Latest Cases

Criminal law – Indecency with child. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that a sentence of 24 months' imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, for three specimen counts of indecency with a child, contrary to s 1(1) of the Indecency with Children Act 1960, had been unduly lenient. A judge had to arrive at the right sentence on the offences before her and to guard against any temptation, because of what had happened in the intervening period, to suspend the sentence. The sentence would be quashed and substituted for a total term of three years and six months' imprisonment. 

Local government – Licensing – Street traders. Sheriff Court: Reversing a licensing authority's decision to vary street trader licences it had granted to the pursuers which allowed them, within set hours, to sell hot and cold food from snack vans on designated sites, to include a condition prohibiting them from operating within 250 metres of secondary schools from 8am to 5pm on school days, which the pursuers all did, the court held that the condition was ultra vires as the defender did not have the power to impose that particular condition on the licences of street traders. 

Insolvency – Receivership – Ranking preference as between floating charge holder and inhibiting creditor. Court of Session: In a case in which the court revisited the issue of ranking preference as between a floating charge holder and an inhibiting creditor, and considered afresh the meaning of the phrase 'effectually executed diligence' it held that the pursuer's first plea in law must be repelled regardless of whether an inhibition registered in the pursuer's favour fell properly to be categorised as an effectually executed diligence on the two houses owned by the defender, but that the pursuer's alternative argument succeeded—ie that even if the inhibition was not an effectually executed diligence, it nevertheless ranked ahead of a bank's floating charge with regard to debt incurred after the inhibition. 

Extradition – Human rights. Sheriff Court: In a case in which the Government of the USA sought a Pakistani citizen's extradition for prosecution on nine serious fraud charges, an application which was opposed based on s 87 of the Extradition Act 2003 and alleged contraventions of art 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, art 3 (freedom from torture), art 5 (right to liberty) and art 6 (right to a fair trial), the court held that extradition would be compatible with the respondent's Convention rights, within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998, and was satisfied that that the case could safely be sent to the Scottish Ministers for their final decision on whether the respondent was to be extradited. 

Criminal law – Wounding with intent. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held, that following a Goodyear indication, a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment for wounding with intent, contrary to s 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, had been unduly lenient. The offender's mitigation had not been sufficient to have justified a departure from the Sentencing Council's Definitive Guidelines: Assault. Consequently, the sentence would be quashed and substituted for a term of five years' imprisonment. 

Town and country planning – Planning permission – Local development plan. Court of Session: Refusing a petition seeking reduction of a local authority's decision to grant planning permission for the erection of 30 beach huts, the court held that the respondent did not err in law either by misinterpreting a policy of the local development plan, or by failing to have regard to a material consideration in the form of a policy of the emerging local development plan. 

Judgment – Default of defence. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed an appeal against a refusal to set aside default judgment. One of the conditions in CPR 12.3(1) had not been met, as no time for responding to service of the claim form had been given, and, therefore, the relevant time for doing so had not expired. Further, it could not be said that the defendant did not have an arguable defence. 

Compulsory purchase and compensation. Court of Session: In an appeal against a decision of the Scottish Ministers, cancelling a certificate of appropriate alternative development ('a CAAD') issued by Fife Council relating to land owned by the appellants ('the CAAD Land') which was required by the Scottish Ministers for the works authorised by the Forth Crossing Act 2011, the Ministers having permanently acquired part of the CAAD Land and temporarily entered and possessed another part, the Ministers conceded that the decision was not within the powers of the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 in so far as relating to the permanently acquired land and the court held that it was within the powers of 1963 Act in so far as relating to the temporarily acquired land. 

Immigration – Appeal. The Administrative Court dismissed the Immigration Law Practitioners Association's application for judicial review. It held that r 13 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-Tier Tribunal) (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules 2014, SI 2014/2604, permitting direction prohibiting disclosure to person in specified circumstances, did not give rise to a systemic or inherent lack of fairness. 

Criminal law – Rape. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that a sentence of three years' imprisonment for an offence of rape, contrary to s 1(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, had been unduly lenient. The judge had not identified sufficient mitigation to depart from the sentencing range, as prescribed by the Sentencing Council's Definitive Guidelines: Sexual Offences. The sentence would be quashed and substituted for a term of five years and six months' imprisonment.