Latest Cases

Pension – Pension scheme. The appeal concerned the allocation of a surplus on the winding up of a plan established to provide pensions and other benefits for employees of certain companies in a group. The Privy Council, in allowing the appeal, held that the courts below had erred in holding that a clause of the trust deed had been invalid. Further, the matter would be remitted for reconsideration of whether the first appellant could legitimately refuse agreement to a proposed uplift for inflation out of the surplus. 

Landlord and tenant – Possession. The appellants' applications to set aside an order for possession and to prevent or suspend execution of the subsequent warrant for possession were dismissed. The appellants applied, under CPR 52.17, to re-open the appeal from the order for possession and appealed against the order dismissing their application to prevent or suspend execution of the warrant for possession. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the application, held that the pre-conditions specified in CPR 52.17 had not been satisfied and dismissed the appeal. 

Negligence – Damage. The claimants were chemical process operators who claimed damages for loss of earnings from the defendant employer. They accepted that the claims depended on establishing the presence of actionable injury on standard tortious principles. The Queen's Bench Division dismissed the claims holding that when analysed, the claim was one for pure economic loss. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The claimant was granted permission to seek judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision 15 months after she had made another decision, granting the claimant discretionary leave to remain for 30 months. The claimant sought permission to amend the application to go forward on the basis that the discretionary leave to remain decision was the decision under challenge. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the case was not arguable and it was substantially out of time. Further, permission had been granted on a completely false basis, which had been unexplained. 

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant bus and coach company sought judicial review of the defendant local planning authority's decision to serve a breach of condition notice, alleging a failure to comply with a condition of the planning permission, requiring that no repairs or maintenance of vehicles, or other industrial or commercial activities take place outside specified hours. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the words 'industrial or commercial activities' included the activity of starting a bus or coach in readiness for its departure from the depot and that the authority had been aware that buses and coaches had a 'warm up' time. 

Family proceedings – Evidence. During the course of care proceedings the Family Division considered what further assessment, if any, there should be of the father, in circumstances where the father, who lived in Somaliland, wished to care for the children himself. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office had advised against travel to Somaliland and the court held that it would not be appropriate for the court to authorise an independent social worker travelling to the region to assess the father. 

Employment – Contract. The judge found that the defendant Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (the FCO) withdrawal of the claimant as British High Commissioner in Belize had been a breach of his contract and the common law duty of care. He awarded damages, including for his depressive illness. The FCO appealed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division dismissed the challenge to the judge's findings of breach of contract and causation. However, it found that the judge had erred in finding that it had been reasonably foreseeable that the FCO's conduct might lead him to develop psychiatric illness. 

Immigration – Detention. The claimant sought a declaration that the defendant Secretary of State was not entitled to make a second deportation order or an order quashing the order, following the revocation of an earlier order. He further sought damages and/or compensation for false imprisonment and for violation of art 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, held that the second deportation order had been unlawful when made absent a sufficient change of circumstances. Accordingly, the claimant had been falsely imprisoned and imprisoned in breach of art 5 of the Convention. 

Will – Validity. The children of a deceased sought to challenge her capacity to make a will, which initially favoured the deceased's former partner. The Chancery Division, in upholding the will, held that the deceased had had capacity to make it and had understood and approved its terms. 

Pension – Pension scheme. In the course of the administration of a bank, which ran a pension scheme, the claimant trustee sought a declaration that a debt owed to the pension scheme was assignable. The Chancery Division considered whether the trustee of a pension scheme was able to assign the debt owed to the pension scheme which was created by s 75 of the Pensions Act 1995. It held that, among other things, a declaration to that effect would be made.