Legal news

Poor Credit Reference Not Negligent or Defamatory 15/01/13

A property developer who claimed that she was ruined by a poor credit reference from her bank has lost her High Court claim for more than £3 million in damages. The court rejected her plea that the reference, which described the current account she held with her husband as ‘delinquent’, was defamatory...  read more »

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Mediation Clause Not Precise Enough to be Enforceable 15/01/13

In upholding the jurisdiction of arbitrators to resolve a commercial dispute, the High Court has ruled that a contractual clause that sought to require attempts at mediation and conciliation to be made prior to submission to formal arbitration was insufficiently precise to be enforceable. The...  read more »

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Cross-Wearing Worker Wins Human Rights Test Case 15/01/13

A devout Christian worker who was sent home without pay for wearing a cross in contravention of her employer’s uniform policy has won a landmark ruling that her human right to religious freedom was violated. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the domestic UK authorities had failed...  read more »

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Refusal to Consent to Termination of Loan Securitisations was Reasonable 15/01/13

Barclays Bank Plc. acted in a commercially reasonable manner when it refused to consent to the early termination of three synthetic securitisations of loan portfolios with a notional value of more than Euros20 billion entered into in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. In withholding consent, the...  read more »

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Court Sets Limits on Pensions Ombudsman’s Jurisdiction 15/01/13

The Pensions Ombudsman had no power to resolve a complaint relating to the winding up of a defined benefit occupational pension scheme where a foreign corporation over which he had no jurisdiction was a necessary party to the dispute, the High Court has ruled. After the scheme had fallen approximately...  read more »

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Volunteers Not Entitled to Discrimination Protection 15/01/13

Voluntary organisations will welcome a decision of the Supreme Court that volunteers do not fall within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010) or the EU Equal Treatment Framework Directive (X v Mid-Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau). X, a former...  read more »

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Wind Farms Receive Judicial Green Light 15/01/13

Plans for two new wind farms in the King's Lynn area have won the backing of the High Court - even after the government and local planning authority had conceded that the decision to give the go-ahead for them should be quashed. The court rejected a challenge by residents who say that wind turbines...  read more »

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Defrauded Investor Wins his Money Back 14/01/13

A businessman who invested US$250,000 in a new commercial venture on the basis of a fraudulent misrepresentation has been awarded his money back by the High Court. A statement made to encourage the investment had been knowingly false and the businessman was entitled to be put back in the same position...  read more »

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Court Resolves Maritime Contract Puzzle 14/01/13

In a decision of wide significance, a commercial judge has ruled that the satisfactory quality provisions contained within section 14(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 were not excluded by a contractual provision that a mercantile vessel was sold ‘as she was’ at the time the buyer inspected her. A...  read more »

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Discrimination Claim Trumps Diplomatic Immunity 14/01/13

A foreign embassy worker must pay more than £70,000 compensation to a former domestic employee after failing to defeat her discrimination claims on grounds of diplomatic immunity from suit. The role performed by the cleaner and child-minder did not fall under the aegis of her employer’s diplomatic...  read more »

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Race Discrimination Claim Was Not Too Late 12/01/13

An Employment Tribunal erred when it struck out an employee’s race discrimination claim on grounds that it had been lodged too late. In ruling that the claim was out of time, the tribunal had wrongly focused on a single incident and had not recognised that the complaint was one of continuing discrimination. The...  read more »

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Bulletins & ezines

Commercial Property Winter 2013 Bulletin 11/01/13

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Legal news

Court Rules on Consequences of ‘Shard’ Delays 11/01/13

A dispute between companies engaged in steelwork for Europe’s tallest building, the Shard, has been resolved by a High Court judge. A damages award of more than £800,000 to the main contractor in respect of delays and defects will be set off against more than £900,000 due to the sub-contractor. Cleveland...  read more »

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Marks & Spencer Store Gets High Court Green Light 11/01/13

The owner of a shopping centre in Scunthorpe has failed in a High Court challenge to plans for a retail park that will see Marks & Spencer return to the town. Arguments that the impact of the development on the vitality and viability of the town centre had not been given sufficient weight were rejected...  read more »

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London Bridge Station Development Can Proceed 08/01/13

Plans for renovation and substantial remodelling of London Bridge station, the final major component of the upgrade to the Thameslink line, have won the backing of the Court of Appeal. A challenge to the scheme brought by a local campaigner on behalf of the Bermondsey Village Action Group (BVAG) was...  read more »

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