Latest Cases

Land – Valuation. The claimant company brought proceedings against the defendant company for loss of earnings following an allegedly negligent valuation of land. The Chancery Division considered a number of preliminary issues and held, among other things, that the defendant had owed the claimant a duty of care in both contract and tort. 

Criminal law – Trial. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, dismissed an appeal against conviction where the trial judge had refused to stay the proceedings in circumstances where the defendant had already been convicted and sentenced for lesser offences arising out of the same facts. The court held that there had been special circumstances which required that the prosecution continued. An appeal against sentence was allowed. 

Trinidad and Tobago – Constitutional Law. The applicant police constable sat an exam for promotion to the rank of sergeant. He was told that he had passed the exam, but he was not promoted. He sought to persuade the respondent Police Service Commission of Trinidad and Tobago that he should be exempted from being required to take an exam for promotion to the rank of corporal. The Privy Council, in dismissing the applicant's application for judicial review, held that to allow the application would run counter to the basic structure of the promotion scheme. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The claimant Pakistani national appealed against the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (the UT) that it had jurisdiction to deal with his application for permission for judicial review and refusing permission. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in allowing the appeal, held that the claimant's objection to the jurisdiction of the UT had been and was well-founded. The decisions being challenged had been the rejection of his claim under the legacy scheme, which had not fallen within Practice Direction (Upper Tribunal: Judicial Review Jurisdiction). 

Option – Option to purchase. The claimant issued proceedings seeking specific performance of an option in an agreement which entitled him to purchase a property or sell it to a third party and keep the proceeds of sale above a certain sum. The party with whom the agreement had been made was deceased and the administrators defended the claim on the ground that the agreement was invalid. The Chancery Division held that, on account of an oral pre-condition to the option, the option had not been valid, nor was the agreement valid as the provisions of s 2 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 had not been complied with. Finally, the agreement had been entered into as a result of undue influence and so it had been voidable and had, in fact, been avoided for the claimant's non-compliance with its terms. 

Bankruptcy – Offence. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, dismissed the defendant's appeal against his conviction for 'a bankrupt making a material omission in a statement'. The court held, amongst other things, that the judge had given the jury full and impeccable written directions and the jury had had ample evidence on which to find that there had been pre-existing debts owed. 

Contract – Breach of contract. The claimant company was the owner of a hot strip steel mill. It had sourced the parts required to assemble the mill and had and permitted a company (the company) to install it at a site. The company went into administration and the claimant contended that the sale of the site and the mill by the administrators of the company was a breach of an agreement the claimant had with the company, which the defendant purchasers of the site had allegedly knowingly procured. The Chancery Division held that the claim for breach had been established in respect of the first defendant. 

Contempt of court – Committal. The claimant issued two applications to commit the defendant for contempt of court, alleging that he had breached the terms of an injunction. The defendant sought the striking out of the applications as an abuse of process. The Queen's Bench Division held that none of the defendant's allegations of abuse should result in the court declining to hear the claimant's applications. There could be no doubt that the defendant's course of conduct had constituted serious and sustained breaches of the injunction and a term of imprisonment for seven months, suspended for two years was imposed, given the defendant's mental health issues. 

European Union – Trade marks. The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the action brought by Skysoft Computersysteme Gmb (Skysoft) for annulment of the decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market concerning opposition proceedings between British Sky Broadcasting Group plc and another company and Skysoft regarding Skysoft's application to register the word sign 'SKYSOFT' as a Community trade mark. 

Disclosure – Disclosure of documents. The issue was whether the declaration under s 6 the Justice and Security Act 2013, permitting a closed material procedure, meant that art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights required further details of the defendants' case to be provided, by any further disclosure, summary or gist. The Queen's Bench Division applying a balancing exercise rejected the application for further disclosure.