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In Courtroom 1 of the Supreme Court from Tuesday 12 until Thursday 14 March 2013 are the linked appeals of Futter & Anor v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and Pitt & Anor v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. These matters will be heard by a panel of seven (L Neuberger, L Walker, L Hale, L Mance, L Clarke, L Sumption and L Carnwath).
In Pitt the late husband of the claimant had suffered severe brain injuries in a road accident, and the settlement of his personal injury claim against the other driver was placed into a discretionary trust. The settlement attracted inheritance tax liability, which neither the claimant nor her advisers had appreciated, and which could have been avoided if the trust deeds had been drafted as a trust for disabled persons within the meaning of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 s 89. In Futter, the trustees of a settlement made by the appellant exercised their powers to release capital to the appellant and his children, wrongly thinking that personal losses incurred by each beneficiary could be used to offset the gains attributed to each recipient of the capital, and avoid capital gains tax liability.
The Supreme Court will determine the circumstances in which the court can interfere with exercise by trustees of their powers and discretion, specifically, whether the court can declare void or voidable decisions of trustees for failing to take into account a relevant matter or taking into account an irrelevant matter when the trustees act on the basis of professional advice, and whether mistakes in relation to adverse tax consequences were the kind of mistakes which would found the court’s equitable jurisdiction to set aside a voluntary disposition for mistake. For more information the Supreme Court case details are available here (Pitt) and here (Futter).
From Tuesday 12 March 2013 in Courtroom 2 is the Scottish matter of Salvesen & Ors v The Lord Advocate, listed for two days. The issues for the Supreme Court are whether the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 s72 violates the respondent’s rights to peaceful enjoyment of his possessions under ECHR, art 1 of the First Protocol, and whether it was premature and unnecessary for the Court of Session to find that it does constitute such a violation prior to a determination by the Land Court as to whether the respondent is entitled to an order under the 2003 Act s72 (8). Case details are available here.
On Wednesday 13 March 2013 the Supreme Court will hand down judgments in the following: HM Revenue and Customs v Aimia Coalition Loyalty UK Ltd; Schutz (UK) Ltd v Werit (UK) Ltd; and Schutz (UK) Ltd (No 2).
There is a Privy Council hearing on Thursday 14 March 2013. Terrence Calix v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago concerns the assessment of damages for malicious prosecution. The police in South Trinidad had decided that the appellant matched the description of the attacker given by complainants in offences of robbery and rape. The appellant’s robbery trial was struck out by reason of no case to answer, and subsequently the appellant faced committal proceedings in respect of the rape charge using the same evidence presented during the robbery trial. Here are the case details.
The following Supreme Court judgments remain outstanding:
Stanford International Bank Ltd (acting by its joint liquidators) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office, heard 23 – 25 January 2012.
HMRC v Loyalty Management UK Ltd, heard 24 – 25 October 2012.
R (Faulkner) v Secretary of State for Justice & Anor and R (Faulkner) v Secretary of State for Justice & The Parole Board, heard 19 – 21 November 2012.
Schutz Ltd v Werit Ltd, heard 15 – 16 January 2013.
Hayes v Willoughby, heard 17 January 2013.
WHA Ltd & Anor v HMRC, heard 21 – 24 January 2013.
SL v Westminster City Council, heard 28 – 29 January 2013.
Public Relations Consultants Association Ltd v The Newspaper Licensing Agency Ltd & Ors, heard 11 – 12 February 2013.
The President of the Methodist Conference v Preston, heard 13 – 14 February 2013.
Ministry of Defence v Smith & Ors, heard 18 – 21 February 2013.
BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd & Ors v Neuberger Berman Europe Ltd (on behalf of Sealink Funding Ltd & Ors), BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd & Ors v Patron EMF S.A.R.L., and BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd & Ors v Eurosail-UK 2007- 3BL PLC, heard 25 – 26 February 2013.
In the Matter of B (a Child), heard 25 – 26 February 2013.
Benedetti v Sawiris & Ors, heard 26 – 28 February 2013.
Barts and the London NHS Trust v Verma, heard 27 February 2013.
Jones (by Caldwell) v First Tier Tribunal & Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, heard 28 February 2013.
Petrodel Resources Ltd & Ors v Prest, heard 5 – 6 March 2013.
Uprichard v Scottish Ministers & Anor, heard 5 – 6 March 2013.
R v Brown, heard 7 March 2013.
R (ClientEarth) v The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, heard 7 March 2013.
