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Back on the right track

05 May 2011 / Lisa Carkeek
Issue: 7464 / Categories: Features , LexisPSL
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Reversing the Hastings-Bass rule, by Lisa Carkeek

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Pitt v Holt; Futter v Futter [2011] EWCA Civ 197, [2011] All ER (D) 101 (Mar) was handed down on 9 March 2011. The appeals, in the words of Longmore LJ “provide examples of that comparatively rare instance of the law taking a seriously wrong turn, of that wrong turn being not infrequently acted on over a twenty year period but this court being able to reverse that error and put the law back on the right course”. The court considered two key principles: the Hastings-Bass rule and the principle of mistake. 

The Hastings-Bass rule

The principle laid down in Re Hastings-Bass [1974] 2 All ER 193, [1974] 2 WLR 904 was that: “… where a trustee is given a discretion as to some matter under which he acts in good faith, the court should not interfere with his action notwithstanding that it does not have the full effect which he intended, unless (i) what he has achieved

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

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Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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