law updates

This appeal was brought by a trade union representing cabin crew employed by the claimant against a decision in the Queen’s Bench Division, which prevented the union from taking strike action pending a further trial. The union had balloted its members and an overwhelming majority had voted to take industrial action. The issue in dispute centred on s.231 of the Trades Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, which sets guidelines for unions who wish to take such action. The section provides that a trade union must as soon as is ‘reasonably necessary’ inform its members inter alia the number of spoilt ballot papers. As the defendant had not done this, the claimants had successfully argued that they were not entitled to take industrial action. The appeal against this decision was nevertheless allowed in a majority judgement. The Lord Chief Justice believed taking an over-literal approach to the section would prevent the true intent of Parliament, stating that the section was poorly drafted. He felt that since all the required information was available on relevant websites it was not necessary to inform personally each and every individual union member of all that s.231 requires. However, the Master of the Rolls dissented and maintained that a strict literal approach had to be taken to the section’s requirements and the union had not done this.

There is a presumption, albeit rebuttable, in English law that a statute’s application would apply within a territory and not extend beyond that boundary. Section 316(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 provides that ‘Property is all property wherever situated…’. In consequence, the section clearly provided for extraterritorial coverage of the claimant’s powers to recover property obtained through criminal conduct overseas and across international borders. The section did not purely apply to England and Wales and an application by the defendants against a property freezing order outside these territories was refused.