Latest Cases

Mental health – Court of Protection. The Court of Protection held that following an assessment of the patient the presumption that the patient had the capacity to marry and engage in sexual relations as defined under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 had not been displaced. 

Immigration – Asylum seeker. The Administrative Court allowed the claimant Cameroonian national's application for judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision that the claimant's further submissions did not amount to a fresh asylum and/or human rights claim and that her prior certification decision should be maintained. The Secretary of State had acted irrationally and the fresh claim aspect of the decision had also breached wider public law principles. 

Employment – Discrimination. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a finding by the employment tribunal (the tribunal) that the employee had not suffered direct discrimination and harassment because of/related to her religion or belief. The tribunal had concluded that the employee had not been subjected to disciplinary process or sanction because she had manifested her religious belief in voluntary and consensual exchanges with a colleague, but because she had subjected a subordinate to unwanted and unwelcome conduct. The treatment of which the employee had complained was because of, and related to, those inappropriate actions; not any legitimate manifestation of her belief. The tribunal had approached its task correctly and the appeal could not stand given the tribunal's factual findings. 

Patent – Infringement. The Chancery Division, in allowing a claim by the claimant company, American Science and Engineering inc, held that the defendant company had infringed the claimant's patent, entitled 'X-ray backscatter mobile inspection van'. The invention was not obvious in the light of prior art, and hence infringement had occurred. 

Immigration – Deportation. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the appellant Secretary of State's appeal against the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (the UT), allowing the respondent Jamaican national's appeal against a deportation order. The UT had not followed the relevant authorities as to the weight to be given to the public interest in deportation. 

Land registration – Title. The Chancery Division held that the claimant and the first defendant, who was his wife, were entitled to an order setting aside a transfer and a settlement and transfer of property on the grounds of mistake, where they had believed that the steps they had taken would not result in an immediate charge to tax nor a ten-year anniversary charge. The equitable rules applied to the situation. In the circumstances, it was appropriate to set aside all of the relevant transactions. 

Arbitration – Award. The Commercial Court ruled on preliminary issues concerning the claimant's applications under ss 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 to appeal/set aside an award. It held that: (i) English law governed the question of separability, such that the arbitrators had had jurisdiction to decide the issue of validity; (ii) the arbitrators had been right to have dismissed the claimant's challenge to their jurisdiction with regard to their conclusion that the assignment of the relevant contract from the first defendant to the second defendant had been valid, and that the second defendant had been a party to the arbitration; and (iii) there was no prospect of success for the claimant's application under s 68 of the Act by reference to s 68(2)(g), and it would be struck out as unarguable. 

Counsel – Duty. The Administrative Court upheld the defendant Legal Ombudsman's determination, criticising the claimant barrister's handling of the interested party's formal complaint letter in his own letter. However, it quashed the remainder of the determination, including the decision to award the interested party the equivalent of her costs in the claimant's county court action against her for unpaid fees. 

Negligence – Vehicles. The Queen's Bench Division allowed a claim for damages for personal injury and consequential loss following a vehicular collision which, through the events that followed, had resulted in the claimant's leg being amputated. The defendant was liable for the entirety of the incident which had flowed directly from his negligent act in reversing into the claimant without having kept a proper look out. The damages would be reduced by 60% to reflect the claimant's contributory negligence in having left his car's ignition on and the car in neutral, when he had gone to stand behind the car to inspect the damage. 

European Union – Immigration. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of art 13 of Decision No 1/80 of the Association Council on the development of the Association set up by the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Turkey. The request had been made in proceedings between Mr Genc and the Danish Ministry of Integration concerning the rejection by the latter of his application for a residence permit in Denmark for the purposes of family reunification.