Latest Cases

European Union – Public procurement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of arts 2, 44 and 48(3) of Directive (EC) 2004/18. The request had been made in proceedings between Partner Apelski Dariusz (Partner) and the Warsaw municipal cleansing authority concerning Partner's exclusion from the procedure for the award of a public contract for the comprehensive mechanical cleansing of roadways of the city of Warsaw (Poland) in the years from 2014 to 2017. 

Criminal law – Robbery. On a reference by the Attorney General, the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that a sentence of four years' imprisonment for the robbery of a man in his home, had been unduly lenient. In the circumstances, the offender's sentence would be quashed and, in its place, a term of nine years' imprisonment would be imposed. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Division made a declaration of parentage in favour of a father in circumstances where he and his partner had undergone IVF treatment using donor sperm and where they had signed the relevant consent forms. It had later transpired that they had signed consent forms under the 'old' scheme, but had commenced treatment after the 'new' scheme introduced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 had come into effect. The court held that the signed forms were sufficient to comply with the requirements of the 2008 Act and operated a valid and effective consent notwithstanding the change in the statutory regime. 

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. 

Criminal law – Trial. In an appeal against an order imposed under s 4(2) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, the case, for the first time, raised the question of how critical fair trial protections could be extended to prevent or control communications on social media. In the circumstances, the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, revoked the s 4(2) order and ordered the various media organisations not to place any report of the criminal trial on their Facebook page(s), and, to disable the ability for users to post comments on their respective news websites on any published reports of the criminal trial. 

Contract – Damages for breach. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the claimant's appeal against the judge's decision that the defendant was entitled to recover spread costs for a period of delay caused by the claimant's breach of contract. The language of the exclusion clause in the contract in LOGIC form was clear and was apt to exclude liability for wasted costs in the form of the spread costs which the defendant sought to recover. 

Personal Injury: Quantum Case. Road traffic accident. PSLA of £3,800. The claimant sustained a soft tissue injury to the neck and upper back, and a soft tissue injury to the middle back area and right wrist. The judge awarded £3,400 for the spinal injuries and £400 for the wrist injury. 

Equity – Breach of confidence. The Queen's Bench Division, in dismissing a claim for misuse of private information and/or breach of confidence, held that the claimant had not had a reasonable expectation of privacy in any of the information in issue and a source within the defendant Ministry of Defence (the MOD) had not owed him (as opposed to the MOD) a duty of confidence. 

Rates – Valuation list. The Administrative Court dismissed the appellant listing officer's appeal against the decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England (the VTE), ordering her to alter the valuation list for the entry in respect of a property to show one entry for the property instead of two. The VTE had not misdirected itself in law and, on the evidence, its conclusion had been a reasonable one. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The Administrative Court rejected the claimant Albanian national's challenges to the decision that she had not been trafficked, and to the defendant Secretary of State's decisions to certify her asylum claim on safe third-country grounds prior to a consideration of the trafficking claim and to detain her on her arrival in the United Kingdom.