On 15 November 2010, the Court of Appeal adjudicated a custody battle over two children conceived by artificial insemination by a lesbian couple using donated sperm (the case of T v T). In this unusual case, the sperm donor had parental responsibility for the children and applied for further access. In June 2010, a Court at first instance granted the father joint residency, which allowed him ... [Continue Reading]

According to the authors of both Clerk and Lindsell on Torts and Halsbury’s Laws of England, the tort of false imprisonment is committed whenever a person is unlawfully subjected to a total restraint of movement, no matter how short the period of restraint. Does that mean that if a claimant is restrained during the period of an assault, he can claim for damages for false imprisonment (and so... [Continue Reading]

Following Lord Young’s report, personal injury funding is likely to be reduced and, as a consequence, claims under the HRA against emergency services may become more frequent, according to Edward Bishop who recently spoke on the topic at the Personal Injury Bar Association Winter Conference. One advantage of the HRA is that, in contrast to the common law, which adopts different approac... [Continue Reading]

Maternity services are improving, however there is still more to be done with regards postnatal care, according to a survey by the Quality Care Commission. In December the Quality Care Commission released the results of its latest survey. More than half of all women in England who gave birth in February 2010 responded to the survey, of which 25,000 received maternity services from the 144 NHS Tru... [Continue Reading]

Jacobs v MIB [2010] EWCA Civ 1208   The appellant, (J) was a resident of the United Kingdom; he was injured when he was struck by a car driven by an uninsured driver in Spain. J appealed against a decision that the respondent Motor Insurers' Bureau (M) was obliged to pay him compensation in accordance with Spanish law.   J sought to recover compensation from M under the Motor Vehicl... [Continue Reading]

The Court of Appeal has recently attempted to bring some clarity to this area of the law which had become extremely complex.   The Historical Perspective The House of Lords in Horton -v- Sadler (2006) UKHL 27, overturned Walkley -v- Precision Forgings Ltd (1979) 1 W.L.R. 606, and held that s.33 of the Limitation Act 1980 gave a wide and unfettered discretion in relation to the second acti... [Continue Reading]

Since the new Part 36 regime came into force many parties continue to make old style offers which are specifically expressed to be open for 21 days.   Such offers conflict with the new provision that Part 36 offers can, broadly speaking, be accepted at any time until the trial has started (36.9(2)) unless they are withdrawn.   So how are litigants supposed to treat offers which say o... [Continue Reading]

In Morgan v Ministry of Justice [2010] EWHC 2248 QB the High Court has rejected an attempt to introduce Human Rights Act type duties into Fatal Accidents Act claims. The deceased claimant committed suicide whilst receiving treatment in the hospital wing of prison. The hospital wing was run by the NHS and not the Prison Service. The deceased’s estate brought a claim against the Prison Service... [Continue Reading]