Latest Cases

Education – School. The claimant local authority sought judicial review of the defendant Independent Appeal Panel's decision, allowing the parents' appeal against the claimant's refusal to offer a place to the child at a specific school on the basis that the offer was not withdrawn in a reasonable time frame. The Administrative Court, in allowing the application, held that the defendant had erred by considering the failure to withdraw the offer within a reasonable time had, in itself, necessarily made the withdrawal of the offer and the consequent refusal to admit unreasonable in a public law sense. It had failed to consider any prejudice to the parties. 

Disclosure and inspection of documents – Order for disclosure. The proceedings concerned a fire at a warehouse that had started in a forklift truck. A dispute arose between the appellant company, B, which had entered into a maintenance agreement with the third respondent company regarding the forklift truck, and the respondents, Jet, who either owned or were interested in the warehouse. At first instance, the court allowed Jet's application for an order to disclose certain documents relating to maintenance. The Court of Appeal dismissed B's appeal, holding that there was no ground for saying that the judge had erred in making the order. 

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. 

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. 

European Union – Customs and excise. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that arts 7(2) and 8(6) of Council Directive 2011/64/EU (on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco) should be interpreted as precluding a provision of national law, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which, rather than establishing an identical minimum excise duty that was applicable to all cigarettes, established a minimum excise duty that was applicable only to cigarettes with a retail selling price lower than that of cigarettes in the most popular price category. 

Immigration – Deportation. The appellant appealed against the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Asylum and Immigration Chamber) to allow the respondent Secretary of State's appeal against a decision of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, allowing the appellant's appeal against an order to deport him to Uganda. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in allowing the appeal on the ground concerning art 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, considered whether the provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 and the new 2014 Immigration Rules (the 2014 Rules) would have any relevance to the appeal and, assuming that the appeal had to be decided by reference to the statutory provisions prevailing before the Act and 2014 Rules had applied, how the Immigration Rules in force in 2012 were to be applied. 

European Union – Freedom of movement. The Administrative Court held that the claimant had not established that the new regime under the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 (the 2014 Act), which entailed a change from a system of regulation based upon place of supply to one based upon place of consumption, was unlawful under European or domestic law. It served a series of legitimate objectives and there was no proper basis for concluding that it would be discriminatory. Further, the claimant's passporting proposal would not meet the legitimate objectives, or prove effective or achievable. 

Adoption – Order. The mother of a child sought leave to oppose an application for adoption of her youngest child. Her two older children had already been made the subject of care and placement orders because of the risk of sexual abuse posed to them by the paternal family and the mother's unwillingness to sever her strong ties to that family. The Family Court dismissed the mother's application. Although she alleged that her circumstances had changed and she had moved away from the paternal family, the judge was not satisfied that the mother's circumstances had changed, or changed for a sufficient period, to allow her application. 

European Union – Income tax. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that art 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be interpreted as precluding national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings which provided that the failure by a non-resident investment fund to comply with the obligations to communicate and publish certain information required by that legislation, which were applicable without distinction to resident and non-resident investment funds alike, resulting in the flat-rate taxation of the income which the taxpayer earned from that investment fund, since that legislation did not allow the taxpayer to provide evidence or information that could prove the actual size of that income. 

Tort – Occupiers liability. The deceased brought a claim against the defendant for negligence at common law for the consequences of contracting mesothelioma. Considering the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 the Queen's Bench Division held that the claim against the defendant failed on both in respect of the exposure to asbestos that the deceased experienced in the defendant's store in 1967, and in stores subsequently, whilst inspecting store premises.