R (Hand) -v- Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2014] EWHC 314 (Admin), 23 January 2014
Town and County Planning Act 1990 Section 171 B (3) states that enforcement action can be taken against the use of land in general within 10 years from the use commencing. However, use of a building as a dwellinghouse becomes immune from enforcement and, therefore, lawful after 4 years.
Slattery v Basildon BC [2014] EWCA Civ 30, 22 January 2014
Ms Slattery was one of the Irish Travellers who were evicted from the Dale Farm site. Thereafter she moved to a different part of the site where she continued to occupy the land in question unlawfully. She applied as a homeless person and was offered bricks and mortar accommodation which she refused.
R (Ward) v South Cambridgeshire DC, [2014] EWHC 521 (Admin), 4 February 2014
The local authority manages Gypsy and Traveller sites in South Cambridgeshire at Blackwell and Whaddon. Ms Ward is an Irish Traveller and the mother of six children. She currently lives in privately rented accommodation. She has been on the waiting list for a pitch on one of the two sites managed by the local authority since March 2010.
R (AB) – v – The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWHC 3453 (Admin) 7th November 2013
This was a deportation case but it contains an extremely important decision on the question of the applicability of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the UK Courts. The British and Polish Governments secured, at the negotiations on the Lisbon Treaty, an opt out from the incorporation of the Charter into their domestic law.
Leicester City Council – v – Shearer [2013] EWCA Civ 1467, 19th November 2013
This is not a Traveller case but is an important reminder that a judicial review challenge can be successful even in cases involving trespassers. The facts were quite complicated but, to simplify them somewhat, Mrs Shearer ended up living in the property that had been the tenancy of her husband. Her husband had committed suicide.
Zoumbas – v – Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] UKSC 74, Supreme Court 27th November 2013
This case involved an appeal against a refusal of asylum. Though Mr Zoumbas was unsuccessful in his appeal, the case provides an important reminder that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in any such decision. To read the Judgment, click here: Zoumbas -v- SSHD Judgment
R(J) -v- Worcestershire CC & ECHR [2013] EWHC 3845 (Admin)
The first paragraph of this judgment of Holman J is memorable:
Everyone loves a funfair. They are part of the tapestry of our national life.
Malik -v- Fassenfelt [2013] EWCA Civ 798, 3 July 2013
This case involved certain people who were squatting on a derelict piece of land owned by a private landowner as a protest against the proposal for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. The defendants attempted unsuccessfully to argue article 8 in their defence.
Stevens -v- SSCLG & Guildford Borough Council [2013] EWCH 792 (Admin) 10 April 2013
In this case Mr Justice Hickinbottom held that a planning inspector had complied with the requirement laid down by Article3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Article 8 of the Convention when dismissing an appeal against a local authority’s decision to refuse to grant temporary planning permission for a Gypsy site in the Green Belt.
Collins -v- Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Flyde Borough Council [2013] EWCA Civ 1193
The appellant in this case, an Irish Traveller, appealed under sections 288 & 289 of the Town and Country Planning Act (T&CPA) 1990 against a planning inspector’s refusal of planning permission for a site near Blackpool. The planning inspector’s refusal had been upheld by the SSCLG. The appeals were dismissed by Pelling J. The appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal.
On the site were 78 Travellers, including 39 children. One of the central issues in the case was the question of ‘the best interests of the children.’