Latest Cases

Minor – Removal outside jurisdiction. The Family Division decided that, in circumstances where the applicant father had never seen his child and was not named on her birth certificate nor had parental responsibility for her, it was not appropriate for a wardship order to continue or that the mother of the child should be compelled to return her to England and Wales. 

Libel and slander – Preliminary point of law. The Queen's Bench Division, in determining preliminary issues in the claimant's defamation proceedings, set out the meanings of the words complained of in 25 broadcasts, finding that the claimant's meanings were, in the main, borne out. It also determined whether they were fact or comment and their varying degrees of certainty. 

European Union – Trade Marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Information Resources, Inc., against a decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), concerning an application for registration of the word sign 'Growth Delivered' as a Community trade mark. 

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. 

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)). 

Sentencing – Sexual offences. High Court of Justiciary: Allowing a Crown appeal against sentence in relation to a respondent who was convicted of seven charges involving sexual offences against two former partners and their children, including using lewd practices, indecent assault and anal rape, and on whom the trial judge imposed an extended sentence of 7 years, with a custodial element of 5 years' imprisonment, the court held that the sentences selected had been unduly lenient, the judge having afforded too much weight to the adult complainers' past sexual experience and the existence of prior and continuing sexual relationships, and an extended sentence of 12 years with an overall custodial element of 8 years was appropriate. 

Sentence – Appeal. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, allowed the defendants' appeals against their sentences for conspiracy to blackmail. The judge's starting point with respect to the first and second defendants had been too high, and the sentence for the third defendant had been too long given his limited involvement. 

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'. 

Medical practitioner – Negligence. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the defendant NHS trust's appeal against a finding that its surgeon had negligently caused injury to the claimant's left femoral nerve during the course of an operation. It held, among other things, that, on a close analysis of the evidence, the judge had been entitled to make the findings of fact that he had. 

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.