Latest Cases

Insolvency – Bankruptcy – Balancing of accounts in bankruptcy. Sheriff Court: In a commercial action in which the pursuer sued for payment of three liquid sums the defender had agreed to pay in settlement of three payment protection insurance (PPI) claims by the pursuer against it, and which the defender now refused to pay, arguing it was entitled to withhold payment of the liquid sums and to set them off against greater alleged indebtedness said to be due by the pursuer to it under loan contracts entered into many years earlier—in the period between the dates of the loan contracts and related PPI sales (in 1997 and 2003) and the dates of the PPI agreements (in 2014) the pursuer having become insolvent and granted a trust deed in favour of her creditors, the defender having submitted claims in the trust deed for payment of roughly the same aggregate indebtedness now founded upon by way of set‑off, the pursuer's trustee having adjudicated on those claims, the defender having received payment of dividends on the claims and, in 2012, the pursuer having been discharged from the trust deed—the court held that the defender was entitled to plead set-off by application of the principle of balancing of accounts in bankruptcy. 

Family proceedings – Human Rights. The Family Division granted an application for a declaration by a 16 year old person that the adoptive parents receive no information about his day-to-day life, nor about how his gender reassignment treatment was progressing. In so doing the judge engaged in a balancing of the parties respective rights under art 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. 

Practice – Offer to settle. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed an appeal against a costs order as the claimant had beaten the defendants' offer under CPR Pt 36. That had not been changed by the defendants' payment on account pursuant to their partial admission of liability. The claimant's cross-appeal, that costs should have been awarded on the indemnity basis and not the standard basis, was allowed based on the terms of the contract between the parties. 

Judgment – Default of defence. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the claimant's appeal and dismissed the second defendant insurer's application to set aside a judgment in default and an award of damages. In particular, the court considered how the court should approach the grant of relief from sanctions in a case where the defaulting party had delayed in applying for relief, but was able to point to evidence that enabled it to allege that the claim was a fraudulent one. 

Town and Country Planning – Change of use. The Planning Court, in dismissing the claimant's application for judicial review of the defendant local authority's decision to serve a temporary stop notice (TSN), held that the proceedings were misconceived because alternative remedies were plainly available to the claimant and, in any event, judicial review was wholly inappropriate in a case, such as the present, where the TSN had expired. As to the lawfulness of the TSN, the circumstances in the present case came nowhere near the sort of situation required to demonstrate irrationality. 

Practice – Conduct of proceedings. The Commercial Court made rulings concerning a confidentiality club used to protect the identities of individuals, properties and companies against whom the claimant Libyan Investment Authority had commenced proceedings. Among other things, the court amended the confidentiality club to allow a negative resolution procedure to apply to all relevant persons to whom the LIA wanted to divulge confidential information, as defined by the order creating the confidentiality club. 

Will – Construction. The Chancery Division allowed the claimants' application for the construction of a will to include words accidentally omitted. Clause 3 of the will would be construed to include the words 'to my wife', which were the necessary words of gift to the second claimant, the widow of the testator. 

Tax – Appeal. The Privy Council allowed the taxpayer insurance company's appeal against findings of the Jamaican courts with regard the tax consequences of a change in practice for valuation of its reserves, arising from the Jamaican Insurance Act 2001. The effect of submitting an amended tax return had been to create a substantial loss for the taxpayer, which had been disallowed by the local tax authority. The Privy Council held that a change by actuaries in the method of calculating the taxpayer's actuarial reserves was to be properly regarded as a change in accounting policy. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Ugly, Inc. against the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), relating to opposition proceedings between Ugly Inc. and Group Lottuss Corp., concerning the application by the latter for registration of the word mark' COYOTE UGLY' as a Community trade mark. 

Financial services – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). On a reference by the applicant to the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (the tribunal) regarding the identification of the applicant in a Decision Notice for the purposes of s 394(4) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the tribunal dismissed the reference having decided that the applicant had failed to prove that any of the words used in the Final Notice by the Financial Conduct Authority were such as would reasonably in the circumstances lead persons professionally associated with the applicant to believe that he was a person prejudicially affected by matters stated in any of the reasons contained in that notice.