Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Cotham School v Bristol CC: High Court on CRA 1965 s14 town green deregistration, single-appearance rule for councils, and inapplicability of Aarhus costs regime (England and Wales)

Published on: 27 February 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Local Government expert

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Cotham School v Bristol City Council and others [2024] EWHC 154 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

In relation to a public authority appearing twice in the same proceedings while exercising distinct functions, the court applied the principle in Hardie & Lane Ltd v Chiltern (Tort) [1928] 1 K.B. 663 and Allnutt v Wilding [2006] EWHC 1905 (Ch), [2006] BTC 8040 (unreported by LexisNexis®UK), [2006] 7 WLUK 723 (unreported by LexisNexis®UK). The court confirmed this rule extends across all civil litigation, including the present dispute, and covers situations where the same party appears more than once as claimant, as defendant, or on opposing sides of the record in the same action. As a matter of principle, it was not defensible to argue the rule is displaced because statutory authorities are separate legal persons, distinct from the elected councils that take and implement decisions in that capacity. The relevant legislation appointing local councils as various forms of authority to perform administrative functions did not provide them with additional legal personalities of their own. On the ambit of the Aarhus Convention, the court identified and clarified the line between a public authority and a member of the public. In...

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