Latest Cases

Company – Insolvency. The Chancery Division dismissed an application seeking declarations that the appointment of the first three respondents as joint administrators of a company had been a nullity because of an alleged prior floating charge in favour of another company. The court allowed a cross-application by the respondents, the joint administrators and Nationwide Building society, to strike out the substantive application having found that Nationwide's predecessor (Derbyshire), had had a qualifying floating charge for the purposes of s 251 of the Insolvency Act 1986, which Nationwide had acquired and that the company had never acquired the hotel in question and its adjoining land otherwise than subject to the terms of Derbyshire's legal charge and debenture. Accordingly, nothing had had the effect of depriving the Derbyshire debenture of its status of a floating charge as created and Nationwide had not been not precluded from making the appointment of the joint administrators. 

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. 

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 – 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. 

Sentence – Firearm offences. On the facts, the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that 16 of the 17 referred sentences, for convictions ranging in the supply, purchase and facilitation of fireams and lethal ammunition had been unduly lenient. Those sentences would be quashed, with new sentences being imposed accordingly.