cannot challenge the reasonableness of a covenant included under paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to the Housing Act…

Under CCR Order 17 Rule 11, automatic directions are not ousted merely because a party applies for manual directions or for a declaration that proceedings have…

Under section 35A of the Supreme Court Act 1981, the power to award simple interest on damages paid or recovered before judgment is confined to payments made…

An architect’s interim certificate under a building contract has provisional effect unless clear contractual words make it conclusive. If the certificate is…

Where a statute imposes an immediate duty to provide education suitable for an individual child, and defines suitability by objective educational criteria, a…

A proportional reinsurer is not liable, merely by implication of law, for its proportion of the insurer’s reasonable and claim-specific costs of investigating…

Technical private nuisance requires an interference with the claimant’s enjoyment of land arising from the defendant’s use, or permitted use, of land under the…

For psychiatric injury caused by negligence, a claimant directly involved in the event and exposed to a reasonably foreseeable risk of physical injury is a…

Under section 35(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, the Home Secretary’s discretion to release a mandatory life prisoner after expiry of the tariff is not…

A court asked to obtain oral evidence for foreign proceedings should ask whether the proposed witness can reasonably be expected to give relevant evidence and…

An agent or company director is not personally liable for negligent advice merely because the agent performed the work, controlled the company or possessed the…

A statutory pension entitlement may be enforced by ordinary civil action where the claimant has a private law right and no statute or statutory rule positively…

An inspector exercising functions under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 owes no common law duty of care to protect a regulated business from pure…

When a county court grants conditional relief from forfeiture for non-payment of rent, “all the rent in arrear” in section 138(3) of the County Courts Act 1984…

For limitation purposes, a personal injury claimant who gives solicitors general responsibility for conducting a claim may be fixed with knowledge of facts…

For the purposes of Employment Rights Act 1996, s.197(1), an employee dismissed when an extended fixed term expires may fall within the contracting-out…

Privilege against self-incrimination is not confined to answers that increase the likelihood of prosecution. It extends to information or evidence on which a…

A statutory claim for compensation following entry onto compulsorily acquired land accrues when the acquiring authority enters and takes possession. The…

A default judgment entered after the prescribed period for serving a defence has expired is regular where no defence was served within time, even if the…

The statutory cy-près jurisdiction does not require proof that a charity’s original purposes have become impossible or impracticable. It arises whenever one of…

A defendant seeking to justify an imputation that there were reasonable grounds to suspect misconduct must prove objectively reasonable grounds founded on the…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal may permit a new point of law to be raised, or a conceded point to be reopened, only in exceptional circumstances. Exceptionally…

Whether an employer may place an employee on garden leave depends on the construction of the particular contract in its surrounding circumstances. The decisive…

When a local authority places a child with foster carers, it is at least arguable that it owes the carers’ resident children a common law duty to take…

Article 1A(2) of the Geneva Convention requires a present or prospective well-founded fear of persecution when refugee status is determined. A past fear alone…

Section 34(3) of the Gaming Act 1968 regulates amusement-machine prizes by reference to each individual game. A player may accumulate non-monetary prizes or…

An English court should not ordinarily restrain proceedings in a foreign jurisdiction unless England has a sufficient interest in, or connection with, the…

Exclusive possession of residential accommodation does not invariably create a tenancy. The surrounding circumstances may show that possession is referable to…

The Court of Appeal has power under Order 59 rule 13 to stay an order for payment out of money lodged as security for costs pending an appeal. Retaining the…

A foreign partnership with legal personality under its home law need not be treated as a corporation for English procedural purposes. The proper defendant is…

Family Proceedings Rules 1991, rule 4.23 protects only documents held by the court and relating to family proceedings. Social workers’ notes, drafts and…

Disclaimer of a lease under section 178 of the Insolvency Act 1986 extinguishes the tenant’s liability for future rent and gives the landlord an immediate…

When an occupational health doctor is retained by a prospective employer to assess a job applicant, foreseeable economic loss does not by itself create a duty…

For discrimination limitation purposes, an employer makes a fresh actionable decision when it genuinely reconsiders and again refuses a request. Merely…

Before disclosing information identifying a former sexual offender, the police must act fairly. Disclosure requires a pressing need, a proper assessment of…

An individual voluntary arrangement under Insolvency Act 1986 Part VIII binds notified creditors as if they were parties to it. Its effect on co-debtors and…

A bailiff who has entered peaceably and impounded goods cannot ordinarily force a re-entry merely because premises are locked and unattended. Force is…

Where reinsurance makes compliance with the original policy a condition precedent, the reinsured must prove that its payment or settlement was within the…

An annual housing revenue determination requiring an average interest rate calculated on an accruals basis permits only interest accruing on the authority’s…

Under section 51(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, consecutive and wholly or partly concurrent terms of imprisonment must be treated as a single term for…

A solicitor may agree to waive or reduce all or part of the client’s fee if litigation is unsuccessful, provided that the solicitor seeks no more than ordinary…

Restitutionary subrogation is an equitable remedy for unjust enrichment. It does not depend upon a common intention between the payer and the person enriched.…

Termination of a shipbuilding contract does not extinguish an accrued right to an instalment unless clear contractual language produces that result. A…

A court retains its ordinary procedural discretion to decide when and in what order competing possession and right-to-buy claims should be heard. Part V of the…

A party seeking to avoid a charge because of a third party’s undue influence or misrepresentation bears the initial burden of showing that the lender had…

The court held that a claim based on estoppel by holding-out requires proof that the claimant acted on the faith of the representation. Reliance cannot be…

An English court will not enforce an arbitral award where the award itself shows that it gives effect to an agreement whose common object was unlawful conduct…

Money paid under a contract which was beyond a party’s capacity and void from the outset is paid on a consideration which has totally failed. The payer may…

The measure of a plaintiff's loss from partnership profits is the plaintiff's real loss arising from his contribution, not the partners' internal or tax-driven…

Under section 60(3) of the Solicitors' Act 1974, a party recovering costs under a contentious business agreement may recover only the lesser of the reasonable…

A conditional fee agreement complying with the statutory scheme does not alter a legal representative’s ordinary duties to the client or the court. Nor does it…

For psychiatric injury, an employee is not a primary victim merely because an employer’s breach put him in a sequence of events culminating in a colleague’s…

A county court has an inherent jurisdiction to strike out a procedurally compliant notice of discontinuance if its use is an abuse of process. The jurisdiction…

For the administrative procedures in County Court Rules 1981, Order 9, an admission in Rules 2, 3 and 6 means the prescribed Form N9 admission. An informal…

For the offence of causing polluting matter to enter controlled waters, the prosecution must identify something the defendant did. The activity need not be the…

A compromise reached in Industrial Tribunal proceedings bars only claims objectively shown to fall within its scope. A document recording settlement is not…

An equality clause under the Equal Pay Act 1970 attaches to the particular contract of employment. Where successive contracts are separated by breaks and no…

A default judgment for copyright infringement does not require an injunction in the claimant’s preferred terms. Under rule 7(1) of the Rules of the Supreme…

For VAT purposes, the expression “facilities or advantages available to members” in the Value Added Tax Act 1983 section 47(2)(a) has a wide ordinary meaning.…

Under the County Court Rules, Order 17, rule 11, an order striking out a previously served Form N9 defence does not automatically cancel a period of automatic…

Once leave to apply for judicial review has been granted, the court has determined any application to extend time. Unless the grant is set aside, that issue…

Additional damages under section 97(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 enhance an award of ordinary damages. They are not a self-standing remedy…

Goods may be dangerous under article IV, rule 6 of the Hague Rules although they neither threaten the vessel nor directly damage other cargo. It is sufficient…

An employer establishes the material-factor defence under section 1(3) of the Equal Pay Act 1970 by proving that the pay disparity was caused by genuine…