''Cheney v Conn (Inspector of Taxes)''

968 Year 968 ( CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Nikephoros II receives a Bulgarian embassy led by Prince Boris (th ...

1 WLR 242,

1 All ER 779, also known as ''Cheney v Inland Revenue Commissioners'' was a decision of the English High Court in which the Court ruled that statutes made by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

could not be void on grounds of illegality, restating the principle that Parliament is supreme.

Facts

Howard William Cheney, a taxpayer, had appealed to the Special Commissioners against an assessments to income tax for 1964-65, made against him under the Finance Act 1964 (and an equivalent assessment to surtax for 1963-64). A substantial part of the income tax collected was used by the UK government to fund the construction of nuclear weapons, which were banned by the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...

. Cheney argued that the use of income tax and surtax for an illegal purpose had the effect of invalidating the tax assessments made against him. The Special Commissioners ruled that the purpose towards which the taxes collected were to be put was not relevant to the validity of the tax assessments, and that the assessments were therefore valid. Cheney appealed, but the decision was upheld by the High Court.

Judgment

Ungoed-Thomas J dismissed the appeal, holding:

Footnotes

{{Reflist Nuclear weapons of the United Kingdom High Court of Justice cases 1968 in United Kingdom case law