Gregory v Portsmouth City Council
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 05 November 1997 |
| Date | 05 November 1997 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Simon Brown, Lord Justice Schiemann and Lord Justice Robert Walker
Tort - malicious prosecution - limit to categories - disciplinary procedures of local authority not included
The tort of malicious prosecution probably did not extend beyond the already established categories of most but not all criminal proceedings and civil insolvency proceedings, and it definitely did not include disciplinary proceedings instituted by a local authority against one of its councillors.
The Court of Appeal so stated by a majority (Lord Justice Schiemann dissenting) dismissing an appeal by the plaintiff, Terence Raymond Gregory, from the decision of Mr Justice Tudor Evans dated May 27, 1993 striking out his claim for damages for malicious prosecution against the defendants, Portsmouth City Council.
In 1983 the plaintiff was elected a Conservative member of Portsmouth City Council. In 1988 the administrative subcommittee of the council's policy and resources committee investigated allegations that the plaintiff, among other councillors, had acted in breach of the previous National Code of Local Government Conduct (DoE Circular 94/75) (now annexed to DoE Circular 8/90 issued under section 31(1) of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989), including an allegation that the plaintiff and two other councillors had abused their positions as councillors by using inside knowledge to buy property cheaply and then to sell it at a profit.
The subcommittee found some of the allegations to be proved and recommended that the plaintiff be removed from the various committees of which he was a member. The council then appointed a special committee to approve, reject, vary or amend the recommendations of the subcommittee.
The special committee found a number of breaches of the code proved and ordered that the plaintiff be removed from all his council offices and the committees of which he was a member.
On the plaintiff's application for judicial review the Divisional Court (Rv Portsmouth City Council, Ex parte GregoryTLR (The Times March 12, 1990; (1990) 2 Admin LR 681)) held that the subcommittee was acting ultra vires when it made its findings and recommendations, and that the proceedings before the special committee were vitiated from the outset because the committee was convened on the basis that the recommendations of the subcommittee were lawful, when it...
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Gregory v Portsmouth City Council
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