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| Supreme Court hearing first case | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The new UK Supreme Court is hearing its first case as five men suspected of financing terrorism challenge the freezing of their assets. | |
| The suspects - who cannot be named for legal reasons - claim the measure is unfair and breaches their human rights. | The suspects - who cannot be named for legal reasons - claim the measure is unfair and breaches their human rights. |
| The case was chosen as it deals with human rights and anti-terrorism powers. | The case was chosen as it deals with human rights and anti-terrorism powers. |
| The court has taken over from the Law Lords as the final court of appeal for UK civil cases and criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. | The court has taken over from the Law Lords as the final court of appeal for UK civil cases and criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
| FROM INSIDE COURT ONE Daniel Sandford, home affairs correspondent, BBC News We have started on time at eleven o'clock sharp. | |
| The court is packed in a way no Law Lords hearings had been since the days of the General Pinochet case. All the lawyers have the nervous excitement of children on their first day at school. | |
| Grandees including the Duke of Wellington stare down from the portraits on the Portland stone walls below the hammer beam roof. | |
| The room has the feel of a medieval banqueting hall, but what is taking place here is a modern legal milestone. It is the first time that the UK's final court of appeal has heard a case outside Parliament. | |
| The barristers are in wigs (all 13 of them except Rabinder Singh QC who is in a turban), but the Supreme Court justices are in lounge suits without gowns. Baroness Hale is wearing a tailored jacket and Supreme Court brooch. | |
| It is very different for the media too. We are allowed to use laptops and PDAs (including the one I am writing on now.) Small TV cameras sit discreetly in the four corners of the room. Almost everything that happens here today (barring anything particularly sensitive) is available to be broadcast. | |
| The five suspects at the centre of the case have not been convicted of funding terrorism. | The five suspects at the centre of the case have not been convicted of funding terrorism. |
| But the Treasury has blocked access to their bank accounts, welfare benefits and other assets. | But the Treasury has blocked access to their bank accounts, welfare benefits and other assets. |
| Ministers argue that those powers were legitimised by adopting UN Security Council resolutions that were intended to tackle terrorism. | Ministers argue that those powers were legitimised by adopting UN Security Council resolutions that were intended to tackle terrorism. |
| The asset-freezing powers were introduced in 2006 - but were never scrutinised or approved by Parliament, which the men's lawyers say is unlawful. | The asset-freezing powers were introduced in 2006 - but were never scrutinised or approved by Parliament, which the men's lawyers say is unlawful. |
| The suspects are given only a small amount to meet basic expenses and have to account for what they spend. | The suspects are given only a small amount to meet basic expenses and have to account for what they spend. |
| The £59m Supreme Court is based at Middlesex Guildhall in central London. | The £59m Supreme Court is based at Middlesex Guildhall in central London. |
| The court's creation was intended to make the judiciary independent of Parliament by ending the House of Lords' judicial role. | The court's creation was intended to make the judiciary independent of Parliament by ending the House of Lords' judicial role. |
| The casework that will be dealt with by the Supreme Court is exactly the same as that which came before the justices in the Lords. | |
| It will deal only with cases that the justices consider to be the most important and where rulings have far-reaching implications. |