Privy Council judgments, 2016

Under the Pensions Act 1967 and the Pensions Regulations, qualifying service for a pension is distinct from service used to calculate its amount. “Retirement…

The constitutional right to protection of the law is broad and includes procedural fairness and natural justice. It is not an inflexible rule that every breach…

Under the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act 1995, the court must consider all property and financial resources owned, or likely to be owned, by either…

Permission that prevents adverse possession under the Registered Land Act section 135(1) is a question of permission in fact. It may be given orally or in…

Where a compulsory-acquisition statute prescribes the components of compensation, the court must begin with its text. Earlier common-law authorities remain…

A final inter partes disclosure order does not ordinarily carry an implied cross-undertaking to pay a third party’s compliance costs merely because it may…

A compulsory defined-contribution pension scheme may interfere with property rights without being unconstitutional. Article 40(1) was not engaged because…

Written commercial contracts must be construed in the context of the instrument as a whole and in the light of relevant background circumstances. Where a…

Compulsory fingerprinting for a universal national identity-card scheme interferes with the constitutional protection against search, but may be justified…

A confession is admissible only if voluntary. The prosecution must prove that it was not obtained by oppression or rendered unreliable by anything said or…

Offences may be triable either way even where the accused has no right to elect jury trial. The prosecution may invite the magistrate either to conduct a…

Goods intended exclusively for a statutory duty-free beneficiary may be treated as imported by that beneficiary even where a commercial operator physically…

Advocate immunity from negligence claims is jurisdiction-specific. A jurisdiction may retain the approach in Rondel v Worsley [1969] 1 AC 191 and Saif Ali v…

Restrictions on alien landholding do not, without more, invalidate an unlicensed alien’s contractual or equitable interest in land. Forfeiture is not…

A constitutional entitlement to citizenship registration upon application must be determined within a reasonable time. The process need not be automatic, but…

Where a disciplinary code provides that an officer may refer any charge to a Governor but shall refer specified classes unless dismissed, referral is…

A registered title under the Registration of Titles Act remains subject to unregistered rights acquired by adverse possession under the Limitation of Actions…

An appeal from an arbitral award is confined by the parties’ arbitration agreement. Where that agreement permits an appeal only on questions of law, factual…

A statutory right to limit maritime liability under the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976, given force of law by section 3(1) of…

In a criminal appeal involving serious defects in a jury direction, the proviso cannot be applied merely because the appellate court is itself persuaded of…

The safeguard in the Police Law 2010, s 149(2), is mandatory. Before drawing an adverse inference from a defendant’s failure to give evidence, the court must…

A substantive legitimate expectation does not make a public assurance immutable. The assurance must be clear, unambiguous and devoid of relevant qualification…

A title of honour descends by ius sanguinis under the original grant. Delay, enrolment, parental acknowledgement and long-established expectations do not…

A statutory demand may be set aside for a substantial dispute only where the debtor can raise a triable issue, applying the summary-judgment test. Fresh…

The Privy Council’s jurisdiction under the Judicial Committee Acts of 1833 and 1844 may be removed by necessary intendment. The post-independence…

A statutory protection for accrued rights does not preserve rights under a repealed licensing scheme where the replacement statute expressly creates a new…

Under the Mauritian Value Added Tax Act 1998, a service is supplied for VAT purposes only when the supplier issues an invoice or receives payment, whichever…

Constructive dismissal is determined objectively by asking whether the employer’s conduct repudiated the employment contract, not by asking whether the…

A contractual clause requiring a “penalty fee” for an interruption caused by breach does not limit common-law damages unless the contract, read as a whole…

Contractual clawback provisions must be construed by giving effect to their natural and ordinary meaning in context, including the agreement’s structure…

For tax purposes, a retrospective revaluation of an insurer’s reserves may constitute a change in accounting policy where it adopts a materially different…

A finding that a defendant is unfit to plead does not permanently bar a later trial. Once recovery is supported by up-to-date medical evidence, a further jury…

A foreign judgment may be enforced on the basis of a prior submission only where the judgment debtor actually consented to the foreign court’s jurisdiction.…

A claimant establishes causation by proving on the balance of probabilities that the defendant’s breach caused or materially contributed to the injury. Where…

An option to purchase land need not be paid for separately where the agreement, read as a whole, makes the stated sum the purchase price and requires transfer…

Retrospective legislation altering general law applicable to pending proceedings does not, without more, infringe the separation of powers, the rule of law or…

An arbitration clause stating that, after failed negotiations, any party may submit a dispute to arbitration ordinarily gives each party a unilateral option.…