February 16, 2026
Turkish security forces burned applicants' homes in 1992, forcing them to abandon their village. The Court awarded compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage following its principal judgment finding violations of Article 8, Article 1 Protocol 1, and Article 25 of the Convention. Facts This case concerns claims for just satisfaction...
February 16, 2026
Mrs Airey, an Irish woman of limited financial means, sought a judicial separation from her allegedly violent husband but could not afford legal representation. Ireland provided no civil legal aid. The European Court of Human Rights held that the State's failure to ensure effective access to court violated Article 6(1)...
February 16, 2026
A Moroccan-Dutch father sought a residence permit for his 9-year-old son Souffiane to live with him in the Netherlands after the child's mother died. The Court held by 5-4 that refusing the permit did not violate Article 8, as the father had chosen to emigrate and could maintain family life...
February 16, 2026
Four senior local government officers challenged UK regulations restricting their political activities. The restrictions prohibited certain political speech, party office-holding, and standing for election. The Court found no violation, holding the measures were proportionate to protect effective local democracy. Facts The applicants were four British citizens employed as senior local...
February 16, 2026
A mentally ill detainee was held for seven months in a prison psychiatric wing rather than the designated Social Protection Centre. The Court found violations of Article 5(1) regarding unlawful detention in an inappropriate institution and Article 6(1) concerning denial of legal aid for appeal, establishing that detention of persons...
February 16, 2026
The applicant, a homosexual man, was convicted of gross indecency for engaging in consensual sexual acts with up to four other adult men in his home, recorded on videotape. The European Court of Human Rights held that his prosecution and conviction violated Article 8, finding no pressing social need to...
February 15, 2026
Mr Jwanczuk's wife was unable to work throughout her life due to severe disability and never paid national insurance contributions. After her death, he was refused Bereavement Support Payment because she did not meet the contribution condition. The Supreme Court held the contribution condition was justified and did not unlawfully...
February 15, 2026
Ship buyers failed to provide documentation to open an escrow account, preventing the lodging of deposits under sale contracts. The Supreme Court held that the Mackay v Dick principle of deemed fulfilment of conditions precedent does not form part of English law. The sellers' remedy was in damages only, not...
February 15, 2026
In Veale (and others) v Scottish Power UK Plc, the UK Supreme Court was asked a tight but commercially significant question: where an injured person settles (and thereby discharges the defender’s liability) before developing mesothelioma, can the statutory “mesothelioma exception” still allow the person’s relatives to pursue the non‑patrimonial head of claim after the person later dies of mesothelioma?
February 15, 2026
In X v The Lord Advocate, the Supreme Court held the Crown cannot be vicariously liable for delicts allegedly committed by a Scottish sheriff because stage 1 fails: the relationship is not akin to employment. The key driver is constitutional structure - executive "control" is incompatible with judicial independence.
February 14, 2026
In Evans v NatWest Markets Plc the UK Supreme Court allowed the banks’ appeal and reinstated the specialist tribunal’s refusal to certify Phillip Gywn James Evans’ application for opt-out collective proceedings in a follow-on foreign exchange (FX) damages claim, emphasising the breadth of the Tribunal’s discretionary case-management role and the limited proper scope of appellate intervention.
February 14, 2026
A legal practitioner alleged that a sheriff assaulted and harassed her during four incidents in 2018. She sought to hold the Crown vicariously liable for the sheriff's alleged delicts. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the relationship between a sheriff and the Scottish Government is not akin to...
February 14, 2026
Family members of Robert Crozier, who died of mesothelioma, claimed damages under the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011 despite his earlier settlement for asbestosis. The Supreme Court held that section 5 applies where someone dies of mesothelioma after discharging liability, regardless of whether mesothelioma existed at settlement. Facts Robert Crozier was...
February 14, 2026
In Providence Building Services Limited v Hexagon Housing Association Limited the UK Supreme Court has resolved a narrow but high-impact question of contractual interpretation in the JCT Design and Build Contract 2016 termination regime: can a contractor terminate under clause 8.9.4 for a repeated “specified default” where the earlier default was cured within the 28‑day period, so that the clause 8.9.3 right to terminate never arose?
February 14, 2026
Mr Evans sought opt-out collective proceedings for damages arising from FX trading infringements found by European Commission decisions. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, reinstating the Tribunal’s refusal to certify opt-out proceedings, holding that claim weakness and practicability of opt-in proceedings were properly weighed against opt-out certification. Facts Mr Phillip...
February 14, 2026
The Secretary of State appealed against a Court of Appeal ruling that found procedural unfairness in the deprivation of Mr Kolicaj's British citizenship without offering him an opportunity to make representations. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the statutory appeal process under section 40A satisfies fairness requirements. Facts...
February 14, 2026
A Slovak Roma man claimed asylum in the UK, fearing persecution by skinheads. The House of Lords held that persecution under the Refugee Convention requires a failure of state protection. Since Slovakia provided sufficient protection, though imperfect, the asylum claim failed. Facts The appellant, Milan Horvath, was a Roma citizen...
February 14, 2026
In the recent judgement Lewis-Ranwell v G4S Health Services (UKSC/2024/0040), the Supreme Court held that the illegality defence can bar a negligence claim even where the claimant was found not guilty by reason of insanity for unlawful killings that sit at the centre of the loss claimed.
February 14, 2026
In Emotional Perception AI Limited v Comptroller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (UKSC/2024/0131) the Supreme Court has reset the UK’s approach to the “computer program … as such” exclusion, overruling the long‑used Aerotel methodology and aligning UK interpretation with the European Patent Office’s reading of article 52 EPC following G1/19.
February 14, 2026
![Dairy UK Ltd v Oatly AB [2026] UKSC 4 - dairy cows in a field](https://www.lawcases.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/dairy-oatly.jpg)
In Dairy UK Ltd v Oatly AB [2026] UKSC 4, the Supreme Court held that Oatly’s trade mark “POST MILK GENERATION” is invalid so far as it covers oat-based foods and drinks, because section 3(4) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 blocks registration where the mark’s use is prohibited by another enactment. Crucially, the Court said the reserved dairy term regime can apply even without consumer deception, and it can apply to straplines and broader “in respect of” use, not just product names.
February 14, 2026
A construction dispute concerning interpretation of termination clauses in a JCT Design and Build Contract. The Supreme Court held that a contractor cannot terminate under clause 8.9.4 for repeated default unless a right to terminate under clause 8.9.3 had previously accrued, requiring the employer's earlier default to have continued uncured...
February 14, 2026
A man who killed three people during a psychotic episode was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. He sued healthcare providers for negligence, claiming damages for his detention and other losses. The Supreme Court held that the illegality defence barred his civil claim despite his lack of...
February 14, 2026
Emotional Perception AI sought to patent a system using an artificial neural network to recommend media files based on emotional similarity. The Supreme Court held that while ANNs are 'programs for computers', the invention was not excluded from patentability as it involved hardware. The Court rejected the Aerotel approach, adopting...
February 14, 2026
Oatly registered the trade mark 'POST MILK GENERATION' for oat-based food and drink products. Dairy UK challenged its validity under the Trade Marks Act 1994, arguing it violated EU Regulation 1308/2013 prohibiting dairy terms for non-dairy products. The Supreme Court dismissed Oatly's appeal, holding the mark constituted a prohibited 'designation'...
February 14, 2026
A Colombian national convicted of drug trafficking in France faced deportation. He claimed that returning to Colombia would expose him to revenge by drug traffickers he had informed on, violating Article 3 ECHR. The Court held by 15-6 that deportation would not violate Article 3 as sufficient risk was not...
August 25, 2026
National Case Law Archive
August 25, 2026
National Case Law Archive
August 25, 2026
National Case Law Archive