The UK’s highest court will sit in Manchester for the first time on 6 March, when it hears the long-running property case Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd v United Utilities Water Ltd.
Lord Reed, president of the UK Supreme Court; Lord Hodge, deputy president of the UK Supreme Court; Lord Lloyd-Jones; Lord Burrows; Lord Stephens; Lady Rose; and Lord Richards will be sitting at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre for the entire week.
The Supreme Court, based in London’s Parliament Square, has previously sat in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. However, this is the first time the court has sat outside of one of the UK’s four capital cites.
The Manchester Ship Canal case is a long-running saga about the extent to which there is a private law action for pollution to watercourses, or whether it is all dealt with under the statutory regime. The hearing is scheduled to last two days.
Meanwhile, back in Parliament Square on 7 March, Supreme Court judges Lord Briggs; Lord Kitchin; Lord Sales; Lord Hamblen and Lord Leggatt will hear another property case: London Borough of Merton Council v Nuffield Health. The issue in this case is whether Nuffield Health is entitled to claim charity relief from non-domestic rates at it Merton Abbey fitness centre.
It has already been a busy 2023 for property at the Supreme Court, with at least five property-related judgments since the start of the year. This week, the court handed down two property judgements. Last month, the court ruled on the long-running legal dispute over the Tate Modern’s viewing deck, one of the most anticipated property rulings of recent years.
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