The Charity Commission for England and Wales v Framjee & ors [2014] EWHC 2507 (Ch)

November 2014 #144

The Dove Trust (the trust) was established by a declaration of trust dated 16 June 1983 for such charitable purposes as the trustees should in their discretion from time to time think fit. It was subsequently registered as a charity.

In 2004 a website for charitable giving called www.charitygiving.co.uk (the website) was established for the purpose of facilitating members of the public to make donations to the trust for the benefit of other charities or good causes of their choice. Donations which were charitable could then be augmented by gift aid, which the trust would claim sub...

Marley v Rawlings & anr [2014] WTLR 1511

November 2014 #144

Mr Rawlings (the deceased) and his wife Mrs Rawlings made mirror wills in 1999. Mrs Rawlings died in 2003 and her estate passed to her husband. However, upon the death of Mr Rawlings in 2006, it became apparent that the solicitor involved in the preparation of the wills had accidentally presented Mr and Mrs Rawlings with, and each had signed, the will intended for the other. The validity of the will was subsequently challenged by the deceased’s two sons, who were not entitled under the will but stood to inherit his £70,000 estate under the rules of intestacy. The Supreme Court held that ...

Novoship (UK) Limited & ors v Nikitin & ors [2014] EWCA Civ 908

November 2014 #144

Mr Mikhaylyuk (M), a manager for the first respondent, NOUK, with responsibility for negotiating the charters of vessels owned by companies within the Novoship group, the remaining respondents, owed fiduciary duties to all the respondents. M had arranged a series of schemes by which he defrauded his principals and enriched himself and others by the payment of bribes given to him by those who chartered his principals’ vessels. These schemes included one concerning vessels chartered to companies owned and controlled by Mr Ruperti (R) which R then sub-chartered at substantially higher rates...

Patel v Mirza [2014] EWCA Civ 1047

November 2014 #144

The appellant was a property dealer and the respondent was a foreign exchange broker, who had a personal spread-betting account with IG Index. In August 2009, a third party informed the appellant of a deal offered by the respondent that involved a bet on the movement in the value of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The defendant claimed to know people who sat in on meetings between the heads of RBS and officials from the government, and it was expected the Chancellor would make a public statement which would have an effect on the share price of RBS. Following an initial telephone ...

Quaintance v Tandan [2012] EWHC 4416 (Ch)

November 2014 #144

Mr Quaintance (the defendant) appealed against the decision of HHJ Ellis granted on 24 May 2012. The original decision had been made in a contested application made by Miss Tandan (the claimant) under the Trusts of Land and Trustees Act 1996 for a determination of shares in a property (the property). The outcome of the decision was that the net proceeds of sale following the discharge of the mortgage currently being held by the mortgagee should all be paid to the claimant. Half of these had been paid to the claimant following the decision. The defendant appealed in respect of th...

Setchim & anr v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs & Ors [2014] EWHC 2218 (Ch)

November 2014 #144

The Commonwealth Institute (CIC) (a charitable company limited by guarantee) was placed in members’ voluntary winding-up on 19 July 2007. The CIC had a complex history which dated back to 1887. In the 1950s HM Government (HMG) proposed that the predecessors to the CIC trustees should surrender their lease of their premises in South Kensington (the Kensington building) and move to a new premises at Holland Park. The predecessors of CIC were in receipt of rent and benefited from free utilities (the associated entitlements) under the terms of a sub-lease of the Kensington building. Th...

ZYN, R (on the application of) v Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council [2014] EWHC 1918

November 2014 #144

ZYN was seriously disabled and was reliant on community care services, part of which was provided by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (the council). She had substantial capital assets, amounting to around £550,000 deriving from compensation paid in settlement of a personal injury claim. This case concerned the statutory exceptions to the general government policy that those with assets are required to contribute to the cost of services to the cost of services they receive from a local authority.

The council had sought to charge ZYN for the full cost of social care services whi...