This week, the Supreme Court will consider the linked appeals of R (Davies & Anor) v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and R (Gaines-Cooper) v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs which are to be heard on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 July 2011 by Lords Hope, Walker, Mance, Clarke and Wilson.  The case details are here and here.

These are tax appeals brought by a number of appellants who unsuccessfully challenged HMRC’s decision to treat them as UK resident during the relevant tax years. The Supreme Court is to first decide the proper interpretation of HMRC booklet, IR20, which was designed to provide guidance in relation to residence and ordinary residence; and, secondly, whether the Court of Appeal adopted the correct approach in determining whether HMRC had changed its practice in relation to the interpretation and application of IR20. Here is our case comment on the Court of Appeal decision.

On Wednesday 6 July 2011, the Supreme Court will hand down judgments in the following appeals: NML Capital Ltd v Republic of Argentina, heard 29 – 30 March 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 v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, heard 16 – 19 May 2011; and R (McDonald) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, heard 4 – 5 April 2011.

The two appeals in the Privy Council this week are to be heard by Lords Phillips, Brown, Kerr, Dyson and Sir Patrick Coghlin. It will commence with the one-day hearing of The Belize Bank Limited v The Attorney General of Belize and others to be heard on Wednesday 6 July 2011. This case concerns an agreement between the appellant and the Government of Belize under which the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Embassy of the Republic of China each transferred US$10 million to the Appellant. The Central Bank of Belize issued directives to the Appellant which included a direction that the Appellant credit the account of the Government of Belize with the funds transferred to it from Venezula. The Appellant issued judicial review proceedings to challenge the legality of the directive but these were stayed in favour of the appeal. The Government of Belize sought a declaration that the transfer of the Venezuelan funds to the Appellant was unlawful and an order that they be paid to it. The appellant appealed and issued a constitutional claim that the Appeal Board contravened the constitutional guarantees of independence and impartiality. The claim was dismissed.

The Privy Council will also hear the conjoined appeals of The Attorney General v Universal Projects Limited and The Attorney General v Keron Matthews on Thursday 7 July 2011. The Court is to decide in Matthews what test a defendant needs to satisfy to obtain a time extension for filing a defence and, in Universal Projects, what test a defendant needs to satisfy to obtain relief after judgment has been entered against it following non-compliance with a court order and the scope of the court’s jurisdiction in this respect.

On Wednesday 6 July 2011 the Privy Council will hand down on judgment in Rajendra Krishna v The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago which was heard on 13 – 14 April 2011.

Judgments outstanding

The following Supreme Court judgments remain outstanding:

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

Al Rawi & Ors v The Security Service & Ors , heard 24 -27 January 2011

Home Office v Tariq, heard 24 – 27 January 2011

Perpetual Trustee Company Ltd v BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd 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 & Ors v Ainsworth & Anor, heard 7 – 9 March 2011.

Jivraj v Hashwani, heard 6 -7 April 2011.

Kernott v Jones, heard 4 May 2011.

R v Waya, heard 5 May 2011.

Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher & Ors, heard 11 – 12 May 2011.

Gale & Anor v Serious Organised Crime Agency, heard 23 – 24 May 2011.

R (Quila & Anor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and R (Bibi & Anor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 8 – 9 June 2011.

AXA General Insurance Ltd & Ors v The Lord Advocate & Ors (Scotland), heard 13 -15 June 2011.

R v Smith, heard 16 June 2011.

Houldsworth & Anor v Bridge Trustees Ltd & Anor and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, heard 20 – 21 June 2011.

Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation and Botham v Ministry of Defence, heard 22 – 23 June 2011.

Her Majesty’s Advocate v Ambrose, Her Majesty’s Advocate v Gorman, Her Majesty’s Advocate v McDowall and Her Majesty’s Advocate v Paterson, heard 28 – 30 June 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

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

Consolidated Contractors International Company SAL v Munib Masri, heard 26 May 2011.

The Legal Representative of Succession Paul de Maroussem v The Director-General, Mauritius Revenue Authority, heard 8 June 2011.

Phillip Tillet v The Queen (Belize), heard 9 June 2011.

Antonio Webster v The Attorney General of Trinidad & Tobago, heard 14 June 2011.

Emile Elias & Company Limited v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, heard 15 June 2011.

Electra Daniel Administrator ad litem for the estate of George Daniel (deceased) v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, heard 21 June 2011.

Adamas Limited v Mrs Yong Ting Ping How Fok Cheung, heard on 28 June 2011.

The Belize Bank Limited v The Association of Concerned Belizeans and others, heard on 29 June 2011.