Value Added Tax ( 'VAT' ) is rarely an area of law which captures public attention. For most, it operates quietly in the background and is embedded in everyday transactions. Yet, from time to time, disputes arise which brings VAT squarely into both the legal and public spotlights; those disputes reveal how questions of classification, policy, and fairness sit beneath what might otherwise appear to be dry fiscal rules. The recent decision of the Court of Appeal of England and

In this article, I have selected 8 cases which all civil practitioners should be aware of, and break down their significance into bitesize chunks complete with analysis. Whilst making this list, I have opted to not select cases which are trite (although I do enjoy the likes of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company [1893] 1 QB 256 and Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223 , the latter of which y

Assisted dying and the right to die have been at the forefront of debate for decades. There have been many high profile legal cases challenges since the turn of the millennium including: Diane Pretty, Debbie Purdy, Tony Nicklinson and Noel Conway. It is, quite understandably, a highly emotive subject. Most recently, the debate has occurred before Parliament through the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ( ‘the Bill’ ) which was introduced by Kim Leadbeater MP. The Bill

One issue which can cause difficulties for parties to litigation, and indeed the Court, is when a piece of legislation drafted by Parliament is vague or does not cover a certain set of circumstances (whether that is because it was a novel point which has arisen out of unique facts or otherwise). In situations where a piece of legislation leaves a gap, questions arise as to how the Court is able to resolve such disputes and how to resolve the legal conundrum before it. One arg

What happens if the two Houses of Parliament are unable to agree on the terms of a Bill? This article explains whether it is possible for a party to block a Bill from becoming law.

Here is the third instalment of a mini-series of posts discussing what are, in my opinion, some of the most fundamental UK public law cases of all time. Today’s case is: Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service [1984] UKHL 9, simply known as “the GCHQ case”. The facts are as follows. In December 1983, the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher, decided that any and all employees of the GCHQ were prohibited from joining any trade union. This d

Our second case is Entick v Carrington [1765] EWHC KB J98, which is one of my favourite cases. It can be summed up in one line: “nobody is above the law”. The facts of this case are as follows. On 11 November 1762, the King’s Chief Messenger (Mr Carrington) was accompanied by three other King’s messengers. They were tasked with breaking into the home of Mr Entick (a writer) on the orders of the Secretary of State. The reason for the break in was because Mr Entick was suspecte

Newell Legal are delighted to announce that Jake's petition, whereby he seeks to challenge the relevance of The Vagrancy Act 1824, has...

Euthanasia has always been a contentious topic which attracts an array of opinions. It is also an emotionally charged topic. Newell Legal previously reported on assisted dying in August 2017 , providing a general background into the topic from a legal perspective. In that piece, Newell Legal referred to the current battle being fought to legalise euthanasia. There have been fresh developments in the case concerning Noel Conway, as well as recent controversy on this topic in B

This article explores a concept which is a substantive category of judicial review proceedings – ‘unreasonableness’. The ground received its name from the brilliant, landmark case of Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corp [1948] 1 K.B. 223. This ground is also known as ‘irrationality’. As a result the following are used synonymously throughout the article: “Wednesbury Unreasonableness”, “Unreasonableness” and “Irrationality” (irrationality was a term coin