Latest Cases

Extradition – Extradition order. The appellant appealed against orders for his extradition to Lithuania to serve a sentence of four months and 26 days' imprisonment for burglary, robbery and violent offences. By the time of the extradition hearing, the appellant had spent three months in prison. The Administrative Court, in allowing the appeal, held that the judge had fallen into error by considering the matter by reference to Lithuanian practice of which she had been ignorant and not treating the appellant as having served the whole of the remaining sentence. 

Value added tax – Zero-rating. In dismissing the appeal by the Revenue and Customs Commissioners against a decision by the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber), the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) decided that the reduced rate of VAT could not apply to an element of a complex supply to which the standard rate applied. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The claimants sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision to grant of leave to remain for 30 months, but to impose a condition prohibiting them from having recourse to public funds (the condition). The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), in dismissing the application, held that the Secretary of State had not irrationally failed to grant discretionary leave to remain. Further, with respect to the condition, she had not unlawfully failed to consider the exercise of her discretion, failed to comply with s 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 or breached the claimants' rights under art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

Income tax – Return. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (the tribunal) allowed the application by a taxpayer for judicial review of a decision by the Revenue and Customs Commissioners not to allow his claim for repayment of overpaid tax on the basis that the taxpayer's return had been received after the expiry of the four-year time limit imposed by s 34(1) of the Taxes Management Act 1970. The tribunal decided that, in line with existing authority, the time limit in that sub-section had no application to a self-assessment made by a taxpayer. Accordingly, the Revenue was ordered to process the taxpayer's tax return including the self-assessment in respect of the relevant year. 

Pension – Pension scheme. The claimant had been employed in the civil service before an outsourcing agreement resulted in the transfer of her employment to a private sector contractor. She retained her pension with the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. She was later told that, under the scheme's rules, because she had resigned from her role, she was only entitled to take her preserved pension when she reached the age of 60, and not 55 as had previously been the case. Her complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman was dismissed while her appeal to the Chancery Division was allowed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the Cabinet Office's appeal and held that, on the true construction of the scheme's rules, 'resignation' was to be given a wide meaning that included both voluntary and involuntary departure from the civil service, including the transfer of an undertaking to the private sector. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant local planning authority challenged a decision of the inspector appointed by the defendant Secretary of State to allow an appeal against its decision, refusing permission for development of 150 houses on land lying outside the boundaries of the Cotswold area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the inspector had not erred in equating valued landscape with designated landscape and had not adopted an unlawful approach to the meaning of valued. Further, the policy was not intended to cover views of the AONB from outside the AONB. 

Family proceedings – Costs. The Supreme Court held that none of the exceptions to the general approach applicable to awards of costs in children's cases as set out in Re T (Children) ([2012] 4 All ER 1137) applied in the present case. Accordingly, an order for costs made in the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, against the respondent local authority would be set aside. 

Family proceedings – Jurisdiction. The Family Division held the habitual residence of a four and-a-half year old child was in the United Kingdom, in circumstances where the child had been born in Morocco to a Moroccan father and American mother and had spent time in both the UK and Morocco but where the mother had for much of her adult life been integrated into the UK and was herself found to be habitually resident in the UK. 

Practice – Pre-trial or post-judgment relief. The claimants alleged that the defendant, B, had appropriated money whilst in public office in Djibouti. They obtained freezing injunctions, among other things, against him. In the course of obtaining the injunctions, a solicitor working for the claimants misled the court. B applied to have the injunctions dismissed. The Commercial Court held that, in the circumstances, the freezing injunctions would be dismissed, although a proprietary injunction would remain. 

Divorce – Financial provision. The wife's application for enforcement of child maintenance and an upward variation of the same had been struck out by the district judge as it had offended the principle of res judicata and/or that it had represented an abuse of the process of the court under Pt 4 of the FPR. The basis for that conclusion was that she had previously sought to enforce child maintenance in the courts of Illinois. The Family Division allowed the wife's appeal. The judge in Illinois had unintentionally reduced the value of the maintenance order and that had been outside his jurisdiction or remit. In all the circumstances, it was a truly exceptional case and justice would not be served by allowing the district judge's order to stand. Further, the issue of variation had not been addressed in Illinois. The district judge had erred and it was difficult to see how the wife's application could fairly have been struck out.