Case Reports

A bird conservation charity has successfully challenged plans to develop four offshore wind farms in the Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the decisions by the Scottish Ministers to grant consent for the construction of the marine electricity generating proj

ed by a flood in her engine room. Her main engine was damaged beyond repair. The flood was caused by (i) the crew’s negligence in failing to close the sea inlet valve in the emergency fire pumps, (ii) damage to the pumps, (iii) the negligence of previous contractors who had failed to seal bulkhead

A man seeking damages from the estate of his late mother-in-law on the basis that she failed to honour an oral agreement that she would leave her house to him in her will has lost his legal bid after his brother-in-law won an appeal. Allowing the appeal by the woman’s son and executor, judges in t

A man who retained money given to him under a contract for an illegal purpose has had his appeal – that illegality prevents the operation of the unjust enrichment rules – dismissed by judges in the Supreme Court. Mr Patel gave Mr Mirza £620,000 to place bets on a bank’s share prices with the

An Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has stated in an Opinion that a general obligation to retain data imposed by a member state on providers of electronic communication services may be compatible with EU law but that it is imperative that that obligation be circu

The widow of a scuba diving enthusiast who was killed in an accident will not be able to pursue her claim for damages against the owners and operators of a vessel from which her late husband fell and drowned, after a judge ruled that her negligence claim was “time-barred”. The Court of Session h

A father who claimed that his daughter was “coached” to make false accusations that he sexually abused her has failed in his appeal against a sheriff’s decision to refuse his application for contact with his child. The sheriff had ruled that it was in the child’s “best interests” to refu

A homeowner has been refused leave to appeal against a decision of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission to dismiss his complaint against a legal firm as “totally without merit”. Refusing the application, a judge in the Court of Session said he was “unable to detect any error of law or irra

An action for damages for "loss of society" brought by the biological siblings of a person who was adopted into another family and later died has been dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the biological members of the family of a person who has been adopted have "no title to sue" fo

The Supreme Court has unanimously allowed a legal charity’s appeal against the Lord Chancellor to introduce a residence test for civil legal aid on the basis it is ultra vires. Following a hearing at which the court heard argument on the ultra vires issue and indicated that it did not need to hear

A solicitor responsible for a litany of failures has been found guilty of professional misconduct and struck off by the Scottish Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal. The Tribunal, having considered the amended Complaints at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against William M

The Secretary of State was not obligated, under the circumstances, to investigate the consequences of serving a foreign judgment on an Egyptian national. Mamdouh Ismail was the chairman of the board of a company whose ferry sank in the Red Sea in February 2006, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths. M

The beneficiary of a patent licence must pay the agreed royalty even if it does not infringe the patented technology, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled. Since the royalty constitutes the price to be paid in order to protect the licensee against any infringement proceedings

The sole director of a company which failed to provide adequate insurance for its employees was not personally liable in damages to the appellant who suffered an injury while working. By a majority of 3:2, the Supreme Court has today upheld the majority decision of the Inner House in a case brought

A Largs letting agent has become the first in Scotland to be sanctioned for breaching rules that secure the deposits of their tenants. The landmark ruling against Colvin Houston Ltd at Kilmarnock Sherriff Court – which was triggered by North Ayrshire Council’s Trading Standards team – could no