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The Divisional Court (Edis LJ and Butcher J) has handed down judgment today in R (FTDIHL) v. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster [2025] EWHC 1922 (Admin), an important case on the national security regime regulating commercial investments. The Court dismissed the Claimant’s challenge to the decision, taken by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the powers conferred on him by the National Security and Investment Act 2021, requiring the Claimant to divest itself of the entirety of its interest in Future Technology Devices International Ltd, a semiconductor company based in Glasgow. The decision was taken on the ground that the investment gave rise to a risk to critical national infrastructure. This is only the second substantive judgment in which the provisions of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 have been subject to judicial scrutiny.
The judgment is available here.
David Blundell KC and Karl Laird appeared for the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, led by Sir James Eadie KC. They were instructed by the Government Legal Department.
Karl Laird also successfully represented the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the first case to consider the provisions of the 2021 Act, R (L1T FM Holdings UK Ltd) v. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster [2024] EWHC 2963 (Admin). Both David Blundell KC and Karl Laird are instructed in the only other challenge commenced under the 2021 Act, R (Nexperia) v. Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office.
