Supreme Court judgments, 2010

When a conviction is quashed, the Court of Appeal has a broad discretion under section 7(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 to order a retrial if the interests…

Statutory deeming provisions are construed by ordinary principles, consistently with their purpose. A fiction should carry its necessary incidents, but it must…

Costs officers conducting a detailed assessment may assess only whether the receiving party’s costs are proportionate, reasonably incurred and reasonable in…

A person whose established family life with a child may be affected by a children’s hearing must have a proper opportunity to participate in the…

A transaction between a company and its shareholder is not an unlawful return of capital merely because hindsight shows that it was commercially…

The statutory scheme governing the recovery of social security benefits paid under an award is comprehensive and exclusive. Once an erroneous award has been…

The defence of honest comment requires the publication to identify, expressly or by implication, at least the general facts on which the comment is based. It…

Parliamentary privilege does not prevent the criminal courts from trying conduct which concerns the administration of Parliament but is not part of its…

An individual does not become a de facto director of a company merely by directing the activities of its sole corporate director. The court must consider all…

A creditor who intends to require discharge of a debt secured by a standard security and, failing discharge, to enforce the security must serve a calling-up…

In an Article 3 removal claim, an appellant’s lies do not automatically defeat the claim. The tribunal must assess their significance and weight alongside all…

A commercial contract must be construed objectively from its language, read as a whole in its contractual and factual context. Every word should receive effect…

An enforcing court asked to refuse enforcement of a foreign arbitral award because no arbitration agreement existed must determine jurisdiction independently.…

A court asked by a local or other public authority to order possession of a person’s home must be able, if the occupier raises the point, to decide whether…

The without prejudice rule broadly protects genuine settlement negotiations from admission in evidence. It does not, however, exclude objective facts…

Article 6(1), read with article 6(3)(c), requires that a detained suspect normally have access to legal advice before the first police interview. The right may…

A court deciding financial relief on divorce retains its statutory discretion and cannot be deprived of jurisdiction by a nuptial agreement. It should…

For a summary dismissal, the effective date of termination under section 97(1)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is when the employee reads the dismissal…

When a political party accepts a donation from an impermissible individual donor, there is an initial presumption in favour of forfeiture under section 58(2)…

A person, including a body corporate or public authority, may institute a private prosecution unless legislation restricts that right and, for a corporation…

A breach of a statutory duty does not ordinarily create a private cause of action. Such an action arises only where, on the proper construction of the…

An application for asylum under the Council Directive 2003/9/EC includes a subsequent application made after an earlier claim has been finally rejected. A…

A freehold owner owns the workable strata beneath the surface unless they have been alienated by conveyance, common law or statute. Unauthorised directional…

Whether a judicial office-holder is a part-time worker cannot be determined solely by the formal classification of the office under domestic law. Although…

An appellate court settling the form of its order should confine its declarations to issues which were fully argued and determined. Unresolved questions of…

Article 2 of the First Protocol guarantees fair and non-discriminatory access to educational facilities existing within the state. It does not guarantee an…

Under section 9(4) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, an item entering into the total charge for credit cannot form part of the amount of credit, even when the…

A gay or lesbian asylum-seeker cannot be refused refugee status because concealment of sexual orientation would avoid persecutory harm. The decision-maker must…

Where consecutive or concurrent prison sentences include terms both below and at least 12 months, the mixed sentences are governed by the aggregation…

Jurisdiction under article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights is essentially territorial. Extra-territorial jurisdiction is exceptional. A member of…

Under the original Housing Act 1985, a secure tenancy subject to a conditional possession order ended when the tenant breached the conditions. Although that…

A statutory school-suspension scheme is exhaustive in a disciplinary context. A principal cannot avoid its safeguards by describing an exclusion pending…

When deciding whether to identify a person in proceedings, the court must balance the general public interest in reporting the proceedings against any…

A notice stating that an illegal entrant is to be removed under section 82(2)(h) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 does not incorporate the…

Whether a control order deprives a person of liberty under article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights depends on its actual cumulative effect in the…

Under Article 11 of the product liability Directive, a producer’s liability is extinguished ten years after the product was put into circulation unless…

A beneficiary may bring a derivative claim to enforce an estate’s right only where special circumstances make that remedy necessary to avoid injustice. In the…

Under the family-reunion provisions of the Immigration Rules, a spouse or child may rely on a sponsor's historic grant of asylum even though the sponsor…

A local authority exercising compulsory purchase powers for development purposes may consider off-site benefits only where they have a real connection with the…

Where a commercial agreement prescribes expert determination to establish a payment, the mechanism must be construed objectively and applied to achieve its…

A person liable for damage may recover contribution under section 3(2) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1940 only from another…

Lifetime notification requirements imposed on serious sexual offenders constitute a disproportionate interference with the right to respect for private life…

The European concept of paid annual leave may impose requirements concerning the level and composition of holiday pay, beyond ensuring that workers are able…

Exclusion from refugee protection for a war crime requires personal responsibility. Membership of an organisation which commits war crimes creates no…

Contract formation depends on an objective assessment of the parties’ words and conduct. The court asks whether they intended legal relations and agreed every…

Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 requires two interrelated inquiries: whether England and Wales is an appropriate venue and whether…

There is no presumption or starting point against a child giving evidence in family proceedings. The court must ask whether justice can be done to all parties…

For the registration of a town or village green, use “as of right” means use openly, without force and without the landowner’s permission. There is no…

An Act of the Scottish Parliament relates to a reserved matter under section 29 of the Scotland Act 1998 according to the provision’s purpose, having regard to…

Article 8 does not impose a legal test of exceptionality in extradition proceedings. The court must undertake a fact-specific proportionality assessment…

A statutory entitlement to services or benefits in kind does not determine a “civil right” under article 6(1) where entitlement and performance depend upon a…

Failure to disclose material in breach of an accused’s right to a fair trial does not automatically make the trial unfair. On appeal, the court must assess the…

The prosecution must disclose material which might undermine its case or assist the defence. This duty extends to the previous convictions and outstanding…

A court may suspend the operation of an order which it makes. That power does not, however, permit an unlawful legislative measure to acquire temporary…

For the employment-income charge on securities disposed of above market value, the asset must be valued by reference to the rights which a hypothetical…

Where environmental information engages several exceptions to disclosure, the meaning of Directive 2003/4/EC determines whether the interests protected by…

General statutory words do not authorise the executive to override fundamental rights. Clear Parliamentary authority is required, particularly where delegated…

Open justice ordinarily requires parties to be named. An anonymity order restricts the press’s right to report proceedings and must be justified as a necessary…