Misfeasance in Public Office in UK Law
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Three Rivers District Council v Governor and Company of the Bank of England (No. 3)
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The rationale of the tort is that in a legal system based on the rule of law executive or administrative power "may be exercised only for the public good" and not for ulterior and improper purposes: Jones v. Swansea City Council [1990] 1 W.L.R. 54, 85F, per Nourse L.J.; a decision reversed on the facts but not on the law by the House of Lords: [1990] 1 W.L.R. 1453, at 1458.
This type of case involves bad faith in the sense of the exercise of public power for an improper or ulterior motive. The second form is where a public officer acts knowing that he has no power to do the act complained of and that the act will probably injure the plaintiff. It involves bad faith inasmuch as the public officer does not have an honest belief that his act is lawful.
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Elguzouli-Daf v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; McBrearty v Ministry of Defence
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Potentially such liability might attach to a decision of a CPS prosecutor. But, as the law stands, the plaintiff has to establish either that the holder of the public office maliciously acted to the plaintiff's detriment or that he acted knowing that he did not possess the relevant power.
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Bourgoin S.A. v Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
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If an act is done deliberately and with knowledge of its consequences, I do not think that actor can sensibly say that he did not "intend" the consequences or that the act was not "aimed" at the person who, it is known, will suffer them.
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Society of Lloyd's v Henderson and Others
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As to his second conclusion under this head, I have no doubt that, quite apart from any of the matters so far set out in this judgment, the attempt to introduce Misfeasance in Public Office into the case at this stage is an abuse of process. In paragraph 14 of his judgment Andrew Smith J explained how as early as 1997 leading counsel for the Names (including all of the UNO appellants) indicated that the pleading of Misfeasance in Public Office was under consideration.
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Watkins v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Others
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It was common ground that the issue now before the House had not been an issue for decision by the House in Three Rivers (No 3), since it was clear in that case that the Bank of England's conduct, if tortious at all, was alleged to be causative of financial loss. Thus while no criticism was directed to the definition of the tort given by the House in Three Rivers (No 3), it did not resolve the present appeal.
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Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police
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As to the first part, the respondent admitted negligence and false imprisonment and the judge accordingly gave judgment for the appellants on those claims as appropriate, with damages to be assessed. The respondent denied battery and misfeasance in public office. The judge struck out the claim for misfeasance in public office under CPR 3.4. She also gave summary judgment for the respondent under CPR 24 in respect of both the claim for battery and the claim for misfeasance in public office.
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Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
... ... Commission and the Serious Fraud Office; to make provision about invalid travel ... members of the public in the locality being harassed, alarmed or ... the tort of negligence or misfeasance in public office, ... ...
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Immigration Act 2016
... ... provision about language requirements for public sector workers; to make provision about fees for ... The Director is to hold office in accordance with the terms of his or her ... review or the tort of negligence or misfeasance in public office, arising out of anything done or ... ...
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The Waste Enforcement (England and Wales) Regulations 2018
... ... (b) (b) the tort of negligence or misfeasance in public office ... (2) Subsection (1) does ... ...
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Licensing and Registration of Clubs (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
... ... closure is necessary in the interests of public safety ... review, the tort of negligence or misfeasance in public office ... ...
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Banking regulation and the tort of misfeasance in public office: The difficulties in suing regulators Three Rivers District Council and others (1) Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA (in liquidation) (2) v Bank of England
The Plaintiffs were depositors who had lost monies in the collapse of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). BCCI itself was named as a Plaintiff since it was an assignee of the claims o...
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Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of the Bank of England
The factual background to this appeal was set out in Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 70–72 of the Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance and concerned the 1991 collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerc...... ... based upon the tort of misfea-sance in public office. The Plaintiffs were depositors in the UK ... essen-tial elements of the tort of misfeasance in public office were not present and thus the ... ...
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Three Rivers District Council v Governor and Company of Bank of England
The various pre‐trial stages of these complex proceedings have been discussed in previous issues of this Journal in Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 70–72, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 274–280, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 359–364 ...... ... of BCCI amounted to misfea-sance in public office and/or (2) that they had, under European ... the essential elements of the tort of misfeasance in public office (which by this stage is the only ... ...
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House of Lords rules on Bank of England immunity in respect of BCCI supervision Three Rivers District Council and others v Governor and Company of the Bank of England
The factual background to this House of Lords decision lies in the 1991 collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) Banking Group. The Appellants (who were the Appellants in th...... ... action alleged by the Appellants was misfeasance in public office. They argued that named senior ... ...
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Far-Reaching New Prosecution Powers For The FSA
... ... court held that the FSA can act as both a public and private prosecutor in relation to the same ... or worse, the crime and tort of misfeasance in public office. It may be safe to assume that ... ...
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Legal Advice Privilege - Has the House of Lords Calmed Troubled Waters?
... ... against the Bank of England for misfeasance in public office in respect of its supervision of ... ...
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Public Authority Liability Update - Summer 2011 - A Tale Of Two Strike Outs
... ... The claim was brought in negligence, misfeasance in public office and for a declaration of interference with the claimant's ... ...
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Threshold Test for Non-Party Disclosure
... ... Following the public ... inquiry into the collapse of BCCI by ... misfeasance in public office by officials of the Bank in ... ...