United Kingdom: Civil Law

Could the rise of generative AI lead to more regulatory complaints and increased pressure on disciplinary processes? This article examines Lord Briggs' warning of an AI-driven "tsunami" of civil claims and explores whether similar pressures are emerging in the regulatory sphere, where cost protections are largely absent.

The Court of Appeal recently addressed whether a judgment obtained through fraud can be set aside against a party that did not itself act fraudulently. In Estate of Euan McIntyre Lindsay & Anor v. Outlook Finance Ltd & Anor, the court examined circumstances where one party adopted and benefited from another's fraudulent case, establishing important principles about when fraud can be attributed across co-parties in litigation.

Following the Supreme Court's landmark AGNI ruling, the Court of Protection has issued its first comprehensive decision examining the new multifactorial approach to deprivation of liberty. The case of AR, a 25-year-old man with learning disability and autism living under extensive supervision and restrictions, tests the boundaries of what constitutes objective confinement under Article 5.

Failing to provide driver details after a speeding allegation carries six penalty points, double the typical three points for speeding itself. This separate offence can trigger licence revocation for new drivers or totting-up disqualification, making it potentially more damaging than the original speeding charge.

The Court of Appeal's recent decision in Thomas v. Nicholas provides critical guidance on how the locality principle operates within the tort of private nuisance under English law. This analysis examines the implications for real estate finance transactions, where a borrower's use of financed assets may be disrupted by neighbouring landowners or where the borrower's own activities create liability risks that affect asset value, liquidity, and lender security.

The UK Supreme Court has fundamentally shifted the landscape for contract termination claims, ruling that buyers who cancel due to seller breach may recover their full lost bargain—not just accrued losses—when termination clauses include compensation language. This landmark decision in Great Asia Maritime Ltd v Orion Shipping challenges decades of legal precedent and carries immediate implications for how commercial contracts are drafted and enforced.

The Court of Appeal has ruled on a novel derivative action brought by APP fraud victims against a payment services provider, finding no breach of the Quincecare duty. The decision reinforces high thresholds for appellate intervention while leaving critical questions unanswered about whether derivative actions can circumvent Supreme Court limitations on fraud claims and how Quincecare duties apply to electronic payments.

It is a truism in business administration that almost all business entities – right from the small sole trader through to the multinational corporation – need to devote considerable time to generating new business as well as effectively servicing existing client needs. Those elements work in tandem, to help grow the business and to then maintain that customer base.

The High Court's decision in Dekel v RE Capital Administrators Ltd examines two critical legal principles: the reflective loss doctrine that prevents shareholders from claiming losses that mirror company losses, and the interpretation of third-party rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.