Privy Council judgments, 2011

In professional disciplinary proceedings, apparent bias is assessed by asking whether the fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts, would…

Under the Labour Act 1975, statutory severance provisions apply to every qualifying employment agreement, including a contract terminable on notice. Where the…

Constitutional redress is discretionary. A breach of a constitutional right does not automatically require monetary compensation or a separate vindicatory…

Where the Constitution of Mauritius makes a Supreme Court determination on nomination validity final and unappealable, that finality may exclude an application…

For a money-laundering offence, the prosecution need not identify or prove the particular predicate crime that generated the property. It is sufficient to…

A defendant of good character who is likely to benefit from a good character direction should receive it. Counsel has an affirmative duty to ensure that the…

A constructive dismissal arises when an employer unilaterally imposes, without consent, a substantial change to the employee’s contractual conditions. The…

An appeal based on alleged incompetence by trial counsel succeeds only if the conviction is unsafe when the trial evidence and the likely consequences of the…

A refundable deposit taken to secure the return of a supplier-owned bottle or container is not, merely because the supplier permits its use or uses the money…

A Turnbull direction is not a fixed formula. It must convey the substance and spirit of the safeguards, including the need to draw attention to specific…

A procedural time limit does not itself create an implied sanction when the applicable rules do not expressly specify and impose that consequence. A defence…

An application to set aside a default judgment must be classified by the source of the judgment. Where judgment follows an order making it the consequence of…

The apparent-bias question is whether a fair-minded and informed observer, with a reasonable grasp of how the system operates, would conclude that there was a…

Section 7(2) of the Finance and Audit (Reform) Act No 12 of 2005 applies only where an agreement or instrument effects a borrowing or loan to the Government…

In an appeal by case stated, a party must challenge a deficient statement of case promptly. The absence of a prescribed time limit does not make delay…

Before imposing the death penalty, a sentencing court must be satisfied that the murder is among the most extreme and exceptional cases and that there is no…

An employee does not accept a proposed variation of an employment contract merely by remaining in employment. Consent to a substantial change requires an…

Where an appellate challenge concerns several constitutional grounds arising from the same undisputed facts, and deciding the additional grounds would not…

In a tax appeal on a point of law, the choice between comparable and residual methods of land valuation ordinarily remains a factual valuation judgment. It…

For a foreign judgment registered for enforcement, an allegation that jurisdiction was obtained by fraud requires a properly arguable case that the alleged…

Where a statutory commission retains the final power to promote officers, it may seek recommendations from the operational head, who may use an analogous…

For promotion within the public service, the appointing commission must use the statutory criteria governing promotion, including seniority, experience…

A public authority may use the closing date for applications as the point by which a time-based qualification must be satisfied, even where the advertisement…

A points-based promotion scheme is not irrational or procedurally unfair merely because it may be flawed in some respects. The court should consider whether…

A public authority must comply with a court declaration according to its terms. It cannot recast a declaration of eligibility as a direction to apply later…

In a constitutional state on the Westminster model, the executive cannot have exclusive authority to determine whether extradition proceedings or detention…

Under the Constitution of 1976, constitutional redress where a parallel common-law remedy exists is exceptional. A claimant should ordinarily pursue the…

In assessing an appeal based on alleged incompetence of trial counsel, the appellate court asks whether counsel’s conduct undermined the safety of the…

The exercise of constitutional appointment powers by a Prime Minister remains subject to statutory duties of fairness where the Prime Minister is performing a…

Under section 7, an effective written acknowledgment must be made to the creditor or the creditor’s agent and must amount to an express or implied promise to…

In a criminal trial involving a disputed confession, a trial judge should not tell the jury that the confession has been ruled voluntary after a voire dire.…

The jurisdiction under section 37(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 is judicially circumscribed but capable of incremental development. A receiver by way of…

A dock identification is not inadmissible per se and need not be confined to the most exceptional cases. The trial judge must consider whether admission could…

Under section 4B of the Offences Against the Person Act, provocation must be left to the jury where evidence could support a finding that the defendant was…

For joint enterprise and violent arrestable offence murder, the jury must be satisfied that the accused remained engaged in the common enterprise when the…

Before the 1990 amendment, Guernsey law permitted a trustee exemption clause to exclude liability for negligence, including gross negligence, unless the breach…

In a criminal trial, directions concerning an absent witness’s statement must make clear that the jury cannot rely on it as evidence of guilt. The cumulative…

A formal identification parade is unnecessary where a witness has longstanding familiarity with the accused and recognition is not genuinely disputed. A…

An agreement for sale may assign equitable interests in land, or expectancies close to becoming transmissible interests, even where legal title is held by an…

The abuse-of-process jurisdiction has two distinct categories. Where a fair trial is impossible, proceedings must be stayed. The second category protects the…

Contractual and constitutional documents should ordinarily be given their plain and ordinary meaning. That meaning may yield only where it produces a…

Permission to serve a foreign defendant outside the jurisdiction requires a serious issue to be tried, a good arguable case within the relevant jurisdictional…

A supplemental appellate judgment may correct a material factual error without reopening the substantive disposition where the omitted submissions do not…

A co-accused’s guilty plea during a joint trial does not automatically require the jury to be discharged. The question is whether continuing with the same jury…

A certificate of registration issued under a statutory registration scheme may be conclusive evidence of compliance, including against a later judicial review…

Under the Criminal Code Act 1907, secondary liability for aiding requires a positive act intended to assist or encourage the principal. Mere presence, approval…

On a second appeal, concurrent findings of fact should not be disturbed unless exceptionally a miscarriage of justice or a legal or procedural violation is…

An appellate court may depart from a trial judge’s assessment of witnesses where the judge failed to test impressions against contemporaneous documents…