Share it

Hearings in the Supreme Court are now shown live on the Court’s website.

On Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 February, the Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Pimlico Plumbers Ltd & Anor v Smith. This appeal will consider whether the respondent was a ‘worker’ within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Working Time Regulations 1998, reg 2. It will also consider whether the respondent was in ‘employment’ within the Equality Act 2010, s 83(2)(a). This will be heard in Courtroom 1.

On Wednesday 21 February, the Supreme Court will hand down the judgment in the case of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v DSD & Anor. The hand down panel will be Lord Kerr, Lord Sumption and Lord Lloyd-Jones. This appeal considered whether there is an obligation under the Human Rights Act 1998, s 6, read with ECHR, art 3, to investigate ill-treatment which has been perpetrated by a private individual without any complicity of a public authority and/or whether in the case of such ill-treatment any positive obligation is confined to a requirement to put in place the necessary structure to enable such investigation to be conducted but does not extend to the conduct of an individual investigation into a particular alleged crime.

On Wednesday 21 February, the Supreme Court will hand down the judgment in the case of Barton v Wright Hassall LLP. The hand down panel will be Lord Kerr, Lord Sumption and Lord Lloyd-Jones. This appeal considered whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the judgment of the courts below that there was no good reason to validate service under the Civil Procedure Rules, 6.15. It also considered whether the Court of Appeal’s reasoning breached the appellant’s ECHR, arts 6 and 13 rights, and whether the costs the Court of Appeal awarded to the respondent were disproportionate to the work undertaken.

On Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 February, the Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Prudential Assurance Company Ltd v Commissioners for HMRC. This appeal will consider a number of grounds for permission to appeal and a request for a preliminary reference. The grounds include  whether a non-discriminatory treatment of foreign sourced dividends under EU law requires a tax credit to be set at the effective or nominal rate of tax, whether the appropriate methodology to quantify how much ACT was unlawful, and whether lawful ACT may be set against unlawful corporation tax. There are also a number of cross-appeal issues to be considered. This will be heard in Courtroom 2.

A full list of the cases scheduled for the Hilary term can be found here.

The following Supreme Court judgments remain outstanding:

Keefe (by his litigation friend Eyton) v Hoteles Pinero Canarias SL, heard 7 Mar 2017.

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v DSD & Anor, heard 13-14 Mar 2017.

Arcadia Petroleum Ltd & Ors v Bosworth & Anor, heard 10-11 Apr 2017.

Four Seasons Holdings Incorporated v Brownlie, heard 9-10 May 2017.

Morris-Garner v One Step (Support) Ltd, heard 11-12 Oct 2017.

In the matter of an application by Kevin Maguire for Judicial Review, heard 19 Oct 2017.

Reference by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland pursuant to Paragraph 33 of Schedule 10 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Abortion), heard 24-26 Oct 2017.

R (Black) v Secretary of State for Justice, heard 31 Oct-1 Nov 2017.

Steel & Anor v NRAM PLC (Scotland), heard 7 Nov 2017.

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Haywood, heard 20 Nov 2017.

R (AR) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police & Anor, heard 21 Nov 2017.

Barton v Wright Hassall LLP, heard 22 Nov 2017.

R v McCool (Northern Ireland); R v Harkin (Northern Ireland), heard 23 Nov 2017.

Dryden & Ors v Johnson Matthey Plc, heard 27-28 Nov 2017.

Burnden Holdings (UK) Ltd v Fielding & Anor, heard 7 Dec 2017.

A v B & Anor, heard 12 Dec 2017.

R (Stott) v Secretary of State for Justice, heard 18 Jan 2018.

JSC BTA Bank v Khrapunov, heard 24-25 Jan 2018.

Iceland Foods Ltd v Berry (Valuation Officer), heard 25 Jan 2018.

Cartier International AG & Ors v British Telecommunications Plc & Anor, heard 30 Jan 2018.

Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd, heard 1 Feb 2018.

Gavin Edmondson Solicitors Ltd v Haven Insurance Company Ltd, heard 5 Feb 2018.

Warner-Lambert Company LLC v Generics (UK) Ltd t/a Mylan & Anor, heard 12-15 Feb 2018.

Williams & Anor v London Borough of Hackney, heard 14-15 Feb 2018.