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Articles by LawTeacher
Reyes v Al-Malki and another [2017] UKSC 61
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Ms Reyes alleged that a Saudi diplomat and his wife had exploited her while she worked in their London home. Once his posting ended and he left the country, immunity continued only for official acts. Hiring someone to work in his household fell outside that protection. Background Ms Reyes, a Philippine national, worked as a […]…
Birch v Birch [2017] UKSC 53
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that a family court can hear an application to release a former wife from an undertaking, given in a clean-break consent order, to sell the former matrimonial home by a fixed date if she had not by then secured her former husband's release from the mortgage. By a majority it decided […]…
McDonald v Newton or McDonald [2017] UKSC 52
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
On a Scottish divorce, only the part of a pension referable to the marriage counts as matrimonial property. The Supreme Court held that this part is measured by the holder’s whole membership of the scheme up to separation, including years after contributions have stopped and the pension is already in payment, not merely the years […]…
R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A worker owed a few hundred pounds in wages might be able to find the money for a tribunal fee and still have no sensible reason to bring a claim. That distinction between theoretical and practical access to justice lay at the heart of UNISON’s challenge to the 2013 employment tribunal fees. Until the Employment […]…
Khuja (Appellant) v Times Newspapers Limited and others (Respondents) (formerly known as PNM (Appellant) v Times Newspapers Limited and others (Respondents)) [2017] UKSC 49
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Mr Khuja was named in open court during the trial of other people. He had been arrested during the investigation and released without charge. When newspapers proposed to identify him in reports of the proceedings, he sought an interim injunction. The difficult question was how much weight to give the harm that identification could cause […]…
R (on the application of Hemming (t/a Simply Pleasure Ltd) and others) v Westminster City Council [2017] UKSC 50
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Westminster could charge successful licensees for enforcing its licensing scheme. Could the licensees keep the money the council had refunded because it collected that fee too early? The Supreme Court separated the unlawful demand for money on application from the lawful fee due once a licence was granted. This judgment follows the Supreme Court’s decision […]…
Actavis UK Limited and others (Appellants) v Eli Lilly and Company (Respondent) [2017] UKSC 48
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Eli Lilly’s patent named a particular chemical salt. Actavis proposed using alternatives which, administered as intended, achieved substantially the same result. The dispute exposed a distinction in patent law. Reading the words of a claim tells the reader what it says, but a competitor may still infringe by making an immaterial change to the invention. […]…
Walker v Innospec Limited and others [2017] UKSC 47
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
John Walker had earned a pension that would provide an income for a surviving spouse. The dispute concerned who would qualify for that income if he died. Innospec argued that his service ended too early for his husband to receive the pension a wife would receive. The Supreme Court examined when the unequal treatment would […]…
O’Brien v Ministry of Justice [2017] UKSC 46
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
By 2017 Dermod O’Brien had established that his fee-paid work as a recorder entitled him to a pro rata judicial pension. Its value still depended on a date. Would the calculation count service going back to 1978, or only the years after the United Kingdom was required to implement the Part-Time Work Directive? Mr O’Brien […]…
RFC 2012 Plc (in liquidation) v Advocate General for Scotland [2017] UKSC 45
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Rangers agreed to reward employees partly through a trust. The trustee later lent money to the employees. For tax purposes the decisive question was what the employer paid for when it put money into the trust, before any loan was made. The scheme From 2001/02 to 2008/09, companies in the Murray group paid money to […]…
Lord Advocate v Dean [2017] UKSC 44
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
If an extradited prisoner faces violence from other prisoners, what must the receiving authorities do to protect him? The Supreme Court distinguished the risk of violence from the adequacy of the protection offered. It also asked whether the conditions intended to keep Mr Dean safe could themselves amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. Mr Dean […]…
R (Kiarie and Byndloss) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 42
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A right of appeal against deportation could mean little if the appellant had to leave before giving evidence. The question for the Supreme Court was whether Mr Kiarie and Mr Byndloss could effectively present their human-rights appeals from Kenya and Jamaica. It examined what participation would actually require, including legal advice, evidence and a workable […]…
R (A and B) v Secretary of State for Health [2017] UKSC 41
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
In 2012 a girl from Northern Ireland travelled to England for an abortion that was lawful there. She and her mother had to raise the cost privately. Their case asked whether the Secretary of State for Health had a duty to make that treatment available free on the English NHS. It concerned the funding arrangements […]…
R (Coll) v Secretary of State for Justice [2017] UKSC 40
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
There were enough approved-premises places for women leaving prison. The difficulty was where those places were. With only six women’s premises across England and Wales, a woman required to live in one faced a much greater risk than a man of being sent far from home. Could a public service discriminate because of that difference […]…
The Joint Administrators of LB Holdings Intermediate 2 Limited v The Joint Administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) and others [2017] UKSC 38
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
When Lehman Brothers’ European trading company entered administration, few expected it to pay ordinary creditors in full. Once a surplus appeared, a different question mattered. Who was entitled to the money left over? The seven issues in the “Waterfall I” appeals concerned creditors who had agreed to be paid last, creditors owed foreign currency, and […]…
Hartley and others v King Edward VI College [2017] UKSC 39
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
How much of an annual salary can a college withhold for a day on strike? The college counted the weekdays in the year. The teachers counted all 365 days. Their dispute turned on what their annual salary bought, including work the college could not timetable. The disputed deduction The appellants were teachers at the respondent’s […]…
Suffolk Coastal District Council v Hopkins Homes Ltd and another [2017] UKSC 37
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Two councils lacked a five-year supply of housing land. Did that make every policy restricting housing out of date, including policies protecting the countryside? The Supreme Court considered that question under the 2012 National Planning Policy Framework. Its answer explains why the same housing shortage could leave a planning permission intact in one village and […]…
Poshteh v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2017] UKSC 36
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
When deciding whether a homeless applicant could reasonably accept a particular home, how should a reviewing officer weigh the applicant’s fears and the medical evidence? Ms Poshteh’s appeal raised that question and a second one about the right to a fair hearing under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Ms Poshteh had […]…
Gard Marine and Energy Limited v China National Chartering Company Limited and another [2017] UKSC 35
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Two hazards threatened the Ocean Victory at the same time. Long swell made it dangerous to stay at the berth, while a northerly gale made it dangerous to leave. Whether that combination was a normal characteristic of Kashima determined who bore the loss of the ship. The Ocean Victory, a bulk carrier, grounded while trying […]…
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority v EnergySolutions EU Ltd [2017] UKSC 34
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court decided preliminary issues on damages for breach of the public procurement rules in the award of a contract to decommission Magnox power stations. It held that European Union law requires a breach to be sufficiently serious before damages are recoverable and that the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 implement that minimum without going […]…
Times Newspapers Ltd v Flood and related appeals (costs) [2017] UKSC 33
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Three newspaper publishers challenged orders to pay the extra costs of their opponents’ litigation funding. The question was how to protect freedom of expression when claimants had already incurred costs in reliance on a scheme approved by Parliament and the House of Lords. Times Newspapers Ltd v Flood and Miller v Associated Newspapers Ltd were […]…
Lowick Rose LLP v Swynson Ltd and another [2017] UKSC 32
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
An accountant’s negligence exposed Swynson Ltd to losses on a loan. When the borrower repaid that loan and a second advance, it used money lent by Swynson’s owner personally. The issue was whether the owner could pursue the accountants for money the company itself had now recovered. Swynson Ltd, controlled and beneficially owned by Mr […]…
McCann v The State Hospitals Board for Scotland [2017] UKSC 31
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that the State Hospital's comprehensive smoking ban was an exercise of management powers, but the linked prohibition on possessing tobacco and the powers to search for and confiscate it had to be exercised under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and had not been. The ban interfered with […]…
Globalia Business Travel S.A.U. (formerly TravelPlan S.A.U.) of Spain v Fulton Shipping Inc of Panama [2017] UKSC 43
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
After the charterers repudiated an agreed extension of a time charter of the cruise ship New Flamenco, the owners sold her in October 2007 for US$23,765,000. By the date on which she would have been redelivered in November 2009, her value had fallen to US$7,000,000. The Supreme Court held that this difference in capital value […]…
SXH v The Crown Prosecution Service [2017] UKSC 30
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that a prosecutor’s decision to charge someone does not, of itself, fall within article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights where there is reasonable cause to believe the person guilty and the offence is compatible with article 8. SXH, a young Somali woman who claimed asylum on arrival in […]…
Isle of Wight Council v Platt [2017] UKSC 28
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A parent commits an offence under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 if a registered pupil of compulsory school age does not attend in accordance with the school’s rules, unless a statutory exception applies. The Supreme Court rejected the view that “regularly” means sufficiently often, so a high percentage attendance cannot excuse an unauthorised […]…
The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v The Investment Trust Companies [2017] UKSC 29
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Investment trust companies paid VAT on investment management services that were in fact exempt under EU law. They sought restitution from HMRC of sums not recovered through their managers under the statutory scheme. The Supreme Court held that they had no claim in unjust enrichment against HMRC, and that the statutory bar on such a […]…
Essop and others v Home Office [2017] UKSC 27
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A promotion test and a prison chaplains’ pay scale raised the same question about indirect discrimination. Did employees need to explain why a neutral rule disadvantaged their group? The Supreme Court held that the rule had to cause the disadvantage, but the employees did not have to establish why it did so. The two appeals […]…
R (Hicks and others) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2017] UKSC 9
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Four people arrested in central London on the day of the royal wedding were held for a few hours to prevent an imminent breach of the peace and released without charge once that risk had passed. They said this purely preventive detention breached article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights because they were […]…
PPT v ITN and the Guardian: suicide risk, press freedom and the consequences of publication
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Categories: Blog
On 3 November 2026, the High Court dismissed a public figure’s claim for an injunction preventing ITN and Guardian News & Media from publishing allegations about his conduct….
Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Ltd v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2017] UKSC 26
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
When Volkswagen Financial Services supplied cars on hire purchase, it paid VAT on general overheads that could not be tied to a particular supply. The Supreme Court did not decide whether any of that VAT was deductible against the output tax on the taxable supply of the cars, because it considered a reference to the […]…
Gordon v Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission [2017] UKSC 20
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s refusal to refer a 2002 rape conviction following Cadder v HM Advocate. The Commission accepted that a miscarriage of justice might have occurred because the appellant’s admission of sexual intercourse, made in a police interview without access to a solicitor, was the […]…
R (on the application of MM (Lebanon)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 10
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
These five appeals concerned the minimum income rule for a non-European Economic Area partner applying to join a British or settled partner in the UK. In 2017 the Supreme Court upheld the threshold in principle, but found defects in how the rules and guidance dealt with children’s interests and how decision-makers considered other sources of […]…
Financial Conduct Authority v Macris [2017] UKSC 19
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Following major trading losses, the Financial Conduct Authority issued notices recording failings by the bank. The notices criticised “CIO London management” without naming Mr Macris. The question was whether that description identified him for the purpose of section 393 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and entitled him to the protections it gave […]…
AB v Her Majesty’s Advocate [2017] UKSC 25
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Scottish legislation prevented an accused person from relying on a reasonable belief about a young person’s age if the police had previously charged the accused with a relevant sexual offence. AB argued that the earlier charges against him had given him no warning that consensual sexual activity with an older child was itself an offence. […]…
In the matter of an application by Denise Brewster for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2017] UKSC 8
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Lenny McMullan died two days after becoming engaged to Denise Brewster, his partner of some ten years. She was refused a survivor’s pension from his Northern Ireland local government scheme because an unmarried partner had to be nominated, and the appeal proceeded on the basis that no nomination had been made. The Supreme Court held […]…
DB v Chief Constable of Police Service of Northern Ireland [2017] UKSC 7
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
In late 2012 and early 2013, weekly loyalist marches passed through Belfast’s Short Strand without notice to the Parades Commission, and the police did not stop them. The Supreme Court held that this rested on a misunderstanding of the law. Organising or taking part in an unnotified parade was a criminal offence, so the police […]…
AIG Europe Limited v Woodman and others [2017] UKSC 18
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court decided how far claims by investors in two failed property developments against their solicitors could be aggregated under the compulsory professional indemnity insurance terms. It held that claims arising from similar acts or omissions may be treated as one claim where the underlying transactions have a real connection and fit together. On […]…
Ilott v The Blue Cross and others [2017] UKSC 17
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
After a 26-year estrangement, Mrs Jackson left her estate of about £486,000 to charities and nothing to her adult daughter, Mrs Ilott. The Supreme Court held that a district judge had been entitled to find that the will failed to make reasonable financial provision for Mrs Ilott’s maintenance under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and […]…
Wood v Capita Insurance Services Limited [2017] UKSC 24
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court dismissed Capita’s appeal about an indemnity in a share sale agreement. It held that the sellers’ promise to cover losses from pre-completion mis-selling of insurance was triggered only by a claim against the company, a seller or a relevant person, or by a complaint registered with a regulator against one of them. […]…
In the matter of EV (A Child) (Scotland) [2017] UKSC 15
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
West Lothian Council asked for a permanence order, with authority to adopt, for EV, who had been in care since birth. The Supreme Court held that such an order can be made only if the court itself finds, from facts proved on the balance of probabilities, that living with each parent is likely to be […]…
Newbigin v S J & J Monk [2017] UKSC 14
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court decided that a commercial building in the course of redevelopment does not have to be valued for business rates as if it were still a usable office. On the day that mattered, the first floor of Avalon House in Sunderland had been stripped out and was incapable of beneficial occupation. The statutory […]…
Akers and others (Respondents) v Samba Financial Group (Appellant) [2017] UKSC 6
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that a trustee’s transfer of legal title to shares held on Cayman Islands trusts for a company in liquidation was not a “disposition” of the company’s property under section 127 of the Insolvency Act 1986. The company’s rights continued after the transfer unless overridden under the law of the shares’ situs, […]…
IPCO (Nigeria) Limited v Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [2017] UKSC 16
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation did not have to provide a further 100 million US dollars of security before the English courts would decide its challenge to enforcement of a Nigerian arbitration award. IPCO had sought enforcement in England since 2004, while NNPC said that the award had been obtained in […]…
FirstGroup Plc v Paulley [2017] UKSC 4
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
When a passenger with a pushchair would not leave the wheelchair space, Doug Paulley could not board a FirstGroup bus. The Supreme Court held that simply asking her to move, and doing nothing if she refused, was not enough: where she could reasonably move elsewhere on the bus, drivers should insist and sometimes wait briefly. […]…
Plevin v Paragon Personal Finance Ltd (costs) [2017] UKSC 23
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
After the Supreme Court had ordered Paragon to pay Mrs Plevin’s costs, those costs were assessed at £751,463.84, including a solicitors’ success fee and a £531,235 after-the-event insurance premium. The Court confirmed that assessment. Funding arrangements made before 1 April 2013 could still support recovery of those items when later extended for appeals in the […]…
BPE Solicitors and another v Hughes-Holland [2017] UKSC 21
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Mr Gabriel lost the £200,000 he lent in connection with the development of a disused building. The Supreme Court held that solicitors who negligently confirmed his belief that the money would be spent on the development were not liable for that loss. The project would have failed even if the money had been spent as […]…
N v ACCG and others [2017] UKSC 22
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that the Court of Protection may decide only between options available to a person lacking capacity and cannot require care providers or funders to supply services they are unwilling to provide. Where a clinical commissioning group and care home refused to facilitate or fund the contact arrangements sought by the parents […]…
R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
In January 2017 the Supreme Court held that ministers needed an Act of Parliament before they could give notice of the United Kingdom’s intention to leave the EU under article 50. The referendum had produced a political mandate to leave. The legal question was who had authority to take the step that, on the assumptions […]…
AMT Futures Limited v Marzillier, Dr Meier & Dr Guntner Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH [2017] UKSC 13
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that the English courts had no jurisdiction under article 5.3 of the Judgments Regulation to hear a London broker’s claim that a German law firm had induced clients to sue in Germany in breach of exclusive English jurisdiction clauses. The direct harm was the expenditure caused by those German proceedings, so […]…
