Wolverhampton City Council and others v London Gypsies and Travellers and others [2023] UKSC 47

Wolverhampton City Council and others (Respondents) v London Gypsies and Travellers and others (Appellants) Case ID: UKSC/2022/0007 https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uks... Judgment date: 29 November 2023 Neutral citation: [2023] UKSC 47 On appeal from [2022] EWCA Civ 13 Issue: Does the court have the power to grant "newcomer injunctions", i.e. injunctions against persons who are unknown and unidentified as at the date of the order, and who have not yet performed, or threatened to perform, the acts which the injunction prohibits? If so, on what basis and subject to what safeguards? Facts: Between 2015 and 2020, a number of local authorities obtained injunctions designed to prevent Gypsies and Travellers from camping on local authority land without permission. The injunctions were addressed to "persons unknown" because the Gypsies and Travellers who might wish to camp on a particular site could not generally be identified in advance. At the time the injunctions were granted, these unknown persons, or newcomers, had not yet camped, or threatened to camp, on the local authority land without permission, or to commit any other relevant unlawful activity. The local authorities obtained the injunctions without notifying any other party, at hearings where the interests of Gypsies and Travellers were not represented. From around mid-2020, the local authorities made applications to extend or vary injunctions which were coming to an end. After a hearing in one of these cases, the High Court judge decided that there was a need to review all newcomer injunctions affecting Gypsies and Travellers. He gave the appellants, who represent the interests of Gypsies and Travellers, permission to intervene so that the interests of Gypsies and Travellers could be represented. Following the review hearing, the judge concluded that the court did not have the power to grant newcomer injunctions, except on a short-term, interim basis. He therefore made a series of orders discharging the newcomer injunctions obtained by the local authorities. The Court of Appeal held that the court had the power to grant newcomer injunctions, and allowed the local authorities' appeal. The appellants now appeal to the Supreme Court. Judgment: The Supreme Court unanimously dismisses the appellants’ appeal. It holds that the court has power to grant newcomer injunctions. However, it should only exercise this power in circumstances where there is a compelling need to protect civil rights or to enforce public law that is not adequately met by any other available remedies. In addition, newcomer injunctions should only be made subject to procedural safeguards designed to protect newcomers’ rights. Lord Reed, Lord Briggs and Lord Kitchin give a joint judgment, with which the other members of the Court agree. More information is available on our website: UKSC 2022/0007.