My analysis on Court of Appeal decision in Re Charterhouse Capital Limited; Arbuthnott v Bonnyman [2015] EWCA Civ 536 :
http://www.luptonfawcett.com/blog/unfair-prejudice-and-drag-along/
appeal
Supreme Court gives M&S permission to appeal
Break clause lease dispute: wider implications
In a long running saga, the Supreme Court has recently given Marks and Spencer permission to appeal a decision of the Court of Appeal[i]. The dispute relates to a lease between the parties which was terminated early under a break provision. There were earlier conflicting decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal as to whether M&S were entitled to a refund from their Landlord. The case is likely to have wider importance in view of differing legal interpretations on the importance of “necessity” in relation to terms that should be implied into a contract.
This extends beyond Landlord and Tenant law, and may touch any commercial or other contract. The Supreme Court (formerly the House of Lords) deals only with cases which:
“raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the Supreme Court at that time, bearing in mind that the matter will already have been the subject of judicial decision and may have already been reviewed on appeal”
Background
In May 2014 the Court of Appeal held that M&S had no express right to a refund on the exercise of the break clause: any intention should have been set out in express terms if there was to be a refund. No such right could be implied into the contract without express provisions. M&S lost out on their claim for a refund of rent, insurance and car parking charges for the period after the break date. Before M&S could activate the break clause, they were obliged to pay the full quarter’s rent in advance.
The High Court had previously decided that because the break conditions required payment of a penalty by M&S, the parties could not have intended that the Landlord would be entitled to retain the excess rent in addition. Accordingly, the High Court found that there should be an implied term that the excess rent was in fact repayable. This was rejected by the Court of Appeal.
Issue
The Court of Appeal followed the previous leading case, Attorney General of Belize v. Belize Telecom [2009] UKPC 10. The Privy Council found the test to decide whether a term should be implied as a fact (as opposed to law) into a contract was broadly:
“Is that what the instrument, read as a whole against the relevant background, reasonably be understood to mean?”
So, in order to be implied, a term must be necessary to achieve the express intention of the parties in the context of the admissible background. The importance of the decision in early 2009 is clear from the fact that it was cited in eight other cases that year.
Next step
The Supreme Court is likely to be considering the extent of inconsistency as to interpretation of the word “necessary” across the board, and the meaning of the word itself in the context of the case. That the Supreme Court has granted permission to appeal suggests that it may be reviewing break conditions in particular, or undertaking a wider analysis of how terms are implied into leases and commercial contracts more generally in order to achieve a just outcome.
No date has yet been fixed for the appeal before the Supreme Court.
Implications
Although the decision will be awaited with interest, this is a timely reminder that, so as to avoid uncertainty and ambiguity, parties should
- expressly set out their commercial intentions in the written contract
- consider the likely outcome of events that are described in the contract or are otherwise predictable, and whether these are sufficiently provided for in the contract
- obviously, leaving matters to chance and calling on the Court to intervene and imply terms much later leads to uncertainty and avoidable expense.
[i] Citation:
Marks and Spencer plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Company (Jersey) Limited and another [2014] EWCA Civ 603
More Noise: Loser pays on CFA’s?
Coventry v Lawrence (Part 2)
A Supreme Court case I commented on recently, elsewhere described as “…an important judgment on the principles of private nuisance for the 21st century…”[i] now has wider ramifications for legal costs in CFA cases. In the supplemental judgment of 23 July, Coventry v Lawrence [2014] UKSC 46[ii] a five member Supreme Court panel decided on the grant of an injunction and damages in a private nuisance case brought by a house owner against operators of a speedway stadium.
One of the remaining issues was whether the injunction for nuisance should be suspended until the house was again habitable, following fire damage. Damages were thought likely to be even more of an adequate remedy in the meantime.
However, the pronouncements on CFA costs have assumed far greater importance than on this case alone. The house owner had been awarded 60% of his costs to be paid by the operators, including base costs, success fee and after the event costs insurance (AEI). On a detailed analysis of the figures, Lord Neuberger said
the figures are very disturbing
The base costs were £398,000, success fee £319,000 and AEI £350,000 (total £1,067,000). This was “regrettable” in the context of the house being worth a maximum of £300,000, and the nuisance reducing this by £74,000 at most. The operator’s liability to pay the householder’s costs would leap from £238,000 (60% of basic costs only) to £640,200, being 60% of all three elements, based solely on how the householder had chosen to fund their case.
It had been thought that satellite litigation on costs or CFAs and AEIs at least had subsided, following Callery v Gray [2002] 1 WLR 2000, where the House of Lords decided that, subject to reasonableness, success fees and ATE premiums were recoverable. In Campbell v MGN Ltd (No 2) [2005] 1 WLR 3394, the House of Lords held that the 1999 Act[iii] costs recovery regime did not infringe Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) (freedom of expression).
However, the operators argued that following the Strasbourg Court in MGN Limited v United Kingdom (2011) 53 EHRR 5 and Dombo Beheer BV v Netherlands (1994) 18 EHRR 213, Article 6 (right to a fair trial) would be infringed if the court required them to pay 60% of the success fee and the ATE premium.
In MGN v UK at para 217, the Strasbourg Court said that “…the depth and nature of the flaws in the system…” introduced by the 1999 Act and the provisions of the CPR were “…such that the Court can conclude that [it] exceeded even the broad margin of appreciation to be accorded to the State in respect of general measures pursuing social and economic interests…”.
As to Article 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention (“A1P1”), the operators rely on the reasoning of the Strasbourg court in James v United Kingdom (1986) 8 EHRR 123.
Faced with these contentions and giving the lead judgment, Lord Neuberger held that it is
open for argument
whether the home owner’s costs claims (success fee and AEI) are a breach of the operator’s entitlement to a fair trial under Article 6 ECHR and/or A1P1. The Supreme Court ruled that if the operator wishes to pursue that argument, it would be wrong for it to decide the point without representations from the Government and other interested parties as interveners. These would include the Attorney-General and the Secretary of State for Justice, and any other intervener sanctioned by the Court.
Comment
Following the Jackson Reforms, the success fee and AEI would no longer be recoverable in cases where such arrangements were entered in to after April 2013. However, in the instant case (and a vast number of cases continuing through the Courts under the “old” fee regime), until now such success fee and AEI have been regarded as entirely valid and enforceable against the losing side.
A number of questions arise, including whether, if the court considered that there was an infringement of the operator’s rights this ought to be recognised by a declaration of incompatibility. However, the forum for this decision has yet to be resolved, whether this should be again at the Supreme Court, or as stated in Callery v Gray at the Court of Appeal, being “…the primary supervisory and judicial policy-making functions in connection with case-management, procedural and costs issues…” with greater experience on matters concerning costs.
Further affected by this renewed doubt however, are litigants in ongoing cases subject to the old costs regime, where the funding, CFAs, retainers and AEI premiums will now be questioned, to say nothing of all previous cases decided (or settled) on the assumption by the courts that the old regime did not offend against ECHR. If there is a declaration of incompatibility, this could lead to a deluge of compensation claims against the UK Government.
[i] (Planning permission no defence to private nuisance claim) http://wp.me/p4DFLr-c
[ii] http://supremecourt.uk/decided-cases/docs/UKSC_2012_0076_Judgment.pdf
[iii] Legal Services Act 1990 Part II, Access to Justice Act 1999
Court of Appeal Decision: Assessing Damages on a Freezing Order Cross-Undertaking
The Court of Appeal has for the first time given guidance on how damages are to be awarded on a cross-undertaking in damages on a freezing order. This clarifies recent uncertainty on the principles in first instance decisions.
Whenever the Court makes an interim order pending trial, such as a freezing order, search order or injunction, invariably the Court requires an undertaking from the Claimant. This “cross-undertaking” makes the Claimant pay damages to the Defendant if it is later decided that the Claimant should not have been granted the interim order.
The Court of Appeal has reiterated the analogy of contractual principles that should apply to assessment of damages under a cross-undertaking. That is with the proviso that there is in reality no contract and there has to be room for exceptions.
In Abbey Forwarding Ltd (in liquidation) and another v Hone and others (No 3) [2014] EWCA Civ 711; [2014] WLR (D) 236 giving the lead judgment of the Court of Appeal, McCombe LJ held
‘When determining questions of compensation for loss arising as a result of a freezing order and the undertaking in damages therein, the correct approach was that the remote consequences of obtaining an injunction were not to be taken into account in assessing damages but that logical and sensible adjustments might well be required simply because the court was not awarding damages for breach of contract but was compensating for loss caused by the injunction which was wrongly granted.’
This was the correct approach where a Defendant who is the victim of an unfair injunction should be compensated for their loss. However, a Claimant should not be fixed with liabilities that no reasonable person could have foreseen, unless the Claimant knew or ought to have known of other circumstances that were likely to give rise to that type of loss.
Terms such as “common law damages” and “equitable compensation” did not assist.
The aggreived Defendants contended that they had been successful entrepreneurs with a track record of commercial and investment success which had been impeded for some 20 months because of the wrongful freezing order. On appeal it was confirmed that whilst principles of remoteness of damage in contract ought to apply in the circumstances, there should be flexibility so as to allow logical and sensible adjustments. This was because the Court was not awarding damages for breach of contract, but was compensating for loss caused by the injunction.
Vos LJ added that general damages could also be included within the cross-undertaking in some cases where appropiate, for stress, loss of reputation and general loss of business opportunities and disruption caused by inappropriate policing of the injunction.
j paul sykes 