Latest Cases

Confidential information – Access to confidential information. Following the giving of a judgment confidential to the defendants by the European Commission, a proposition was made for the distribution of the unredacted judgment to a confidentiality club. A number of proposals were made as to the composition of the confidentiality club. The Chancery Division made findings as to the various proposals and allowed the unredacted judgment to be published to the club. 

Tax – Alcohol. The defendant Revenue and Customs Commissioners revoked the claimants' authorisation to trade in duty-suspended goods. The claimants sought interim injunctive relief within prospective judicial review proceedings, pending their appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Tax). The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the claimants' challenge did not enjoy a realistic chance of success, particularly given the high threshold set where an appeal was available. Accordingly, interim relief and permission to apply for judicial review would be refused. 

Sentence – Imprisonment. The Courts Martial Appeal Court held that a sentence imposed by the Court Martial of nine months' detention for two counts of assault by penetration had been unduly lenient. However, in the circumstances, the court declined to increase the offender's sentence. 

Deceit – Misrepresentation. The defendant company, Glencore, supplied crude oil to the defendant company, Petrom, which was a state-run Romanian company. Glencore misrepresented that oil supplied was of a different sort to that actually provided. Petrom discovered that fact and commenced proceedings. The Commercial Court held that, among other things, Petrom had a valid claim in deceit both as a matter of English and Romanian law. 

Medical practitioner – Professional conduct committee. The appellant appealed against the decision of the Fitness to Practise Panel (the FPP) of the respondent General Medical Council in her absence, finding misconduct and deciding to erase her from the register. The Administrative Court, in allowing the appeal held that the FPP ought to have decided to proceed to hear the witnesses, but only to decide the facts and to seek to notify the appellant, with a view to her attending on the issue of dishonesty. It should have considered, before imposing any sanction whether attempts should have been made to contact the appellant to enable her to put forward any mitigation. 

Practice – Parties. In the course of proceedings, the master dismissed the claimant company's application under CPR 19.5 to amend the name of the defendant from OLLP to 'Olswang (a Firm)'. The claimant appealed and the defendant cross-appealed. The Chancery Division, in dismissing both the appeal and the cross-appeal, held that the master had not erred in law, and had not gone outside the ambit of his discretion. 

Human rights – Discrimination. The claimant Irish travellers sought a declaration that s 33(2) of the Land Compensation Act 1973, which precluded the making of a home loss payment to a caravan dweller unless no suitable alternative site was available on reasonable terms, was incompatible with art 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, read in conjunction with art 8 of the Convention or art 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention, or both. The Planning Court, in dismissing the application, having properly construed s 33(2) of the Act, held that the analogy the claimants sought to draw between their situation, and that of persons resident in bricks and mortar accommodation was plainly false. 

Family proceedings – Costs. Private law family proceedings were taking place in which the sperm donor father, who was registered on the birth certificate, sought contact with the child after the relationship between him and the two parents had broken down. The child had been born into a relationship between two women. In the proceedings, the child was in receipt of legal aid funding, but none of the adults was. The two women sought a costs allowance to be paid by the father. The Family Division, having considered the circumstances of the parties, ordered that the father pay 80% of the claims of each of the women and 80% of all future professional costs in respect of therapeutic work. The costs of expert evidence were to be paid for by the child, charged to his legal aid certificate. 

Claim form – Service. The claimant brought claims in England for hire and demobilisation charges said to be due under two charterparties. The second defendant Venezuelan company brought a Pt 20 claim against a third party, another Venezuelan company, contending, among other things, that if it were found to be liable in the main action, the third party was liable to indemnify it, under the terms of a services contract. The second defendant was granted permission to serve the third party outside the jurisdiction. The Commercial Court set aside service outside of the jurisdiction where there was no good arguable case that the third party was a necessary of proper party to the main claim. Further, it ruled that, under Venezuelan law, the services contract contained an exclusive jurisdiction agreement, which bound the second defendant and the third party to the jurisdiction of Venezuela. 

Sentence – Mandatory life sentence. The offender, when aged 13, was involved with four others in the killing of a 16-year-old victim. The present proceedings concerned the review of the minimum term. The Administrative Court held that the reports on the offender were favourable and he had clearly made progress. However, that progress was no greater than would have been hoped. It was clear from the reports that he had not qualified at present for any tariff reduction.