Case: Supreme Court restates penalty rule over parking dispute

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has demonstrated it is prepared to adopt a flexible, commercial approach to enforcing obligations under a contract.

In the combined cases of Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi and ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67, the court considered the longstanding rule against penalties. While it declined to abolish the rule altogether, the court did significantly narrow its scope.