Latest Cases

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Division ordered a re-consideration of an earlier fact-finding hearing, in which it had been concluded that a mother had caused the injuries to her 10-month-old son, where aspects of newly obtained medical evidence cast a sufficiently fresh perspective on the evidence previously adduced as to warrant review. 

Contract – Repudiation. The Companies Court ruled on consequential issues which arose following the main judgment on the claimant's petition alleging unfair prejudice in relation to the affairs of a limited liability company (LLP). Among other things, it considered whether its preliminary view had been wrong in respect of the validity of a third termination letter, giving the claimant notice requiring him to retire as a member of the management committee of the LLP. The court further ruled that the LLP should pay 50% of the claimant's costs, and that he should pay 60% of the LLP's costs in circumstances where the claim to be entitled to a share in the LLP had failed only at the last hurdle, but where the claimant had succeeded on all of the prior steps in the argument. 

European Union – Trade marks. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of art 5(1) of Directive (EC) 2008/95. The request had been made in proceedings between Daimler AG and Együd Garage Gépjárműjavító és Értékesítő Kft., (Együd Garage)concerning the continued appearance on the internet of advertisements naming the latter as an 'authorised Mercedes-Benz dealer' following the termination of the contract which had given it the entitlement to use that trade mark. 

European Union – Treaty provisions. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the action brought by the European Commission against Malta, by which the Commission had sought a declaration that by deducting the value of civil-service old-age pensions received under pension schemes from other member states from Maltese old-age pensions, Malta had failed to fulfil its obligations under art 46b of Council Regulation (EEC) 1408/71 and under art 54 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 465/2012. 

Patent – Revocation. The Patents Court, among other things, held that it had jurisdiction to grant a declaration sought by the claimant company that its products, which were biosimilar to the antibody 'adalimumab' used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and/or psoriasis, would have been obvious at the priority dates of the defendant's patents. Section 74 of the Patents Act 1977 did not prohibit a declaration relating to a published application. 

Local authority – Charging for care accommodation. Sheriff Court: In an action in which a local authority sought to recover £42,750 from the defender in respect of care accommodation provided to a third party, contending that the defender had received a gratuitous alienation of an asset by the third party, made knowingly and with the intention of avoiding charges for the accommodation, the court repelled the pursuer's preliminary plea that the defence was irrelevant because the pursuer's determination that heritable property had been disposed of in order to avoid or decrease the amount the third party might be liable to pay for her accommodation could be challenged only by judicial review in Court of Session, and it allowed parties a proof of their respective averments. 

Employment – Remuneration. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the defendant's appeal in respect of the judge's decision that the claimant had been underpaid commission in respect of a deal and that the defendant should have allocated two-thirds of the available commission to the United Kingdom office. In particular, the court considered whether the judge had been right to have interfered with the defendant's exercise of what it described as the broad discretion provided to it in the contractual documents. 

Risk of sexual harm order (RSHO) – Interim order. Sheriff Court: Allowing an appeal against a sheriff's decision refusing a motion for an interim RSHO, the court held that the basis for the sheriff's conclusion that it was not just to make an interim RSHO was flawed: he ought to have given due weight to the more general risk the respondent posed rather than to certain, particular circumstances in which the risk might have happened to manifest itself. 

Director – Duty. The Chancery Division held that the defendant, A, had acted in breach of fiduciary duty in causing the claimant companies to grant security over various properties held by them to support a facility obtained by another company owned by a discretionary trust of which A was a beneficiary. On the facts, there was no limitation issue in relation to the breaches. 

Arbitration – Award. The Commercial Court dismissed the claimant's appeal against awards made in an arbitration for apparent bias based on alleged conflict of interest on the part of the arbitrator. On the evidence, and on the application of the 2014 International Bar Association Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration, the fair minded and informed observer would not have concluded that there had been a real possibility that the tribunal had been biased, or had lacked independence or impartiality.