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Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] Doctrine of negligence
Case Summaries
Introduction: Donoghue, a Scottish dispute, is a famous case in English law which was instrumental in shaping the law of tort and the doctrine of negligence in particular. On August 26 1928, Mrs Donoghue’s friend bought her a ginger-beer from Wellmeadow Café in Paisley. ...

Salomon v Salomon - Case Summary
Case Summaries
Introduction: A Case Summary of Salomon v A Salomon and Co Ltd [1897] AC 22 (Salomon v Salomon) - Separate Legal Personality (SLP) is the basic tenet on which company law is premised. Establishing the foundation of how a company exists and functions, it is perceived as, perhaps, the most profound and steady rule of corporate jurisprudence....

R v Ghosh - 1982
Case Summaries
Introduction: Meaning of dishonesty under the Theft Act 1968. The defendant, Ghosh, was a locum consultant at a hospital who falsely claimed to have carried out a surgical operation in order to claim money when in fact that operation had been carried out by someone else under the National Health Service....

South Wales Miners Federation v Glamorgan Coal Company
Case Summaries
Introduction: The federation was a trade union, formed to consider trade and wages, to protect the workmen and regulate relations. The wages were paid on a sliding scale agreement in accordance with the rising and falling price of coal....

Corporation v Skibs A/S Avanti
Case Summaries
Introduction: The Defendant owned two tankers that were charted to the Plaintiff for three years. The Plaintiff’s financial situation began to deteriorate, so they approached the Defendant requesting that the rates for the charter were reduced as the company had suffered massive losses...

The Calgarth [1927]
Case Summaries
Introduction: The Calgarth was the stern tug of a large steam ship, the Otarama, which was assisting the larger vessel in entering onto the Manchester Ship Canal. Whilst manoeuvring, the Calgarth ran aground on the bank of the entrance channel to the canal which was constructed and maintained by the Canal Company. ...

R v Jones and Smith - 1976
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendants, Jones and Smith, entered Smith’s father’s house and stole two television sets. At his trial, Smith said that his father had given him unreserved permission to enter the house. They were convicted of burglary and subsequently appealed....

R v Flattery - 1877
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendant, John Flattery (JF) posed as a medical doctor and surgeon. The complainant, a young woman aged 19, consulted JF with respect to an illness she was suffering, accompanied by her mother....

M'Naghten Rules: Knowledge of Wrong and the Windle Case
Essay: Criminal Law
Introduction: This essay will explore the understanding of M’Naghten Rules and the exploration of the Windle case. It will consider whether the “Knowledge of Wrong” as defined by M’Naghten is a satisfactory test of criminality or not, and explore the argument for a review....

R v Lamb 1967
Case Summaries
Introduction: Case Summary of R v Lamb 1967 2 QB 981. Involuntary Manslaughter. The appellate judgment of R v Lamb 1967 2 QB 981 (Lamb) clarifies the requisite elements required to satisfy any of the forms of involuntary manslaughter....

Mehra v Shah
Case Summaries
Introduction: Mr Shah and his wife had 12 children together. He ran a successful drapery business in Nairobi, which soon expanded to two shops. Some of the children helped out with the business and when they were older, they worked for the shops without receiving pay....

Fisher v Bell - 1961
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendant shopkeeper displayed in his shop window a flick knife accompanied by a price ticket displayed just behind it. He was charged with offering for sale a flick knife, contrary to s. 1 (1) of the Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1959....

Williams v Hensman
Case Summaries
Introduction: Co-Ownership – Severance – Modes of Severance of Joint Tenancy. A fund of money had been bequeathed by a mother, on trust for eight children to be invested in order to create an income that would then be payable to her children on the mother’s death....

Davis v Smith [2011]
Case Summaries
Introduction: A husband and wife married in 1988, after which they moved into a property which Mrs Smith had already been a tenant of for some time.  In 1989, they purchased the property as joint tenants. ...

Re Page's Application
Case Summaries
Introduction: The applicant sought to convert a stable into a dwelling to allow her to live near to her horses. The applicant had acquired planning permission, but was restrained from starting work by a restrictive covenant....

AG for Northern Ireland v Gallagher
Case Summaries
Introduction: Whether Gallagher was insane at the time of killing or was incapable of forming an intent necessary to constitute murder as he was drunk. Secondly, whether the M’Naughten test had been correctly applied....

Robert Addie v Dumbreck
Case Summaries
Introduction: A four-year-old boy was killed as a result of being crushed by the wheel of a haulage system which belonged to a colliery company. The field in which the system was situated in was surrounded by a large hedge, which was essentially ineffective due to the large gaps in it...

Exchange Telegraph v Gregory
Case Summaries
Introduction: Exchange Telegraph (ET) was a news agency that sent telegraph messages. It transmitted the latest stock exchange updates, had them typed up and made into a newspaper. It contracted subscribers to sell the newspaper....

Peffer v Rigg
Case Summaries
Introduction: The plaintiff, Peffer, and his brother, Rigg, purchased a property that was registered in Rigg’s sole name but was actually held on trust for them both. They both contributed to the purchase price in equal shares....

Gravy Solutions Ltd v Xyzmo Software
Case Summaries
Introduction: Gravy sought to impose a freezing injunction against a company related to Xyzmo (called Z), after commission Gravy alleged to have earned was not paid and neither was the principal sum....

Felthouse v Bindley - (1862)
Case Summaries
Introduction: The complainant, Paul Felthouse, had a conversation with his nephew, John Felthouse, about buying his horse. After their discussion, the uncle replied by letter stating that if he didn’t hear anymore from his nephew concerning the horse, he would consider acceptance of the order done and he would own the horse....

Nickerson v Barraclough [1981]
Case Summaries
Introduction: Nickerson purchased a land locked field that had a lane running down the side of it for access to the main road. Barraclough owned the lane....

Re Hackney Pavilion Ltd - 1924
Case Summaries
Introduction: The case addresses the transfer of shares in situations where the board fails to reach a consensus in passing a resolution and where the articles state that board approval is required....

Hyam v DPP - 1975
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendant Hyam had been in a relationship with a man before the relationship ended.  Hyam then had become jealous of her ex-boyfriend’s new fiancée Ms Booth.  She poured petrol through Booth’s letter box and then ignited it using a rolled up newspaper. ...

Lumley v Gye - 1853
Case Summaries
Introduction: Miss Wagner was an opera singer at Lumley’s theatre on a three month contract. Gye and Wagner made an agreement that Wagner would break her contract and refuse to sing at Lumley’s theatre....

Cattle v Stockton Waterworks
Case Summaries
Introduction: Stockton Waterworks Co laid down one of their main roads along and under a turnpike road. Private property was either side of the road. The landowner employed Cattle to make a tunnel under the road so he could access his land on the other side of the road easily....

Hyde v Wrench - 1840
Case Summaries
Introduction: The complainant brought an action for specific performance, claiming that as Mr Wrench refused to sell the farm, this was a breach of contract. Contract – Counter Offer – Acceptance – Offer – Negotiation – Breach of contract – Specific Performance...

Wheeler v Copas - 1981
Case Summaries
Introduction: The plaintiff was a partner in a bricklaying company. The defendant was a farmer who wanted a house built on his farm and negotiated for this directly with the plaintiff....

Troughton v MPC
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendant got into a taxi whilst heavily intoxicated and asked to be driven to Highbury but did not specify his address. The driver stopped to obtain clearer directions from the defendant...

DHN Food v Tower Hamlets
Case Summaries
Introduction: Piercing the corporate veil – groups of companies. DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [1976] 1 WLR 852 Case Summary. An example of piercing the corporate veil....

Hedley Byrne v Heller - Brief Case Summary
Case Summaries
Introduction: Case Summary of Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd (1964) AC 465 (HL). Claiming Economic Loss and Experts. In 1963 the House of Lords established that in limited circumstances – if a duty of care arose in the making of statements – pure economic loss in tort could now be recoverable in English law....

Henderson v Eason (Statute of Anne)
Case Summaries
Introduction: Liability for shares of profits of tenants in common under the Statute of Anne. A farmland was jointly owned by two persons as tenants in common. One co-owner, the tenant in occupation, cultivated the land profited from the produce....

Henry Williams v James Bayley
Case Summaries
Introduction: Bayley’s son took promissory notes to a bank, which he had forged in his father’s name and without his father’s knowledge. The notes were fraudulent. Bayley’s son had done this several times and gotten away with it....

Allan v Liverpool Overseas
Case Summaries
Introduction: The joint appellants, Allan and Inman, owned steamship companies. They were given a licence to use part of a docks including some sheds and a coal depot. The Docks and Harbour Board who controlled the docks charged the appellants rent on these....

Re F (Mental Patient Sterilisation)
Case Summaries
Introduction: Re: F - Whether medical practitioners are able to sterilise a mentally handicapped woman who is unable to consent on the basis that doing so is in her best interest....

Woodar v Wimpey - 1980
Case Summaries
Introduction: Wimpey, the purchasers, entered into a contract with Woodar to buy land. It was agreed that part of the purchase price would be paid on completion of the build...

London County Council v Allen and Others
Case Summaries
Introduction: The owner of a piece of land applied to London County Council under the London Building Act 1894, section 7 for the grant of a new street on the land that they owned....

Re Bond Worth Ltd - 1980
Case Summaries
Introduction: The case of Re Bond Worth Ltd should be considered in the context of the law relating to the passing of property, and also in relation to the pari passu principles of recovery in insolvency....

JEB Fasteners v Marks Bloom - 1983
Case Summaries
Introduction: JEB took control of a company. Marks Bloom & Co. (MBC) were the auditors for the business. One of the primary motivations behind taking over the company was that JEB would be able to acquire the services of two of the company directors...

Bridle v Ruby [1989]
Case Summaries
Introduction: A company built houses and later sold number 12. The original transfer reserved the transferor and the successors a right of way (including with vehicles) over the driveway of the property, but this was then deleted out of the conveyance as agreed by the parties....

Ropaigealach v Barclays Bank
Case Summaries
Introduction: The plaintiff was not residing in the property at the time when the defendant took possession and sold the property at auction. The plaintiff sought the determination of the court on whether the defendant had been entitled to take possession without first having sought and obtained an order of the court....

B & S Contracts & Design Ltd v Victor Green
Case Summaries
Introduction: The plaintiffs were contracted to erect stands in a stadium. The contract specified that the Plaintiffs would make every effort to complete the works, but it was subject to a force majeure clause. ...

Woods v Durable Suites
Case Summaries
Introduction: Mr Woods was employed as a glue spreader in the defendant’s factory. His role frequently involved his hands and arms coming into contact with a synthetic glue known to cause dermatitis, unless appropriate protective measures were taken....

Hirji Mulji v Cheong Yue Steamship Co Ltd
Case Summaries
Introduction: By a charterparty, made in November 1916, the respondents chartered their steamship to the appellants. The charter was to commence on 1 March 1917 at the port of Singapore. ...

Greenfield v Greenfield
Case Summaries
Introduction: Two brothers purchased a house together, and made an express statement that they would be holding the land as joint tenants.  Both got married and moved their wives into the house shared between them. ...

Pay v Lancashire Probation; Pay v UK
Case Summaries
Introduction: The claimant was involved in the sale of products connected with BDSM and performing in fetish clubs. Photographs were available on the internet of him involved in these activities. The claimant was a probation officer working with sex offenders....

Coulthard v Neville Russell - 1998
Case Summaries
Introduction: The case concerned a claim by three directors of D & H Ltd (the Directors) against Neville Russell (the Auditors) on the grounds that the Auditors had failed in their duty to advise them against their acquisition of shares through a loan from the Company in breach of section 151 of the Companies Act 1985....

Hickman v Kent or Romney Marsh Sheep-Breeders'
Case Summaries
Introduction: A Short Case Summary of Hickman v Kent or Romney Marsh Sheep-Breeders' Association [1915] 1 Ch 88 and Outsider Rights...

Hounga v Allen and Another - 2014
Case Summaries
Introduction: Miss Hounga is of Nigerian nationality, now residing in England. In January 2007, when Miss Hounga was approximately 14 years of age, she came from Nigeria to the UK under a false identity in order to be granted a visitor’s visa for six months...

R v Caldwell
Case Summaries
Introduction: The respondent had done some work for the owner of a hotel as the result of which he had a quarrel with the owner, got drunk and set fire to the hotel in revenge....

Robinson v Balmain New Ferry Co. Ltd
Case Summaries
Introduction: Robinson (R) paid a penny to cross on a ferry, however he narrowly missed the ferry and changed his mind about crossing. R attempted to leave through the gate he came through, however it required another penny to be paid to leave....

Darlington BC v Wiltshier Northern
Case Summaries
Introduction: The agreement between WNL and the finance company stipulated that all rights and causes of action against WNL were assigned to DBC. DBC brought......

Morrells of Oxford Ltd v OUFC
Case Summaries
Introduction: The claimant (M) applied for an injunction to enforce a restrictive covenant contained in a conveyance of land against O, who proposed to convert the land to use a football stadium....

JH Milner v Percy Bilton - 1966
Case Summaries
Introduction: The plaintiffs were a firm of solicitors. The defendants were a property development company. In relation to a particular development the plaintiffs wrote to the defendants and it was accepted that the plaintiffs would carry out the legal work in relation to that property....

Meretz investments v ACP
Case Summaries
Introduction: The claimants (M and B) brought an action against the defendants (X, F and T) in connection with the purported sale by F to T of a long lease of a partially completed penthouse development on the roof of a block of flats....

Kearley v Thomson - 1890
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendants were a firm of solicitors which represented a creditor in bankruptcy proceedings. The plaintiff was a friend of the bankrupt....

Moncrieff v Jamieson
Case Summaries
Introduction: Easements and ancillary rights between dominant and servient tenements. The case was an appeal against an earlier case which had ruled that where one had a right of vehicular access from a public road, this also meant that they had a right to park on the servient tenement....

Intellectual Property Law Coursework
Law Coursework Examples
Introduction: Coursework on intellectual property law covering passing off, misrepresentation, damages and remedies with examples....

Comparison of the Criminal Justice Systems of France and USA
Essay: Foreign Law
Introduction: An analysis and comparison of the differences between the Criminal Justice System in France and the USA....

Sale of Goods Act 1979
Act Summaries
Introduction: This summary examines the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (“the Act”) within its context: why it was drafted, what are its important provisions, and how it has changed since it came into force...

Defamation Act 2013 - Summary
Act Summaries
Introduction: Defamation Act 2013 was introduced in order to reform the law surrounding defamation and to ensure that a fair balance between the protection of reputations and freedom of expression was being attained...

The Data Protection Act 1998
Act Summaries
Introduction: The Data Protection Act 1998 was implemented with the aim of protecting the personal data of individuals deposited on computer systems......

Causation Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: It is not sufficient for an individual to simply have a duty of care and then breach the standard of conduct expected of them - that conduct......

Intervening Acts and Remoteness Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: It is not enough for a harm to be merely caused by a defendant. It is also a requirement that the causal link between defendant action and......

Defamation Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Defamation is, in essence, the act of publishing an untrue statement which negatively affects someone's reputation. Taken at face value......

Economic Torts Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Just as tort law recognises that one can negatively affect a person or their property through either negligence or intent, tort law......

Tort Law - Employers Liability
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: The tort law employers liability module contains three chapters: personal liability, breach of statutory duty, and vicarious liability....

Breach of Statutory Duty Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: As noted in the previous chapter, the law governing safety in the workplace can be split into both common law and statutory law....

Personal Liability Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: It is unsurprising that a significant body of tort law has developed to deal with the duties employers have towards their employees - after all......

Vicarious Liability Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: In most scenarios in tort, the defendant will be the party who has actually done the relevant misdeed (or else faltered in their fulfilment of a duty.)...

Defences and Limitation of Liability Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Just as tort law uses remoteness or lack of duty as mechanisms to control which claims are and are not actionable, defences provide a way......

Tort Law - Causation & Remoteness
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: The tort law causation module contains two chapters: causation, and intervening ants and remoteness....

Breach of Duty Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Once a duty of care has been found, it is then necessary to ask whether the defendant has acted in such a way as to have breached that duty of care....

Duty of Care Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Duty of care constitutes the first of the three primary elements of tort (duty of care, breach and causation). Whilst there are many situations......

Economic Loss Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Not all foreseeable losses stemming from negligence are recoverable. Economic losses are treated in a significantly different manner......

Psychiatric Illness Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: In a similar manner to the way tort law treats economic loss, claims in tort for negligently caused psychiatric illness have their own set......

Nuisance and Rylands v Fletcher Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Just as tort law extends to cover more than personal injury, into property damage and economic harm, it has also developed a mechanism to deal......

Occupiers' Liability Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Just as a driver cannot drive haphazardly, and a surgeon must exercise care when operating, a person who is in control of land or property must......

Privacy Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Invasion of privacy is perhaps the oddest of all the torts for a singular reason: officially, it doesn't exist. Statements to this effect......

Tort Law Remedies Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Once a claimant's case has been successful, the court will decide on an appropriate remedy to apply. Remedies come in two primary forms: damages......

Trespass Lecture
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: Whilst the criminal law has developed its own framework to combat injurious actions against the individual, it concentrates on punishing......

Tort Law - Negligence
Tort Law Lectures
Introduction: The tort law negligence module contains 4 chapters: duty of care, economic loss, psychiatric illness, and breach of duty....

Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc
Case Summaries
Introduction: Mohamud had used a petrol station kiosk and approached a member of staff with a question. The employee responded in an aggressive manner and demanded that Mohamud leave immediately. ...

Cases on Mens Rea 2
Case Summaries
Introduction: Cases on Mens Rea 2. The defendant struck a blow with his belt at Horace Chapple which recoiled off him, severely injuring an innocent bystander. The defendant was convicted of maliciously wounding the victim......

McInerny v Lloyds Bank Ltd - 1974
Case Summaries
Introduction: The defendant bank made arrangements for one party’s (T) commercial credit to facilitate the purchase of companies belonging to another party (P). P was to take bills of exchange in instalments over six years to pay for the price of the purchase....

City of London Building Society v Flegg
Case Summaries
Introduction: Here, the Maxwell Browns purchased a property, attaining half of the cost form Mrs Maxell Brown’s parents, the Fleggs. The property was placed solely under the Maxwell Brown’s name with both the Browns and the Fleggs in actual occupancy....

Law of Property Act 1925
Act Summaries
Introduction: The main object of the 1925 legislation was, therefore, to “facilitate and cheapen the transfer of land”[1]. Of these statutes, the LPA 1925 primarily consolidates and reforms statutory law relating to conveyancing and the law of property, and is regarded as an “essential part of any conveyancer’s bible”...

Caunce v Caunce [1969]
Case Summaries
Introduction: A husband and wife both made contributions to the purchase price for a property intended to act as the matrimonial home. The property in question was unregistered land, and the husband received sole legal title....

Kingsnorth Finance Co Ltd v Tizard
Case Summaries
Introduction: A married couple jointly contributed to the purchase price for a property intended to serve as the matrimonial home with the husband taking sole legal title to the property at registration....

Presidential and Parliamentary forms of Governance
Essay: Administrative Law
Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the differences between the presidential and parliamentary systems of governance with a view to recommending a system for Ghana. The paper has been structured to focus on the separation of powers, the procedure of removal from office and the functions of legislative....

Holland v Hodgson
Case Summaries
Introduction: The considerations necessary to differentiate fixtures from chattels. The owner of a mill mortgaged the mill to the claimant. The owner also under the bankruptcy provisions relevant at the time transferred all of his property to a trustee, the defendant. ...

Agency by Necessity Law
Essay: Contract Law
Introduction: According to S142 Contract Act 1950, an agency may arise by necessity or in an emergency. Agency of necessity means a person may become the agent of another without being appointed as such under certain circumstances. ...

R v Inglis
Case Summaries
Introduction: Murder – Mercy killing as a mitigating factor for sentencing under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 Schedule 21. The appellant, Frances Inglis (F), was convicted of murdering her son Thomas (T). T was in a vegetative state due to serious head injuries....

Thorner v Major 2009
Case Summaries
Introduction: The claimant had worked on the defendant estate’s farm for over a decade without pay, believing that he would inherit the land when the defendant died. While the defendant once gave the claimant a bonus stating that it was for his ‘death duties’, he never explicitly told the claimant he would inherit...

Chambers v DPP - 2012
Case Summaries
Introduction: A 26-year-old man learned that an airport from which he was due to travel was closed due to heavy snow-fall. He responded on Twitter by tweeting: “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!”...

Doctrine of Consideration
Essay: Consideration Law
Introduction: As defined by Sir Frederick Pollock, consideration is an act or forbearance of one party, or the promise thereof, is the price for which the promise of the other is bought, and the promise thus given for value is enforceable....

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982
Act Summaries
Introduction: The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 is an Act that ensures that traders provide services to an adequate standard of workmanship and is applicable to contracts entered into before 1 October 2015, in the United Kingdom....

Consumer Rights Act 2015
Act Summaries
Introduction: The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the “CRA 2015”) is generally regarded as a significant piece of legislation in the area of consumer rights. The CRA 2015 received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015 and came into force on 1 October 2015....

The Human Rights Act 1998
Act Summaries
Introduction: In New Labour’s 1997 General Election Manifesto, Tony Blair proposed a radical programme of constitutional reform to ‘increase individual rights, decentralise power, open up government and reform Parliament....

Criminal Law Act 1977
Act Summaries
Introduction: The aim of the Criminal Law Act 1977 (“the Act”), which came into force on 8 September 1977, is to amend the law in England and Wales with regard to criminal conspiracy and replace the common law in that area....