Latest Cases

Solemn procedure – Defective representation. High Court of Justiciary: Refusing an appeal by an appellant who was convicted of the murder of his wife, the court, having rejected grounds of appeal based on defective representation (1) in the preparation for trial; (2) in the conduct of the trial; and (3) consisting in a restriction in the appellant's ability to select appropriate representation, added comments in relation to the latter issue, including that the current Rules for the Conduct of Solicitor Advocates 2002 were inadequate and should be amended. 

Patent – Validity. The Patents Court ruled, among other things, that a patent for the treatment of pain, owned by the defendant company, was not invalid for obviousness. However, some of the claims of the patent were invalid on the ground of insufficiency. 

European Union – Rules on competition. The General Court of the European Union rejected the applicant's claims seeking the annulment of the respondent European Commission's decision that it had been involved in two cartels and its claim seeking the reduction of the fines imposed. 

Mental health – Judicial review – Human rights. Court of Session: Refusing a judicial review petition by a petitioner who had been detained in the State Hospital since pleading guilty to a charge of culpable homicide on the basis of diminished responsibility and being made subject to compulsion and restriction orders, who contended there was no treatment for his dissocial personality disorder that could not equally be provided in prison but whose request to be transferred to prison was refused by the Scottish Ministers who said they had no power to do so, the court rejected contentions that the petitioner's continued detention in the State Hospital was in breach of arts 3 and/or 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 was non-convention compliant because of the absence of any provision allowing transfer of persons from the State Hospital to prison. 

Town and country planning – Planning permission. The claimant company applied to quash the decision of the inspector appointed by the defendant Secretary of State, dismissing its appeal against a refusal to vary a condition of planning permission to allow an extension of opening hours for a restaurant. The Administrative Court, in refusing to quash the decision, held that there had clearly been evidence of complaints before the inspector and he had not failed to take into account extended licensing hours as a material consideration. 

European Union – Employment. The applicant former employees of a company brought proceedings after they had been subjected to collective redundancy. The proceedings were stayed and the Court of Justice gave a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of art 1(1) of Council Directive (EC) 2001/23, which concerned the laws of member states relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or businesses. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Gold Crest LLC against the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), concerning an application for registration of the word sign 'MIGHTY BRIGHT' as a Community trade mark. 

Immigration – Asylum seeker – Fresh claim – Linguistic analysis report. Court of Session: Granting decree of reduction of a decision refusing to treat a failed Somali asylum seeker's further submissions as a fresh claim, the court held that the failure to provide a copy of the recording of a telephone interview between the petitioner and an employee of Sprakab on which a linguistic analysis report was based and the respondent's reliance on opinions expressed in the report on the petitioner's knowledge of country and culture which were not supported by any demonstrated expertise on the author's part were errors of law and those errors amounted to material unfairness. 

European Union – Community institutions. The Court of Justice of the European Union, in dismissing Spain's application for annulment of art 19 of Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) 1052/2013, rejected Spain's single plea of law alleging breach of art 4 in conjunction with art 5 of Protocol (No 19) on the Schengen acquis integrated into the framework of the European Union. The Court ruled that art 19 of the Regulation could not be regarded as having given the member states the option of concluding agreements which allowed Ireland or the United Kingdom to take part in the provisions in force of the Schengen acquis in the area of the crossing of the external borders. 

Discrimination – Health Board – Public sector equality duty. Court of Session: Refusing a judicial review petition in which the petitioner sought reduction of a decision of Lothian Health Board to withdraw the provision of homeopathic services on the ground that it was unlawful because the Board had given no consideration to its public sector equality duty when it reached the decision, the court held that the Board had a proper and conscientious focus on the statutory criteria and it had obtained sufficient information to discharge its duty of inquiry under s 149 of the Equality Act 2010.