Maybe so. But I would be surprised if points of European law is what is under scrutiny.
The judge said the law in this particular area was "quite clear"
wouldn't the basis of their appeal be that this was state aid under European Law though and that because the private investors argument has never been brought before in the UK that the details are not clear and need Court of Justice of the European Union scrutiny? It may still be thrown out but you can bet they will be prepared to throw more money at legals having come this far
Not saying they (SISU) are right, personally I think the latest judgement was clear and straight forward - the facts he has made clear pretty much confirm much of what I have been saying for months. However in my opinion the object of SISU court action is not always about having a good case.
The judge was extremely clear in his ruling, however he build his decision on two things:
1) The fact that the council already owns 50% of ACL so the loan can be seen as protection of their investment. On that basis he said it was not state aid. This could be seen as a national court protecting a national council, and may not be what the state aid legislation was intended for by the EU commission.
2) The rent strike was aimed at distressing ACL. While this is true it may not be illegal in itself and it can be argued it cannot be the foundation of deciding if state aid is unlawful or not.
I think Sisu's only chance of getting the judgement overturned is to get the case to the EU commission and looked at by 'European' rather than 'British' eyes.
So my question is - when they have exhausted all national options, can they bring it to the commission in Bruxelles or the EU court of Justice in Luxembourg?