The Supreme Court comes to Edinburgh in historic first

● Court president hails move to hear proceedings outside London

A “historic” moment in the UK’S judicial system has been marked as the highest court in the land launched proceedings in Scotland – the first time ever outside of London.

The Supreme Court is hearing several appeals in Edinburgh over four days with several justices travelling north for the sessions.

Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke and Lord Reed took their seat in the City Chambers yesterday.

President of the Supreme Court Lord Neuberger said: “Before we begin, it is right to record that this is a historic occasion: it is the first time that the Supreme Court, or our predecessor the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, has sat outside London.

“We are delighted to be here, as it enables us to underline the role of the court in serving the people and communities of every part of the United Kingdom.”

As well as providing a change of scenery for the highest tier of the UK judiciary, the event gave a new experience for the walls of the council chamber.

The room is more used to holdingbanquets,lecturesand dinner dances, but an appeal centred around the burden of proof in cases of alleged sham marriage marked a new chapter in its history. About 50 people attended the case, including law students taking a rare

0 The Supreme Court is hearing several appeals in Edinburgh over four days chance to view Supreme Court proceedings closer to home.

The court yesterday heard the case of a couple who were stopped from entering into an allegedly sham marriage in Edinburgh by UK Border Agency staff in April 2014.

Lawyers acting for Violeta Sadvoska,34, and Saleem Malik,30, said the couple did not “mislead” officials over their relationship.

Advocate Mungo Bovey QC urged justices at the court to overturn a decision made last year by appeal judges at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Ms Sadvoska worked as a cleaner in Edinburgh. She was allowed to stay in Britain because she was Lithuanian and a European Union citizen.

Her partner Mr Malik was a Pakistani national who had arrived in the UK on a student visa in May 2011 which expired two years later. After the marriage was stopped, the Home Secretary at the time Theresa May ordered their expulsion from the UK.

The hearing, before Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Clarke, Lord Kerr and Lord Reed, continues.