Latest Cases

Practice – Transfer of proceedings. The Companies Court granted the defendant Royal Bank of Scotland's application for an order to transfer proceedings brought by the claimant, Property Alliance Group Ltd, to the Financial List, notwithstanding that the claim was for less than £50m and that the transfer would result in a change of judge. It held that the allegations concerning, among other things, the alleged mis-selling of four interest rate swaps and, the alleged improper conduct of RBS in relation to the fixing of LIBOR rates involved important issues of general market significance and that a transfer into the Financial List satisfied the requirements of CPR 30.5, Practice Direction 63AA and the overriding objective. The court considered the applicable principles in deciding whether to accede to a contested application to transfer existing proceedings into the Financial List, where those proceedings satisfied the definition of 'Financial List claim' in CPR 63A.1(2). 

European Union – Rules on competition. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Schenker Ltd, 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 applicant, and for variation of the fine imposed on it in that decision. 

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. 

Vicarious liability – Crown. The Supreme Court, in dismissing the appellant's appeal, held that the respondent had been injured as a result of negligence by a prisoner in carrying on the activities assigned to him, and the prison service was, therefore, vicariously liable to her. The court considered what sort of relationship had to exist between an individual and a defendant before the defendant could be made vicariously liable in tort for the conduct of the individual, with particular regard to Various claimants v Catholic Child Welfare Society ([2013] 1 All ER 670). 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Criminal law – Proceeds of crime. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, quashed the appointment of an enforcement receiver over their realisable assets of the appellant company and individual defendants, and allowed the defendants' appeals against confiscation orders, following their guilty plea to conspiring to making false instruments in their road haulage company. The orders had involved the unjustified application of the doctrine of lifting the corporate veil. 

Town and country planning – Enforcement notice. The Planning Court dismissed the appellant's appeal against the decision of the inspector appointed by the first respondent Secretary of State, upholding the enforcement notice issued by the second respondent local planning authority. The appellant's four grounds of appeal were rejected.