Latest Cases

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. 

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. 

Family Proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Court made a placement order in respect of a young child, who was approaching seven months old. In the circumstances, it was clear that it was overwhelmingly in the child's interests for such an order to be made and nothing else would do. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant sought judicial review of the defendant local planning authority's grant of planning permission, authorising change of use from a public house to alternative uses. The Planning Court, in allowing the application, held that the authority had erred and that it was not possible to say that it was highly likely that the outcome for the claimant would not have been substantially different if the conduct complained of had not occurred. 

Lending and security – Standard security – Enforcement. Sheriff Court: In an action in which the pursuer sought the court's authority to enter into possession to sell residential property, and a warrant for ejection, the defender having granted a standard security over the property in security of its obligation to repay a loan to the pursuer, which it had failed to repay and the pursuer having called up the loan, the court held that the protective regime introduced by the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010 was not engaged, and in any event the pursuer had complied with the pre-action requirements, that while the remedy of ejection could competently be granted against a legal (juridical) person the crave was not justified on the evidence led, but it would not be unreasonable to grant decree of possession. 

Costs – Order for costs. The Chancery Division ruled that the fact that the claimant local authority had unsuccessfully advanced legal argument based on certain material did not mean that it should be deprived of some part of the costs where that material had, nonetheless, been relevant to the issue on which it had won its claim. The general rule that costs should follow the event applied and the claimant was entitled to its costs. 

European Union – Rules on competition. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of arts 101, 107 and 119 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and art 158 of Council Directive (EC) 2006/112 (on the common system of value added tax). The request had been made in the course of criminal proceedings brought against the defendants for alleged offences in relation to value added tax and the questions included whether a national rule on limitation periods for criminal offences, which in effect resulted in accused persons enjoying de facto impunity, amounted to introducing a VAT exemption which was not laid down in art 158 of Directive 2006/112. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Division made findings of fact in the course of care proceedings relating to two children. It held that the threshold criteria in s 31(2) of the Children Act 1989 had been satisfied in respect of both children on the basis of serious and serial sexual abuse having occurred. 

European Union – Regulations. The appellants appealed against a decision of the General Court, which confirmed various restrictions on the commercial exploitation of products obtained from seals. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the appeal in its entirety, holding that it was partly inadmissible and partly unfounded. 

Sentencing – Careless driving – Failure to report accident. High Court of Justiciary: In an appeal against sentence by an appellant who pled guilty to charges of careless driving and failure to report an accident, the sheriff having found that the two offences were not committed on the same occasion and imposed six penalty points in respect of each charge, discounted in each case to four, the court held, it being accepted that it was incompetent for the sheriff to impose less than five points for the offence of failure to report, that the offences arose on the same occasion and that penalty points should only have been imposed in respect of the charge of failing to report, as that was the offence to which a higher number of penalty points could be attributed: it accordingly allowed the appeal to the extent of quashing the penalty points attributable to the careless driving charge and increasing those attributable to the charge of failing to report to five.