Racing Partnership Ltd and others (Respondents/Cross-Appellants) v Sports Information Services Ltd (Appellant/Cross-Respondent)

Withdrawn

Case summary
Permission to Appeal

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2020/0199

Parties

Appellant(s)

Sports Information Services Ltd

Respondent(s)

Racing Partnership Ltd

Arena Leisure Ltd

Arena Racing Corporation Ltd

Issue

(1) Can a civil wrong constitute an unlawful means for the purposes of unlawful means conspiracy? (2) If civil wrongs can constitute an unlawful means, must the defendant know that the agreed action is unlawful for liability to arise? (3) If civil wrongs can constitute an unlawful means, can a breach of a third-party contract constitute an unlawful means for the purposes of unlawful means conspiracy? (4) Did the Key Raceday Triggers, as provided to SIS by the Tote, have the necessary quality of confidence? (5) Were the Key Raceday Triggers imparted to SIS by the Tote in circumstances importing a duty of confidence? (6) Did the Tote, in exceeding the terms of its contractual licence, thereby commit a breach of contract (as well as a trespass)?

Facts

Arena owns racecourses. The Respondents allege that TRP had the exclusive right to collect and supply data about horseraces taking place on those courses to off-course bookmakers. SIS combined with others to obtain such data and supply a service of horseracing data and betting prices to off-course bookmakers, partly through the use of third-party websites (in breach of the sites’ terms and conditions), and partly in combination with the “Tote”, a body which lawfully maintained a presence on Arena racecourses to provide a pool-betting service, and which supplied SIS with data about the races on those courses for use in fixed-odds betting services. The Respondents issued claims against SIS, including in breach of confidence and unlawful means conspiracy. The conspiracy claim failed before the High Court but succeeded (in part) before the Court of Appeal. The breach of confidence claim succeeded before the High Court but failed before the Court of Appeal. On 16 November 2021 the Supreme Court granted SIS permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s order upholding the conspiracy claim in part. On 5 May 2022 the Supreme Court granted the Respondents permission to cross-appeal the Court of Appeal’s order dismissing their breach of confidence claim and to vary its order in respect of their conspiracy claim, and on 9 May 2022 the Supreme Court granted SIS permission to cross-cross appeal the Court of Appeal’s order upholding the conspiracy claim insofar as the unlawful means consisted of misuse of confidential information by the Tote.