Latest Cases

Practice – Post-trial or pre-judgment relief. The claimant and the defendant were companies incorporated under the laws of Zambia. Pursuant to certain contracts, which provided for arbitration in London, the claimant mined one of the defendant's mines in Zambia. Following a dispute, the London arbitration tribunal made two awards in favour of the claimant and it was granted a worldwide freezing order by the English court. The Commercial Court granted the claimant's application to continue the order, where there was a risk of dissipation of assets and it was just and convenient to do so. The fact that enforcement of an award would take place in Zambia was, by itself, insufficient to make it inappropriate for the English court to grant the order. 

Criminal law – Sexual assault. The offender had been convicted of assault by penetration contrary to s 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and was sentenced to three years and six months' imprisonment. The victim had been in a lengthy relationship with the offender and there had been previous incidences of domestic violence. In sentencing, the judge had taken into account, amongst other things, a plea made by the victim, who had sought to withdraw her statement at trial. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held that given the background and the gravity of the offence, the sentence had been unduly lenient. Consequently, the sentence was increased to seven years' imprisonment. 

Immigration – Detention. In the case of R (Refugee Legal Centre) v Secretary of State for the Home Department[2004] All ER (D) 201 (Nov), the court held that the Detained Fast Track system, which provided an accelerated method of dealing with straightforward asylum claims, operated unfairly, and hence unlawfully, but only in specific ways. The appellant action group appealed against that finding. The Court of Appeal, in dismissing the appeal, held that the judge had been correct not to have given any relief in addition to the declaratory order which he had made. 

European Union – Public procurement. The claimant company had failed in a public procurement tender conducted by the defendant Ministry of Defence. The claimant alleged an abnormally low tender and predatory pricing on the part of the winning bidder. A statutory suspension pursuant to reg 56 of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011, SI 2011/1848, came into effect. The Technology and Construction Court allowed the MOD's application for a lifting of the suspension as there was a serious issue to be tried, damages were an adequate remedy and the balance of convenience was in favour of the suspension being lifted. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The claimant Vietnamese national sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision granting her and her children discretionary leave to remain in the United Kingdom, rather than indefinite leave to remain. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, held that there was no indication at all in any of the documents that any assessment had ever been made by the Secretary of State of what the best interests of the claimant's elder child might be, in accordance with s 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. 

Immigration – Detention. The claimant claimed damages for unlawful immigration detention due to her allegations of torture and misfeasance in public office with respect to her attempted removal absent consideration of her further representations. The Queen's Bench Division, in dismissing the application, held that there had been no independent evidence of torture and the fact that the attempted removal had been unlawful did not mean that the purpose of her detention had ceased to be lawful. Further, there was no evidence of the relevant officials' state of mind such as to find misfeasance in public office. 

Drugs – Drug trafficking. The claimant applied for a certificate of inadequacy on the basis that a Spanish villa in which he had an interest was not realisable, as legal proceedings concerning squatters at the property meant it could not be sold. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the claimant had not shown that it was impossible to realise the Spanish villa. It was foreseeable that there would be a decision of the Spanish court which would determine whether or not the villa was a realisable asset of the claimant. 

European Union – State aid. The Court of Justice of the European Union made a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of art 107(1) TFEU. The request had been made in proceedings between the Spanish Ministry of Defence and Navantia SA and the Municipality of Ferrol concerning an exemption from property tax relating to land made available by Spain to Navantia. 

Injunction – Interim injunction. The claimant son of a recording artist sought an injunction to stop publication of a semi-autobiographical book, written by his father. A judge dismissed the claim on various grounds. The claimant appealed. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division dismissed the appeal on the questions whether the claimant had a cause of action for misuse of private information or negligence. However, it held that the claimant had sufficiently favourable prospects on the facts of the case of establishing at trial his claim that the publication by the defendants of the work in its present form would constitute intentional conduct causing him psychiatric harm to justify an injunction restraining publication of parts of the work pending trial. 

Employment – Sex discrimination. The employee, who was enlisted in the Royal Air Force, made complaints of sex discrimination. The employment tribunal ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to consider her complaints. The Employment Appeal Tribunal, in allowing her appeal, held that the tribunal had erred in failing to give effect to a purposive construction of the Equality Act 2010 required to achieve lawful balance between enabling the armed forces to determine complaints internally prior to litigation and a complainant's right of access to a court or tribunal within a reasonable time.