Case Summaries
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Bannerman v White - 1861
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Affirms that where a representee expressly informs a representor of the significance of their representation to the contract, the representation is likely to be viewed as amounting to a contractually binding term....
Saunders v Vautier
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
A sole beneficiary’s right to terminate a trust prior to the date stipulated in the trust. A father left in his will stock in a company for his young son, to be held by a trustee for his son as the sole beneficiary until he turns twenty-five years of age....
R v Clinton - 2012
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
In the first case, Clinton killed his wife in their family home because of her sexual infidelity. He was convicted of murder and arson by the Crown Court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum specified term of 26 years....
R v Howe - 1987
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
In the first case, the two appellants, Howe and Bannister, and the victim were driven by M to an isolated area, where they assaulted the victim and M killed him. Similarly, the three jointly strangled another victim and a third victim managed to escape....
Gunthing v Lynn - 1831
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
The court held that the condition to pay $5 extra for the horse if it was lucky, was deemed to be too vague to create a binding contract between the parties. The words contained in an agreement must be clear so that the parties can be sure of the terms upon they are contracting....
Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers - 2004
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
The House of Lords held that the correct test to determine whether information was private was to consider whether a reasonable person of ordinary sensibility placed in the same situation as C would find the disclosure of the information offensive....
The Moorcock (1889)
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Ship damaged at defendant’s jetty; whether implied term to take reasonable care. Ship-owners contracted with the defendant wharfingers to discharge a ship at their jetty. The jetty extended into the River Thames where the ship must necessarily ground at low water. ...
Hall v Brooklands Auto-Racing Club
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
On the day in question two competing cars in a long distance race on this track were involved in a collision on the finishing straight, with one of the cars being flung into the air and over the kerb and railing, hitting a group of spectators and killing two of them....
R v Ireland - 1998
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Can silence suffice for a charge of assault and is psychiatric harm sufficient for ABH. The Defendant in this case consistently called three separate women over the course of three months....
Kent v Griffiths - 2000
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
The plaintiff, Kent, was pregnant and had asthma. She was attended by her GP who dialled 999 and requested an ambulance to take the plaintiff to hospital. The ambulance took 38 minutes to arrive....
Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson [2003] UKHL 62
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Contract – Hire-Purchase agreement – Title to goods. A car dealer sold a car to a fraudster, who produced a stolen license as his own. The dealer wrote out the hire-purchase contract in the name written on the license. ...
Tomlinson v Congleton Borough Council
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Congleton Borough Council had attempted to turn a disused quarry into a beauty spot and country park by turning the quarry into an artificial lake. The council prohibited swimming, recognising the lake to be dangerous for swimmers and had prominent signs prohibiting swimming, as well as park rangers who sought to prevent swimming. T...
Simpkins v Pays - 1955
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Intention to create legal relations in the formation of contracts in a domestic context..Ms. Simpkins was a paying boarder at Ms. Pays house, who lived with her granddaughter. Ms. Simpkins habitually entered into newspaper competitions....
Sim v Stretch - 1936
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Libel; telegram; words capable of defamatory meaning. The claimant had a housemaid for a limited period of time, who re-entered the service of the defendant. Upon the maid’s arrival, the defendant sent the following telegram to the claimant:...
St Helen's Smelting Co v Tipping - 1865
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
The claimant was the owner of a large country house with over a thousand acres of land. This land was close to a copper smelting factory which had long been in operation. The smelting factory discharged noxious gases as a result of its operation, which were considered to be a normal part of the smelting operation....
R v Couzens 2021
Example case summary. Last modified: 1st Oct 2021
Case summary and sentencing remarks from R v Couzens - the case concerns an off-duty police officer who committed the rape and murder of Sarah Everard....
Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall Pte Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The defendant, Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, were an online IT company that sold related software and hardware from Singapore. They were selling a HP laser printer and an employee accidently made a mistake as to the price of the printer on their website....
Glasgow Corporation v Taylor - 1922
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The father of a seven-year-old boy sued the Glasgow Corporation for damages following the death of his son who died as a result of eating berries from a poisonous plant that was growing in the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow....
Davis Contractors Ltd v Fareham Urban District Council
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The appellants tendered for a contract with the respondents to build 28 houses for 8 months. The tender was accompanied by a letter which stated that the tender was subject to adequate supplies of materials and labour when required to carry out the work within the time specified....
Redgrave v Hurd - 1881
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
Contract law – Misrepresentation – Specific performance. The plaintiff was a solicitor who constructed an advertisement titled ‘Law Partnership’ where he sought a successor who he would take as a Partner on the basis that the individual purchased the plaintiff’s property....
Chapelton v Barry Urban District Council - 1940
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
Hire of deck chair; effect of purported exclusion of liability on ticket. Chapelton wished to hire a deck chair and approached a pile of chairs owned by Barry Urban District Council (BUDC). ...
Leaf v International Galleries - 1950
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The plaintiff purchased a picture from the defendants who represented that it was painted by the artist, J. Constable. Five years later, the plaintiff tried to sell the painting at an auction house and was told it had not been painted by the artist he had been told previously....
R v Nedrick - 1986
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The defendant Nedrick held a grudge against a woman. In the middle of the night he drove to her house before pouring petrol through her letter box and igniting it. The defendant, without warning anyone in the house then drove home....
Smith v Baker - 1891
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The plaintiff was employed by a railway company to drill holes in a rock, near a crane, operated by men employed by the railway company. The crane lifted stones and at times swung them over the plaintiff’s head without warning. ...
Lefkowitz v Great Minneapolis Surplus Store
Example case summary. Last modified: 30th Sep 2021
The defendant placed an advertisement in the paper for the sale of fur, stating that it would be sold on a ‘first come first served’ basis. The claimant was the first to respond to the advertisement, but the defendant refused to sell on the basis that it was a ‘house rule’ to sell only to female customers....
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