Matrix Churchill and Public Interest Immunity: A Postscript

Abstract

Matharu v Matharu was always going to be a difficult case. On the one hand, there was what Dillon LJ described as the plaintiff's 'repugnant' behaviour in trying to render homeless his widowed daughter-in-law and five grandchildren. On the other hand, there was a defendant who was now seeking to remain in the property indefinitely when it was at least questionable how far she had originally believed she would have this right and had acted to her detriment in reliance on it. There was no suggestion that the plaintiff had ever told the defendant that the property belonged to Raghbir and, although Roch LJ cites references by Raghbir to 'his house,' Dillon LJ simply refers to the defendant having 'supposed or assumed that the house belonged to Raghbir.'31 Even if the defendant had understood the property to be Raghbir's, did she really imagine that she would be able to remain there indefinitely? As for payments in respect of the mortgage and improvements being detrimental reliance, it should be noted that Raghbir was prepared to make them although he knew full well that the property belonged to the plaintiff. Of general significance is the way the majority of the Court of Appeal, once they were persuaded (rightly or wrongly) that there had been the requisite belief and detrimental reliance, not only applied the narrow approach but failed even to acknowledge the existence of the broad approach. As a result, a series of cases must now be expected where the courts attempt, in Oliver J's words, to force facts into 'a Procrustean bed constructed from some unalterable criteria'32 so that a party can successfully raise a proprietary estoppel. Although there will be cases where, as in Matharu v Matharu, the outcome is going to be the same regardless of which approach is taken, this will not always be so. Reverting to the narrow approach in all cases will surely limit the opportunity both for justice being done in the individual case and for the continuing development of an extremely important type of estoppel.