Latest Cases

Town and country planning – Permission for development. The claimant had applied for planning permission for a wind turbine, which had been refused by the second defendant local authority. The claimant appealed to the first defendant Secretary of State, who dismissed the appeal. The claimant sought judicial review of the decision. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that there had been no failure to take into account a material consideration and that the planning inspector had given full reasoning. 

Value added tax – Input tax. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) (the tribunal) dismissed the appeal by Mr Noble, who traded as a sole trader under the name K & B C eilings, against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) which had upheld the rejection by the Revenue and Customs Commissioners of Mr Noble's deduction of input tax in his VAT tax returns. The tribunal decided that the invoices to which the input tax were said to relate had not been valid invoices as the services shown on those invoices had not been supplied to Mr Noble as alleged. 

Employment – Discrimination. The employee had brought proceedings for unfair dismissal and age discrimination before the employment tribunal (the tribunal) in the United Kingdom against his employer, the Embassy of Brazil. In dismissing the employer's appeal against the tribunal's decision concerning the validity of service at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil pursuant to s 12(1) of the State Immunity Act 1978, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that on a proper construction of s 12 of the Act, service of the claim form by the method of transmitting it via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil had been effective for the purposes of the law of England and Wales. 

Sentence – Imprisonment. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, held, as unduly lenient, a minimum term of 15 years imposed on a 20-year-old offender with previous convictions, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, following conviction for murder by stabbing. The minimum term of 15 years was set aside and substituted by one of 22 years, less time spent on remand 

European Union – Freedom of movement. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that art 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union precluded legislation under which companies established in one member state using workers employed and seconded by temporary employment agencies established in another member state, but operating in the first member state through a branch, were obliged to withhold tax and to pay to the first member state an advance payment on the income tax due by those workers, whereas the same obligation was not imposed on companies established in the first member state which used the services of temporary employment agencies established in that member state. 

Corporation tax – Computation of profits. The taxpayer sought to deduct payments made to a rugby club from computation of its profits for corporation tax purposes. The First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) and the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) upheld the decision of Revenue and Customs Commissioners to disallow the deductions and found that the payments were not 'wholly and exclusively laid out or expended for the purposes of the trade', pursuant to s 74(1) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the taxpayer's appeal, held that, for the purposes of s 74(1)(a) of the Act, the courts had never wavered from the proposition that the business purpose had to be the sole purpose. There was no warrant for distinguishing between the two purposes by assessing one as being intermediate or subordinate to the other. 

Family proceedings – Evidence. Allegations of sexual abuse had been made against a father by his niece. Her evidence was given in private law proceedings via a video link. The judge concluded after the fact finding hearing that the alleged abuse had taken place. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, held that the judge had erred in a number of respects, including in the weight that had been given to the niece's evidence and the firm conclusions that she had drawn without evidential foundation, and allowed the father's appeal. 

Human rights – Right to respect for private and family life. The court revoked a lasting power of attorney executed by DP appointing JM. It found that JM had acted in breach of his fiduciary duties. The Daily Mail ran a story demanding to know why JM's anonymity had been preserved and its owner, the intervening party, made an application, in which it sought to have his full name made public. The Court of Protection, in allowing the application, held that the balance came down heavily and decisively in favour of the public being told who JM was. 

European Union – Trade marks. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by The Hut.com Ltd (The Hut), established in the United Kingdom, seeking annulment of a decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) relating to opposition proceedings between Intersport France and The Hut concerning the application by The Hut for registration of the word sign 'THE HUT' as a Community trade mark. 

Housing – Homeless person. The appellant appealed against a review decision made by the local authority that she was not homeless. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the appeal, held that the authority had had power to substitute an adverse decision on different grounds, namely, that the appellant was not homeless instead of the original decision that she had not been in priority need. Further, it had not erred in failing to carry out a hazard assessment or failed to look to the future when considering whether the appellant had been homeless.