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

On Tuesday 28th February 2023, the Court will hear the case of JTI POLSKA Sp. Z o.o. and others v Jakubowski and others, on appeal from [2021] EWHC 1465. The case concerns whether the Supreme Court should depart from the judgment of the House of Lords in Buchanan (under the Practice Statement (Judicial Precedent) [1966] 1 WLR 1234) and hold that excise duty payable in respect of goods which are stolen in the course of international carriage by road cannot be claimed under Article 23(4) of the CMR because excise duty does not fall within the words “carriage charges, Customs duties and other charges incurred in respect of the carriage of the goods.” The hearing will begin at 10:30am in Courtroom 1.

On Wednesday 1st March 2023 the Court will hand-down two judgments at 9:45am in Courtroom 1.

  1. R (on the application of Day) v Shropshire Council [2023] UKSC 8, in which the Court will determine when a local authority sells land which is subject to a statutory trust for public recreational purposes without complying with the relevant statutory requirements, does that trust continue or end? And in either case, what are the legal implications for the authority and the buyer? It will also consider whether the existence of any (former) statutory trust and public recreation rights material considerations that need to be taken into account in granting planning permission.
  2. Rakusen v Jepsen and others [2023] UKSC 9, where the Court will determine whether a Rent Repayment Order can only be made against an immediate landlord or can a superior landlord also be liable.

On Thursday 2nd March 2023 the Court will hear Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, on appeal from [2021] EWCA 1374. The Court will consider three issues:

(a) Does section 13(2)(a) of the Patents Act 1977 (the “1977 Act”) require a person to be named as the inventor in all cases, including where the applicant believes the invention was created by an AI machine in the absence of a traditional human inventor?

(b) Does the 1977 Act provide for the grant of a patent without a named human inventor?

(c) In the case of an invention made by an AI machine, is the owner, creator and user of that AI machine entitled to the grant of a patent for that invention?

The hearing will begin at 10:30 am in Courtroom 1.

The following Supreme Court judgments remain outstanding: (As of 03/03/23)

  • The Law Debenture Trust Corporation plc v Ukraine (Represented by the Minister of Finance of Ukraine acting upon the instructions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine) Nos. 2 and 3, heard 9-12 December 2019
  • East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust v Flowers and Ors, heard 22 June 2021
  • Canada Square Operations Ltd v Potter, heard 14th June 2022
  • R (on the application of VIP Communications Ltd (In Liquidation)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, heard 4th October 2022
  • Unger and another (in substitution for Hasan) v Ul-Hasan (deceased) and another, heard 20th October 2022
  • Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and another v Agnew and others (Northern Ireland), heard 14th-15th December 2022
  • Smith and another v Royal Bank of Scotland, heard 12th January 2023
  • Moulsdale t/a Moulsdale Properties v Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Scotland), heard 17th January 2023
  • Republic of Mozambique (acting through its Attorney General) v Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL (Holding) and others, heard 24-25th January 2023
  • Trustees of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v BXB, heard 13th February 2023
  • R (PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others, heard 16th February 2023.
  • Lifestyle Equities C.V. and another v Ahmed and another, heard 20th February 2023
  • Morgan and others v Ministry of Justice (Northern Ireland), heard 22nd February 2023
  • JTI POLSKA Sp. Z o.o. and others v Jakubowski and others, heard 28th February 2023
  • Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, heard 2nd March 2023