Case Reports

The defendant company had passed off an alcoholic beverage under the brand name VODKAT as vodka in the absence of a clear description of the product. Furthermore, extended passing off was not limited to products perceived as being of superior quality as that would be contrary to the authorities and the principle underlying an action for extended passing off, namely the protection of goodwill.

There was justification for the difference in treatment between prisoners and non-prisoners who were detained in psychiatric hospitals as regards their entitlement to state welfare benefits, which arose from changes to the statutory scheme made by the Social Security (Hospital In-Patients) Regulations 2005.

Pension arrangements put in place for retired Gurkha soldiers following a review by the Ministry of Defence did not discriminate on grounds of age or nationality in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 Protocol 1 art.1 in combination with art.14, nor were they irrational. Further, in making the arrangements it had, the MoD had paid due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial groups, as required by the Race Relations Act 1976 s.71.

The failure of the Parole Board to provide a hearing to determine the continued detention of a prisoner serving a sentence of detention for public protection until over four months after his earliest release date gave rise to a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.5(4). The board had not acted with reasonable despatch and there was no explanation for that inaction and lack of case management.

It was not possible to prevent the revocation of a will pursuant to the Wills Act 1837 s.18B(3) where the testator had subsequently entered into a civil partnership, where the will merely contained a general statement that it was intended to survive a subsequent civil partnership, and it did not show that the testator was expecting to form a civil partnership, let alone with a particular person.

The fact that a newspaper columnist held strong and well-publicised views on issues such as law and order, knife crime and drugs did not mean that his service as foreman on a jury that convicted a drug dealer of a knife murder ruled the conviction unsafe. Juries comprised people with often strong views about the criminal justice system, and the only difference between the columnist and a juror about whom nothing was known was that he had expressed those views publicly.

A bank had not fulfilled its duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 s.21(2) in relation to a branch that could not be accessed by wheelchair users by providing services via the internet or telephone or at other branches. The relevant service that the bank provided was the provision of banking services at the branch in question.

The court construed a clause dealing with the distribution of assets in a security trust deed entered into by a structured investment vehicle.