Latest Cases

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. 

Rates – Valuation list. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the appellant's appeal against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), dismissing its appeal against a decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England, that an alteration to the 2005 rating list to include the property as a new hereditament, with a rateable value of £62,500, took effect from 1 April 2005, the day on which the 2005 list had come into force. 

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. 

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. 

Local government – Statutory powers. The Administrative Court dismissed the claimant autistic 15-year-old's judicial review proceedings, alleging that the defendant local authority's assessment had underestimated his and his mother's needs, and had failed to make proper provision for how those needs were to be met. Further, the authority had not breached its statutory duty to produce a care plan, as it would have been premature until the present proceedings had been determined. 

Company – Insolvency. The Chancery Division held that, on the facts, there was a strong case for liquidators of a company in creditors' voluntary liquidation proceeding to make distributions without regard to product liability claims that might emerge in the future. The liquidators were also granted relief under s 1157(2) of the Companies Act 2006. 

Practice – Summary judgment. The Chancery Division granted the defendant firm of solicitors summary judgment in respect of claims for negligence, which had been brought by claimants who had acquired buy-to-let properties, where the manner in which they had paid court fees had been an abuse of process and where they had not done all that they reasonably could do to bring the matter before the court for its process to follow. 

Building contract – Adjudication. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed an appeal against refusal of an application to set aside summary judgment in respect of the respondent's claim to enforce an adjudicator's award. On the facts, the adjudicator had had jurisdiction to hear the dispute, as he had been addressing different issues to those that had been raised at a previous adjudication. 

Children and young persons – Jurisdiction. The Family Division held that where there had been wrongful retention by the father of the children in Somalia that wrongful retention did not change the fact that the children had habitual residence in the United Kingdom and therefore the courts of England and Wales had jurisdiction in regard to an application to return the children to the UK having regard to Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003. 

Customs and excise – Duties. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the appellant taxpayer's appeal concerning the correct treatment and classification for customs purposes of certain specialised military clothing imported by the appellant, in respect of which it claimed to be entitled to relief from import duty.