Latest Cases

Contempt of court – Party in contempt. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, refused to exercise its discretion to decline to hear an appeal by SS on the basis that he was a committed contemnor whose contempts were unpurged. 

Company – Winding up. The respondent Secretary of State sought the winding-up of the appellant company, PLT, which provided a service to reduce unwanted marketing. PLT applied to vary undertakings it had previously given pending the final hearing of the petition. The judge determined as a preliminary issue that, for PLT to trade and seek new customers without disclosing that the telephone and mail preference services were provided to the public free of charge, would involve a breach of reg 6 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, SI 2008/1277. Consequently, the application failed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed PLT's appeal to the extent of setting aside the determination of the preliminary issue, as it was an issue which should be determined only at the final hearing, but declined to 

Equity – Equitable interest. The appellant, K, had cohabited with her partner, N, between 1976 and his death in 2009. Between 1985 and 2009 they had lived together in a property purchased by N and registered in his sole name. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed K's appeal against a finding that she had a beneficial interest in the property limited to the extent of 25% of its value. 

European Union – Employment. The present request for a preliminary ruling concerned the interpretation of art 30 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Council Directive (EC) 1999/70 (concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP). The request had been made in proceedings between Ms Poclava and her employer concerning Ms Poclava's dismissal. The Court of Justice of the European Union decided that the employment contract at issue was not a fixed-term contract that fell within the scope of Directive 1999/70. Accordingly, the Court did not have jurisdiction to answer the questions put by the referring court. 

Elections – European Parliament. The 1,015 applicant serving prisoners complained that they were prevented from voting in elections, relying on art 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (art 3). The European Court of Human Rights, in allowing the application, held that there had been a violation of art 3, given that the impugned legislation remained unamended after the court's decision in Greens v United Kingdom (Application No 60041/08) ([2010] All ER (D) 280 (Nov)), which had required amendment to render the electoral law compatible with the requirements of the Convention. 

European Union – State aid. The General Court of the European Union granted the application by Ryanair Ltd for annulment of a decision by the European Commission that the application by Ireland of a lower national rate of air travel tax (ATT) for a certain period applicable to all flights operated by certain aircrafts constituted state aid and was incompatible with the internal market (the contested decision). Consequently, art 4 of that decision, read in the light of recital 70 of that decision would be annulled, in so far as it ordered the recovery of the aid from the airlines which had operated flights subject to the ATT at the lower rate during the period concerned. 

Immigration – Asylum. The claimant Sri Lankan national sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decisions to detain her and refusing her further submissions for asylum. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, held that, the Secretary of State had failed to apply her own policy, which had required her to suspend decision-making once the claimant had been accepted for pre-assessment as a victim of torture by the Helen Bamber Foundation. That failure had made the claimant's detention unlawful. 

Customs and excise – Commissioners of customs and excise. The applicant company was investigated by the respondent Revenue and Customs Commissioners (the Revenue). The Revenue gave an undertaking to abide by freezing orders. The applicant brought proceedings, seeking an inquiry as to damages to be carried out on the undertaking. The Companies Court held that, on the evidence, none of the reasons adduced by the Revenue would make it inappropriate for the inquiry for damages to occur. 

Contempt of court – Committal. The claimant sought judicial review of decisions by the first two defendants, supported by the third defendant, that civil contemnors committed to prison were not entitled to have time spent on remand deducted from their sentence by the prison. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed the claim. The part of the claimant's case that was based purely on the domestic law, in particular, s 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and s 43 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009, was rejected. The claimant's challenge under arts 5 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights was also rejected. 

European Union – State aids. The General Court of the European Union granted the application by Aer Lingus Ltd for annulment of a decision by the European Commission that the application by Ireland of a lower national rate of air travel tax (ATT) for a certain period applicable to all flights operated by certain aircrafts constituted state aid and was incompatible with the internal market (the contested decision). Consequently, art 4 of that decision, read in the light of recital 70 of that decision would be annulled, in so far as it ordered the recovery of the aid from the airlines which had operated flights subject to the ATT at the lower rate during the period concerned.