[Trusts — Trustees — Duties — Common law duty of care to manage and administer trust as ordinary prudent man of business would ]
[Trusts — Trustees — Duties — Statutory duty of care to exercise such care and skill as is reasonable in circumstances when exercising general power of investment — Section 3A Trustees Act 1967 (2020 Rev Ed)]
[Equity — Remedies — Account — Account on wilful default basis — Applicable test for showing wilful default of trustee — Whether trustee displayed want of ordinary prudence in conduct and administration of trust]
[Civil Procedure — Pleadings — Amendment — Principles applicable to grant of permission to amend pleadings — Whether to allow amendment of reply close to start of civil trial where amendment is responsive to pleading in amended defence]
[Equity — Maxims — Defences — Whether beneficiaries alleging breaches of trust came to court of equity with clean hands — Relationship between clean hands doctrine in equity and Ochroid Trading approach to illegality doctrine in common law]
[Succession and Wills — Construction — Application of armchair principle to construction of meaning of testament constituting express testamentary trust — Whether testament on proper construction conferred power on trustee to effect conversion of preference share in company held on trust into ordinary share notwithstanding trustee holds ordinary shares in same company as absolute owner]
[Equity — Fiduciary relationships — Fiduciary relationship of trustee and beneficiary — Whether fiduciary breached no-conflict rule — Whether fiduciary placed himself in position where duty to principal and personal interest may conflict in approving amendment to company constitution negating rights of trust property in form of preference share whilst holding ordinary shares in same company as absolute owner]
[Trusts — Breach of trust — Remedies — Remedy of falsification — Application of remedy of falsification to default of trustee on custodial stewardship duty — No causal inquiry where substitutive remedy of falsification is engaged — Disallowing sale of company shares held on trust where trust shares were sold by trustee at sale price below market value with corresponding obligation on trustee to reconstitute trust estate in specie]
[Trusts — Breach of trust — Exclusion of liability — Construction of exclusion of liability clause — Restrictive interpretation of clause purporting to exclude liability of trustee — Armitage v Nurse approach to construction of exclusion of liability clauses in trusts instruments — Whether phrase “absolute discretion” in trust instrument enlarged trustee’s powers — Whether phrase “absolute discretion” abridged trustee’s duties — Whether phrase “absolute discretion” amounted to valid and enforceable exclusion of liability clause]
[Trusts — Breach of trust — Remedies — Remedy of surcharging — Application of remedy of surcharging to default of trustee on management stewardship duty — Causal inquiry to identify what prudent trustee would have done in hypothetical assessment of how trustee should have acted — Whether hypothetical prudent trustee would have approved amendment to company constitution negating rights of trust property in form of preference share without accretion of equivalent value to trust estate to compensate for corresponding loss of market value of share]
[Civil Procedure — Affidavits — Principles applicable to grant of permission to adduce new affidavit of evidence-in-chief after deadline for filing and exchanging of affidavits of evidence-in-chief between litigants has elapsed — Two-stage test of relevance and prejudice for allowing new affidavit of evidence-in-chief to be admitted into evidence — Whether undue prejudice is occasioned to litigant where opposing party seeks to introduce new affidavit of evidence-in-chief addressing new points of fact close to start of civil trial after deadline for affidavits of evidence-in-chief to be filed and exchange between them has passed]