CASE SUMMARIES: 15 MAY 1995

The following notes of cases were prepared by reporters of the All England Law Reports.

Carriage by air

Antwerp United Diamonds BVBA & anr v Air Europe (a firm); CA (Butler- Sloss, Hirst, Otton LJJ) 22 March 1995.

The owners of a consignment of diamonds could recover more than the amount specified in a special declaration of interest made by them in accordance with art 22(2)(a) of the Warsaw Convention, as amended by the Hague Protocol 1955, given force of law in England under the Carriage by Air Act 1961, where, upon proof of extreme misconduct by the carrier or its servants or agents within art 25, the limits of liability specified by art 22(2)(a) did not to apply.

Children

Re M (minors: grandparental contact); CA (Butler-Sloss, Simon Brown, Ward LJJ) 30 March 1995.

Grandparents were not accorded the same right, under s34 of the Children Act 1989, as parents and others who had had parental responsibility for children immediately before they were taken into care, to apply for contact orders but had to obtain leave before making such an application. In deciding whether to grant leave, the court must consider the nature of the contact, the connection between the applicant and the child, any risk of disruption raised by the application and the wishes of the parents and local authority.

Jane Hoyal (Bernard Pearce & Co, Enfield) for the grandmother; John Reddish (Patricia Adley, Enfield) for the council.

Finance

South & District Finance plc v Barnes & other appeals; CA (Leggatt, Roch, Aldous LJJ) 23 March 1995.

In a creditor's action to recover possession of property on which a regulated loan agreement had been secured, the court's power to consider an order giving the debtor time to make reasonable amounts of payment was related to the total indebtedness secured by the charge on the property. If a time order was made, amendments to the rate of interest and/or term of the loan were inevitable.

Michael Beloff QC, Jan Luba (Batchelors, Bedford); Jan Luba (Lancashire Free Legal Action Centre, Blackpool; Bobbetts Macken, Bristol) for the borrowers; Anthony Scrivener QC, Jonathan Seitler (Graham Harvey) for Southern & District Finance; Peter Wulwik (Michael R Jaye & Co; Brand Montague) for J & J Securities and Equity Home Loans.

Insurance

R v Aworinde; CA (Cr Div) (Hutchinson LJ, Tucker, Holland JJ) 14 March 1995.

Bogus insurance certificate forms, albeit uncompleted, could constitute a document covered by s173(1)(c) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, because they might be likely to deceive anyone seeking insurance cover for his or her car.

Paul Crampin (Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for the appellant; Lydia Barnfather (CPS) for the Crown.

Names

Koenigsberger v Mellor (Insp of Taxes); CA (Leggatt, Simon Brown, Ward LJJ); 17 March 1995.

An external name at Lloyd's was not entitled to retirement annuity relief under the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988, s619(1) in respect of his underwriting profits. Although the Lloyd's income was immediately derived from the trade of underwriting within s619, the taxpayer was not carrying on a trade. The business was exclusively carried on by his agents and the heads of the syndicates of which he was a member.

Leolin Price QC (Rosenbergs) for the taxpayer; Timothy Brennan (Inland Revenue) for the Crown.

Tenancy

Basingstoke & Deane BC v Paice; CA (Stuart-Smith, Waite, Millett LJJ); 17 March 1995.

Where the tenant of a dwelling house forming part of larger premises, let by the council to an intermediate lessee on a business tenancy, became, on the surrender by the intermediate lessee of the mesne tenancy to the council, the direct tenant of the council, he was entitled to have his tenancy treated as a secure tenancy under the Housing Act 1985.

Keith Wylie (Doggett Hawke Wright, Basingstoke) for the tenant; Jeffrey Widdup (MD Sullivan-Gould, Basingstoke) for the council.