This page lists legal decisions of the House of Lords. Until 30 September 2009, the House of Lords was the highest appellate court for the United Kingdom. Cases were determined not by the House of Lords itself, but by its Judicial Committee, consisting of up to nine legally qualified peers, generally referred to as "Law Lords". On 1 October 2009 its functions were transferred to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
For a complete list of all legal cases heard by the House of Lords, see List of United Kingdom House of Lords cases.
| Case | Date | OSCOLA Citation | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donaldson v Beckett | 1774 | 1 E.R. 837 | Copyright could not be a right in perpetuity |
| Steel v Houghton | 1788 | 126 ER 32 | Establishes the nature of property which imports absolute enjoyment’ |
| Wright v Tatham | 1838 | 132 E.R. 877 | Hearsay |
| Dimes v Grand Junction Canal | 1852 | 3 HLC 759 | A judge with a financial interest in one of the parties to a case is debarred from deciding a case involving that party; applying the principle "Nobody should be a judge in their own cause". |
| Rylands v Fletcher | 1868 | LR 3 H.L. 330 | Liability could attach in tort for escape of materials from land |
| Hughes v Metropolitan Railway Co. | 1877 | 2 A.C. 439 | The first example of promissory estoppel being applied, although to delay rather than extinguish common-law rights. |
| Foakes v Beer | 1884 | L.R. 9 A.C. 605 | Part-payment of a debt, in the absence of consideration, will not extinguish the debt. |
| Wakelin v London & South Western Railway Co. | 1886 | 12 A.C. 41, 56 L.J.Q.B. 229 (H.L.) | A defendant's negligence must be causative of, rather than incidental to, damage to the plaintiff. |
| Derry v Peek | 1889 | 14 A.C. 337, 58 L.J. Ch. 864, 61 L.T. 265 (H.L.) | There exists no general duty to use care and skill in issuing a prospectus for a business venture |
| Browne v Dunn | 1893 | 6 R. 67 (H.L.) | An advocate must raise in Cross examination issues that are in dispute otherwise reliance on those issues will be prohibited. |
| Reddaway v Banham | 1896 | A.C. 199 | Passing off |
| Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd | 1897 | A.C. 22 | Recognized a corporation as a separate entity. |
| Walter v Lane | 1900 | A.C. 539 H.L. | Fixation by journalist creates copyright by publisher. |
| Heilbut, Symons & Co. v Buckleton | 1913 | A.C. 30 | Innocent misrepresentation in contract gives no right to damages. |
| Lennard's Carrying Co Ltd v Asiatic Petroleum Co Ltd | 1915 | A.C. 705 | Alter-ego theory of corporate liability, establishing that directors are the controlling minds of the company and therefore the company is liable for their misdeeds. |
| Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre v Selfridge and Co. Ltd. | 1915 | A.C. 847 | Privity in contract law |
| Herd v Weardale Steel Coal & Coke Ltd. | 1915 | A.C. 67, 84 L.J.K.B. 121 (H.L.) | Unlawful imprisonment |
| Adam v Ward | 1917 | All E.R. 151 | Definition of qualified privilege |
| Donoghue v Stevenson | 1932 | A.C. 532 | Lord Atkin's famous statement about duty of care in the tort of negligence. |
| Bell v Lever Brothers | 1932 | A.C. 161 | Mutual mistake at common law |
| Hillas v Arcos | 1932 | All E.R. 494 | The court may imply terms into a contract based on the previous business dealings of the parties. |
| Woolmington v DPP | 1935 | A.C. 462 H.L.(E) | It is always incumbent on the prosecution in a criminal case to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. |
| Fibrosa Spolka Akcyjna v Fairbairn Lawson Combe Barbour | 1942 | 2 All E.R. 122, 1943 A.C. 32 | Frustration in contract law |
| Hay v Young | 1943 | A.C. 92 | Nervous shock |
| Bolton v Stone | 1951 | A.C. 850, 1 All E.R. 1078 (H.L.) | Breach of duty of care. |
| Silkin v Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd. | 1958 | 1 W.L.R. 743 | Freedom of speech. |
| Cavanagh v Ulster Weaving Co. Ltd. | 1960 | A.C. 1959 2 All E.R. (H.L.) | |
| Scruttons Ltd v Midland Silicones Ltd | 1961 | 2 Lloyd's Rep. 365 (H.L.) | |
| White & Carter (Councils) Ltd. v McGregor | 1961 | All E.R. 1178 | |
| Hughes v Lord Advocate | 1963 | All E.R. 705 (H.L.) | Manner of occurrence in tort of negligence (remoteness). |
| Hedley Byrne v Heller | 1963 | 2 All E.R. 575 | Economic compensation in tort. |
| Ridge v Baldwin | 1964 | A.C. 40 | Judicial review, natural justice and fair hearing. |
| Practice Statement | 1966 | Change of practise regarding precedent, allowing the House of Lords to overrule its own previous decisions in exceptional circumstances. | |
| Suisse Atlantique case | 1966 | 2 All E.R. 61 | |
| Regal (Hastings) v Gulliver | 1967 | 2 A.C. 134 | |
| Anisminic v Foreign Compensation Commission | 1969 | 2 A.C. 147 | Judicial review, error of law |
| Home Office v Dorset Yacht Co. | 1970 | 2 All E.R. 294 | Tort, duty of care |
| Saunders v Anglia Building Society | 1971 | A.C. 1004 | Importance of signature. |
| Tesco Supermarkets v Nattrass | 1972 | A.C. 153 | Directing mind of corporation. |
| McGhee v National Coal Board | 1972 | 3 All E.R. 1008 (H.L.) | Causation in tort. |
| Haughton v Smith | 1975; 1973; 1974 | AC 476; 3 All ER 1109; 3 W.L.R. | Attempted crimes, subsequently overturned by Criminal Attempts Act 1981 |
| American Cyanamid Co. v Ethicon Ltd. | 1975 | A.C. 396 H.L.(E) | |
| Miliangos v George Frank Ltd | 1976 | A.C. 443 | UK courts were entitled to make awards of damages specified in foreign currency. |
| Anns v Merton London Borough Council | 1978; 1977 | A.C. 728; 2 All E.R. (H.L.) | Compensation of economic loss caused by negligence; overruled by Murphy v Brentwood District Council. |
| Securicor Transport Ltd. v Photo Production Ltd. | 1980 | 2 W.L.R. 283 | |
| Ramsay v IRC | 1982 A.C. 300 | ||
| Catnic Components Ltd. v Hill & Smith Ltd. | 1982 | R.P.C. 183 | |
| Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl und Stahlwarenhandelsgesellschaft mbH | 1983 | 2 A.C. 34 | Contract law, instantaneous communication, approving Entores v Miles Far East Co. |
| Amin Rasheed Shipping Corp. v Kuwait Insurance Co. | 1984 | 1 App Cas 50 | |
| Furniss v Dawson | 1984 | A.C. 474 | |
| Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex Ltd | 1987 | A.C. 460 | |
| Caparo Industries Plc. v Dickman | 1990 | Pure economic loss in tort. | |
| Attorney-General v Guardian Newspapers Ltd. (No. 2) | 1990 | 1 AC 109 | "Everybody is free to do anything, subject only to the provisions of the law". |
| Copac v Wright | 1991 | ||
| R v Brown | 1993 | 2 W.L.R. 556 | Sadomasochism and consent in criminal law. |
| Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd. | 1999 | Freedom of expression and defamation. | |
| White v White | 2000 | ||
| Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd | 2002 | UKHL 22 | Exposure to asbestos; multiple tortfeasors. |
| Campbell v MGN Ltd. | 2004 | ||
| Regina v Special Adjudicator | 2004 | UKHL 26 | |
| Kirin-Amgen v Hoechst Marion Roussel | 2004 | UKHL 46 | |
| A and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department | 2005 | Imprisonment without trial for terrorism suspects | |
| R v Jones | 2006 | UKHL 16 | Iraq war; international law |
| Barker v Corus | 2006 | UKHL 20 | Exposure to asbestos; "proportionate liability" of multiple tortfeasors |
| A v Hoare | 2008 | UKHL 6 | Tort law; limitation period of personal injuries claims; Limitation Act 1980. |
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“Religious literature has eminent examples, and if we run over our private list of poets, critics, philanthropists and philosophers, we shall find them infected with this dropsy and elephantiasis, which we ought to have tapped.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. The Seminole Indians surrendered to the Tamiami Trail. From the Everglades the remnants of this race emerged, soon after the trail was built, to set up their palm-thatched villages along the road and to hoist tribal flags as a lure to passing motorists.”
—For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Toil and pleasure, dissimilar in nature, are nevertheless united by a certain natural bond.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 24:7,8.
“Somewhere between the overly intrusive parent and the parent who forgets about us after we’re out of the house is the ideally empathetic parent who recognizes the relativity of choice, the errors of his or her own way, and our need to find our own way and who can stay with us at a respectful distance while we do it.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)
“The twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Twelve lords a-leaping.”
—Unknown. The Twelve Days of Christmas (l. 89–91)
“I want in all cases to do right.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)