Latest Cases

Trade dispute – Dispute connected with terms and conditions of employment. The Queen's Bench Division held that an interim injunction would be granted using the usual test of the American Cyanamid principles that drivers be told that the court had declared that, pending any industrial action and any agreement reached thereafter, they should operate trains on a 12-car DOO(P) basis on those services which had formerly had a 10-car DOO(P) service to Gatwick, on the Gatwick Express. 

Pension scheme – Changes to administration of scheme. Court of Session: In a special case in which a company and the trustees of the company pension scheme, who had been unable to discover sufficient evidence to demonstrate that in 1992 decisions in respect of changes to escalation of benefits and equalisation of pension date were made and recorded in accordance with the requirements of a clause making provision for amendment of the rules of the scheme, invited the court to decide whether it could be inferred that in 1992 the trustees exercised powers under another clause to apply special terms, both in respect of escalation and equalisation, that the company consented thereto and that intimation thereof was made to members in accordance with that clause, the court answered the question in relation to escalation in the affirmative (with a reservation) and the question in relation to equalisation in the negative (with an exception). 

Practice – Hearing. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed an appeal against an order that the application by the claimant for a detailed assessment of the bills of the defendant, its former solicitors, pursuant to s 70 of the Solicitors Act 1974, should be held in private. It held that the authorities clearly demonstrated that there was a concept of waiver for limited purposes and that was clearly what had happened in the present case. 

Insurance – Transfer of long-term insurance business. The Companies Court granted an order, among other things, sanctioning an insurance business transfer scheme to transfer the applicant company, The Copenhagen Reinsurance Company (U.K) Ltd's entire insurance business to another company in the Enstar group. 

Judicial review – Foster carer – Deregistration. Court of Session: Dismissing a judicial review petition by a petitioner who was jointly registered with her husband as a foster carer by the respondent local authority, and who sought reduction of the respondents' decisions to deregister her and her husband following the respondents' own investigation of serious allegations about the husband's conduct made by a child who had been in the petitioner and her husband's care (the police having investigated but taken no further action), the court rejected the petitioner's contentions that reduction of the respondents' decisions should be granted because they had failed to adequately take into account her blameless position and had failed to discuss with her the possibility of a variation of the joint registration. 

Value added tax – Exemptions. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in allowing the appellant taxpayers' appeal, held that there was no hard and fast rule or presumption about inter-player participation in a 'game' for the purposes of the Gaming Act 1968, and the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) had made no error of law in having concluded that 'Spot the Ball' was a 'game of chance'. 

Medical practitioner – Disciplinary proceedings. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the claimant British Medical Association's application for judicial review, held that para 6(b) of the Schedule to the General Medical Council (Legal Assessor and Legally Qualified Persons) Rules Order of Council 2015, SI 2015/1958, which provided that a legally qualified tribunal chair did not need to advise other panel members on any question of law in the presence of the parties after deliberations had begun, was neither contrary to the requirements of art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights or common law fairness, nor otherwise unlawful. 

European Union – Environment. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling confirming the validity of art 15(3) of Commission Decision 2011/278/EU determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to art 10a of Council Directive (EC) 2003/87 in so far as that provision precluded emissions from electricity generators from being taken into account in the determination of the maximum annual amount of allowances. However, the Court decided that art 4 of, and Annex II to, Commission Decision 2013/448/EU concerning national implementation measures for the transitional free allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances in accordance with art 11(3) of Directive 2003/87 were invalid. 

Agent – Duty to principal. The Chancery Division allowed in part the claimant company's claim that the defendant, B, had made unauthorised payments into certain accounts in the course of managing investments and securities. The court held that B had not been authorised to make the payments, and had acted in breach of duty. He was liable to compensate the claimant for breach of the duty he owed to it as its agent. 

Road Traffic – Disqualification from driving. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, provided guidance as to the effect of the introduction into the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 of sections 35A and 35B, provisions relating to disqualification of driving. In particular, it set out a checklist indicating an appropriate way of working to formal sentencing decisions in respect of disqualification.