LawTeacher
7,174
Articles Published
LawTeacher.net is the UK’s leading provider of academic legal support, offering both writing services and an extensive collection of law study resources for students in the UK and overseas.
Founded in 2003 by Grey’s Inn graduate Barclay Littlewood, the Company was built on a commitment to excellence, with unique guarantees and a high standard of service from day one.
The team includes over 500 UK legally qualified writing experts, with many practising solicitors and barristers, and several former lecturers.
Areas of Expertise
Contract LawCriminal LawConstitutional and Administrative LawEU LawTort LawProperty LawEquity and TrustsJurisprudenceCompany LawCommercial LawFamily LawHuman Rights LawEmployment LawEvidencePublic International LawLegal Research and MethodsDispute ResolutionBusiness Law and PracticeCivil LitigationCriminal LitigationProfessional ConductTaxationWills and Administration of EstatesSolicitors’ Accounts
Articles by LawTeacher
Test Claimants in the Franked Investment Income Group Litigation v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 31
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
This stage of the Franked Investment Income litigation concerned how to put right the effects of an earlier UK tax regime on overseas dividends. Recovering tax that should never have been charged is different from compensating a company for paying tax before it was due. That difference mattered both to the available interest remedy and […]…
References on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and European Charter of Local Self-Government (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bills [2021] UKSC 42
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Scottish Parliament passed two Bills to give domestic effect to international commitments concerning children’s rights and local self-government. Before Royal Assent, the UK law officers referred particular clauses to the Supreme Court. The issue was whether the Scottish Parliament could give those clauses their proposed effect on UK legislation. The references On 16 March […]…
R (on the application of TN (Vietnam)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and another [2021] UKSC 41
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The rules used to fast-track TN’s asylum appeal were later held to be structurally unfair. Did that invalidate every decision made under them, or did TN have to show how the procedure affected the fairness of her own hearing? TN’s asylum appeal was dismissed by the First-tier Tribunal under the 2005 fast-track rules. She later […]…
Pakistan International Airline Corporation v Times Travel (UK) Ltd [2021] UKSC 40
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Times Travel depended on tickets from an airline entitled to end its agency agreement. When the airline insisted on a waiver of disputed commission, the travel agent faced a severe commercial choice. The question was whether a threat to do something lawful could make the resulting waiver voidable for economic duress. The agency and the […]…
R (on the application of A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 37
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A police disclosure scheme allowed a person concerned about a child to ask whether someone in contact with the child posed a risk. The Supreme Court considered a challenge to the guidance on consulting the person concerned before a disclosure. Its task was to assess the directions given to officers, rather than to review an […]…
Tinkler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 39
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
HMRC posted the notice opening an enquiry into Mr Tinkler’s 2003/04 return to a house he had left, and he never received it. His accountants nevertheless dealt with HMRC for years on the shared assumption that a valid enquiry was under way. The Supreme Court held that he was estopped from denying, after the time […]…
R (on the application of BF (Eritrea)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 38
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The question was whether Home Office age-assessment guidance, as it stood during the period in issue, directed officers to act unlawfully. A mistake about someone’s age could lead to a child being detained under rules for adults. The Supreme Court distinguished that individual risk from a direction in the policy itself. The facts and the […]…
CPRE Kent v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2021] UKSC 36
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
CPRE Kent’s challenge to a local plan stopped at the permission stage. More than one party had already incurred costs responding. The Supreme Court considered whether each could ordinarily recover reasonable costs of taking the procedural step required to participate. CPRE Kent, a charity seeking to protect the Kent countryside, applied for statutory review under […]…
In the matter of T (A Child) [2021] UKSC 35
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The High Court was asked to authorise restrictions on a child’s liberty when the statutory secure-accommodation route could not provide a suitable placement. The Supreme Court considered whether the inherent jurisdiction could protect a child in that gap, and what limits applied to its use. The appeal concerned children whom a local authority considers must […]…
Royal Mail Group Ltd v Efobi [2021] UKSC 33
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Royal Mail did not call the recruiters who had turned down Mr Efobi’s applications. Could their absence supply the evidence needed to shift the burden of proof in a race discrimination claim? The answer turned on what the tribunal could infer from all the evidence it had. The applications and the appeals Mr Efobi, a […]…
Sanambar v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 30
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Mr Sanambar had lawfully spent most of his childhood in the United Kingdom. The Supreme Court considered how that history affected the proportionality of deportation for serious offences committed while he was under 18. In particular, did the Strasbourg requirement for very serious reasons impose an extra test? Mr Sanambar came to the United Kingdom […]…
Triple Point Technology, Inc v PTT Public Company Ltd [2021] UKSC 29
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
When PTT ended its software contract because Triple Point had fallen badly behind, the question was whether an agreed daily sum for delay remained payable for work that Triple Point had never finished and PTT had never accepted. The Supreme Court held that it was payable for delay up to termination. By a majority, it […]…
Harcus Sinclair LLP and another v Your Lawyers Ltd [2021] UKSC 32
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Two law firms wanted to explore collaboration on Volkswagen emissions claims. One promised not to act for a rival claimant group without the other’s permission. Their collaboration was never formalised, so the question was whether that contemplated opportunity could still justify enforcing the promise. Your Lawyers Ltd was preparing a group claim arising from the […]…
Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v Tooth [2021] UKSC 17
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
HMRC could understand exactly what Raymond Tooth was claiming because his advisers explained it in the free-text boxes of his return. Yet they had deliberately used the wrong box to enter the amount. Did that make the return deliberately inaccurate and open a twenty-year period for assessment? Mr Tooth claimed an employment-related loss against income […]…
R (on the application of AB) v Secretary of State for Justice [2021] UKSC 28
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
AB’s appeal asked whether isolating a person under 18 in custody necessarily crosses the threshold for inhuman or degrading treatment under article 3 of the European Convention. The legal question was whether the court had to apply an automatic rule or examine the conditions and effects in the particular case. AB was under 18 and […]…
A and B v Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and another [2021] UKSC 27
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The 2012 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme excluded some applicants with unspent convictions. A and B, both recognised victims of trafficking, argued that applying the exclusion to them without discretion was discriminatory. Their previous offences had no connection with their exploitation. The applicants had been trafficked and exploited after convictions resulting in custodial sentences. They later […]…
R (on the application of SC, CB and eight children) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others [2021] UKSC 26
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
In 2021 the Supreme Court considered whether limiting the child element of tax credit by family size infringed Convention rights. The policy affected more women than men and drew a distinction between children in different-sized households. The central issue was how a court should assess Parliament’s justification for those effects. The challenge concerned the law […]…
R (on the application of Haworth) v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 25
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A follower notice tells a taxpayer that an earlier ruling disposes of the claimed tax advantage. Mr Haworth challenged a notice based on a decision involving another trust. The question was how certain HMRC had to be before it could use that decision against him. The follower notice regime and Mr Haworth’s arrangements Under the […]…
Secretary of State for Health and another v Servier Laboratories Ltd and others [2021] UKSC 24
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The NHS bodies alleged that deception of the European Patent Office and the courts had delayed generic competition and increased their costs. Even assuming the allegations were true, could they sue for the tort of causing loss by unlawful means when those institutions did not deal with them? The dispute The Secretary of State for […]…
Her Majesty’s Attorney General v Crosland [2021] UKSC 15
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Judges sometimes circulate a draft decision to the parties before announcing it publicly. Timothy Crosland disclosed the outcome of the Heathrow appeal during that confidential period. The Supreme Court had to decide whether the deliberate disclosure was a contempt and what weight his stated public-interest motive should carry. The Attorney General asked for permission to […]…
Director of Public Prosecutions v Ziegler and others [2021] UKSC 23
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Peaceful protesters deliberately obstructed one side of a road leading to an arms fair. In this prosecution under section 137 of the Highways Act 1980, did the deliberate nature of the obstruction by itself rule out a lawful excuse? The answer determined whether the trial judge had been entitled to acquit. The protest and the […]…
General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd v State of Libya [2021] UKSC 22
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
General Dynamics had an arbitration award against Libya and permission to enforce it in England. The practical obstacle was serving the enforcement order. Could an English court excuse diplomatic service because it was difficult, even though Libya had not agreed another method? General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd obtained an ICC arbitration award in Geneva on […]…
Khan v Meadows [2021] UKSC 21
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
It was accepted that, with correct medical advice, the claimant would have made a different decision and her child would not have been born. That established factual causation. It did not answer which costs were within the scope of the doctor’s duty to advise about the risk of haemophilia. The consultation and the birth Ms […]…
R (on the application of Fylde Coast Farms Ltd (formerly Oyston Estates Ltd)) v Fylde Borough Council [2021] UKSC 18
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
When a neighbourhood plan is made in stages, which decision starts the six-week clock for judicial review? Fylde Coast Farms challenged the completed plan on time. Its complaint, however, was directed at an earlier decision about an examiner’s recommendations. The plan and the missed time limit The developer owned land at Lytham Moss and wanted […]…
Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Grant Thornton gave Manchester Building Society incorrect advice about hedge accounting. When the error came to light, the society had to close interest rate swaps at a loss. The dispute was whether the purpose of the accountants’ advice made them responsible for that loss, even though market movements had affected its size. Background Manchester Building […]…
Hurstwood Properties (A) Ltd and others v Rossendale Borough Council and another [2021] UKSC 16
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Two councils sought business rates from landlords who had granted leases of empty premises to companies with no assets. The leases were genuine under property law. The question was whether they also made those companies the people entitled to possession for the purposes of business rates. Non-domestic rates are charged on the occupier of property […]…
Zabolotnyi v The Mateszalka District Court, Hungary [2021] UKSC 14
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A person resisting extradition to Hungary relied on evidence that Hungarian prison assurances given to Germany had allegedly been broken. The appeal raised two separate questions. Could evidence about promises made to another state be considered? If so, was this evidence strong enough to change the extradition decision? The Mateszalka District Court, Hungary, sought the […]…
Uber BV and others v Aslam and others [2021] UKSC 5
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Uber’s terms described its drivers as independent businesses serving passengers. The employment tribunal had to decide who actually set the price, controlled access to bookings and could end the relationship. Those practical questions mattered both to the drivers’ statutory protection and to which hours counted. The dispute The tribunal concentrated on two London private hire […]…
Matthew and others v Sedman and others [2021] UKSC 19
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The trustees had until midnight on 2 June 2011 to lodge a claim. They missed the deadline. In the resulting action against them, a single day mattered: did 3 June count as the first of the six years available to sue, even though courts normally exclude the day a cause of action arises? The appellants […]…
Rittson-Thomas and others v Oxfordshire County Council [2021] UKSC 13
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Supreme Court held that land granted under the School Sites Act 1841 for Nettlebed School did not cease to be used for the Act’s purposes, and therefore did not revert, when the school moved to new premises before the old site was sold, because the County Council intended throughout to apply the proceeds under […]…
Burnett or Grant v International Insurance Company of Hanover Ltd [2021] UKSC 12
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The insurance dispute turned on two different intentions. A door steward had meant to restrain a customer, but had he meant to cause injury? The answer determined whether the employer’s insurer could rely on a policy exclusion after the customer died. Craig Grant died after a door steward used a neck hold to restrain him […]…
Balhousie Holdings Ltd v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2021] UKSC 11
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Selling a care home need not mean giving up every legal interest in it. The question for VAT was whether Balhousie Care Ltd had at any point ceased to hold an interest when it sold the building and simultaneously took a 30-year lease of it. The care home and the financing Balhousie Holdings Ltd is […]…
Evergreen Marine (UK) Limited v Nautical Challenge Ltd [2021] UKSC 6
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Outside the entrance to Jebel Ali, one ship was leaving a narrow channel while another waited to take on a pilot. A collision raised a practical question: should the ships follow the rules for crossing paths or those for navigating a narrow channel? On 11 February 2015 the outbound container ship Ever Smart collided with […]…
T W Logistics Ltd v Essex County Council and another [2021] UKSC 4
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
For more than twenty years, people walked and played beside the water at Mistley while lorries crossed the same concrete quay. The port owner objected when the land was registered as a town or village green. If these two uses had coexisted before registration, could criminal legislation protecting greens now make its ordinary operations unlawful? […]…
Okpabi and others v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another [2021] UKSC 3
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Communities in Rivers State, Nigeria, sued Royal Dutch Shell Plc in England over oil spills from pipelines operated by its Nigerian subsidiary, and sought to join that subsidiary to the claim. The Supreme Court held that they had an arguable case that the UK parent owed them a duty of care, so the claim should […]…
Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake [2021] UKSC 8
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A worker can be required to spend the night at work without every hour counting towards the national minimum wage. The distinction in these two care-worker appeals was between a shift spent working and a sleep-in during which the worker was expected to sleep but had to respond if needed. The two arrangements Mrs Tomlinson-Blake […]…
Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley and others [2021] UKSC 10
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Asda’s store staff, predominantly women, sought to compare their pay with that of predominantly male distribution staff at separate depots. Before a tribunal could consider whether their work was of equal value, it had to decide whether workers at those depots could serve as comparators at all. The two groups worked under different pay arrangements. […]…
R (on the application of Begum) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission and related appeals [2021] UKSC 7
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
In 2021 the Supreme Court considered what should happen when a person challenging the loss of British citizenship cannot participate effectively from abroad and the Home Secretary assesses that their return would threaten national security. The question concerned how Shamima Begum’s appeal could proceed. The Court did not decide the merits of the deprivation appeal. […]…
R (on the application of KBR, Inc) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office [2021] UKSC 2
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
An officer of KBR, Inc travelled from the United States to meet the Serious Fraud Office in London. During the meeting she was handed a notice requiring the US company to produce records held abroad. The question was whether her presence in London brought the company within the reach of that statutory power. The notice […]…
G v G [2021] UKSC 9
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A court deciding whether a child should return under the Hague Convention may face a separate asylum claim concerning that same child. G v G explains why deciding the return application and putting a return order into effect are two different steps. One parent brought the child to England without the other parent’s consent and […]…
The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd and others [2021] UKSC 1
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The Financial Conduct Authority brought this insurance test case because businesses that closed during the first COVID-19 restrictions faced a practical difficulty. Even if a case of illness had occurred near their premises, nationwide restrictions would have been introduced without that particular case. Could an insurer rely on that fact to defeat cover? The answer […]…
HXA v Surrey County Council [2023] UKSC 52
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
HXA v Surrey County Council and YXA v Wolverhampton City Council were heard together. Both asked when a council that knows a child may be at risk at home takes on a legal responsibility to protect that child from harm by someone else. The distinction mattered because the claimants sought damages in negligence for steps […]…
Byers and others v Saudi National Bank [2023] UKSC 51
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Knowing receipt is a personal claim against someone who receives property transferred in breach of trust. In Byers, the bank was accepted to have the necessary degree of knowledge. The difficulty for the claimants was that the law governing the transfer gave the bank title to the shares free of the trust. Could the former […]…
Zubaydah v Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and others [2023] UKSC 50
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Abu Zubaydah alleged that UK intelligence services supplied questions to the CIA knowing he would be mistreated to obtain answers. Before any trial of those allegations, the courts had to decide which law governed his civil claim. The place of injury and the place from which the questions were allegedly sent pointed in different directions. […]…
Wolverhampton City Council and others v London Gypsies and Travellers and others [2023] UKSC 47
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Can an injunction protect land against people whose identity nobody can yet know? A series of cases about unauthorised encampments raised that question. Someone might arrive long after the order was made, obey it immediately on hearing about it, and never have had a chance to tell the court why it should not have been […]…
R (on the application of Afzal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 46
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
These joined appeals concerned the ten years of continuous lawful residence required by the Immigration Rules then in force. Mr Afzal had a gap that could be overlooked, but he needed the time spent in that gap to reach ten years. Mr Iyieke first had to establish whether his gap could be overlooked at all. […]…
R (on the application of Imam) v London Borough of Croydon [2023] UKSC 45
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Croydon accepted that it had failed for years to secure suitable accommodation for Ms Imam, a wheelchair user. The Supreme Court considered what a council must show if it admits a breach of its housing duty but says that a court order would be impossible to carry out. The breach Croydon accepted that it owed […]…
Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v Fisher and another [2023] UKSC 44
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
A family-owned company sold its telephone betting business to another company in Gibraltar. HMRC assessed members of the family on profits of the Gibraltar company. Under the version of the transfer-of-assets-abroad legislation governing those tax years, the question was who had transferred the business. Shareholding and the ability to benefit from profits did not by […]…
R (on the application of AAA (Syria) and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 42
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
The issue in November 2023 was whether people removed to Rwanda under the 2022 asylum arrangements would be protected from being sent on to a country where they faced persecution or ill-treatment. Rwanda had given assurances. The Supreme Court examined whether its asylum system could put those assurances into practice at the time of the […]…
Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2023] UKSC 49
Article. Published: November 3, 2026
Stephen Thaler named an AI machine, DABUS, as the inventor on two patent applications. He said he was entitled to the patents because he owned DABUS. Those were two separate propositions under the Patents Act 1977. The first concerned who could be an inventor. The second concerned how an applicant who was not the inventor […]…
