Latest Cases

Damages – Quantum – Loss of society. Court of Session: In an action by the family of a 25-year-old man who was fatally injured when hit by a car driven by the defenders' insured on a pedestrian crossing, seeking damages for loss of society, the court awarded £42,000 to each of the deceased's parents, and £22,500 to his older brother. 

Wales – Welsh language. National Savings and Investments decided to withdraw its Welsh language scheme. In judicial review proceedings, the Divisional Court held that NS&I had had the power to revoke the scheme. However, the Welsh Language Commissioner had had a legitimate expectation that the defendant would not make any changes to the scheme before consulting her and the consultation that had taken place had fallen short of that expectation. NS&I's decision had, therefore, been unlawful. 

Company – Scheme of arrangement. The Chancery Division granted Honda Motor Europe Ltd and other companies in the Honda group's application for an order sanctioning cross border mergers where each of the necessary pre-conditions required for sanctioning a merger had been satisfied. Having regard to the material on which the pre-merger certificate had been obtained, and having stood back and undertaken a review, there was no prejudice to the creditors or employees by reasons of the proposed merger. 

Insolvency – Agent. D&D company acted as the sole agent and distributor of the respondent company, AP. D&D went into administration and AP terminated its agency and distribution agreement (ADA) with D&D. After the ADA had been terminated, third party customers paid D&D the purchase price of goods sold and delivered during D&D's agency and distributorship (the sum). The judge ordered that the sum should be paid to AP in its entirety and the appellant liquidators of D&D appealed. Allowing the appeal, the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, held that, under the terms of the ADA, D&D had remained entitled to collect what had been due from customers in respect of goods ordered and delivered prior to termination and the money had therefore been payable under the ADA to the liquidators. 

Immigration – Asylum seeker. The claimant Jordanian national sought judicial review of a decision by the second defendant Upper Tribunal (Asylum and Immigration Chamber) (UT) to refuse him permission to appeal against the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Asylum and Immigration Chamber) (FTT) to dismiss his appeal against the first defendant Secretary of State's decision to refuse his claim for asylum. Allowing the claim and quashing the UT's decision, the Administrative Court held that the UT had erred in law in its analysis of the FTT's decision. 

Judicial review – Police disciplinary proceedings. Court of Session: Refusing a reclaiming motion in judicial review proceedings in which a police officer challenged aspects of disciplinary proceedings which had resulted in a finding of misconduct and his dismissal from the force, the court held that the plea of mora, taciturnity and acquiescence could succeed without the need for the party taking the plea to demonstrate that he had suffered, or would suffer, prejudice if the plea was not sustained, and that the Lord Ordinary had correctly sustained the respondent's pleas of mora, taciturnity and acquiescence. 

Town and country planning – Planning permission. The claimant sought judicial review of the decision of the defendant local authority to grant planning permission to the interested parties. It contended that the committee had considered misleading remarks of a party not a member of the committee and had been denied the opportunity to comment on further documents. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that nothing T had said had flawed the decision of the committee and it had exercised its discretion in a perfectly proper manner. Further, there had been no unfairness with respect to the further documents. 

Will – Testator. The testator, S, promised the claimant, B, that, in return for caring for her, she would will her bungalow to him. In 2004-5, she suffered a significant change in personality and became convinced that B was not to be trusted. She subsequently made wills favouring P, who had cared for her in the last years of her life. She died in September 2008. B commenced proceedings. The Chancery Division held that, for the purpose of the exclusion of B in favour of P, S's paranoid personality disorder and her paraphrenia constituted testamentary incapacity, and hence B's claim would succeed. 

Immigration – Asylum seeker. The claimant failed asylum seeker sought judicial review of the defendant Secretary of State's decision to grant her discretionary leave to remain rather than indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Dismissing the claim, the Administrative Court held that the delay in the instant case had not given rise to any illegality. There had been no obligation on the Secretary of State to set out reasons for refusing to make an exception to her policy and grant ILR. 

Arbitration – Injunction. The claimant had sought an interim injunction to prevent the defendant from terminating its licence agreement until arbitration proceedings had been resolved. The High Court dismissed that application as the claimant had an adequate remedy in damages despite the fact that the licence contained a limitation clause. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, held that, where a party to a contract stipulated that, if he breached his obligations, then his liability would be limited or the damages he would pay would be capped, then (in certain circumstances) justice tended to favour the grant of an injunction to prevent the breach in the first place.