House of Lords judgments, 2008

Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights imposes complementary duties on public health authorities. They must maintain competent staff…

Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 prescribe results, rather than particular means of achieving them. The prosecution must…

Extradition to face life imprisonment without parole does not, without more, contravene article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. A life sentence…

Where a statutory leasehold valuation assumes that the tenant is not buying or seeking to buy, the assumption excludes both marriage value and hope value…

An assured tenancy governed by the Housing Act 1988 continues until the possession order is executed or the tenant gives up possession. Breach of a suspended…

A procession may be “commonly or customarily held” within section 11(2) of the Public Order Act 1986 although its route changes, or is chosen spontaneously, on…

Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights automatically requires an enhanced investigation when a prisoner makes a near-successful suicide attempt…

The transitional derogation from free movement for workers allowed a Member State to regulate access to its labour market by A8 nationals through national…

The positive obligation under article 3 of the Convention requires public authorities to take reasonable and effective measures to protect individuals from a…

For the purposes of section 17(2) of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995, a fixed charge becomes due when it is quantified, payable and recoverable by…

Removal to a non-Convention country may engage a qualified Convention right where there is a real risk of a flagrant violation. The violation must be so…

A discriminatory condition governing entitlement to a social welfare benefit falls within article 14 and article 1 of the First Protocol where, but for that…

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

A prerogative Order in Council legislating for a ceded overseas territory is executive legislation. It is therefore reviewable for legality, rationality and…

A court will disturb an independent prosecutor’s decision to discontinue an investigation only in a highly exceptional case. Judicial review addresses the…

Prosecutorial encouragement to consent to extradition and plead guilty, including a substantial difference between the predicted consequences of cooperation…

When determining a local reference rent under paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997, a rent officer must build…

Where domestic law gives a public authority an unqualified right to possession, an occupier cannot resist possession merely by relying on personal…

A place qualifies as a place of public religious worship for rating exemption only where the public, or the relevant section of the public, may attend worship…

Proprietary estoppel does not provide expectation-based relief merely because a party has behaved unconscionably. A claimant must identify a sufficiently…

Under section 18(2) of the Capital Allowances Act 1990, a qualifying “part of a trade” must be a viable section of a composite trade. It must remain…

The right to marry under article 12 is a strong right. National law may regulate its exercise, but conditions must not impair its essence. A state may…

Under section 21(1)(a) of the National Assistance Act 1948, a need for “care and attention” means a present need to be looked after. It requires something…

A European arrest warrant may seek surrender for prosecution where a first-instance conviction and sentence in the requesting state remain under appeal and are…

Article 2 requires the police to take reasonable preventive measures where they know, or ought at the time to know, of a real and immediate risk to an…

Obviousness must be assessed by reference to the invention specified in the claim. A court must not dilute a product claim into a mere proposal for…

Contractual damages are not recoverable merely because the loss was reasonably foreseeable or because an intermediate event was not unlikely. The court must…

A freedom of information regime does not create a presumption that personal data should be released. Its personal-data exemption must be applied consistently…

An item is “work equipment” under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 if it is machinery, an appliance, apparatus, a tool or an…

A secondary party to a joint enterprise involving unlawful violence may be guilty of murder where he foresaw that another participant might kill with intent to…

Under Chapter II of Part I of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, a long lessee may be a qualifying tenant of a flat whenever the…

Under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, less favourable treatment is assessed against a person without the relevant disability who is…

Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights does not require an exact comparator in every case. Unless an obvious relevant difference resolves the…

An immigration authority determining whether removal is compatible with article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights must make its own broad…

An in-country appeal based on the right to respect for family life may be dismissed on the ground that the applicant should seek entry clearance from abroad.…

When determining whether removal would interfere disproportionately with an appellant’s right to respect for family life under article 8, an immigration…

Excluding every unmarried couple from eligibility to adopt jointly solely because they are unmarried is unjustified discrimination contrary to articles 8 and…

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights regulates procedural fairness, including proof of every element of an offence. It does not prescribe the…

Subject to established exceptions and statutory qualifications, a defendant must be able to identify, investigate and effectively cross-examine prosecution…

In care proceedings, a prediction that a child is likely to suffer significant harm must be founded on facts proved on the balance of probabilities. The…

A final domestic court must refer a question of Community law where the correct interpretation is not so obvious as to leave no scope for reasonable doubt.…

The civil standard of proof is finite and unvarying. A fact is established when it is more likely than not. A serious allegation does not create a higher civil…

When exercising the equitable discretion under section 19A of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, the court must consider all the…

Article 31(1) of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees protects a refugee from penalties for offences reasonably committed…

Where money or property connected with drug trafficking is received on behalf of several offenders jointly, each offender receives the whole property for…

For confiscation purposes, a person obtains property only where it is obtained by that person, alone or jointly. This ordinarily requires ownership and…

Confiscation legislation deprives an offender of the total value of property or pecuniary advantage obtained through relevant criminal conduct, whether or not…

Informal departmental guidance is unlawful where it fundamentally undermines the immigration permissions and legitimate expectations conferred on existing…

The Appellate Committee referred to the Court of Justice the meaning of “for the benefit of” in article 2.2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 881/2002. Its…

In a civil claim for battery, a defendant relying on self-defence on the basis of mistaken facts must show that the belief in an imminent attack was both…

An option to repurchase property was exercised by the notice required under the agreement, rather than by tendering the purchase price on the stipulated date.…

For the option-to-tax provisions governing land, occupation requires more than physical presence or a right to use facilities. It entails actual possession…

The adequacy of environmental information in a permit application is primarily for the regulator to assess. The statutory minimum does not invariably require…

Where an English court receives an insolvency request from a designated relevant country, sections 426(4) and (5) of the Insolvency Act 1986 give it…

The investigative obligation under article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights arises only where there is an arguable breach of a substantive…

Criminal conduct may constitute the unlawful means in an unlawful means conspiracy even though it is not independently actionable by the claimant. The crime…

Where a professional indemnity policy included an umbrella organisation as an assured solely for claims arising from claims against an insured member firm, the…

A secret price-fixing agreement does not, without more, constitute a common law conspiracy to defraud. Criminal liability requires an aggravating element such…

Mere price-fixing, without aggravating conduct such as fraud, misrepresentation, intimidation or interference with legal rights, was not a criminal offence at…

A statutory prohibition on paid political advertising on television and radio may be compatible with article 10 where it protects democratic debate from…

A child is “looked after” under section 22(1)(b) of the Children Act 1989 only if the child was actually provided with accommodation in the exercise of social…

Under a construction contract, the cancellation of a certificate of non-completion by a later extension of time ordinarily operates prospectively. An employer…

For jurisdiction under article 5(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, the contractual place of delivery is ascertained by interpreting the contract…

Under the Proceeds of Crime (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, an interest in an unadministered estate is property even though the beneficiary has no proprietary…

Under sections 1 and 2 of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933, a bill of indictment becomes an indictment only when signed by the…

In a conviction case under Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003, the four-month threshold is met if the custodial sentence imposed for the conduct as a whole is…

For the redevelopment exception to a long leaseholder’s right to acquire a new lease, “any premises in which the flat is contained” means an existing…

An intentional trespass to the person causing personal injury is an action for damages for breach of duty within section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980. It…

Under section 2(1) of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, a building is a house if it was designed or adapted for living in and can reasonably be called a house.…

A minister acts unlawfully by appointing members to a public decision-making body where their conflicts of interest would prevent them from undertaking its…

Under the European arrest warrant system, the requested state must not investigate whether the prosecution has sufficient admissible evidence. Mutual…

Where a breach of duty foreseeably causes personal injury and severe depression, a suicide resulting from that depression need not be separately foreseeable…

A retrospective statutory time limit for exercising an accrued right under European Union law must be accompanied by an adequate transitional period. That…

An English court may use its procedural powers to treat defective service as effective where proceedings were delivered through the prescribed foreign-service…