Valilas v Januzaj
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The facts of the case may be difficult to understand without some basic information about how dental care is provided in England & Wales. A dental practice is a place that provides the facilities for treating patients but the term ‘practice’ includes staff (dentists, dental nurses, hygienists, receptionists and so on) as well as the equipment used by those staff. This case involves a dispute between two dentists – Valilas and Januzaj – at the Droitwich Spa Dental Practice (DSDP). The central legal issue is a contract between them.
There is also another contract in the case. It forms part of the background but it is not necessary to understand it in detail. Mr Valilas treated patients through the National Health Service (NHS), a government subsidised service, and he received payment for this work from a Primary Care Trust (PCT) – part of the NHS – in equal monthly instalments. The amount of these monthly payments was based on the number of Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) that he had agreed to perform by the end of the year. (The meaning of UDAs is not at all relevant here but may be puzzling: it is a way of quantifying the different work that a dentist would do, extracting teeth, filling teeth, cleaning teeth, on some basis relating to time taken, level of skill and so on.) The arrangements for payment are described in paragraph 4 of the judgment.
This is the setting for what subsequently occurs between Valilas and Januzaj.
GUIDANCE ON WRITING YOUR CASE NOTE
Your case note should be as short and as comprehensive as possible. You want it to be a case note – that is substantially shorter than the original – but you also need it to be comprehensive – that is to cover all the points you need to understand and recall. How long, or short, any piece of writing should be depends on your reasons for writing. The reasons for writing a case note on Valilas v Januzaj is different to the reasons for making a note, perhaps only of a paragraph or two, of the many cases you will study in subjects like Criminal or Contract law.
It follows that your case note should be as long as you need it to be to help you fully understand the case and to help you when you are revising for the examination. You are expected to be very familiar with the details of each judgment in Valilas v Januzaj and to be able to explain how each judge reached their decision and you should keep this in mind when writing your case note.
Your case note should include:
Case name and citation
Court and judges
Parties
Material facts
Question(s)of law/issue(s)
Decision
Detailed reasons for the decision
The ratio decided

Valilas v Januzaj EXPLANATORY NOTE The facts of the case may b...