Latest Cases

Mental health – Court of Protection. The Court of Protection held that having regard to sch 3 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and r 3A Court of Protection Rules 2007, SI No 1744/07, what was necessary to secure the rights of a patient effectively transferred from the Irish health care system to the United Kingdom system, was to seek clarification from the Irish Court into whether the patient needed to be made a party to the proceedings. 

Practice – Consent order. Prior to the hearing of an application for relief from forfeiture, the parties had entered into a consent order which had required the representative of the deceased's estate to meet certain conditions by specified dates. The representative applied to the court for an extension of time by which to fulfil those conditions. The judge, in his discretion and in pursuance of furthering the overriding objective at CPR 1.1, granted the extension. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the appellant's appeal as the judge had been correct to consider that he had had the power to extend the time limits in the consent order and he had, on the facts, properly exercised that discretion. 

Immigration – Asylum. The claimant sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's refusal to accept his further representations as a fresh claim for asylum. The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), in dismissing the application, held that, although there had been no express reference to the relevant policy, it was sufficiently clear that the claimant's period of residence in the United Kingdom had been considered. Further, the claimant's time in the UK had been considered in the context of art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

Medical practitioner – Disciplinary proceedings. The claimant, who suffered from 'locked in' syndrome, sought judicial review of the defendant General Medical Council's (the GMC) guidance on assisted suicide. The Divisional Court, in dismissing the application, held that the guidance did not infringe arts 8 or 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular, as a blanket ban on assisted suicide did not infringe and the guidance was not irrational. Further, the GMC's guidance was not obliged to be in line with that the Director of Public Prosecutions. 

Immigration – Leave for indefinite stay. The claimant Irish national issued judicial review proceedings, effectively to establish that he had a right to reside in the United Kingdom as a qualified person, which would benefit his brother, G's, application for a permanent residence card. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that, since G's second application for a permanent residence card remained outstanding, the claimant's application was premature. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. In a case where an applicant sought to issue an interim injunction prior to the issue of proceedings, the Queen's Bench Division dismissed the application on the bases that the default position was that interim remedies were granted within existing proceedings and although those default positions could be varied where good cause was shown, each variation needed to be justified and considered separately. 

European Union – Rules on competition. The General Court of the European Union partially annulled a decision of the European Commission which had rejected a request for confidential treatment submitted by Pilkington Group Ltd (Pilkington) under art 8 of Decision 2011/695/EU of the President of the European Commission (on the function and terms of reference of the hearing officer in certain competition proceedings). The request for confidential treatment related to the Commission's finding, inter alia, that certain companies, including Pilkington, had infringed art 81 EC and art 53 of the European Economic Area Agreement by participating, over various periods in a set of anticompetitive agreements and concerted practices in the automotive glass sector in the European Economic Area. 

Parent and child – Child protection – 'Wilful' ill-treatment. Court of Session: Refusing an appeal by a father from a sheriff's decision finding grounds of referral established in respect of his children, the court held that the sheriff did not err in law in holding that it was unnecessary to prove awareness of, or recklessness as to, the likelihood of causing suffering to a child in order to find established an offence of wilful ill-treatment under s 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, and the sheriff had been correct to find grounds based on lack of parental care established in terms of s 67(2)(a) of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Deutsche Rockwool Mineralwoll GmbH & Co. OHG (Deutsche Rockwool) against a decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) concerning invalidity proceedings between Deutsche Rockwool and Ceramicas del Foix, SA (Ceramicas) relating to the application for a declaration of invalidity by Deutsche Rockwool in respect of a figurative sign depicting the words 'Rock & Rock' successfully registered by Ceramicas. 

European Union – Freedom of movement. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling, deciding that art 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1889/2005 (on controls of cash entering or leaving the Community) should be interpreted as precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which, in order to penalise a failure to comply with the obligation to declare laid down in art 3 of that regulation, imposed payment of an administrative fine, the amount of which corresponded to 60% of the amount of undeclared cash, where that sum was more than €50,000.