Latest Cases

Criminal evidence and procedure – Evidence of child witnesses – Disclosure/ inspection. High Court of Justiciary: Refusing an appeal by the Crown against a judge's decision, at a preliminary hearing, ordering disclosure by delivering copies of disc recordings of police and social work Joint Investigative Interviews (JIIs) of the complainers to the agents for the respondents, who faced charges of sexual abuse involving two younger boys, the court held that recordings of the JIIs were label productions in the case and at this stage the accused was entitled to see the labels, not as a result of the disclosure regime but in terms of the statute relative to the lists of productions: given that the labels were to be used as evidence in chief it was difficult to conceive of a situation in which the court would refuse an application to borrow them for a specified purpose (including copying), albeit perhaps subject to conditions, and the court had effectively granted that application 

Sale of land – Trust. The Chancery Division dismissed the claimant property developer's claim that the defendant, Lidl UK Gmbh, had purchased a property as part of a joint enterprise with the claimant and that Lidl held the property on trust for both parties. On the facts, there had been no arrangement or understanding, sufficient to give rise to a Pallant v Morgan equity. Accordingly the property was not being held on trust for the claimant as well as Lidl, as joint venturers. No agreement had been made and no assurances had been given by Lidl to the claimant to the effect that the claimant would definitely acquire an interest in the property if Lidl purchased it. 

Personal Injury: Quantum Case. Road traffic accident. PSLA of £2,650, with total damages of £3,294. The claimant suffered severe neck pain, moderate upper back pain and severe persistent headaches as a result of his car being hit from the rear by another vehicle. Treatment lasted until four months after the accident. 

Negligence – Information or advice. The Commercial Court dismissed the claimants' claim that the defendant advisory company had been negligent in its report on commercial due diligence in the purchase of a company by the claimants. The analysis provided by the defendant had been entirely reasonable and complete on the basis of the information provided to it. It had not acted in breach of duty or negligently in any respect. 

Contempt of court – Committal. The Chancery Division ruled that the defendant company (a nightclub) and its sole director and shareholder at the material times were guilty of contempt of court by reason of the breaches of an injunction restraining them from infringing the claimant's copyright by using, without a licence, recordings in the claimant's repertoire as specially featured entertainment at the nightclub. 

European Union – Employment. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding that, the general principle prohibiting discrimination on grounds of age, as given concrete expression by Council Directive (EC) 2000/78 should be interpreted as precluding, including in disputes between private persons, national legislation, such as that at issue in the proceedings before the referring court, which deprived an employee of entitlement to a severance allowance where the employee had been entitled to claim an old-age pension from the employer under a pension scheme which the employee had joined before reaching the age of 50, regardless of whether the employee chose to remain on the employment market or take his retirement. 

European Union – Social security. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing an appeal against rejection of a claim for employment and support allowance (ESA) by a European citizen from another member state, held that the labour market-related benefits which an EU citizen from another member state could claim by virtue of EU citizenship was restricted to those whose sole or predominant function was to facilitate access to the labour market. ESA was not, on that test, a labour market-related benefit and a job seeker from another EU member state was not eligible for it. 

European Union – Customs and excise. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1047/2001 and Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95. The request had been made in proceedings between Mr M. Cervati, in his capacity as general partner and legal representative of Società Malvi Sas di Cervati Malvino, a partnership having ceased to trade (Malvi), and the partnership itself and the Italian Customs Authority), concerning a correction and recovery notice notified to Malvi in relation to imports of garlic of Argentinian origin subject to a preferential rate of customs duty. 

Immigration – Education. In an 'unreported decision', the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) allowed appeals against the respondent Secretary of State's decisions cancelling the appellants' leave to remain in the United Kingdom on the ground that they secured an English language qualification by fraud. There was no hesitation in accepting evidence of the appellants' expert in voice recognition, which constituted an unremitting critique of the Secretary of State's evidence. 

Landlord and tenant – Breach of covenant to repair. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the defendant tenant's appeal on two issues arising out of proceedings brought by the claimant landlord for alleged breach of repairing covenants contained in the lease of business premises. Among other things, it held that the tenant's replacement of the tiled carpeting system with a strip carpet system shortly before the determination of the lease had constituted a permitted alteration and the tenant had not been in breach of covenant in relation to the carpets.