Latest Cases

Minor – Removal outside jurisdiction. The Family Division held that it was in the child's best interest to be given leave to be removed to live in Paskistan to live with the mother despite the inevitable separation from the father. 

Highway – Maintenance. The Queen's Bench Division allowed the local authority's appeal against a decision that it was liable to the respondent for breach of its duty under s 41 of the Highways Act 1980 for failing to remove moss on which the respondent had slipped from the surface of the highway. It could not be said that the scope of a highway authority's absolute duty under s 41 of the Act extended to the removal of 'moss'. 

Extradition – Extradition order. The Divisional Court dismissed the appellant's appeal against orders for his extradition to Spain to face trial for cannabis trafficking. In particular, the judge had not been wrong to refuse to adjourn the case under s 21B of the Extradition Act 2003, concerning requests for temporary transfer. 

Education – Higher education. The Administrative Court declared that the claimant's personal circumstances had been such as to require the Secretary of State to treat her case for a student loan under his interim policy as an exceptional one. However, the claimant had not been entitled to a loan under the policy and the interim policy was not unlawful, as in R (on the application of Tigere) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Just for Kids Law intervening) ([2015] All ER (D) 304 (Jul)). 

European Union – Consumer protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union made a preliminary ruling, deciding that art 4(1)(2) of Directive (EC) 2004/39 had to be interpreted as meaning that, subject to verification by the referring court, an investment service or activity within the meaning of that provision did not encompass certain foreign exchange transactions, effected by a credit institution under clauses of a foreign currency denominated loan agreement such as the one at issue in the main proceedings, consisting in fixing the amount of the loan on the basis of the purchase price of the currency applicable when the funds were advanced and in determining the amounts of the monthly instalments on the basis of the sale price of that currency applicable when each monthly instalment was calculated. 

European Union – Regulations. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding, among other things that, the concept of 'economic activity' within the meaning of art 1(5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, should be interpreted as meaning that it covered an activity, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, relating to the transport of stray dogs from one member state to another by a charitable association in order to hand over those dogs to persons who had undertaken to adopt them after payment by those persons of a sum covering, in principle, the costs incurred for that purpose by that association. 

Public procurement – Competitive tendering procedure – 'Extreme urgency' exception – Damages. Court of Session: Refusing a reclaiming motion and cross-appeal in an action in which the pursuers alleged that the defenders had breached the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 when purchasing de-icing salt for roads over the severe weather winters of 2009/10 and 2010/11, and the defenders relied on extreme urgency to justify derogation from the tender procedures otherwise required, the court held that the commercial judge, who found in favour of the defenders, had not erred in his decisions on the merits, damages or expenses. 

Contempt of court – Alleged contempt in course of commission and diligence. Court of Session: Allowing a reclaiming motion by minuters who sought certain recoveries in relation to a franchise agreement, and who instructed proceedings by way of minute, concerned that there had been major contempt of court in the course of a commission and diligence, the commissioner's report having set out allegations of defiant language and behaviour by the respondents, the court held that the Lord Ordinary had erred in several respects in dismissing the minute. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. The Chancery Division dismissed the claimants' applications for orders freezing assets allegedly held by the defendant companies, following a failed attempt to develop property in Georgia. The court held that there was no real evidence that the defendants held the assets claimed in the English and Welsh jurisdiction, and that it was not satisfied that any order it made would be effective to freeze assets that the defendants might have in Latvia. 

Company – Restoration to register. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, considered the principles applicable to the court's discretion, when making an order for the restoration to the register of a dissolved company, to order that the running of time for the bringing of claims by the company should be suspended during all or part of the period when the company was dissolved. Applying those principles, it allowed the appellants' appeal against the making of such a limitation direction.