Latest Cases

Immigration – Leave to remain. The claimant Pakistani national sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision to curtail his leave to remain, to detain him and to remove him from the United Kingdom. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, held that, as the claimant had provided a local address in Pakistan, the Secretary of State had not been entitled to rely upon deemed notice of the curtailment of leave and to conclude that it had not been possible to give notice to the claimant. 

Conflict of laws – Jurisdiction. The Commercial Court considered the preliminary issue of which law would apply to a fraud perpetrated in Geneva, in which funds had been sent from the claimant bank, which was in Geneva, to London. The court held that English law would apply on the proper application of European Parliament and Council (EC) Regulation 864/2007 (on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations). 

Contempt of court – Committal. The claimant local planning authority sought the committal of the defendant for contempt of court by reason of breaches of an injunction in relation to unauthorised use of land. The Queen's Bench Division held that the appropriate sentence was one of four months' imprisonment, but that would be suspended provided the defendant adhered to the timings set out in the undertakings which were accepted and the court's order. 

Value added tax – Supply of goods or services. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (the tribunal) allowed the appeal by Intelligent Managed Services Ltd (IMSL) against the decision of the Revenue and Customs Commissioners that the transfer of IMSL's banking support services business to Virgin Money Management Services Ltd (VMMSL), a member of the Virgin Money Group VAT group, was not a 'transfer of a going concern', with the result that the transfer gave rise to supplies of goods and services that were subject to VAT. The tribunal decided that the transfer by IMSL of the assets of its business to VMMSL had satisfied the conditions of art 5(1) of the Value Added Tax (Special Provisions) Order 1995, SI 1995/1268, and those supplies were accordingly to be treated as neither a supply of goods nor a supply of services. 

Practice – Compromise of action. Following settlement of an action, the appellant's shares in a company were to be purchased by the first respondent at a price to be determined by an independent valuer. The appellant unsuccessfully challenged the valuation as not being in accordance with the valuer's mandate as set out in the Tomlin Order. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the appeal as, on the true construction of the express terms of the settlement, the valuer had been instructed to arrive at his valuation with regard to the books and records, including the handwritten takings, of the company. He had failed to take into account the handwritten takings and so had not followed his mandate. 

Family proceedings – Care proceedings. The Family Court engaged in a fact-finding hearing in relation to the allegation by the local authority that the mother of a child was fabricating or inducing illness on the part of the child. It found that although there were serious elements in the evidence, its findings fell short of those for which the local authority contended. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant applied, under s 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, to quash the decision by an inspector appointed by the first defendant Secretary of State to grant outline planning permission to erect 73 dwellings, contending that the screening opinion adopted by the second defendant local planning authority had been unlawful. The application was dismissed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the claimant's appeal, held that, on a fair reading of the screening opinion, the planning officer had not failed to have regard to the issue of cumulative impact. Further, the reasoning, albeit brief, had not been inadequate. 

Criminal law – Proceeds of crime. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, in dismissing the defendant's appeal against his conviction for converting criminal property, held, among other things, that there had been an evidential foundation upon which the jury had been entitled to conclude that they were sure that the defendant had been criminally dishonest in his financial dealings and that, in any event, his financial dealings had led to an irresistible inference that they had to have been based on criminal conduct. 

Executry – Confirmation of executors – Transgender person. Sheriff Court: Instructing that an application by a transgender woman, submitted via solicitors, for confirmation as executrix-nominate, be processed, the court held that (contrary to what was suggested at para 5-22 of Currie on Confirmation of Executors (9th edn)) the production of a full gender recognition certificate accompanied by a birth certificate should not ordinarily be required to support an application for confirmation presented by solicitors on behalf of an executor-nominate or an executrix-nominate. Certificates might be required where the executor-nominate or executrix-nominate was unrepresented. 

Civil procedure – Summary cause action for delivery of documents – Competency: Sheriff Court: Allowing an apppeal in a summary cause action in which the appellant sought delivery of certain files, records and documents the respondents held in connection with actions pending in the Court of Session, and which the sheriff considered was incompetently raised in the sheriff court as more appropriate methods were open to the appellant to obtain the remedy he sought, the court held that the sheriff had erred, because the existence of separate, or alternative, or more expeditious procedure could not justify dismissing as incompetent proceedings which were ex facie competent.