Council planning officers are influential people – but the final decision on whether or not development proposals receive the green light does not lie with them. In a case which illustrated the point, the High Court scotched plans for more than 150 new homes on
Philosophers have pondered principles of cause and effect for centuries and judges do the same on a daily basis. In one striking case, the High Court was asked to decide whether a catastrophic flood at a City of London livery hall was caused by the
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is seeking views on the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) rates that should apply from April 2017. Whereas the NMW rates have traditionally been set with a view to avoiding any detriment to employment figures, the
In the context of a shipping contract dispute, the High Court has reiterated the basic principle of law that evidence obtained by torture must be disregarded by the courts of any civilised nation. The Court found that it could not rule out the possibility that
Despite their sometimes fearsome reputation, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are not all powerful and, with the benefit of sound legal advice, any wrong decisions that they make can be overturned. That happened in one case in which a businessman escaped an £830,000 Capital Gains
Land which is listed as having community value under the Localism Act 2011 enjoys some important protections against development. However, one case involving a disused golf course has underlined that such a listing will only be justified where there is a realistic chance of such
A battle of wills between crime investigators and an alleged computer hacker – who has repeatedly refused to reveal the password to encrypted pieces of hardware – gave rise to an important ruling which helped to define the often tricky dividing line between the civil
It has been reported that more than a third of sick notes given to employers are from people feigning illness. Whatever the cause, employee absences can be both costly and disruptive. It is important to have systems in place to measure and analyse these
In an important decision for the financial services and insurance industries, the Court of Appeal has given a wide interpretation to the term ‘regulated activity’ and ruled that it encompasses preliminary, fact-finding, inquiries made of potential clients. The case concerned an agency agreement whereby company
In an important decision which emphasised everyone’s right to pursue their religious convictions, a teacher who considered her marriage vow sacrosanct, and stood by her husband despite his conviction for sex offences, won the right to compensation after she was discriminated against and unfairly dismissed.
