House of Lords judgments, 2006

Work equipment is not suitable merely because it is safe when carefully handled. Under Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, regulation 4, an…

The common-law power to prevent a future breach of the peace arises only where a constable reasonably apprehends that a breach is imminent. This threshold…

Article 14 applies where a personal interest close to the core of a substantive Convention right is affected. Once domestic law establishes an early-release…

Disclosure remains exceptional rather than routine in judicial review. The court must apply a flexible, case-specific test. It should order disclosure only…

Under the Hague Convention, an actual right to prevent a child’s removal from the country of habitual residence is a right of custody. A merely potential right…

In proceedings about a child’s upbringing, welfare is paramount and determines the outcome. Natural or biological parenthood creates no parental right…

Tax paid under a mistake of law is recoverable at common law on the ground of unjust enrichment. The remedy is available alongside recovery of tax exacted…

A public authority must interpret its planning policy according to its language, purpose and context. A policy need not be applied to a decision for which it…

The Court of Session may review a decision made in England by a tribunal exercising United Kingdom-wide statutory jurisdiction where the proceedings have a…

A particular social group under article 1A(2) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 comprises persons sharing a characteristic independent…

A liability qualifies for priority under section 19(5) of the Insolvency Act 1986 only if the administrator incurred it under a contract entered into while…

A trading corporation with a commercial reputation in England and Wales may recover general damages for libel without proving special damage where the…

Article 5(3) requires the prosecution to justify continued pre-trial detention by sufficient public-interest reasons which outweigh the presumptions of…

A private prosecution may be stayed as an abuse of process where the defendant accepted a formal police caution on an express assurance that he would not have…

Under Section 127(1)(a) of the Communications Act 2003, the offence is complete when a person intentionally sends a message of the proscribed character through…

On a trial on indictment, the judge should leave to the jury any obvious alternative offence which is supported by evidence capable of acceptance by a rational…

A national court exercising concurrent jurisdiction under the EC Treaty may determine for itself whether an agreement infringes article 81(1). A Commission…

Where the determination of an appeal requires authoritative answers to unresolved questions of Community law, the House of Lords may request a preliminary…

A written acknowledgment of a liquidated debt need not state its amount. It is sufficient that the debtor clearly admits legal liability and that the amount…

In proceedings to free a child for adoption, the possible availability of post-adoption contact is relevant but is not a legal precondition to dispensing with…

For child support purposes, a self-employed earner’s “total taxable profits from self-employment... as submitted to the Inland Revenue” are the trading profits…

An employer may be vicariously liable for a statutory wrong committed by an employee in the course of employment. The ordinary rule applies unless the statute…

A person with specialist knowledge does not, by that fact alone, owe a duty to apply it to solve the problems of others. A duty concerning negligent statements…

Under Part III of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, the applicable foreign law determines whether particular heads of damage…

On an application for a child-support liability order, section 33(4) of the Child Support Act 1991 requires the magistrates’ court to proceed on the basis that…

Under article 3(1) of the Council Directive 77/187/EEC, a transfer occurs at the single point when responsibility as employer for carrying on the transferred…

Notification of a freezing injunction does not of itself make a bank or other third party liable in negligence to the applicant for carelessly permitting the…

The discretion under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980 remains available where a claimant began an earlier personal injury action within the primary…

A foreign state is immune from a civil claim in the United Kingdom for torture allegedly committed by its officials abroad unless a recognised exception…

Land satisfying the statutory user requirements does not become a town or village green until it is registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965. Under…

Fair financial provision on divorce is guided by three distinct but overlapping strands: needs generated by the relationship, compensation for…

A non-resident entertainer or sportsman is chargeable to United Kingdom income tax on payments connected in the prescribed manner with activities performed in…

A cause of action in negligence for economic loss accrues only when the claimant sustains actual, relevant and measurable damage. A possibility of having to…

Summary decree under rule 21.2 of the Rules of the Court of Session is appropriate only where the available material permits the court to conclude that the…

Ordinary tort causation requires proof, on the balance of probabilities, that the defendant’s breach caused the damage. The Fairchild exception permits…

For the purposes of article 141 of the EC Treaty, the relevant comparison is between male and female workers who are in the same position and doing equal work.…

For statutory conspiracy, the parties must intend to pursue an agreed course of conduct which will necessarily involve an offence. Their states of mind must…

Misfeasance in public office is never actionable without proof that the official misconduct caused material damage. Material damage includes financial loss and…

The international crime of aggression does not automatically form part of English criminal law. New domestic offences are for Parliament to create. Although…

The qualified right to manifest a religion does not guarantee its manifestation at every chosen time and place. Whether a rule interferes with that right…

Article 2 of the First Protocol guarantees fair and non-discriminatory effective access to the educational system which the state provides. It does not…

A claim under section 2(4) of the Equal Pay Act 1970 must be brought within six months after the employment to which the equality claim relates ends. Where a…

Under sections 44–46 of the Terrorism Act 2000, “expedient” means likely to have significant practical value in preventing terrorism. It does not mean…

Article 14 applies only where discriminatory treatment has a meaningful connection with a substantive Convention right. A tenuous link is insufficient. The…

A public authority’s claim for possession of a person’s home engages article 8. Domestic property law is presumed to strike a fair and Convention-compatible…

Under section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980, time begins when a claimant knows enough to make it reasonable to investigate whether damage is attributable to…

For the purposes of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, the contractual categories in regulation 2(3) are…

An appeal does not become moot merely because the legislation governing the substantive dispute has been repealed. The House may determine a genuine issue…

For the purpose of interest on unpaid tax under section 87(1) of the Taxes Management Act 1970, “payment” includes another form of discharge or satisfaction…

An asylum claimant may be denied refugee status where a safe and realistically accessible place of internal relocation is available. The objective question is…

A double-taxation convention which confers a tax credit by reference to domestic law does not entitle a non-resident parent to a credit for a dividend paid…

The territorial scope of the right not to be unfairly dismissed under section 94(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is determined by construing that…

Apparent bias is determined by asking whether a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered all relevant circumstances, would conclude that there was…

A notification obligation imposed automatically by statute is a consequence of conviction, rather than part of the sentence. A sentencing court may inform an…

Where planning approval comprises several stages, the domestic classification of each decision must conform to the autonomous Community meaning of “development…

A planning authority disposing of land under section 191 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 must satisfy two distinct requirements. It must…