NLJ this week: Fewer cases, less human rights, no criminal: the Supreme Court in 2024

Notable decisions included financial relief where a hugely wealthy Russian couple divorced, the extent of a doctor’s duty of care, and whether a water company could be sued for private nuisance for discharging untreated sewage into a canal.

The court decided 43 cases—less than usual, due to a reduction in the number of petitions to appeal (PTAs) granted. Dickson writes: ‘It is difficult to explain why so many PTAs are now being refused. The justices who sit on the PTA panels do not give reasons for their refusals beyond saying that the case in question does not raise an arguable point of law or a point of law of general public importance at this time.’