Latest Cases

Practice – Stay of proceedings. The appellants had issued proceedings in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) against their assessment to landfill tax. They were then permitted to bring judicial review proceedings founded on their legitimate expectations arising out of negotiations for repayments of overpaid landfill tax. The Revenue's application for a stay of the judicial review proceedings was dismissed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the Revenue and Customs Commissioners' appeal as the taxpayers were entitled to pursue either or both remedies and, it was not clear what the Revenue's case would be in the judicial review, so it was uncertain whether there was any overlap of fact in the two sets of proceedings. 

Solicitor – Disciplinary proceedings. The appellant solicitor appealed against the decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (the SDT) that she should be struck off the roll of solicitors. The Administrative Court, in allowing the appeal in part, held that a reasonable reader of the SDT's judgment would conclude that it had considered the issue of dishonesty, which had not been pleaded. Accordingly, the SDT's judgment would be quashed insofar as it referred to dishonesty or made findings which were suggestive of dishonesty. However, there were no conceivable grounds on which the findings of lack of integrity could be said to be undermined by that error. 

Divorce – Financial provision. In a claim for financial provision the Family Division determined the husband's needs in light of a pre-nuptial agreement and other surrounding factors, in circumstances where the wife had significant inherited wealth. 

Criminal law – Appeal. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, re-opened the defendant's appeal, in circumstances where the transcript of the Crown Court proceedings was found to be defective and the court's previous finding that there had been no conviction of the defendant on the relevant count had been incorrect. The court applied the jurisdiction based on the principles set out by the Court of Appeal, Civil Division in Taylor v Lawrence [2002] 2 All ER 353. 

Medical practitioner – Appeal against determination of disciplinary committee. The appellant registered midwife appealed against the decision of the Conduct and Competence Committee (the Committee) of the respondent Nursing and Midwifery Council, finding allegations proved and making a caution order for 12 months. The Administrative Court, in allowing the appeal, held that there had been a serious irregularity in the Committee having considered the investigation and report of the supervisor of midwives. The Committee should have treated those findings and decision as completely irrelevant and excluded from its consideration. 

Nationality – British nationality. The claimant sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision to declare null and void the grant to him of British citizenship. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the claimant had made false and fraudulent representations to the Home Office about his name and place of birth. Those representations had been material to the grant of citizenship. 

Data protection – Processing of information. The Divisional Court, in allowing the claimants' application for judicial review, declared that s 1 of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 was incompatible with the requirements of European Union law insofar as it: (i) did not lay down clear and precise rules on access to, and use of, retained communications data to be strictly restricted to the purpose of preventing and detecting precisely defined serious offences or of conducting criminal prosecutions; and (ii) access to the data was not made dependent on a prior review by a court or an independent administrative body. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. On the mother's application, it was ordered that all contact between the father and his daughter was suspended indefinitely and an order was made, under s 91(14) of the Children Act 1989, prohibiting the father from making an application for contact or any order under s 8 of the Act in respect of his daughter, without the leave of the court, until December 2019. Those orders had been made in the absence of the father. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the father's appeal and remitted the case for rehearing. 

Competition – Competition Appeal Tribunal. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (the tribunal) dismissed the application under s 120 of the Enterprise Act 2002 by Ryanair Holdings plc (Ryanair) for a review of the final report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Ryanair's minority stake in Aer Lingus Group plc. That report had concluded that Ryanair's stake had resulted in a substantial lessening of competition and, as remedial action, had required Ryanair to reduce its stake in Aer Lingus. The tribunal upheld the CMA's decision that there had been no material change in circumstances such as to require the CMA to consider remedial action different from that set out in its final report. 

Statute – Construction. In a case where a without notice injunction was granted in respect of a respondent who was suspected of being a gang member under the Policing and Crime Act 2009, the Queen's Bench Division refused an appeal against a decision of a judge not to continue that injunction on the basis that it was not sufficient for the police to contend that they had identified links if those links had not amounted to a signifier or characteristic of gang membership that had resulted in others responding to the street identity. Accordingly, the judge had been right to conclude, as he had done.