The case of London Gypsies and Travellers and Others -v- Wolverhampton City Council and Others came before the Supreme Court on 8 and 9 February 2023. CLP represented the three Appellants: London Gypsies and Travellers; Friends, Families and Travellers; and Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group. Our Barristers were Richard Drabble KC, Marc Willers KC, Tessa Buchanan and Owen Greenhall.

The Respondents were ten Local Authorities who have or have had wide Injunctions covering many areas of land and banning Gypsies and Travellers from stopping on those areas of land. There were interventions by: Friends of the Earth; Liberty; HS2 and the Secretary of State for Transport.

At first instance, Mr Justice Nicklin in the High Court had decided that these wide Injunctions, once a final Order was made, could not bind ‘newcomers’ i.e. those Gypsies and Travellers who had not been served with the proceedings prior to the final Hearing. The Court of Appeal in early 2022 overturned this Judgment. This is the appeal against the Court of Appeal Judgment. Judgment is now reserved and may take some time before it is handed down. For more information on the Supreme Court challenge, please see the LGT website here: http://www.londongypsiesandtravellers.org.uk/news/2023/02/09/supreme-court-hears-case-against-wide-injunctions/