16 January 2026
The UK Supreme Court may be deciding fewer cases, but its impact in 2025 was anything but muted. In this week's NLJ, Professor Emeritus Brice Dickson of Queen’s University Belfast reviews a year marked by historically low output, a striking rise in jointly authored judgments, and a continued decline in dissent. High-profile rulings on biological sex under the Equality Act, public access to Dartmoor, and fairness in sexual offence trials ensured the court’s voice carried far beyond the Strand
The analysis highlights a court increasingly focused on consensus, with co-authored judgments now the norm rather than the exception. In contrast, the Privy Council enjoyed a record year, delivering faster and shorter decisions across multiple jurisdictions.
Dickson suggests the trend raises important questions about transparency, judicial style, and constitutional influence: fewer cases, carefully chosen, may be shaping the law more decisively than ever before.
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