References: [2015] EWHC 2918 (Admin)
Links: Bailii
Coram: Ouseley J
Ratio: TFL sought a declaration as to the legality of the Uber taxi system. Otherwise unlicensed drivers took fares with fees calculated by means of a smartphone app. The Licensed Taxi drivers said that the app operated as a meter and therefore required licensing.
Held: The system was not unlawful. The fare was calculated by a system external to the smarthone, and therefore the phone was not itself a meter: ‘A device for recording time and distance is not a device for calculating a fare based on time and distance, let alone one based on more than that, including the fare structure itself, a necessary component to the calculation. The language of the statute is quite clear. The essence of a taximeter for the purpose of section 11 is that the device must be for the calculation of the fare then to be charged, based on whatever inputs are appropriate. Such a device is not simply recording and transmitting some or all of the inputs to a calculation made elsewhere, or receiving the output, that is the calculated fare. The Smartphone is not a ‘thing designed or adapted for a particular functional purpose’ namely calculating fares for the PHV; see the Shorter OED. It is not a taximeter. The Smartphone with its Driver’s App may be essential to enabling the calculation to take place but that does not make it a device for calculating fares. Nor does that warrant treating the Smartphone as part of a single device with Server 2; it simply is not.’
Statutes: Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 11
This case cites:
- Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Ottewell HL ([1968] CLY 837, [1968] 3 ALL ER 153, [1970] AC 642, (1968) 52 Cr App R 679)
The antecedent criminal history of an offender is a factor which may be taken into account in determining the sentence to be imposed, but it cannot be given such weight as to lead to the imposition of a penalty which is disproportionate to the . . - Cited – The Presidential Insurance Company Ltd v Resha St Hill PC (Bailii, [2012] UKPC 33)
(Trinidad and Tobago) The Board considered that when interpreting a statute certain requirements had to be met before external materials could be used. The scope for enquiry into extraneous records, following Pepper v Hart [1993] AC 593, is broadly . . - Cited – Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom v Department of Health and Social Security HL ([1981] AC 800, [1981] 1 All ER 545 CA and HL(E), [1981] 2 WLR 279, Bailii, [1980] UKHL 10)
The court was asked whether nurses could properly involve themselves in a pregnancy termination procedure not known when the Act was passed, and in particular, whether a pregnancy was ‘terminated by a medical practitioner’, when it was carried out . . - Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for Health ex parte Quintavalle (on behalf of Pro-Life Alliance) HL (House of Lords, [2003] UKHL 13, Bailii, Times 14-Mar-03, [2003] 2 WLR 692, [2003] 2 AC 687, (2003) 71 BMLR 209, [2003] 1 FCR 577, [2003] 2 All ER 113)
The appellant challenged the practice of permitting cell nuclear replacement (CNR), saying it was either outside the scope of the Act, or was for a purpose which could not be licensed under the Act.
Held: The challenge failed. The court was to . . - Cited – Regina v Her Majesty’s Attorney General ex parte Rusbridger and Another HL (House of Lords, [2003] UKHL 38, Times 27-Jun-03, Bailii, [2004] 1 AC 357)
The applicant newspaper editor wanted to campaign for a republican government. Articles were published, and he sought confirmation that he would not be prosecuted under the Act, in the light of the 1998 Act.
Held: Declaratory relief as to the . . - Cited – Haynes, Regina (on the application of) v Stafford Borough Council Admn (Bailii, [2006] All ER (D) 135, [2006] EWHC 1366 (Admin), [2007] 1 WLR 1365)
Walker J set out the principles applicable (in this case) before making a declaration as to the criminal law. . .
(This list may be incomplete)
Last Update: 25 December 2017
Ref: 553501
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