Latest Cases

Specific performance – Sale of land. The Privy Council dismissed the appellant's appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago, upholding an order for specific performance of an agreement for sale of a property. The Court of Appeal had correctly concluded that the judge had reached a decision which had been correct in law and which should, therefore, be upheld. In the circumstances, it had not been open to the appellant to serve notice to complete, making time of the essence, as he had purported to do, as he had not shown good title by that date. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the claimant's appeal against the dismissal of its claim for judicial review of a grant of planning permission by the defendant local planning authority for the construction of a link road. The submission that the authority had been obliged to assess the proposal for the link road and the proposal for a residential site as a single project, was unsustainable. Further, the environmental statement had given a fair and more than adequate account of what the cumulative impacts were likely to be. 

Human rights – Rights to respect for private and family life. The applicants, a professional sportsman and his wife, applied to restrain publication by the respondent newspaper of details of an affair that he had been engaged in before his marriage in circumstances where an amount of information was already in the public domain. The Queen's Bench Division granted a temporary injunction pending a full hearing. The applicants' rights under art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been engaged and the proposed interference with those rights, in exercise of the respondent's rights under art 10 of the Convention, was not proportionate to the intended aim. 

Medical negligence – Childbirth – Liability – Causation. Court of Session: Pronouncing decree of absolvitor in an action by a mother who alleged that her son's cerebral palsy and asociated disabilities were caused by the fault and negligence of the defenders' midwifery staff who attended on her in the period immediately prior to his birth, the court held that all three of the grounds of negligence pled against the midwives had been established but that the pursuer could not prove a causative link between the midwives' negligence and the injuries her son sustained: there was no negligent act for which the defenders were responsible which caused any delay in his delivery. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. The defendant transport authority sought to withdraw an admission of liability made by its claims handling company in relation to an accident by the claimant when he fell off his bike. The Queen's Bench Division dismissed the application on the basis that the defect was clearly visible and also under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, the defendant was not prevented from obtaining a contribution or indemnity. 

Landlord and tenant – Recovery of possession. Sheriff Court: In an action in which landlords sought an order for recovery of possession of heritable property following the tenant's second conviction for being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug, the court held that it was reasonable to grant decree in favour of the pursuer, and having regard to its assessment of the defender's evidence it was not appropriate to adjourn the proceedings to allow him to demonstrate that he could refrain from drug related activities. 

Jurisdiction – High court. The claimants applied for a Civil Restraint Order in respect of the defendant, part of the order extending to proceedings in the Employment Tribunal (the ET). The defendant opposed the making of the order on the basis that the High Court did not have supervisory jurisdiction over inferior courts and tribunals and that there was no statutory power to make a CRO relating to proceedings in the ET. The Queen's Bench Division found that the High 

Contempt of court – Interference with due administration of justice. The respondents applied for orders striking out the claims against them for contempt. The Divisional Court, in dismissing the application, held that there was no proper basis on which the contempt claim should be struck out. There was a substantial case to the effect that the course of justice had been comprehensively perverted and that the respondents had played their part. 

Charity – Cy-près doctrine. The appellant trustees appealed against the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) (Charity), amending the scheme created by the fourth respondent Charity Commission on the basis that one purpose of the trusts was to retain the recreation ground as an open space for recreational purposes. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber), in allowing the appeal, held that the trusts had not been created to preserve the recreation ground in specie as open space. 

Contempt of court – Committal. Where the applicant was seeking the court's permission to commit the respondent for contempt of court for the alleged making of false statements, the Queen's Bench Division dismissed the application on the basis that the committal proceedings would not be in the public interest.