Latest Cases

Immigration – Leave for indefinite stay. The first claimant Thai national and her four children sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decisions to grant her leave to remain (LTR) for 30 months on the condition that she should have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that, having regard to s 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, it was not unlawful to grant the first claimant LTR, rather than indefinite leave to remain and it was not unlawful, in principle and in the circumstances, to impose the NRPF condition. 

Practice – Order. The applicant appealed against an order striking out an application to set aside a general civil restraint order against him. The Court of Appeal, in dismissing his appeal, held that it had been made out of time and, in seeking to resurrect grounds previously dismissed as without merit, was an abuse of process. 

Criminal evidence – Admissibility of evidence – Judge's direction. High Court of Justiciary: Refusing appeals against conviction by two appellants who were found guilty of charges of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice, the court rejected contentions that the trial judge had erred in eliciting prejudicial and irrelevant evidence from a police witness and that he had misdirected the jury in relation to the concept of an 'accessory after the fact'. 

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. 

Costs – Order for costs. Following the determination of proceedings in its favour, the claimant bank sought a non-party costs order against the second defendant. The second defendant challenged the Commercial Court's jurisdiction to make the order on grounds including forum non conveniens and lis alibi pendens. The court, in making the order, held that it was plainly the most natural and appropriate forum for determination of the application. Further, there were very strong grounds for making a non-party costs order against the second defendant and it was entirely just to do so. 

Immigration – Leave to remain. The appellants were a family from the Philippines whose application for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom had been rejected. The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) found that, although it was in the children's best interests to continue their education in the UK, removal would be proportionate to the legitimate aim of immigration control. The Upper Tribunal upheld that decision. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the family's appeal, issued guidance on how tribunals were to approach the proportionality exercise where it had concluded that continuing education in the UK would be in the best interests of the children. 

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. 

Shipping – Bill of lading. In the course of a shipping dispute, the Commercial Court considered the meaning of cl 8 of the GAFTA 49 contract. It held that, on the evidence, there was no sound basis for departing from the view that where a timely notice was served, there was an unqualified right of extension under cl 8 of GAFTA 49. 

European Union – Applicant company seeking registration of word mark 'THE SPIRIT OF CUBA' as Community trade mark. The General Court of the European Union dismissed the action brought by 1872 Holdings vof. (1872 Holdings) against the decision of the First Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) concerning invalidity proceedings between Havana Club International and 1872 Holdings regarding the application by 1872 Holdings for registration of the Community word mark 'THE SPIRIT OF CUBA' as a community trade mark. 

Family proceedings – Orders in family proceedings. The mother and the father had a young had a child, A, who was born in New Zealand where the mother was from. When the child was very young the family moved to England where the father's parents lived. The relationship broke down, and the parties came before the court. The issues were what the long-term living arrangements for A should be and how should her care be divided between her mother and her father. The Family Court held that the weight of evidence established that it was clearly in A's best interests that the mother should be her main carer in the future. Her family were better able to meet A's long term needs than the father and his family, however committed and important they undoubtedly were and would remain.