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In the final week of the Easter term, there are two appeals to be heard in the Supreme Court on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 May 2011. In Courtroom 1, Gale and another v Serious Organised Crime Agency is to be heard by Lords Phillips, Brown, Mance, Judge, Clarke, Dyson and Reed. In this case, SOCA brought civil recovery proceedings against the Appellants under Part 5 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to recover assets that it alleges were derived from drug trafficking, money laundering and tax evasion notwithstanding that in criminal proceedings against the First Appellant for alleged involvement in drug trafficking, the Spanish proceedings were discontinued and he was acquitted in Portugal.

The Court is to decide (i) whether Article 6 ECHR requires proof beyond reasonable doubt in civil recovery proceedings where allegations of criminal conduct are made; (2) if not, whether there are circumstances where civil proceedings, although not linked to the criminal proceedings, have to apply the criminal standard of proof; and (iii) if so, whether it is possible to interpret s.241(3) Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 compatibly with the ECHR requirement. The Supreme Court case details are here.

The case of E (Children) will be heard in Courtroom 2 by Lord Hope, Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Kerr and Sir Nicholas Wilson.  It concerns a British mother who took her children from Norway and travelled to England unbeknown to their Norwegian father who later made an application to the Central Authority in Norway for the children to be returned which was granted by Pauffley J in November 2010. The issue at hand is the correct approach to the Article 13(b) exception to the duty to return under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Here are the Supreme Court case details.

The following judgments are to be handed down in the Supreme Court on Wednesday 25 May 2011:

FA (Iraq) (FC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 23 – 24 February 2011 (our case preview is here)

Shepherd Masimba Kambadzi (also known as SK (Zimbabwe)) (FC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 10 – 11 February 2011

Fraser v Her Majesty’s Advocate, heard 21 – 22 March 2011 (here is our case preview)

The case of Consolidated Contractors International Company SAL v Munib Masri is the only appeal to be heard in the Privy Council on Thursday 26 May by Lord Walker, Lord Mance and Lord Collins of Mapesbury. In this case from the Court of Appeal in Bermuda, the Privy Council is to decide (i) whether s.4 Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1958, so far as it deals with foreign judgments obtained (or allegedly obtained) by fraud, should be interpreted consistently with the common law and the (English) statutory provisions for the registration of foreign judgments, as this was determined by the House of Lords in Owens Bank Ltd v Bracco; (ii) whether the Appellant is entitled to apply to have the registration set aside on the ground that the English judgments were obtained by fraud as to the jurisdiction of the court; (iii) whether the Court of Appeal should have ordered that the allegations of fraud made against the Respondent should have been ordered to be tried as an issue, and the judgment of the Supreme Court stayed until the final determination of that issue; and (iv) whether it was just and convenient for the English judgments to be enforced in Bermuda. The Privy Council case details are here.

There are no judgments to be handed down in the Privy Council this week.

The following Supreme Court judgments remain outstanding:

JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. and another v Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) Anstalt des Oeffentlichen Rechts, heard 11 November 2010

Al Rawi and others (Respondents) v The Security Service and others (Appellants), heard 24 -27 January 2011

Home Office (Appellant) v Tariq (Respondent), heard 24 – 27 January 2011

Perpetual Trustee Company Limited v BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited and Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc; and Belmont Park Investments PTY Limited v BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited and Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc, heard 1 – 3 March 2011.

Lucasfilm Limited and others v Ainsworth and another, heard 7 – 9 March 2011.

R (Cart) v The Upper Tribunal; Eba v Advocate General for Scotland (Scotland); and R (MR (Pakistan)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 14 – 17 March 2011.

Fraser v Her Majesty’s Advocate, heard 21 – 22 March 2011.

Bloomsbury International Limited and others v Sea Fish Industry Authority and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, heard 23 – 24 March 2011.

NML Capital Ltd v Republic of Argentina, heard 29 – 30 March 2011.

R (McDonald) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, heard 4 – 5 April 2011.

Jivraj v Hashwani, heard 6 -7 April 2011.

R (on the application of G) v The Governors of X School, heard 11 – 12 April 2011.

Parkwood Leisure Limited v Alemo-Herron and others, heard 13 – 14 April 2011.

Kernott v Jones, heard 4 May 2011.

R v Waya, heard 5 May 2011.

Autoclenz Limited v Belcher and others, heard 11 – 12 May 2011.

Scottish Widows plc v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Scotland), Scottish Widows plc No.2 v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Scotland) and Scottish Widows plc (Respondent) v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, heard Monday 16 – Thursday 19 May 2011.

The following Privy Council judgments are awaited:

Romeo Cannonier & Ors v The Queen (St Christopher & Nevis) and Romeo Cannonier v The Queen (St Christopher & Nevis), heard 13 May 2010

The Public Service Appeal Board v Omar Maraj (Trinidad & Tobago), heard 5 October 2010

Tasarruf Mevduati Sigorta Fonu v Merrill Lynch Bank and Trust Company (Cayman) Limited & Others, heard 31 January – 1 February 2011

Maxo Tido v The Queen (Bahamas), heard 7 March 2011

Nimrod Miguel v The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, heard 8 – 9 March 2011

Tabeel Lewis v The State (Republic of Trinidad & Tobago), heard 10 March 2011.

Rhett Allen Fuller v The Attorney General of Belize, heard 11 – 12 April 2011.

Rajendra Krishna v The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, heard 13 – 14 April 2011.

Omar Grieves and Others v The Queen, heard 4 May 2011.

Permanent Secretary (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Patrick Manning v Feroza Ramjohn, heard 10 – 11 May 2011.

The Honourable Prime Minister Mr Patrick Manning, The Public Service v Ganga Persad Kissoon, heard 12 May 2011.

Winston Gibson v Public Service Commission; Ranjan Rampersad v Commissioner of Police and Police Service Commission; Robert Ramsahai v Teaching Service Commission; Ashford Sankar & Others v Public Service Commission; Gopichand Ganga and Others v Commissioner of Police and Others; and Hermia Tyson-Cuffie v Public Service Commission (Trinidad and Tobago), heard 17 – 19 May 2011.