April 10, 2026
A 15-year-old detained at a Young Offenders Institution challenged his removal from association with other inmates as violating Article 3 ECHR. The Supreme Court rejected arguments that solitary confinement of under-18s is automatically inhuman or degrading, holding that Article 3 requires a fact-sensitive assessment of all circumstances rather than applying...
April 10, 2026
Twin brothers, Lithuanian nationals and victims of human trafficking, were denied compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme due to unspent criminal convictions from Lithuania predating their trafficking. The Supreme Court held that excluding them did not constitute unjustified discrimination under Article 14 read with Article 4 ECHR. Facts The...
April 9, 2026
Appellants challenged the 'two-child limit' on child tax credit as incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, holding that the limitation pursued legitimate aims of reducing public expenditure and ensuring fairness, and was proportionate despite its greater impact on women and larger...
April 9, 2026
Mr Haworth challenged a follower notice issued by HMRC under the Finance Act 2014, which relied on the Smallwood ruling to deny his claimed tax advantage from trust arrangements involving Mauritius. The Supreme Court held HMRC must form an opinion of sufficient certainty that the earlier ruling would deny the...
April 9, 2026
The Secretary of State for Health claimed Servier caused loss by deceiving the EPO and courts to obtain a patent, delaying generic drug market entry and increasing NHS costs. The Supreme Court held that the unlawful means tort requires the defendant's conduct to affect a third party's freedom to deal...
April 9, 2026
Protesters blocked a road leading to an arms fair by lying down with lock boxes. They were charged with wilful obstruction of a highway. The district judge acquitted them, finding their peaceful, targeted protest was protected by articles 10 and 11 ECHR. The Supreme Court upheld the acquittals, confirming deliberate...
April 9, 2026
General Dynamics sought to enforce an ICC arbitration award against Libya in England. The key issue was whether service of enforcement proceedings against a foreign state must comply with section 12(1) of the State Immunity Act 1978, requiring transmission through diplomatic channels even when such service is impossible or unduly...
April 9, 2026
Trustees failed to submit a claim in a financial scheme by the midnight deadline of 2 June 2011. Beneficiaries sued on 5 June 2017. The Supreme Court held that in midnight deadline cases, the day following midnight counts as a complete day for limitation purposes, meaning the claim was statute-barred....
April 9, 2026
Fylde Coast Farms challenged a neighbourhood development plan, arguing the council unlawfully rejected an examiner's recommendation. The challenge was filed within time to contest the plan's making but outside the time limit for challenging the council's earlier decision. The Supreme Court held section 61N restricts, rather than creates, challenge rights,...
April 9, 2026
Mr Tooth used a tax avoidance scheme and completed his self-assessment return by entering an employment-related loss in a partnership box due to software limitations, with full explanations provided. HMRC sought to issue a discovery assessment claiming deliberate inaccuracy. The Supreme Court held there was no deliberate inaccuracy as the...
April 9, 2026
Mr Timothy Crosland, a barrister representing Plan B Earth, deliberately breached an embargo by disclosing the outcome of a Supreme Court judgment on Heathrow Airport expansion before hand down. He admitted doing so as an act of civil disobedience. The court found him guilty of criminal contempt and imposed a...
April 6, 2026
Ukrainian national resisted extradition to Hungary under a European Arrest Warrant, arguing risk of inhuman treatment in Hungarian prisons. The Supreme Court held that evidence of breaches of assurances given to third states is admissible when assessing reliability of diplomatic assurances, but dismissed the appeal as the fresh evidence was...
April 6, 2026
Oxfordshire County Council relocated Nettlebed School to adjacent premises, then sold the original site donated under the School Sites Act 1841. The Supreme Court held that section 14 permitted sale with vacant possession after relocation, provided the proceeds were intended for the new school. No statutory reverter arose. Facts In...
April 6, 2026
A door steward employed by a security company applied a fatal neck hold to Mr Grant during an ejection from a bar. His widow claimed against the company's insurer after the company entered liquidation. The Supreme Court held the policy's 'deliberate acts' exclusion required intention to injure, which was not...
April 6, 2026
A care home operator financed its acquisition through a sale and leaseback arrangement. HMRC argued this triggered a VAT self-supply charge under paragraph 36(2) of Schedule 10 to VATA. The Supreme Court held that since the operator retained a leasehold interest throughout, it had not disposed of its 'entire interest'...
April 6, 2026
Female retail employees at Asda brought equal pay claims comparing their pay to predominantly male distribution depot workers. The Supreme Court held they could use depot workers as comparators despite working at different establishments, as the 'common terms' requirement was satisfied through the North hypothetical test. This clarifies the threshold...
April 6, 2026
A mother wrongfully removed her child from South Africa to England and claimed asylum, naming the child as a dependant. The Supreme Court considered the interplay between the 1980 Hague Convention on child abduction and asylum law, holding that a child named as a dependant on a parent's asylum application...
April 6, 2026
Care workers performing sleep-in shifts claimed entitlement to National Minimum Wage for all hours present at work, not just when awake. The Supreme Court held that under the NMW Regulations, sleep-in workers are only entitled to NMW for hours when actually awake for the purpose of working, not for permitted...
April 6, 2026
Shamima Begum, who left the UK aged 15 to join ISIL in Syria, had her British citizenship revoked by the Home Secretary on national security grounds. She challenged the refusal of leave to enter the UK to pursue her appeal. The Supreme Court held that national security concerns outweighed her...
April 6, 2026
A collision occurred between two vessels near the entrance to Jebel Ali port. The Supreme Court considered whether crossing rules under the Collision Regulations apply when one vessel exits a narrow channel while another waits to enter. The Court held the crossing rules were not displaced merely because the approaching...
April 6, 2026
Uber drivers claimed they were 'workers' entitled to minimum wage and paid leave. Uber argued drivers were self-employed contractors working for passengers. The Supreme Court unanimously held drivers were workers employed by Uber London, emphasising the need to look beyond contractual terms to the reality of the working relationship and...
April 6, 2026
A concrete area in a working port was registered as a town or village green (TVG) following 20 years of recreational use by local inhabitants alongside commercial port activities. The Supreme Court held that registration did not criminalise the landowner's pre-existing commercial activities under Victorian statutes, as both uses could...
April 6, 2026
The SFO served a notice under section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 on a US company (KBR, Inc) requiring production of documents held abroad. The Supreme Court held that section 2(3) does not have extra-territorial effect permitting compulsion of foreign companies with no UK presence to produce overseas...
April 6, 2026
The FCA brought a test case concerning whether business interruption insurance policies covered losses caused by COVID-19 and government restrictions. The Supreme Court held that disease clauses, hybrid clauses, and prevention of access clauses did provide cover, and that trends clauses should not reduce indemnities for pandemic-related concurrent causes. Facts...
April 3, 2026
Candey, a law firm, sought to enforce an equitable lien over settlement proceeds recovered in litigation for their insolvent client PHRL. The Supreme Court held Candey had waived its lien by entering into a fixed fee agreement and deed of charge without expressly reserving the lien, despite inconsistencies between the...
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive
May 1, 2026
National Case Law Archive