Latest Cases

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. 

Claim form – Service. The Commercial Court considered whether the first defendant, M, had been validly served with proceedings by process servers. The court considered the wider issue of service by process servers and held that, although M spoke little English, in the circumstances, the gist of the situation had been conveyed to him by his English-speaking companions. M had been validly served with the claim form. 

European Union – Customs and excise. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding, among other things, that art 1(2) and the first sub-paragraph of art 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 should be interpreted as meaning that, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings where the infringement of a provision of EU law had been discovered only after the occurrence of a prejudice, the limitation period began to run from the time when both the economic operator's act or omission that had infringed EU law and the prejudice caused to the budget of the EU or budgets managed by it had occurred. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Hewlett Packard Development Company LP (HP) against the decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) concerning an application by HP for registration of the word sign 'ELITEPAD' as a Community trade mark. 

Practice – Costs. The Technology and Construction Court dismissed an application by the claimants, Caribbean property developer Harlequin and its operator, to vary an order for security for costs to take account of the claimants' increased disbursements. It ruled that it had no power to do so where the parties had, following the court's earlier judgment, amended an after the event (ATE) policy, which the claimants had offered as security, and had agreed to its terms. It would wrong to establish a precedent that, if one part of the preparation exercise costed the claimants more than they expected, the defendant should be penalised by having the level of its own security reduced. Further, disclosure was ordered where the administration of justice, and the need to dispose fairly of the issues in the present highly contentious case, outweighed any public interest in the withholding certain documents generated by a Serious Fraud Office investigation. 

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. 

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. 

Practice – Summary judgment. The Chancery Division considered an application to strike out a large number of claims brought by Chinese parties in relation to alleged cartel activity by the first defendant airline and others. The court held that none of the claims had been properly commenced, and the entire action would be struck out. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Division found that, for the purposes of art 8 of Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 (Brussels II), the place of habitual residence of the children with whom the proceedings were concerned was the United Kingdom. The UK was better placed to hear the evidence as, among other things, the options for the children's future care were not focused in Lithuania but in the UK. 

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.