The UK Supreme Court has announced its decision to enter closed court for the first time in its history.
The decision comes as Bank Mellat, Iran’s largest private bank, appeals against British sanctions designed to halt Iran’s nuclear programme.
Sarosh Zaiwalla of Zaiwalla & Co, the London law firm representing the bank, has already had sanctions lifted at the European Court, demonstrating a complete lack of evidence that the bank indirectly facilitated Iran’s programme. The closed court will prevent the bank’s lawyers from seeing the evidence placed against them.
“Although they do so with the greatest reluctance, the Supreme Court today looked at the closed judgement in a closed session,” Sarosh Zaiwalla, founder of Zaiwalla & Co, said.
“Britain is internationally recognised as a beacon of open justice and parties from all over the world come to the UK because of this. It is therefore of international concern that the United Kingdom Parliament has given the right to the Court to use this closed evidence procedure. The Court was in a difficult situation because the parliament had legislated for a closed hearing. Bank Mellat, however, has nothing to fear.”
“HM Treasury are clutching at straws in their insistence that the Court should consider the closed judgement and I am confident that the Supreme Court will find nothing to justify HM Treasury’s decision to designate it.”