Latest Cases

Personal Injury: Quantum Case. Sexual abuse. PSLA of £65,000.00 with total damages of £184,580. The claimant was sexually abused on a regular basis by the defendant between 2000, when she was eight years of age, and 2006. 

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. 

Proceeds of crime – Practice. The Administrative Court dismissed the applicants' application to set aside a property freezing order (PFO) and a disclosure order (DO) made against them, pursuant to ss 245A and 357 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. There had been no need to provide further information to the judge, and nothing unsettled the judge's conclusions that good arguable grounds for the grant of a PFO and reasonable grounds to suspect that property was recoverable or associated for the DO had been established. 

Police – Complaint against police. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the appellant's appeal against the judge's decision, dismissing his claim against the defendant Metropolitan Police Commissioner in its entirety. On the facts, the judge had not erred in dismissing the appellant's allegations of assault, and breaches of arts 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as the police officers' conduct had been necessary. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Libel and slander – Defamatory words. The Queen's Bench Division held that in a claim for slander the claimant had not proved that the defendant had made the statement complained of and therefore the claim failed at the first hurdle. 

Practice – Civil litigation. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the claimant's appeal against the district judge's allocation of his claim, within the Pre-action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents, from CPR Pt 8 to Pt 7 in circumstances where the personal injury claim had been settled but damages for car hire charges remained at issue. The district judge had erred in that further evidence had not been necessary. Further, the case had not fallen within para 7.2 of CPR PD 8B and the district judge had had no power under that paragraph to re-allocate the claim.