Latest Cases

Human rights – Right to fair trial. Following the quashing of his convictions, the claimant sought damages, pursuant to s 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998. On the Lord Chancellor's application, the judge struck out the claim and entered summary judgment for the Lord Chancellor. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the claimant's appeal, held that, in the circumstances, the judge had been entirely right to have struck out the claim. It had always been doomed to fail. 

Negligence – Causation. Where defendant solicitors acting for the claimant purchasers of a premises were sued for negligence, the Queen's Bench Division held that, although they had been negligent in failing to draw the absence of any covenant in restraint of trade to the claimant's attention such a failure had not caused the claimants loss. 

Local Government – Land. The Chancery Division held that a sculpture created by Henry Moore, 'Draped Seated Woman', belonged to the claimant local authority which had, by exercising control over the sculpture, extinguished the defendant local authority's rights to it 

Housing – Local authority houses. The parties had entered into a joint tenancy of a local authority flat prior to the breakdown of their relationship. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the appellant's appeal against an order transferring the tenancy into the sole name of the respondent, held that the judge had had to make a difficult decision on the balance of hardship and there had been no error of law in the way that he had struck the balance. 

Civil aviation – Air accident – Combined voice and flight data recorder (CVFDR) – Disclosure. Court of Session: Granting an application in which the Lord Advocate petitioned the court to order the Secretary of State for Transport to make available to him and Police Scotland the combined voice and flight data recorder (CVFDR) which a helicopter which crashed into sea, killing four passengers, was carrying, the court held that the data contained in the CVFDR were strictly necessary for the purposes of the police investigation into the accident, and that the benefits of disclosure outweighed the adverse domestic and international impact that disclosure might have on the current investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the Department for Transport and any future safety investigation. 

Practice – Hearing. The claimants appealed against the judge's decision that their proceedings were proceedings in which a closed material application might be made to the court, under s 6 of the Justice and Security Act 2013. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the appeal, held that the judge had correctly decided to make a s 6 declaration before having considered the claimants' application, under CPR 3.1(2)(m), for an order requiring the Secretary of State to plead a full defence, rather than a limited defence, which stated that the government would neither confirm nor deny the facts pleaded in their claim. 

European Union – Freedom of movement. The claimant trade association whose members were primarily Gibraltar-based gambling operators who provided remote gambling services to United Kingdom customers issued judicial review proceedings, arguing that the new tax regime relating to remote gambling was incompatible with art 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Administrative Court decided to refer questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union. It further rejected the defendants' contention that the application should not be entertained because there was an alternative remedy and the claimant could not seek to override the UK legislation because it had no directly effective EU law rights. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant parish council applied to quash the decision of the inspector appointed by the first defendant Secretary of State to grant planning permission for an affordable housing development on a green field site within its boundary. The Planning Court, in allowing the application, held that the inspector had misinterpreted and misapplied the rural exception site policy, and had failed to give adequate reasons for her decision, including by failing to expressly address the claimant's submissions on the proper interpretation and application of the policy. 

Extradition – Discharge of fugitive. After the claimant's extradition had been ordered, he applied for discharge on the basis that no reasonable cause for the delay in removing him had been shown. The judge refused the application, as a clerical error had been a reasonable cause and the claimant sought judicial review. The Divisional Court, in allowing the application, held that the judge had not adopted the requisite rigorous approach. As it was not obvious that there had only been one decision open to the judge, the matter was remitted for reconsideration by a different judge. 

Town and country planning – Conservation. The proceedings concerned a challenge to a policy contained in the Wealden District (incorporating part of the South Downs National Park) Core Strategy Local Plan, which provided, inter alia, that, for new development within 7km of Ashdown Forest, suitable alternative natural green space was to be provided. The claimant's claim seeking to quash the core strategy in whole or in part was dismissed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in allowing the claimant's appeal, held that the policy, in so far as it related to the 7km zone, had been adopted in breach of the duty, under reg 12 of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, SI 2004/1633, relating to the assessment of reasonable alternatives.