Supreme Court judgments, 2011

A statutory entitlement to social security benefit is an entitlement to the amount awarded. A pre-existing liability for a Social Fund loan or overpaid benefit…

Where two people voluntarily agree to engage in a gunfight, each intending to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, each is liable for the murder of an innocent…

In the absence of express contrary agreement, an employee cannot recover common law damages for loss arising from an employer’s breach of an express…

Paid annual leave under Working Time Regulations 1998 may be taken during a pre-arranged period when the worker is free from work obligations. Leave need not…

A contract must be read objectively and in its full context. The court may give effect to an evident unspoken intention where the contractual language permits…

The one-year limit in section 100(3B) of the Scotland Act 1998 applies to proceedings brought against the Scottish Ministers or a member of the Scottish…

A suspect in police custody may validly waive the article 6 right of access to a lawyer without first receiving legal advice about whether to waive it. An…

Where a family home is acquired in joint names by a couple who are both responsible for the mortgage, beneficial ownership is presumed to follow the legal…

A residential occupancy agreement expressed to continue until determined in specified circumstances must be construed according to ordinary contractual…

A patent for a newly identified protein and its encoding gene satisfies industrial applicability where the specification, read with common general knowledge…

Contractual interpretation is a unitary and objective exercise. The court identifies what a reasonable person, possessing the background knowledge reasonably…

Civil recovery proceedings under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 do not determine a criminal charge. The enforcement authority may therefore prove…

The rule against double proof prevents more than one proof in respect of what is substantively the same debt against the same insolvent estate. In a…

Published Revenue guidance can found a legitimate expectation only where, read as a whole, it makes a clear, unambiguous and unqualified representation to the…

Legislation of the Scottish Parliament is subject to the statutory limits on legislative competence and, exceptionally, to fundamental constraints derived from…

Article 8 family life normally arises from a genuine marriage and ordinarily includes cohabitation. Refusing admission to a foreign spouse may therefore…

Article 6 does not impose an absolute rule excluding evidence discovered through questioning a detained suspect who lacked access to legal advice. Evidence…

The automatic rule requiring access to a lawyer before police questioning applies where a suspect is in police custody or is otherwise deprived of freedom of…

A pension benefit is a money purchase benefit when its rate or amount is calculated by reference to payments made by or for the member. The statutory…

When employment or worker status is disputed, written terms do not necessarily represent the parties’ true agreement. The tribunal must determine their actual…

An arbitrator appointed to determine a dispute is an independent adjudicator, not a person employed under a contract personally to do work. The relevant…

“Sculpture” bears its ordinary meaning under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Artistic quality is irrelevant, but the object must possess an…

The anti-deprivation rule invalidates arrangements which remove property from an insolvent estate upon bankruptcy, liquidation or administration. It remains a…

A significant risk of serious harm under section 225(1)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 is assessed on the premise that the offender is at large. The…

Employment Rights Act 1996 section 94(1) can exceptionally protect an employee who works abroad where the employment has overwhelmingly stronger connections…

A closed material procedure, supported by a special advocate, may lawfully be used in civil discrimination proceedings where national security requires secrecy…

A court has no inherent common law power to replace public interest immunity with a closed material procedure in an ordinary civil claim. Such a procedure…

A local authority may reassess a disabled person’s community care needs within a care plan review. No separate needs-assessment document is required. The…

Under section 83(2) of the Finance Act 1989, an increase or reduction in the value of a life assurance company’s long-term business fund is determined by the…

A foreign judgment against a state is recognised and enforced under section 31 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 where the ordinary recognition…

Article 6(1) may apply to preliminary proceedings which do not themselves determine a civil right if their outcome is likely to have a substantial influence or…

An unappealable refusal by the Upper Tribunal of permission to appeal remains subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the Court of Session. The remedy is…

Judicial review remains available against an Upper Tribunal refusal of permission to appeal. The designation of that tribunal as a superior court of record…

A contractual term may validly provide that remuneration will follow collective agreements negotiated from time to time by a third party, even though the…

Statutory language must be construed in the context of the legislation’s purpose and overall scheme. A power to levy sea fish and sea fish products “landed” in…

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980 is designed around the best interests of children generally and of each child…

Where the prosecution fails to disclose material which might materially weaken its case or strengthen the defence, the accused’s right to a fair trial is…

An executive detention power must be exercised within its statutory limits and any published policy bearing directly on continued detention. Where regular…

Where EU law does not prescribe a remedy, member states retain procedural autonomy, subject to the principles of effectiveness and equivalence. Equivalence…

A statutory power permitting the police to retain biometric data does not require blanket and indefinite retention merely because Parliament intended to create…

Where an inquest into a pre-commencement death is pending and is to be held after the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force, its future conduct must comply…

A closure notice defines the subject matter of a tax appeal through its stated conclusions and amendments. It does not confine the tribunal to the officer’s…

Compensation under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 is available where a new or newly discovered fact so undermines the evidence against a…

An employer’s negligence is assessed by the conduct expected of a reasonable and prudent employer at the relevant time. An official code or recognised industry…

For the general statutory definition of a subsidiary, membership of a company ordinarily depends on entry in its register of members. Provisions attributing…

Section 171B(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 protects only a breach consisting of a change in the actual use of a building to use as a single…

The legislation governing successive fixed-term employment does not prohibit fixed-term employment as such. Its object is to prevent discrimination and the…

A retained expert witness has no immunity from a claim by the client for breach of the duty of reasonable skill and care in preparing or giving evidence. The…

An executive detention policy must permit individual consideration, be applied consistently and disclose enough information for affected persons to make…

For article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1408/71, cumulative benefit conditions must be considered as a whole. A composite habitual-residence and…

The Fairchild exception applies to mesothelioma caused by a single wrongful exposure to asbestos where environmental exposure is the only alternative source.…

The power conferred by section 1 of the United Nations Act 1946 to implement a United Nations Security Council decision by Order in Council does not expire…

Whenever a local authority seeks possession of a dwelling which is the occupier’s home, the court must be able to determine whether eviction is proportionate…

The public procurement regime under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 incorporates the Teckal exemption. A contract between a public authority and a…

An appellate court may set aside a possession order and substitute its own order where that course accurately gives effect to its substantive judgment and…

Under an all-risks marine cargo policy, inherent vice means deterioration resulting from the subject matter’s natural behaviour in the ordinary course of the…

In an article 8 removal decision affecting a child, the child’s best interests must be identified and considered first as a primary consideration. They are not…

For homelessness purposes, domestic violence under section 177(1) of the Housing Act 1996 is not confined to physical contact. It includes threatening or…

Article 12(1)(b) of the Council Directive 92/43/EEC protects species rather than individual specimens or habitats. Whether deliberate activity amounts to…

Cause of action estoppel applies to successive proceedings before a professional disciplinary tribunal, including a non-statutory domestic tribunal. Where an…