Justices to play in front of their biggest crowd yet as Supreme Court confirms Edinburgh tour dates

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By Katie King on

Scottish sittings set to be the hottest ticket in town

The Supreme Court has today confirmed it will be hearing three cases in Edinburgh from 12 June to 15 June, and large crowds are expected.

Approximately 120 seats will be laid out for members of the public to come observe the appeals. To compare, the largest room in the court’s London home holds approximately 70.

The Supreme Court’s communications team has even warned against travelling in to watch the first case unless you have a “particular interest” in it. This is because demand for seats is expected to be at its highest then and the court wants to “avoid disappointment”. If you can’t make it to Edinburgh but want to watch the cases, they’ll be livestreamed on the Supreme Court’s website.

It’s also been revealed today that Lord Neuberger will be presiding over all three of the cases, heard in the same building that houses the City of Edinburgh Council. We think this will make him happy: speaking at a lecture in November, he said this:

Ideally, we would sit, say, in Edinburgh and hear not just one Scottish case, but also an English, Welsh or Northern Irish case in order to remind people that we are a UK court.

The court has also announced the names of the cases being heard and a small amount of detail on each of them.

The first is called Sadovska, and will consider the evidential burden on the state when disrupting sham marriages. On day two the court will hear arguments on the assessment of planning obligations in Elsick. Day three and four are dedicated to Brown, an appeal concerning the rehabilitation of determinate sentence prisoners. Lord Carloway, Lord President of the Court of Session, will be sitting with the five justices on this appeal.

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