Latest Cases

Customs and excise – Excise duty. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) allowed the appeal by Carlton Clubs Ltd (CCL) against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) that charges imposed by CCL on customers for the hire of electronic hand-held devices used to play bingo electronically were subject to bingo duty. The tribunal decided that the FTT had erred in law in its approach to that decision. 

Mental health – Court of Protection. The Court of Protection appointed a non-family member to be a trustee and deputy of property and affairs in respect of the patient, A on the basis that no suitable family member was presently willing to act as A's deputy and it would be in A's best interests. 

Costs – Order for costs. The Chancery Division, following an earlier judgment dismissing the appellants' appeal against the decision of a deputy master that he did not have power to make an order for disclosure under CPR 31.16, held that the appellants had to pay the respondents £16,000 in costs. Those costs took account of the appellants' costs in the respondents' unsuccessful application for permission to cross-appeal. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by The Cookware Company against a decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) relating to opposition proceedings between Fissler GmbH and TCC concerning the application by the latter for registration of a figurative sign 'VITA+VERDE' as a Community trade mark. 

Extradition – Extradition order. The Administrative Court dismissed the appellant's appeal against orders for his extradition to Poland to serve a sentence of eight months' imprisonment, originally suspended for three years, imposed for theft of railings from an historic railway bridge in 2005. There was a fine balance, particularly given the passage of time, but extradition had to be ordered. 

European Union – Freedom of movement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding, among other things, that Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be interpreted as not precluding a national measure, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which imposed a minimum price per unit of alcohol for the retail selling of wines, provided that that measure was in fact an appropriate means of securing the objective of the protection of human life and health and that, taking into consideration the objectives of the common agricultural policy and the proper functioning of the CMO, it did not go beyond what was necessary to attain that objective of the protection of human life and health. 

Patent – Petition for revocation. The Patent's Court held in favour of the claimant company that the defendant company, medac's patent, which protected its syringe and pen products used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, was invalid for obviousness over a letter published earlier in a journal. The patent was accordingly ordered to be revoked. 

Police – Complaints against police. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the claimant Metropolitan Police Commissioner's appeal against the Divisional Court's declaration that the defendant Independent Police Complaints Commission (the IPCC) was entitled to reopen the investigation into the allegation of the second interested party, D, that he had been strangled by police officers, including the first interested party. As D's pending allegations of racial abuse could not be divided off, the strangulation allegation could not be regarded as concluded, such that the IPCC had been functus officio. 

Document – Production. The Chancery Division dismissed the appellants' appeal against case management decisions taken by a deputy master in the course of proceedings. The deputy master had taken a view that he was entitled to take, and had made no error of principle. 

European Union – Value added tax. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of arts 2(1) and 10(2) of Sixth Council Directive (EEC) 77/388, as amended by Council Directive (EC) 1999/59, then by Council Directive (EC) 2001/115. The requests had been made in proceedings between Air France-KLM, formerly Air France, and Hop!-Brit Air SAS, formerly Brit Air, on the one hand, and the Ministère des Finances et des Comptes publics, on the other hand, concerning the liability to VAT of an unused transport ticket and of sums paid by an airline company to an undertaking carrying on the same type of business in consideration for the sale of unused transport tickets.