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From Monday until Tuesday 1 April is the appeal of Hounga v Allen & Ors. The first respondent had assisted the appellant to obtain a visa to enter the UK under false pretences in order to work for the respondents as a domestic servant. The respondents did not pay the appellant during her period of employment, and the appellant brought several claims in the Employment Tribunal – including claims arising from her contract of employment, and claims for compensation for racially discriminatory treatment. The Supreme Court will determine whether a race discrimination claim arising from employment is barred in circumstances where the employee’s contract of employment is tainted by illegality.
On Wednesday 2 April is the matter of R (Barkas) v North Yorkshire County Council & Anor. The appellant applied to register a playing field acquired in 1951 as a site for the erection of council houses as a town/village green under the Commons Act 2006, s 15(2). The application was rejected by the respondent local authority based on the conclusion that, although the use of the land met all the requirements in s 15(2), the use for recreational purposes was “by right” and not “as of right”. The appeal before the Supreme Court relies on the interpretation of R (Beresford) v City of Sunderland [2003] UKHL 60, where the House of Lords expressed reservations about treating recreational users as trespassers acting as of right not only where there was an express statutory trust for the recreational land, but where “the land had been appropriated for the purposes of public recreation.”
On Wednesday 2 April 2014 the Supreme Court will hand down judgment in the following: Cox v Ergo Versicherung AG (formerly known as Victoria); and R v O’Brien.
In the Privy Council on Tuesday 1 April 2014 is the Antiguan appeal of Landmark Ltd & Anor v American International Bank (In receivership), a dispute concerning electricity supplied to a shopping mall. From Wednesday 2 April for 1.5 days in Courtroom 3 is Alternative Power Solution Ltd v Central Electricity Board & Anor, a dispute from Mauritius over an irrevocable letter of credit.
The following Supreme Court judgments remain outstanding:
Re an application by Central Craigavon Ltd for Judicial Review, heard 15 May 2013.
R v Ahmad & Anor, heard 29 July 2013.
R (Eastenders Cash and Carry plc & Ors) v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, heard 27 – 28 November 2013..
R (British Sky Broadcasting Ltd) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, heard 3 December 2013.
R (T & Anor) v SSHD & Anor, heard 9 – 10 December 2013.
R (AM) v The Director of Public Prosecutions; R (AM) v Director of Public Prosecution; and R (Nicklinson & Anor) v Ministry of Justice, heard 16 – 19 December 2013.
Holt v Her Majesty’s Attorney General on behalf of the Queen, heard 15 – 16 January 2014.
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Scotland), heard 22 – 23 January 2014.
Dunhill (a protected party by her litigation friend Tasker) v Burgin (Nos. 1 & 2), heard 3 – 5 February 2014.
British Telecommunication Plc v Telefonica 02 UK Limited and Ors, heard 3 – 4 February 2014.
R v Ahmad & Anor and R v Fields & Ors, heard 10 – 11 February 2014.
McDonald (Deceased) v National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc, heard 12 – 13 February 2014.
Agricultural Sector (Wales) Bill – Reference by the Attorney General for England and Wales, heard 17 – 18 February 2014.
Khaira & Ors v Shergill & Ors, heard 19 – 20 February 2014.
Barnes (as former Court Appointed Receiver) v The Eastenders Group & Anor, heard 24 – 25 February 2014.
Scott v Southern Pacific Mortgages Ltd & Anor, heard 3 – 5 March 2014.
R (George) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 4 March 2014.
Secretary of State for Home Department v MN & KY, heard 5 March 2014.
Deutsche Bahn AG & Ors v Morgan Crucible Company plc, heard 11 – 12 March 2014.
R (Nunn) v Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary & Anor, heard 13 March 2014.
L Batley Pet Products Limited v North Lanarkshire Council, heard 17 March 2014.
Robertson v Swift, heard 19 March 2014.
Clyde & Co LLP & Anor v Winklehof, heard 24 – 25 March 2014.
R (Whiston) v Secretary of State for Justice, heard 26 March 2014.
