Latest Cases

Vicarious liability – Employer and employee. The Supreme Court reversed a decision of the Court of Appeal and held that the 'close connection' test used in establishing vicarious liability was correct and would not be improved by a change in vocabulary. Applying that test to the present case meant that the employee's assault on the claimant customer had brought the claimant's case within the close connection test so as to properly enable a finding of vicarious liability against the defendant employer. 

European Union – Regulations. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the appeal by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) against a judgment of the General Court of the European Union, by which that court had dismissed NIOC's application seeking annulment, first, of Council Decision 2012/635/CFSP (concerning restrictive measures against Iran), and, secondly, of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 945/2012, implementing Regulation (EU) No 267/2012 (concerning restrictive measures against Iran), in so far as those acts related to NIOC. 

Extradition – Extradition order. The Divisional Court dismissed the appellants' appeals against orders for their extradition to Poland to serve activated suspended sentences. It gave guidance on the distinction between a person 'unlawfully at large', within s 14(b) of the Extradition Act 2003 and a 'fugitive', before finding that the appellants could not rely on the passage of time to bar their extradition. Further, their extradition would not be disproportionate to their rights under art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

Immigration – Non-patrial. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed an appeal by the Secretary of State in circumstances where the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunals (Immigration and Asylum Chambers) had allowed the respondent's appeal against the Secretary of State's refusal to grant a Certificate of Entitlement giving the respondent a right of abode in the United Kingdom. The respondent, as a matter of statutory application, did not have a right of abode through either his father, his mother or through being a Commonwealth citizen. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Division made rulings concerning, among other things, the mother's application to increase periodical payments for her son and the father's cross-application to strike out a number of claims made by the mother relating to providing for their son, C, who was seven years old. The court held that, with the exception of points relating to the trustee of and upkeep of the house where the mother lived, the issues in the application were not justiciable and would be dismissed. 

Child – Protection. The Family Division granted a local authority's application for permission to withdraw its previous application for injunctive orders against a man who had been wrongly identified as a possible perpetrator of a child sexual exploitation of a young girl. It further held that the provisions in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, read with the statutory guidance, made it clear that a magistrates court had the power to make an interim sexual risk order prior to the making or not making of a final order. 

Sentence – Mandatory life sentence. The Administrative Court reduced the offender's tariff for murder, committed when he was aged 14, from a minimum term of 9 years, less 202 days spent on remand to 8 years, less 202 days. The offender had made exceptional progress which had, by no means, been expected to that degree, from when he had committed the offence and had been sentenced for it. 

European Union – Rules on competition. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by UTi Worldwide, Inc., and other companies, active in the sector of international air freight forwarding services, for annulment of Commission Decision C(2012) 1959 final of 28 March 2012 relating to a proceeding under art 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and art 53 of the European Economic Area Agreement (Case COMP/39462 — Freight forwarding), in so far as it concerned the applicants, and, in the alternative, for annulment or reduction of the fines imposed on them in that decision. 

Tribunal – Upper Tribunal. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in allowing the appellant's appeal and restoring the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) debarring the respondent Revenue and Customs Commissioners from further participation in the proceedings, considered the proper approach of tax tribunals in cases where there had been a breach of an order. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. The Queen's Bench Division held, in assessing whether and to what extent to grant disclosure of certain documents following alleged police brutality in Peru in which it was alleged by the claimants that the defendant copper mine owners had been involved, that certain disclosure would be ordered having regard to the fact that the mining company had adopted the voluntary principles on security and Human Rights.