Cases
Significant cases which helped to shape the law of England and Wales.
Donoghue v Stevenson
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 was a landmark House of Lords case which created the modern tort of negligence. It was in Donoghue that Lord Atkin conceived the neighbour principle, which defines when a duty of care is said to exist between parties. A duty of care is one of three conditions which needs …
Entick v Carrington
Entick v Carrington [1765] EWHC KB J98 was a landmark case which established limitations on the exercise of executive power. It was heard in the Court of King’s Bench.
Felthouse v Bindley
Felthouse v Bindley (1862) 142 ER 1037 was an important contract law case which established that silence does not amount to acceptance of the terms of a contract.
Fisher v Bell
Fisher v Bell [1961] 1 QB 394 was a landmark case in contract law concerning the circumstances under which a contractual offer is said to have been made. For a contract to be legally enforceable in English law, three conditions must be met: offer, acceptance, consideration and an intention to create legal relations. In Fisher, …
Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority
Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1986] AC 112 was a landmark House of Lords judicial review which established the Gillick competence test, used to determine if a child (aged under 16) can consent to medical treatment without parental permission. In his judgment, Lord Scarman said: […] I would hold that as …
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5, sometimes referred to as the Miller I case, was an important constitutional judicial review regarding whether the government had the power to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union without Parliament’s approval. In 2016, the British public had voted …
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Simms
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Simms [1999] UKHL 33 was a landmark judicial review heard by the House of Lords. The case concerned constitutional law, and parliamentary sovereignty in particular. Facts The case arose when two prisoners who were serving life sentences for murder were denied the right to …
Whiteley v Chappell
Whiteley v Chappell (1868) LR 4 QB 147 was a notorious criminal case in which a defendant who was accused of impersonating a dead man in order to vote was acquitted. The drafting of the statute – in this case, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1851 (14 & 15 Vict. c. 105.) – made it …