Case summaries

A Glasgow restaurant tenant sued its landlord for repair failures and sought its subsidiary licensee's lost profits as "transferred loss". The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, rejecting Lord Clyde's Panatown approach as too wide and indefinite to form part of Scots law, while confirming The Albazero exception applies in Scotland.

Lady Brownlie was injured and her husband killed in a car crash during a Four Seasons hotel excursion in Egypt. She sued the Canadian holding company in England. The Supreme Court held the holding company was the wrong defendant, but obiter discussed the tort jurisdictional gateway.

Mr Fowler, a South African-resident diver, worked in UK waters. The Supreme Court held that section 15 ITTOIA's deeming provision, treating employed divers as self-employed traders, did not alter the meaning of 'employment' under the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Treaty, making his income UK-taxable.

Italian employees sought unpaid wages after their employers became insolvent. Italy had failed to implement EU Directive 80/987 protecting employees in insolvency cases. The Court established that Member States must compensate individuals for losses caused by failure to implement directives, creating the principle of state liability.

Romanian nationals with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme challenged refusal of universal credit as nationality discrimination under EU law. The Supreme Court held that EU citizens without EU law residence rights cannot claim equal treatment under Article 18 TFEU for social assistance benefits.

The Supreme Court considered whether an oral agreement to transfer a 51% equitable interest in company shares to the legal owner created a vendor purchaser constructive trust, thereby displacing the writing requirement under section 53(1)(c) of the Law of Property Act 1925. The Court held that such a trust arose, rendering the transfer effective despite lack of writing.

Lady Brownlie sought damages after a road accident in Egypt killed her husband and injured her. The Supreme Court considered whether tort claims could be served on an Egyptian hotel operator, interpreting the jurisdictional gateway requiring damage sustained within England. The majority held continuing pain and financial loss in England satisfied this requirement.

The Parent executed accession deeds intended only to provide missing security over a shareholder loan but inadvertently undertook additional onerous obligations. The Court of Appeal clarified that rectification for common mistake requires proof of actual subjective common intention, not merely an objective assessment, and upheld rectification of the deeds.

The Supreme Court held that the so-called rule in Hastings-Bass applies only where trustees act in breach of fiduciary duty, rendering the act voidable, not void; trustees who follow apparently competent but wrong professional advice are not in breach. Both appeals failed on that ground, but Mrs Pitt's settlement was set aside for mistake.

A mother wrongfully removed her child from South Africa to England and claimed asylum, naming the child as a dependant. The Supreme Court considered the interplay between the 1980 Hague Convention on child abduction and asylum law, holding that a child named as a dependant on a parent's asylum application can be understood to be an applicant themselves, entitled to protection from refoulement pending determination.

Four individuals with minor or historic convictions, cautions or reprimands challenged statutory schemes requiring disclosure of their criminal records to potential employers as incompatible with Article 8 ECHR. The Supreme Court upheld the schemes broadly, but found the multiple conviction rule and disclosure of youth warnings/reprimands disproportionate.

A Swedish company sought unfair prejudice relief under Jersey company law regarding mismanagement of a joint venture company. The Privy Council held that such relief is not barred merely because the company is insolvent and relief would benefit the applicant only as creditor, not shareholder, where loans were made pursuant to joint venture arrangements.

The Capesize bulk carrier Ocean Victory was lost attempting to leave Kashima during a severe storm. Her insurers, as assignees, sued charterers for breach of safe port warranty. The Supreme Court held the storm was an abnormal occurrence, not unsafety.

An Iraqi Kurd claimed asylum arguing he could not safely return to the Kurdish Autonomous Region without passing through Baghdad where he faced persecution. The Court of Appeal held that a person with a safe home area to which he cannot currently access is not a refugee, but remitted the case on procedural grounds.

Two ethnic Albanian men from Kosovo appealed asylum refusals. The Tribunal found that ethnic Albanians faced systematic persecution including job losses, police harassment, and inability to return to FRY. Their appeals were allowed based on well-founded fear of persecution due to ethnicity and inability to return.

Hotel and racecourse operators claimed business interruption insurance for Covid-19 losses. The Supreme Court held furlough payments under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme reduced recoverable losses under policy savings clauses, as they reduced employment expenses in consequence of the insured peril.

Mr Gaughran was convicted of drink driving in Northern Ireland. The PSNI retained his DNA profile, fingerprints and photograph indefinitely. He challenged this under article 8 ECHR. The Supreme Court held, by majority, that indefinite retention was proportionate and lawful.

Haven Insurance settled road traffic claims directly with claimants, bypassing their solicitors Edmondson and avoiding fixed costs payable under the RTA Protocol. The Supreme Court held that the solicitors' equitable lien entitled Edmondson to recover their charges directly from Haven.