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Reigning supreme

22 January 2016 / Brice Dickson
Issue: 7683 / Categories: Features , In Court
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Brice Dickson casts an eye over events at The Supreme Court in 2015

For the second year running there were no changes in the composition of the Supreme Court during 2015, though the highly respected Jenny Rowe retired as the court’s chief executive.

There continues to be just one female justice, Lady Hale, and the average age of the 12 justices has crept up to 67. There will be at least one change in 2016, as Lord Toulson must retire by September.

Cases decided

In 2015, the court delivered judgments in 79 cases, compared with 68 in 2014 and 81 in 2013. As usual, most cases (65, or 82%) were heard by five justices, but 13 were heard by seven. In one case, dealing with a costs issue, only three justices sat. No case involved nine justices. The president of the court, Lord Neuberger, presided in 60 of the 79 cases (76%) and the deputy president, Lady Hale, presided in 16 (20%). The president and deputy president sat together in 27 cases (34%). Lord Mance presided

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NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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