Latest Cases

European Union – Rules on competition. The Court of Justice of the European Union allowed the appeal in part by the applicant companies operating in the sale and marketing of bitumen against the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 16 September 2013 in Galp Energía España and Others v Commission: T‑462/07, by which that Court, first, partially annulled Commission Decision C(2007) 4441 final of 3 October 2007 relating to a proceeding under art 81 EC and reduced the amount of the fine imposed on them and, secondly, dismissed the action as to the remainder (the judgment under appeal). The judgment under appeal would be set aside in so far as it had fixed the new amount of the fines imposed on the applicants on the basis of an incorrect finding of the General Court. 

Arbitration – Arbitration agreement. The Commercial Court ruled on a question referred to it in the course of two shipping arbitrations. It held that, in circumstances where a claim and a counterclaim arose from a single set of facts giving rise to a balance of accounts or netting-off under a contract, a reference to 'claims' and to 'all disputes arising under the contract' in notices of appointment of an arbitrator would ordinarily suffice to interrupt the running of time in respect of the counterclaim for the purposes of s14(4) Arbitration Act 1996. 

Immigration – Appeal. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the Secretary of State's appeal against the respondent foreign criminal's successful appeal against deportation. The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) had erred in its approach and its failure properly to have applied the Immigration Rules had led to it taking an insufficiently vigorous approach to the issues raised under art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. That had been a material error of law. 

Contract – Condition. The Queen's Bench Division, in a case in which the claimant was claiming damages for fraud, conspiracy, breach of contract held that there was insufficient evidence to support a case of deliberate fraud, conspiracy or deceit. However there had been a breach of contract for which damages were payable in the amount of any overcharging in the invoices. 

European Union – Public procurement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of arts 49 and 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The request had been made in proceedings between Consorzio Artigiano Servizio Taxi e Autonoleggio and two transport operators and Local Health Authority of Ciriè, Chivasso et Ivrea and the Region of Piedmont concerning, first, the award, with no competitive tendering, of the service of transporting dialysis patients to various health care establishments, to Associazione Croce Bianca del Canavese and to several other voluntary associations and, secondly, the authorisation of the related expenditure. 

Solemn procedure – Child witnesses – Right to fair trial – Right to examine witnesses. High Court of Justiciary: Refusing an appeal by an appellant who was convicted of sexual offences involving young children and who contended that his right to a fair trial, especially his subsidiary right to examine witnesses, had been breached because he did not have an adequate and proper opportunity to challenge the key witnesses against him, the court held that the appellant's trial could not be classified as unfair as he had had a full opportunity to cross-examine the children and he took that opportunity. 

Mental health – Persons who lack capacity. The Court of Protection held that the parent of a 16 year old young person could not consent to their confinement which, absent a valid consent, would amount to a deprivation of that young person's liberty for the purposes of art 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that it was for the local authority to protect a young person's right in such circumstances by applications to court to determine whether that young person was deprived to his liberty, is so, to seek authorisation for its continuance. 

Contract – Commercial contract. The Commercial Court construed a clause in the terms and conditions of mortgage-backed debentures (the Notes), which the claimant, a special purpose company in the Canary Wharf Group, had issued, pursuant to the securitisation of the Group's real estate portfolio. It held, in favour of the Noteholders and their trustee, that the redemption of Notes, using the proceeds of a pre-payment made by the borrower to obtain the release of security over a mortgaged property, pursuant to an inter company loan agreement, was an optional redemption under to the relevant terms and conditions, with the result that the claimant had to pay a premium. 

European Union – Customs and excise. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling deciding, among other things, that art 20(2) of Directive (EC) 2008/118 had to be interpreted as meaning that the movement of excise goods under a duty suspension arrangement ended, for the purpose of that provision, in a situation such as that in the main proceedings, when the consignee of those goods had found, on unloading in full from the means of transport carrying the goods in question, that there had been shortages of the goods in comparison with the amount which should have been delivered to him. 

European Union – Rules on competition. The Court of Justice gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of art 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The request had been made in proceedings between several travel agencies and the Competition Council of Lithuania concerning a decision by which the latter had ordered those travel agencies to pay fines for having entered into and participated in anti-competitive practices.