Latest Cases

European Union – Rules on competition. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the appeal by Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba), asking the Court to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 21 May 2014 in Toshiba v Commission (T‑519/09, whereby the General Court had dismissed Toshiba's action for annulment of Decision C(2009) 7601 final of the European Commission of 7 October 2009 relating to a proceeding under art 81 EC in respect of Toshiba's participation in an unlawful cartel in relation to the market for power transformers. 

Medical negligence – Childbirth – Application to amend. Court of Session: In an action for damages in respect of hypoxic brain injury suffered at birth in which it was alleged that the oxygen supply to the pursuer's brain in utero was impaired because her mother's womb ruptured because her labour was negligently mismanaged, and in which, following proof, the pursuer enrolled a motion seeking to allow a minute of amendment proposing a new risk disclosure case to be received, the court refused the pursuer's motion, holding that an adequate explanation had not been offered for bringing the risk disclosure case so late, and it was not reasonable, equitable and in the interests of justice to allow the new case to be added. 

Company – Articles of association. The Chancery Division held that the proper construction of the claimant companies' articles of association had been to value the defendants' minority shareholdings on the basis of a pro rata proportion of the value of the whole equity of the claimants. In addition to publicly available information, the accountants undertaking the valuation of the shares were also entitled to further available information which related to the companies. 

European Union – Freedom of establishment. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling deciding, among other things, that art 49 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be interpreted as not precluding a member state's tax regime, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which, in the event of transfer by a resident company to a non-resident company within the same group of a permanent establishment situated in another member state, the losses previously deducted in respect of the establishment transferred were reincorporated into the taxable profit of the transferring company where, under a double taxation convention, the income of such a permanent establishment was exempt from tax in the member state in which the company to which that establishment belonged had its seat. 

Consumer law – Defective products – Negligence – Duty of care. Court of Session: Sustaining the defenders' plea to the relevancy and granting decree of dismissal in an action in which the pursuers, whose clubhouse was extensively damaged when an electric golf trolley which was left overnight in a locker room caught fire sought reparation from the importers and suppliers of the trolley, the court held that 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) dismissed the claimant Indian national's application for judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision refusing her leave to remain in the United Kingdom. She had not had a 'parental relationship' with her grandchildren, despite the very close familial relationship between them and the Secretary of State had properly considered the grandchildren's best interest. 

European Union – Environment. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of art 6(2) to (4) of Council Directive (EEC) 92/43/. The reference had been made in proceedings between Grüne Liga Sachsen eVand Others, on the one hand, and the Free State of Saxony, on the other, regarding a decision taken by the authorities of the latter approving the construction of a bridge over the Elbe in Dresden (Germany). 

Town and country planning – Development. The Administrative Court dismissed the claimant's application for judicial review of the defendant local planning authority's grant of planning permission for the redevelopment of a site within the buffer zone of the Liverpool world heritage site. Paragraph 18a-036 of the National Planning Practice Guidance had not required notification of the application to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for consultation. 

Compensation – Criminal injuries. The Court of Protection 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 a such an award on behalf of a patient. Section 20(3)(a) and further or alternatively s 20(3)(c) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 did not preclude a deputy from so doing. 

Construction contract – Arbitration. The Technology and Construction Court dismissed the claimant company's application for summary judgment to enforce the decision of an adjudicator in a case relating a woodworking machine. The court held that the defendant company had an arguable case that the adjudicator had lacked jurisdiction, because the machine did fulfil the criteria of a 'structure' under the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, but did not form part of the claimant's land, so that its installation at the claimant's premises had not been a 'construction operation' within the meaning of the Act.