Latest Cases

Contract – Repudiation. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed a ship charterers' appeal regarding the measure of damages to be assessed following the charterers' repudiatory breach of contract, following which the owners sold the vessel for a higher price than would have been obtained had it been sold at the anticipated expiry of the charterparty. The court held that if a claimant adopted by way of mitigation a measure which arose out of the consequences of the breach and was in the ordinary course of business and such measure benefited the claimant, that benefit was normally to be brought into account in assessing the claimant's loss unless the measure was wholly independent of the relationship of the claimant and defendant. 

Extradition – Extradition order. The Divisional Court dismissed the appellant's appeal against orders for his extradition to Greece to serve a sentence of 22 years' imprisonment for two counts of sexual offences against a young boy. The judge had been entitled to conclude that the appellant's extradition would be compatible with his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and, having reached that conclusion, he had been required to order extradition. 

European Union – Enforcement of judgment. The Commercial Court dismissed the claimant's application for a declaration that the defendant, who had succeeded in proceedings in France, was not entitled to have that judgment recognised or enforced in the English courts. The allegations concerned did not give rise to an infringement of the claimant's rights at variance to an unacceptable degree with the legal order of England and Wales. 

Injunction – Interim injunction. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed an appeal against the discharge of an anti-enforcement injunction regarding judgments that had been delivered by the courts in Togo and Cote d'Ivoire. In circumstances where the bank had delayed in seeking an injunction, issues of prejudice and comity had meant that the judge had been correct to discharge the injunction despite a valid arbitration clause in the agreement between the parties that had provided for arbitration in London. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) allowed the claimant Kazakhstani national's application for judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision treat his application for further leave to remain as invalid on the basis that he had failed to submit a police registration certificate. The certificate had not been specified as mandatory in the application form or in any related guidance. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Court gave guidance on the allocation of cases of international surrogacy; specifically that all applications for parental orders when the child or children were born outside the UK were to be allocated (not transferred) to be heard by a judge of the High Court. The guidance extended to the role and investigations to be carried out by the parental order reporter; specifically that, in order to complete the parental order report, the child had to be seen with the applicants by the reporter to enable her/him to assess the child's welfare satisfactorily, in all circumstances except if there was judged to be sufficient independent evidence. 

Local authority – Contract. The Commercial Court made rulings on preliminary questions in a dispute concerning the provision of services by the claimant company to the defendant local authority. The court held that, at the time in issue, the claimant had been in breach of the agreement between the parties. The authority had been entitled to terminate the agreement. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division held that the principles applicable to cases where a parent wished to relocate with his or her child within the United Kingdom were the same as those applicable to cases where a parent sought to relocate outside the United Kingdom: namely the welfare of the child was paramount. There was no rule that internal relocation could only be refused in exceptional circumstances, and the proportionality of any interference with a parent's rights under art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights should be considered as part of the same balancing exercise, and not separately. 

National Health Service – General medical services. The Administrative Court dismissed the claimant's application for judicial review of the defendant's decision not to conclude any form of interim contract with the claimant concerning the provision of gamma knife treatment for NHS patients at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery pending the completion of its national procurement exercise. The defendant's reasons for having rejected the claimant's proposal had afforded a sustainable basis for not having provided an interim contract with the claimant. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division held that the principles applicable to cases where a parent wished to relocate with his or her child within the United Kingdom were the same as those applicable to cases where a parent sought to relocate outside the United Kingdom: namely the welfare of the child was paramount. There was no rule that internal relocation could only be refused in exceptional circumstances, and the proportionality of any interference with a parent's rights under art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights should be considered as part of the same balancing exercise, and not separately.