Latest Cases

Barrister – Disciplinary proceedings. The appellant barrister was charged with four offences of professional misconduct by the respondent Bar Standards Board. He was unable to attend the hearing and his application for an adjournment was refused by the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Council of the Inns of Courts (the tribunal). The hearing proceeded in his absence, and he was disbarred and fined. The appellant appealed against the refusal of an adjournment. The Divisional Court, in allowing his appeal, held that the tribunal had misdirected itself on the approach to be applied when determining whether to grant an adjournment. 

Immigration – Asylum – Leave to appeal. Court of Session: In judicial review proceedings in which the petitioner challenged a decision of the Upper Tribunal refusing him leave to appeal against the First Tier Tribunal's refusal of his appeal against deportation, the court continued the petition to a substantive first hearing, holding that the error of law the petitioner raised was arguable and had substance and that while it did not raise an important point of principle of general application there was 'some other compelling reason' to allow review. 

European Union – Reference to European Court. The Court of Justice of the European Union considered a request for a preliminary ruling made in the course of proceedings between Mr U and the Stadt Karlsruhe concerning the latter's refusal to alter the form in which Mr U's birth name appeared in his German passport. The Court answered a number of questions relating to the interpretation of Council Regulation (EC) 2252/2004 (on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents). 

Mental health – Court of Protection. The patient suffered a stroke which left him incapacitated and unable to manage his own affairs. There were two applicants to the court of protection who sought to manage his affairs. The Court of Protection chose the candidate proposed by a support network of friends and neighbours, who represented the status quo in terms of being the persons in whom the patient had placed trust and confidence immediately before he became incapacitated. 

Mental health – Patient. The applicant NHS Foundation Trust sought declarations, including that it was not in the respondent's best interests to be subjected to further compulsory detention and treatment of her anorexia nervosa, and that it was in her best interests and would be lawful for her treating clinicians not to provide her with nutrition and hydration with which she did not comply. Having fully reviewed the circumstances of the case, including the unanimous medical evidence that the declarations were in the respondent's best interests, the Court of Protection held that treatment of the respondent's anorexia should not be compelled. 

Landlord and tenant – Service charge. The Chancery Division held that a landlord was not entitled to charge the claimant tenant service charges which represented costs for refurbishment works, which it had incurred after the claimant had terminated the lease by operating a break clause. That was so, notwithstanding that the relevant works had been carried out within the original contractual period of the lease. 

Local government – Council tax. The Administrative Court allowed the appellant's appeal by way of case stated against the justices' decision, committing him to prison for 90 days, suspended on payment of £100 per month in respect of his liability for unpaid council tax. The effect of the order was that the period for repayment would exceed six years, which was simply too long. 

Trade mark – Infringement. The parties were both companies which, among other things, provided vehicle rental services. The proceedings concerned alleged infringement by the defendants of the claimant's trade mark. In the course of proceedings, the claimant made an application seeking to adduce survey evidence. The Chancery Division held that it was appropriate for the survey evidence to be adduced. 

Judicial review – Referendum – Entitlement to vote. Court of Session: Refusing a reclaiming motion in judicial review petitions by two convicted prisoners who would be serving prison sentences on 18 September 2014, which made them ineligible to vote in the independence referendum to be held in Scotland on that date, and who challenged their exclusion from the franchise, the court held that the Lord Ordinary had not erred in dismissing the petitions. 

Immigration – Detention. The claimant Guinean national sought damages, declarations and an order for an inquiry for her unlawful immigration detention. The Administrative Court granted her claim. Accordingly, the claimant was entitled to damages, but an investigation into the circumstances of the claimant's detention would not be ordered, as they were well documented.