header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
28 January 2022 / Brice Dickson
Issue: 7964 / Categories: Features , Law digest , In Court , Profession
printer mail-detail

Judgement day for the Supreme Court

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
70034
Brice Dickson considers the Supreme Court’s output in 2021…
  • The noticeable decrease in the number of judges in Supreme Court cases.
  • Statistics for appearances and judgments.
  • The most common legal fields dealt with in 2021.

The only change to the personnel of the Supreme Court during 2021 was the appointment of Lady Rose, who replaced the retiring Lady Black in January. Lord Lloyd-Jones and Lady Arden retired earlier this month but by the start of this week, their successors had still not been named.

The Supreme Court issued judgments in 58 cases in 2021 (compared with 53 in 2020), still well below the average of 67 per year since 2010. The cases embraced 60 appeals, two cross-appeals, one reference and an exercise by the court of its original jurisdiction. Of the appeals and cross-appeals, 28 were won, a success rate of 45%, very close to the 2020 figure of 47%. Three of the 58 cases were Scottish in origin and only one was from Northern Ireland. There

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
London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll