Latest Cases

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Division approved an agreed order with regard to the reporting of a case in which the local authority had initially sought to obtain a reporting restriction order. The court found it necessary to point out that it was important that if and when local authorities and the media came to realise that there was an issue between them about how much should be reportable and on what terms, there should be sensible and responsible dialogue as soon as possible, with a view to finding an early modus vivendi. 

European Union – Employment. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding that the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of age enshrined in art 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and given specific expression by Directive (EC) 2000/78 should be interpreted as not precluding national legislation under which an end-of-contract payment, paid in addition to an employee's salary on the expiry of a fixed-term employment contract where the contractual relationship was not continued in the form of a contract for an indefinite period, was not payable in the event that the contract was concluded with a young person for a period during his school holidays or university vacation. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. Judgment had been given by a court in Moscow against the first defendant Russian founder of the first claimant bank, Sergei Pugachev, for approximately US$1.5bn, in respect of which an appeal was pending. The Chancery Division continued a freezing order, by consent, and made further orders in respect of the claimants' application for an extension a passport order in respect of Pugachev and for additional disclosure from a company associated with him. 

Bankruptcy – Administration in bankruptcy of estate of person dying insolvent. The Chancery Division, in dismissing the applicant's challenge to the appointment of trustees to the insolvent estate of Boris Berezovsky, held that the date of the debtor's death was the date at which the assets comprising the insolvent estate were identified, and as at which the debts and liabilities were identified and quantified. That included the conversion of foreign currency debts into sterling and the date up to which interest might be proved, and after which statutory interest ran. 

European Union – Consumer protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding that arts 6(1) and 7(1) of Directive (EEC) 93/13 did not preclude national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which allowed a notary who had drawn up, in due form, an authentic instrument concerning a contract concluded between a seller or supplier and a consumer, to affix the enforcement clause to that instrument or to refuse to cancel it when no review of the unfairness of the contractual terms had been performed at any stage. 

Coroner – Jury. The Divisional Court, in dismissing the claimant's application for judicial review, upheld the defendant senior coroner's decision, that the deceased had not been 'in state detention', within the meaning of ss 7(2)(a), and 48(1) and (2) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, at the time of her death in intensive care. 

Minor – Removal outside jurisdiction. On the father's application, under the 1980 Hague Convention of the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Family Division ordered that his son be returned to Israel forthwith. It was a condition of the order that, among other things, the father signed written undertakings. The court held that the mother's retention of the child in England had been wrongful. On the basis of the undertakings offered by the father, the mother had failed to establish the defence under art 13(b) of the Hague Convention. 

Claim form – Service. The Admiralty Court considered a case where the claimant had accidentally issued a claim form in personam, instead of in rem, with the result that the claim form had expired much earlier, preventing proceedings from being properly issued. The court held that the best way to serve the overriding objective of dealing with the case justly was to remedy the error on terms that the claimants paid the costs of the application and the defendants' reasonable opposition thereto. 

Specific performance – Option to purchase land. The Chancery Division, in allowing the claimant's application for specific performance of an option agreement, rejected the defendants' arguments that the agreement should be rectified, a term should be implied, the claimant had waived a requirement of the agreement and claims of estoppel. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Enosi Mastichoparagogon Chiou (Enosi) against the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) relating to opposition proceedings between Gaba International Holding GmbH and Enosi concerning the application by the latter for international registration of the word sign 'ELMA' as a Community trade mark.