THE JUDGEMENT in the case against the Northern Ireland Protocol brought by a coalition of Brexiters is due to be made public on Wednesday.
The ruling will be the conclusion of a process that began at the High Court in Belfast almost two years ago.
The challenge against the post-Brexit trade arrangements was launched by TUV leader Jim Allister, cross-bench peer Baroness Kate Hoey and former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib.
They were subsequently joined by the then first minister Arlene Foster, the late Lord David Trimble and Steve Aiken, then leader of the UUP.
The action was brought on the basis that the protocol breached the terms of the Acts of Union 1800.
The High Court dismissed the challenge on several grounds in June 2021. Justice Colston ruled that while the protocol was counter to the free trade provisions of the Acts of Union, the centuries-old legislation had effectively been repealed by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, which had been passed by Westminster.
The case was taken to the Court of Appeal in Belfast, which last March ruled that the protocol was lawfully enacted and took precedence over the Acts of Union.
The Supreme Court, which held its hearings over two days late last year, is the final option for overturning the protocol legally.
In a statement ahead of November's hearing, a joint statement from the litigants said: “It is very important to fully test these core legal issues, but, ultimately, the protocol requires political defeat through holding tenaciously to the line, Stormont or protocol.
“There can be no let up in unionist determination to remove the scourge of the protocol from our backs.”
The Supreme Court is also expected to rule on a separate challenge brought by former loyalist prisoner Clifford Peeples.
The west Belfast man, was sentenced for possession of explosives in 1999, argued that the protocol breaches the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Peeples, whose challenge was also previously rejected by the High Court and Court of Appeal, was recently reported to fighting Russian forces in Ukriane.
