March 11, 2026
AM, a Belarusian national and foreign criminal, deliberately thwarted deportation through lies and non-cooperation. He claimed his 'limbo status' without leave to remain violated Article 8 ECHR. The Supreme Court allowed the Secretary of State's appeal, holding that AM's own conduct in obstructing removal was highly material to the proportionality...
March 11, 2026
A Russian billionaire's ex-wife sought financial relief in England under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 after their Russian divorce. The Supreme Court addressed the test for setting aside leave to apply for such relief, ruling that respondents have an unconditional right to argue against leave...
March 11, 2026
The Canal Company owns the Manchester Ship Canal, into which United Utilities discharges foul water from its sewerage system. The Supreme Court held that owners of watercourses can bring common law claims in nuisance or trespass against sewerage undertakers for polluting discharges, as such discharges are not authorised by the...
March 11, 2026
A British citizen challenged a Home Office report alleging he committed war crimes during the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence. The Supreme Court held that defamation proceedings were not an abuse of process despite his conviction in absentia by a Bangladeshi tribunal, as he had no fair opportunity to contest...
March 11, 2026
Sarah Finch challenged Surrey County Council's grant of planning permission for oil extraction, arguing the environmental impact assessment unlawfully excluded greenhouse gas emissions from eventual combustion of the extracted oil. The Supreme Court held (3-2) that such downstream emissions must be assessed as indirect effects of the project under the...
March 11, 2026
Fiona George sued Linda Cannell for malicious falsehood after false statements were made about post-employment contractual obligations. The Supreme Court held that section 3(1) of the Defamation Act 1952 renders malicious falsehood actionable per se, but damages for mental distress cannot be awarded where no financial loss was caused. Facts...
March 11, 2026
MUR Shipping invoked a force majeure clause when US sanctions prevented timely payment in US dollars under a charterparty. RTI offered payment in euros instead. The Supreme Court held that reasonable endeavours provisions do not require acceptance of non-contractual performance, restoring certainty in commercial contracts. Facts MUR Shipping BV (shipowner)...
March 10, 2026
Trade mark owners sued company directors for infringements committed by their company. The Supreme Court held that accessory liability for torts of strict liability requires knowledge of the essential facts making the act wrongful. Directors cannot be ordered to account for profits made by the company, only their own profits....
March 10, 2026
A salvage company sought to claim salvage rights over silver cargo recovered from a ship sunk in 1942. The silver belonged to South Africa and was intended for minting coins. The Supreme Court held South Africa was entitled to state immunity from the in rem claim because the cargo was...
March 10, 2026
Japanese Knotweed spread from council land to claimant’s property before any breach of duty arose. The claimant sought damages for residual diminution in property value. The Supreme Court held the diminution predated the breach, failing the ‘but for’ causation test, and allowed the council’s appeal. Facts The claimant owned a...
March 10, 2026
Viterra sold pulses C&FFO Mundra to Sharp, who failed to pay. After the goods were discharged, warehoused, and customs cleared, Sharp defaulted. The dispute concerned whether damages under the GAFTA Default Clause should be assessed by reference to a notional C&FFO value or the actual ex warehouse value of the...
March 10, 2026
A union representative was suspended for participating in lawful strike action. The Supreme Court held that section 146 TULRCA, which provides no protection against detriments short of dismissal for lawful strike participation, is incompatible with Article 11 ECHR. A declaration of incompatibility was made. Facts Fiona Mercer was employed as...
March 10, 2026
The Supreme Court addressed how to calculate damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity where a claimant suffers both whiplash and non-whiplash injuries in the same road traffic accident. The Court upheld the approach of adding the statutory tariff amount for whiplash to common law damages for non-whiplash injuries,...
March 10, 2026
Mr Merticariu was convicted in absentia in Romania for burglary. A European Arrest Warrant sought his extradition. The Supreme Court held that section 20(5) of the Extradition Act 2003 requires an actual entitlement to a retrial, not merely a right to apply for one contingent on further findings by the...
March 10, 2026
Mr Bertino was convicted in Italy in his absence for a sexual offence. Italy sought his extradition via a European arrest warrant. The UK Supreme Court held that he had not 'deliberately absented himself from his trial' under section 20(3) of the Extradition Act 2003, as he was unaware of...
March 10, 2026
Lifestyle Equities, owner of UK and EU trade marks for BEVERLY HILLS POLO CLUB, sued Amazon for trade mark infringement through marketing and selling goods bearing identical marks on Amazon's USA website to UK consumers. The Supreme Court held Amazon had targeted UK consumers, constituting infringement. Facts The respondents, Lifestyle...
March 10, 2026
RM, a restricted patient detained under the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, sought discharge from hospital. The Supreme Court addressed whether leave of absence under article 15 is inconsistent with continued detention for treatment. The Court held that article 15 leave can form part of treatment while a patient...
March 10, 2026
Ms Armstead hired a car which was damaged in an accident caused by another driver. The hire agreement required her to pay the hire company for its loss of use during repairs. The Supreme Court held she could recover this sum from the negligent driver's insurer, clarifying that such contractual...
March 10, 2026
Jersey Choice Ltd, a Jersey-based horticultural mail order company, claimed Francovich damages against HM Treasury for allegedly breaching EU law by removing Low Value Consignment Relief from Channel Islands imports only. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding the measure was a fiscal matter, not customs, and Jersey was a...
March 10, 2026
Stephen Hilland, a prisoner serving a determinate custodial sentence, challenged the Department of Justice's practice of applying different recall tests based on sentence type. DCS prisoners could be recalled for posing a risk of 'harm', while ICS and ECS prisoners required a risk of 'serious harm'. The Supreme Court held...
March 9, 2026
A vessel was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The shipowner paid ransom and claimed general average contribution from cargo interests. The cargo interests argued charter terms created an insurance code precluding such claims. The Supreme Court held no insurance code existed and cargo interests must contribute...
March 9, 2026
Claimants sought damages for psychiatric illness caused by witnessing deaths of close family members due to allegedly negligent medical treatment. The Supreme Court held that doctors do not owe a duty of care to patients' relatives to protect them from psychiatric harm caused by witnessing death from an untreated condition....
March 9, 2026
Prudential and Silverfleet were in the same VAT group when Silverfleet provided fund management services. Success fees became payable years after Silverfleet left the group. The Supreme Court held VAT was payable on the success fees because, under regulation 90, the chargeable event occurred when fees were invoiced after Silverfleet...
March 8, 2026
In fields as diverse as public law, immigration, environmental planning, consumer finance, and intellectual property, this year’s decisions underline the importance of remaining current with developments that have profound practical implications.
March 8, 2026
A Slovakian national resident in the UK sought the child element of Universal Credit for her son living in Slovakia. She argued EU coordination rules on family benefits should apply. The Supreme Court held the child element is not a separate family benefit but part of the composite UC benefit,...
May 3, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 3, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 3, 2026
National Case Law Archive