Visit JCPCUKSC/2024/0055
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PUBLIC LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Dalston Projects Ltd and others (Appellants) v Secretary of State for Transport (Respondent)
Case summary
Case ID
UKSC/2024/0055
Parties
Appellant(s)
(1) Dalston Projects Ltd (2) Sergei Georgievich Naumenko (3) Prism Maritime Ltd
Respondent(s)
Secretary of State for Transport
Issue
Should the SST’s decision to detain a yacht in London under the UK’s Russian sanctions regime be set aside on (i) human rights, or (ii) public law, grounds?
Facts
This appeal challenges the SST’s decision to detain a luxury motor yacht, “the Phi”, under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (2019/855) (the “Regs”). The First Appellant is a St Kitts and Nevis company. It is the legal owner of the Phi. The Second Appellant, Mr Naumenko, is a Russian citizen and resident. He is the beneficial owner of the Phi. The Phi moored at South Dock in London in December 2021. On the date it was due to leave London, 28 March 2022, the SST issued a direction (the “Direction”) detaining the Phi and requiring it to remain at South Dock (the “First Decision”). Mr Naumenko is not (and has never been) himself sanctioned by the UK. However, Regs 57C and 57D permit the SST to detain vessels controlled by a broader class of “persons connected to Russia”. Shortly after the First Decision, Grant Shapps MP, the then-SST, commented in a TikTok video that the Phi “belongs to a Russian oligarch, friends of Putin”. On 11 April 2022, the SST decided to maintain the detention Direction (the “Second Decision”). On 1 December 2022, the Appellants requested that the Direction be withdrawn. On 3 January 2023, the SST (now Mark Harper MP), refused this request (the “Third Decision”). On 27 March 2023, the Appellants applied to the High Court for the Direction to be set aside on various grounds, including an interference with Mr Naumenko’s rights under Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (“A1P1”) and public law rationality grounds. The High Court judge (“Judge”) dismissed the Appellants’ claim on all grounds. The Court of Appeal (“CA”) dismissed the Appellants’ appeal on all grounds. The Appellants now appeal to the Supreme Court.
Date of issue
9 April 2024
Judgment appealed
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Start date
16 January 2025
End date
16 January 2025
Watch hearings
16 January 2025 - Morning session
16 January 2025 - Afternoon session
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Change log
Last updated 20 December 2024