22/03/13
A nine member Supreme Court held its first ever closed hearing in the case of Bank Mellat v HM Treasury. The Appellant (an Iranian bank) was challenging an order imposing financial restrictions under the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008.
The Court held by a majority of 6-3 that it had jurisdiction to consider the closed judgment given by the first instance judge. It decided with reluctance, also by a majority, that it could not be confident of doing justice in the appeal without considering the closed judgement.
Lord Neuberger's statement of reasons is here.
Martin Chamberlain was lead Special Advocate for the Bank and made submissions in both the open and closed hearings.
