Latest Cases

Immigration – Asylum seeker. The claimant St Lucian national sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decisions by her competent authority, which concluded that the claimant was not the victim of trafficking. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, concluded that the competent authority had taken the wrong approach, in particular, by its reliance on a detective inspector's report, and its failure to consider warnings in 'Victims of human trafficking – competent authority guidance' and in expert evidence. 

Contract – Commercial contract. The Commercial Court upheld two out of three claims brought by the claimant company for breach of a share and business sale agreement concerning sugar, ruling that, on the true construction of the agreement, the claimant was entitled to be indemnified in respect of any losses incurred in taking action to avoid an excluded liability, namely the liability to pay duty, and that there had been a breach of a term of the agreement to issue a performance certificate for one of the businesses transferred under the agreement and to reduce the purchase price where the efficiency level of one business was less than 95%. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Eugenia Mocek, Jadwiga Wenta KAJMAN Firma Handlowo-Usługowo-Produkcyjna (Eugenia Mocek), 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 Lacoste SA and Eugenia Mocek concerning the application by Eugenia Mocek for registration of a figurative mark depicting the word 'KAJMAN' and representing a crocodile as a Community trade mark. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed an action brought by the applicant company, Sequoia Capital Operations LLC (Sequoia) 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 Sequoia and Sequoia Capital LLP, which was established in the United Kingdom, concerning the application by Sequoia for registration of a word sign 'SEQUOIA CAPITAL' as a Community trade mark. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union allowed the application by GAT Microencapsulation GmbH (GAT) for annulment of the decision of the Fifth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) relating to opposition proceedings between BASF SE and GAT concerning the application by the latter for registration of the word sign 'KARIS' as a Community trade mark. 

European Union – Common foreign and security policy. The applicant Malaysian bank was included on lists of entities involved in Iranian nuclear proliferation. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on its application for partial annulment of Council Decision 2012/829/CFSP and of Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 1264/2012, concerning restrictive measures against Iran and, for the annulment of the Council's decision to maintain the restrictive measures concerning the applicant. 

European Union – Value added tax. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that art 9(1) of Council Directive (EC) 2006/112 had to be interpreted as meaning that bodies governed by public law, such as the Polish municipal budgetary entities at issue in the main proceedings, could not be regarded as taxable persons for the purposes of value added tax in so far as they did not satisfy the criterion of independence set out in that provision. 

Public procurement – Public contracts. The Technology and Construction Court allowed the defendant local authority's application, under reg 47H of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, SI 2006/5, to set aside the automatic suspension that had been in place since the issue of proceedings by the claimant. The court considered the application of the principles in American Cyanamid Co v Ethicon Ltd ([1975] 1 All ER 504) in public procurement cases. 

Mental health – Persons who lack capacity. The case concerned whether it was lawful for the doctors treating the respondent, B, a 73-year-old gentleman with a severely infected leg, to amputate his foot against his wishes in order to save his life. B also had a long-standing mental illness. The Court of Protection, in dismissing the application by the NHS Trust, held that B did not have the capacity to make treatment decisions about his foot and that an enforced amputation would not be in his best interests. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant sought an order quashing the decision of the inspector appointed by the first defendant Secretary of State, dismissing his appeal against the second defendant local planning authority's refusal of planning permission for the change of use of a building from stables to offices on a site within the Green Belt. The Planning Court, in dismissing the application, held that inspector had found implicitly that the proposal had not been in accordance with the development plan and that planning permission should not be granted.