Latest Cases

Negligence – Causation. The Queen's Bench Division dismissed the claimant's proceedings against the defendant NHS Trust for injury and loss allegedly caused by the negligence of the defendant's medical and midwifery staff in the management of her mother's labour. On the evidence, the claimant could not establish medical causation. 

Costs – Order for costs. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed an appeal against a costs order following determination of quantum in a negligence claim where liability had been compromised. The judge had erred in having come to a decision that had been outside the bounds of reasonable decision making which was, moreover, in large part based upon an error of principle in having construed the defendant's offer to settle under CPR Pt 36 as having been an offer capable of acceptance by the claimants when, in the circumstances, it had not been. 

Local authority – Residential care home. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the defendant NHS local health boards in Wales' appeal against the decision that their determination of a flat-rate payment to care homes, reflecting the estimated cost of the nursing element of the care required by each resident, but not the social care element, was unlawful. The distinction between nursing and social care services in s 49 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 was effectively unrecognised in the judge's reasoning. 

Practice – Civil litigation. The Queen's Bench Division gave directions in the claimants' case in which it had been alleged that the defendant's drug was worse than other drugs of a similar nature in relation to symptoms following discontinuation of its use such that the drug was 'defective' within s 3 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. It was not appropriate to bring the process to an end under the court's case management powers at the present stage. 

Sentence – Mandatory life sentence. The Administrative Court recommended that the offender's tariff for a murder was reduced by one year to seventeen years, less four months spent on remand. His transformation from a racist thug into a sensible, realistic young man satisfied the high threshold for a reduction in the minimum term imposed by a sentencing judge on a young offender. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. The Queen's Bench Division dismissed a claimant's appeal against the dismissal of her application for an interim payment, which had been made in the course of proceedings in which she claimed damages against the defendant NHS trust for personal injuries she alleged she had sustained as a result of clinical negligence. On the present state of the evidence and argument, the court could not be satisfied that, if the claim went to trial, the claimant would obtain judgment for a substantial amount of money. 

Practice – Summary judgment. The Chancery Division, in granting the claimants' application for summary judgment, ruled that they were entitled to specific performance of agreements for the assignment to them of patents concerning technology used for eliminating airborne pathogens. The defendants had to do as they had agreed and execute the assignment documentation and there had been no condition precedent in the agreements that the obligation to assign the patents did not arise unless and until royalties had been paid, either in whole or in part. 

Mental health – Court of Protection. The Court of Protection allowed an application by the Public Guardian to revoke a Lasting Power of Attorney made by the patient in favour of C as her sole attorney as according to s 22 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, C had behaved in a way that contravened his authority and was not in the patient's best interests. 

Creation of trust – Declaration of trust. The Chancery Division allowed the claimants' application to make final an interim charging order over property owned by the first defendant, whose election as the mayor of Tower Hamlets had been declared void. The court held that the Stack approach to the purchase of a domestic property would not apply when property had been brought for letting. Among other things, the proper approach when considering the property was to follow the classic resulting trust doctrine by looking at the actual contributions to the purchase price. On the evidence, the second defendant, who was R's wife, had not made out her case that she had made substantial contributions to the purchase price, and it followed that she could not establish a resulting trust. 

European Union – Trade marks. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding that, the first sentence of art 23(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 should be interpreted as meaning that the licensee could bring proceedings alleging infringement of a Community trade mark which was the subject of the licence, although that licence had not been entered in the Register of Community trade marks.