header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Annual report: The Supreme Court in 2020

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
01 February 2021 / Brice Dickson
Issue: 7918 / Categories: In court , Features , In Court , Profession
printer mail-detail
37603
Brice Dickson reports on the Supreme Court in 2020
  • The Justices & judgment writing.
  • Prominent cases.
  • Institutional issues.

The Justices

At the end of 2020 the Supreme Court looked very different from how it did a year earlier. In January it acquired both a new president (Lord Reed, who was also made a life peer, replaced Lady Hale) and a new deputy president (Lord Hodge, replacing Lord Reed). As well as Lady Hale, Lords Carnwath, Wilson and Kerr all retired, the four new Justices being Lords Hamblen, Leggatt, Burrows and Stephens.

Statistical overview

In 2020 the Supreme Court gave judgment in just 53 cases, the lowest annual number to date and a considerable drop from the average of 68 cases per year. 23 of the cases had been heard by the court in 2019. It’s not clear whether Covid-19 restrictions had any bearing on the throughput of cases. The cases embraced one reference (by the attorney general for Northern Ireland) and 59 appeals (including four cross-appeals).

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
Read All
Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
NLJ this week: The insider returns
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll