Latest Cases

Police – Powers. The complainants contended that the respondent National Crime Agency's authorisation for property interference and for the installation of covert listening devices at their premises was unlawfully obtained. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, in quashing the authorisation, held that the application for the authorisation had failed to disclose material information and the authorisation probably would not have been made or approved in the form it had been. 

Child – Protection. The issue before the Administrative Court was whether it was lawful for the defendant local authority to have a policy of retaining child protection records for a period of 35 years after a case had been closed. The court held that the policy was in accordance with the law, had been carefully considered, adapted to the purposes for which it was required, and was applied proportionately and flexibly. 

Housing – Homeless person. The appellants had been found by the respective local authorities to have been intentionally homeless and possession orders were obtained to reclaim the temporary accommodation that the appellants were housed in. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, found that there had been nothing to indicate there was any separate or different interest on the part of the children or any identifiable need other than, like their mothers, for accommodation and there had been no positive obligation on the authorities to have conducted assessments of the needs of the children pursuant to s 11 of the Children Act 2004. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. The Queen's Bench Division granted an injunction to the claimant local authority to restrain the defendant from pursuing a course of conduct amounting to harassment. In so doing the court was sure that the defendant would fail to establish one of the statutory defences, under by s 1(3)(a) and (c) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, as he could not satisfy the rationality test in making out his avowed purpose of preventing and detecting crime. 

European Union – Community institutions. The Court of Justice of the European Union set aside a judgment of the General Court of the European Union in so far as the General Court had thereby dismissed the action brought by ClientEarth and Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) for: (i) annulment of initially, a decision of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), refusing an application for access to certain working documents relating to a guidance document, prepared by EFSA, for the benefit of applicants for authorisation to place plant protection products on the market; and subsequently (ii) for annulment of EFSA's decision, withdrawing the earlier decision and granting the applicants access to all the information requested, save for the names of certain external experts. 

Misrepresentation – Fraudulent misrepresentation. The Chancery Division held, in dismissing the claimant company's claim regarding a failed agreement to jointly purchase property, that there had been no fraud on the part of the defendants, either deriving from a side letter, or otherwise. 

Trust and trustee – Disposal of trust assets. A family dispute had arisen over a trust in a property which was held in beneficial shares and the judge ordered that the first defendant was to have the opportunity to buy the property otherwise it would be put for sale on the open market. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, held that the judge had been correct with regard to the ambit of her jurisdiction under ss 14 and 15 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 and had exercised her discretion correctly. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The issue for determination was whether the judge had been permitted to make an order for the husband's payment of interim maintenance to the wife into an account in Russia when he was subject to sanctions imposed by Council Regulation (EU) 269/2014. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the husband's appeal, held that the order was lawful, since it contained no provisions dealing with funds or economic resources within the scope of the Regulation without the competent authority's licence. 

Damages – Personal injury. The claimant suffered with non-freezing cold injury to his feet sustained while engaged on exercises, with unsuitable footwear, during his employment with the defendant. He was awarded damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and for future loss of earnings calculated by reference to the Ogden Tables. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the defendant's appeal. The award for general damages was upheld but, while the finding that the claimant was disabled as a result of his injuries was correct, his loss of future earnings should not have been calculated by reference to the Ogden Tables and should have been calculated by reference to established common law principles. 

Estate agent – Regulation. The Administrative Court held that Sch 2 to the Estate Agents Act 1979 required that the person who was to decide the facts to determine whether to make a prohibition order had to personally and face to face conduct the hearing of oral representations. Accordingly, the authority lead enforcement authority's proposed procedure for an investigator only to hear oral representations was unlawful.