Latest Cases

Coroner – Inquest. The claimant consultant cardiothoracic surgeon issued proceedings, contending that a sentence should be removed from the defendant coroner's narrative conclusions as to his three patients. The Divisional Court, in dismissing the application, held that on the evidence before her, the coroner had been entitled to have come to the conclusion that she had and it could not be described as irrational. 

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. 

Copyright – Ownership. The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court dismissed the claimant company's claim for ownership of the copyrights of two logos. Although the claimant had taken the legal interest in the copyrights, it had done so subject to the equitable interest of the company which had made use of the logos, and for whose use the logos had been created. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 – 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. 

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. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The Family Court granted a local authority's application for an order to transfer care proceedings concerning two children to the Czech Republic and to order the return of the children to the Czech Republic with their maternal grandmother, where to remain living in the United Kingdom would be detrimental to their welfare, posed a risk of significant harm, was against their wishes and where no alternative in terms of their welfare needs could be seen.