Scots law is not foreign law

The taxpayer wished to lead as a matter of fact and not law expert evidence of Scots law from a Scottish qualified senior counsel. At a preliminary hearing the First-tier Tribunal held that Scots law was a matter of judicial knowledge therefore the question of admissibility of evidence and expert witness did not arise.

The taxpayer appealed saying Scots law was foreign law and not within the judicial knowledge of the First-tier Tribunal when deciding a case which arose under the law of England.

The Upper Tribunal held that the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal both have judicial knowledge of the laws of England and Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 ‘swept away the various tribunals and similar bodies which had developed over the years and replaced them with a single system of tribunals’. In particular under...