Summary A paradigm situation in which the court, exercising its jurisdiction under the Arbitration Act 1996 s.103(5), had to reconsider its earlier decision to adjourn the decision on enforcement of an arbitration award was where there had been a significant relevant development in the proceedings before the supervisory court. Facts The...

Summary An allegation of wilful wrongdoing by trustees was not arguable where they had heeded the legal advice given by their counsel and solicitor. Facts The appellant trustees (B) appealed against a decision ((2007) EWHC 1859 (Ch), (2007-08) 10 ITELR 329) striking out their claim for breach of trust against the respondents (F) who...

Summary Cases involving an inequality of arms did not call for some different or more rigorous test to be applied on applications for strike-out or summary judgment under CPR r.3.4(2) or CPR r.24.2 than those that were already the subject of substantial, consistent and well-settled authority. Facts The applicant twelfth...

Summary Although the tending and letting of fields to graziers constituted a business, it was one which consisted wholly or mainly of the holding of an investment and so the land was not a relevant business property for the purposes of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 s.105. Facts The appellant personal...

Summary The substitution of one obligor for another in relation to a particular contractual obligation could take place only by novation, but it did not necessarily follow that where a particular obligation was novated by substitution of one obligor for another, the conclusion had to be that a large and...

Summary The conservators of Wimbledon and Putney commons had power under the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act 1871 to grant an easement over an access way on the commons. Facts The appellants (H) appealed against a decision dismissing their application to register an easement over an access way on Wimbledon common....

Summary A party who agreed to mediation but then took an unreasonable position in the mediation was in the same position as a party who unreasonably refused to mediate. Where the claimants had won on liability and had recovered substantial damages, but the defendants succeeded in cutting down the sum...

Summary Permission to continue with a derivative action under the Companies Act 2006 s.261 was refused where a notional director was unlikely to attach much importance to the claim and the alleged damage was speculative. Facts The applicant former executive directors (S) sought permission to continue a derivative claim against the...

Summary The fact that a vendor of a property had not proved any loss where the purchaser had failed to complete could not, on its own, amount to a sufficient ground for ordering the return of a deposit under the Law of Property Act 1925 s.49(2), but the economic impact on...