Vulnerability vs. Disability: McMahon v Watford BC [2020] EWCA Civ 497; [2020] 4 WLUK 99, a sensible clarification – St Ives Chambers

‘This case determines, definitively, that a thorough vulnerability assessment with an acknowledgement of a consideration of the Public Sector Equality Duty (‘PSED’) can satisfy the statutory duty pursuant to section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. No further assessment is automatically required.’

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St Ives Chambers, June 2020

Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk

Court overturns ‘right to sex’ ruling on man who cannot understand consent – The Guardian

‘The court of appeal has overturned a controversial ruling that a man has a “fundamental right to sex” even though he cannot understand the issue of consent.’

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The Guardian, 11th June 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court of Appeal considers the cardinal points for remote hearings during the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic (Re A (children) and Re B (Children)) – 1 GC: Family Law

‘On consecutive days, the Court of Appeal, which included the President of the Family Division, considered two decisions of the lower courts to conduct remote hearings, Re A in relation to a final hearing as to care and placement orders and Re B regarding an interim care order with a plan for removal. Matthew Fletcher, barrister at 1|GC Family Law, compares and contrasts the two decisions and analyses whether common threads emerge that could assist practitioners in advising clients and making submissions to the court as to whether a case is suitable for a remote hearing.’

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1 GC: Family Law, 4th June 2020

Source: 1gc.com

Council wins appeals over reduction of penalties for unlicensed flat rentals – Local Government Lawyer

‘The London Borough of Waltham Forest has won two appeals over reductions made by the First-Tier Tribunal to penalty notices for unlicensed flat rentals.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 11th June 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Vaccination – No ‘biggie’ but still ‘a big deal’ – Transparency Project

‘Here, in the midst of a public health emergency, is an important Court of Appeal decision about immunisation.’

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Transparency Project, 10th June 2020

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Shamima Begum’s UK citizenship should be restored, court told – The Guardian

Posted June 12th, 2020 in appeals, citizenship, government departments, immigration, news, terrorism by sally

‘Shamima Begum, the woman who left Britain as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State, cannot effectively challenge the government’s decision to deprive her of British citizenship while she is in a detention camp in northern Syria, the court of appeal has been told.’

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The Guardian, 11th June 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

No.1 West India Quay (Residential) Ltd v East Tower Apartments Ltd [2020] UKUT 163 (LC) Martin Rodger QC, Deputy President – Landmark Chambers

‘The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes detailed provision for the regulation of residential service charges payable by long leaseholders. In particular, s.20B(1), 1985 Act provides that a tenant is not liable to pay service charges which were incurred more than 18 months before a demand for payment was served on the tenant. That provision does not apply if, within the same 18 month period, the tenant is notified in writing that the costs have been incurred and that he will subsequently be required under the terms of his lease to contribute to them by payment of a service charge (s.20B(2)). In Brent LBC v Shulem B Association Ltd [2011] 1 WLR 3014, the High Court held that the “demand” for the purposes of s.20B(1) had to be a contractually valid demand. That decision was approved – without argument to the contrary – in Skelton v DBS Homes (Kings Hill) Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1139.’

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Landmark Chambers, 2nd June 2020

Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk

The changing legal landscape of claiming surrogacy costs – No. 5 Chambers

‘The judgment handed down by the Supreme Court in the case of XX (Respondent) v Whittington Hospital NHS Trust (Appellant) [2020] UKSC 14, on 1 April 2020, fundamentally changed the landscape in the United Kingdom for recovering the cost of surrogacy arrangements. By a majority, it determined that a person may claim damages to fund the cost of surrogacy, both commercial in a country where it is lawful and non-commercial, using her own or donor eggs.’

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No. 5 Chambers, 4th June 2020

Source: www.no5.com

Supreme Court to rule on Google representative action – Litigation Futures

‘The Supreme Court is to review a Court of Appeal decision to allow a £3bn representative action against Google for misuse of private data to go ahead.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th June 2020

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Appeal allowed against Strike out of Secondary Victim claims arising out of Clinical Negligence – St John’s Chambers

‘In November 2019 Master Cook had struck out the secondary victim claims brought by the Claimants as a result of witnessing the heart attack and subsequent death of their father some 14 ½ months after the alleged negligent omission of the Defendant Trust. This was on the basis that the claims were bound to fail on a strict application of binding authorities including Taylor -v- A. Novo [2014] QB 150 because the shocking event in question was not proximate in time to the breach of duty. In Taylor v A. Novo the Court of Appeal had dismissed a secondary victim claim where the claimant’s mother had been injured by a falling stack of boards due to the negligence of a colleague at work and had subsequently collapsed and died at home as result of deep vein thrombosis secondary to the accident. The claimant witnessed her mother collapsing at home but not the accident itself. Her claim failed on proximity because the death of the claimant’s mother was not the relevant shocking “event”, which was the accident itself, and so the control mechanisms were not satisfied.’

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St John's Chambers, 4th June 2020

Source: www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

Not not Nemcova – Nearly Legal

Posted June 8th, 2020 in appeals, covenants, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, tribunals by sally

‘Another Upper Tribunal decision to add to the now large pile of cases on airbnb/short let use and breach of lease. In this case, the FTT had found the short let use not to be in breach of lease (for cunning reasons I’ll come back to) and the head lessor had appealed to the Upper Tribunal. The decision upholds the Nemcova line on “private residence” use, but also has a finding of interest on “business use”.’

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Nearly Legal, 6th June 2020

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Employment status: Revenue v Customs Commissioners v Professional Game Match Officials Ltd [2020] 5 WLUK 118 – 3PB

‘Professional Game Match Officials Limited (“PGMOL”) is a company whose 3 members are The Football Association Ltd (“the FA”), The Football Association Premier League Ltd (“the Premier League”) and the Football League Ltd (“the Football League”), now referred to as the English Football League (“the EFL”).’

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3PB, 2nd June 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Wrongful dismissal – how not to go wrong: Cameron v East Coast Main Line Company Limited UKEAT/0212/19/BA – 3PB

‘In Cameron v East Coast Main Line Company Limited UKEAT/0212/19/BA,1 the EAT dealt with the question of whether length of service is a relevant consideration when asking whether a dismissal is wrongful.’

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3PB, 2nd June 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Your Appeal Fails: London Borough of Hackney v Okoro [2020] EWCA Civ 681 – Falcon Chambers

‘Is an appeal from a possession order (or other order) made in a possession claim commenced under Part 55 of the CPR caught by the stay on “all proceedings brought under CPR Part 55” imposed by paragraph 2 of Practice Direction 51Z (as amended on 20 April 2020)?’

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Falcon Chambers, 28th May 2020

Source: www.falcon-chambers.com

Court of Appeal deals blow to libel tourists – Law Society’s Gazette

‘England and Wales’ courts may be less open to international libel litigation following a Court of Appeal ruling which interprets legislation against ’libel tourism’. In Craig Wright v Roger Ver, the court upheld a decision by the High Court that England and Wales was not the appropriate place to hear a defamation action against claims published on social media by a US-born citizen of St Kitts & Nevis now resident in Japan.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 2nd June 2020

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Case Comment: Cardtronics UK Ltd and others v Sykes and others (Valuation Officers) [2020] UKSC 21 – UKSC Blog

Posted June 5th, 2020 in appeals, news, rates, Supreme Court, valuation by sally

‘In this case comment, Marcus Barclay, Will Charnock and Siani McNamara, who work in the real estate disputes team at CMS, comment on the decision handed down by the UK Supreme Court on 20 May 2020 in the matter of Cardtronics UK Ltd and others v Sykes and others (Valuation Officers) [2020] UKSC 21, which concerns business rates liability for ATMs in retail stores.’

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UKSC Blog, 5th June 2020

Source: ukscblog.com

Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill: The Struggle to Balance Legislative Protection With Civil Liberties By Paul Canfield – Broadway House Chambers

‘As the Government unveils a new Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, this article briefly looks at the struggle to balance legislative protection with civil liberties in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in R v Adams (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) [2020] UKSC 19.’

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Broadway House Chambers, 29th May 2020

Source: broadwayhouse.co.uk

Be wary of the ‘last straw’: Williams v Alderman Davies Church in Wales Primary School UKEAT/0108/19/LA – 3PB

‘The Claimant (“C”) was a primary school teacher who had worked for Alderman Davies Church in Wales Primary School (“the School”) for a number of years. The Respondent (“R”) was the governing body of the School. It was agreed between the parties that from April 2015, C had a disability by reason of a mental impairment affecting, in particular, his reaction to and behaviour in stressful situations.’

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3PB, 2nd June 2020

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Cricketer who joked about ‘dragging the birds back’ appeals five-year rape sentence – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 5th, 2020 in appeals, news, rape, sexual offences by sally

‘A former professional cricketer who joked about “dragging the birds back” as part of a WhatsApp sexual conquest game has appealed a five year sentence by claiming the comments did not prove he would ignore consent.’

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Daily Telegraph, 4th June 2020

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Patents – Neurim Pharmaceuticals v Mylan – NIPC Law

Posted June 5th, 2020 in appeals, damages, injunctions, intellectual property, medicines, news, patents by sally

‘This was an application by Neurim Pharmaceuticals (1991) Ltd. (“Neurim”), the registered proprietor of European patent (UK) number 1441702 and Flynn Pharma Ltd. (“Flynn”) the proprietor’s exclusive licensee for an interim injunction to restrain until trial or further order the generics manufacturer, Mylan, from taking steps that might infringe that patent. The application was heard online by Mr Justice Marcus Smith on 20 May 2020. He handed down his judgment on 3 June 2020.’

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NIPC Law, 4th June 2020

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.com