Latest Cases

Personal Injury: Quantum Case. Asbestos related disease. PSLA of £80,000 with total damages of £642,972.51. The claimant contracted mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos during her course of employment and subsequently died following surgery. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The Administrative Court partially allowed the claim for judicial review by the claimant victims of trafficking. It held that part of the first defendant Secretary of State's guidance 'Victims of Modern Slavery: Competent Authority Guidance (July 2015)' was unlawful, as it did not allow victims of trafficking or their legal representatives to request discretionary leave to remain on the grounds of agreeing to assist the police with their enquiries. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Niagara Bottling LLC (Niagara) against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, concerning the international registration designating the European Union of the word mark 'NIAGARA', which Niagara sought to register as a European Union trade mark. The General Court upheld the Board's decision that the sign at issue was descriptive of the characteristics of the goods and services in respect of which registration was sought, within the meaning of art 7(1)(c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009. 

Extradition – Extradition order. The Divisional Court dismissed the appellants' appeals against the judge's decision, sending their cases to the Secretary of State, who ordered the appellants' extradition to Peru to face trial for drug trafficking. The assurances provided by Peru applied to the second appellant Italian national as to the first appellant British national, and the appellants' rights under arts 3 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights would not be breached. 

Income tax – Tax advantage. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the Revenue and Customs Commissioners' appeal against a finding that it had issued a valid Closure Notice in respect of an enquiry into the taxpayer's corporation tax self-assessment return. The court dismissed the taxpayer's cross-appeal against a finding that the disregard provisions in para 28 of Sch 26 to the Finance Act 2002 had not applied in the circumstances its case. 

Elections – Local government. The Queen's Bench Division allowed the claimant's application for urgent interim relief to lift his suspension from holding office in, or representing the Labour Party. The suspension had gone on too long and there was a good arguable case that it had reached the point that the delay had amounted to unfairness, such that the balance of convenience and justice came down firmly in favour of the grant of relief. 

Criminal law – Costs. The Queen's Bench Division in an application under s 19 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 and reg 3 of the Costs in Criminal Cases (General) Regulations 1986 SI 1335/86 held that the decision to prosecute an NHS Trust and a doctor or the continuation of the prosecution was not improper. It was based on expert evidence which was put forward with some force and clarity. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the appellant local authority's appeal against an order designating it as the authority responsible for an eight-month-old baby, held that, given that the test for ordinary residence was one of fact and should not be made into an overly complicated exercise, there was no basis for concluding that the judge's decision was perverse. It had been reasoned and clear and, in all the circumstances, unassailable. 

Civil procedure – Assignation – Purported assignation of damages claim. Sheriff Court: In an action in which the pursuer claimed to be the assignee of a company's claim for damages against the defender, who was the arbiter in arbitration proceedings involving the company and another company, the party minuter, the court held that the pursuer had no title to pursue the company's rights and, accordingly, he had no title to sue in the proceedings, the action was incompetent, any right of action which the pursuer might have had to claim damages had now been extinguished by prescription, and the action as a whole was irrelevant. 

Firearms – Prohibited weapons. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that the Firearms Act 1982, of itself, had not created any offence. It had widened the scope of the Firearms Act 1968 so as to cover imitation firearms which were readily convertible into firearms to which s 1 of the 1968 Act applied. Accordingly, in the particular circumstances, the defendant's appeal against a conviction for possessing a prohibited firearm, contrary to s 5(1)(aba) of the 1968 Act, would be dismissed.