Latest Cases

Medical practitioner – Professional conduct committee. The Administrative Court dismissed the appellant consultant physician's appeal against the decision of the Fitness to Practise Panel (the panel) of the respondent General Medical Council, finding contravention of his employment contract by absence on 91 days and imposing the sanction of erasure. The panel had not erred in its factual findings and the sanction of erasure had been inevitable. 

Compensation – Criminal injuries. The Court of Protection had previously held, in what was agreed to be a matter of general importance, that a deputy or an attorney acting on behalf of an applicant in regard to an award under the Criminal Injury Compensation Authority could accept and finalise such an award on behalf of a patient. The matter returned to court to address certain matters regarding wording of the appointment of a deputy and the terms of the trust. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Court, followings allegations of sexual abuse by a child B against her father, made findings of fact following an application by the local authority. Despite poor contemporaneous recording of B's evidence, the court concluded that B had been abused as she had alleged as she had spoken of things she could not know about at her age unless either it had happened to her or she had seen it or someone had told her about it. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The Planning Court dismissed the claimant's application for judicial review of the defendant local planning authority's decision, under s 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, declining to determine his application for planning permission of a change of use of a site for a single Gypsy and Traveller residential pitch and associated development until May 2018. On its proper interpretation, The power conferred by s 70C of the Act applied to the application for planning permission. 

European Union – Social security. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling deciding that art 5(a) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 should be interpreted as meaning that, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, old-age benefits provided under an occupational pension scheme of one member state and those provided under a statutory pension scheme of another member state - both schemes being within the scope of that regulation - were equivalent benefits within the meaning of that provision, where both categories of benefits had the same aim of ensuring that their recipients maintained a standard of living commensurate with that which they had enjoyed prior to retirement. 

Customs and Excise – Excise duty. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) allowed the appeal by the Revenue and Customs Commissioners against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber)(the FTT) upholding the taxpayer's appeal against an assessment to duty raised by the Revenue on the basis that, in contravention of various provisions of the Hydrocarbon Oils Duties Act 1979, he had wrongfully used rebated fuel in a tractor. The tribunal decided that by failing to take steps to initiate condemnation proceedings, the taxpayer had caused the tractor to be 'duly condemned' with the effect that the deeming provision in para 5 of Sch 3 to the Customs & Excise Management Act 1970 did apply. 

Misrepresentation – Damages. The Chancery Division held that, in the course of the purchase of office buildings, misrepresentations had been made to the claimant companies by individuals acting for the defendant company. The claimants were entitled to the return of their deposit, and to damages for the tort of deceit. 

Income tax – Tax advantage. The Administrative Court dismissed the claimants' application for judicial review of the defendant Revenue and Customs Commissioner's decisions to limit the benefits available to them under the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility in relation to their employee benefit trust schemes. The decisions were not conspicuously unfair and the Revenue had taken account of all relevant considerations. There had been no abuse of power or error of law. 

Criminal law – Sexual activity. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that a total sentence of 8 months' detention in a young offender institution, suspended for 18 months, for three counts of sexual activity with a child, contrary to s 9(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, had not been unduly lenient. The judge had not erred in his finding that 'grooming' had not occurred. 

Criminal Law – Importation of prohibited goods. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that a sentence of six years' imprisonment for conspiracy to evade a prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of Class A, contrary to s 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, had been unduly lenient. Despite the offender's limited involvement in the conspiracy, the judge ought to have scaled up the sentence to reflect the massive quantities involved within the operation. The offender's sentence would be quashed and substituted for a sentence of eleven years' imprisonment.