Margaret Taylor

SCOTLAND’s most senior judge Lord Carloway will join the panel hearing one appeal when the UK Supreme Court sits in Edinburgh for four days in June, when two of his Court of Session judgments will also be appealed.

Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger will lead a panel of five justices hearing three cases during the court’s visit to Scotland, which will be the first time the UK’s highest court has sat outside London.

Lord Carloway, who serves as Lord President of the Court of Session, will join the panel hearing an appeal over whether the state has an obligation to rehabilitate prisoners serving fixed-term sentences.

The court will also hear an appeal brought by Violeta Sadovska and Saleem Malik that relates to sham marriages and one from Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Planning Authority on the extent to which planning authorities are bound to comply with national planning policy.

Both of these were earlier refused by the Court of Session, led by Lord Carloway.

When the court’s visit was announced earlier this year Lord Neuberger said one of the main reasons was to make the Supreme Court’s proceedings accessible to as many people from around the country as possible.

“Nothing beats being able to observe courts at first hand,” he said.

However, a spokesman for the court said that while 120 seats will be made available for the public on a first come first saved basis, anyone wanting to observe should avoid coming on the first day of the visit - June 12 - “when demand for seats is expected to be at its highest”.