Brice Dickson reports on a quiet year for the Supreme Court
2014 was a relatively quiet year for the UK Supreme Court. For a start, there were no changes of personnel. Barring unforeseen circumstances there will again be no changes during 2015, since the next retirement among the 12 justices (that of Lord Toulson) is not due until September 2016. In addition, the number of decisions published in 2014 (68) was more or less in line with the annual average since the court’s formation in 2009: the figure of 81 decisions in 2013 now looks like a blip. And there were fewer than usual high-profile appeals, the only really prominent decision being that in the assisted suicide case of R (on the application of Nicklinson and another) v Ministry of Justice [2014] UKSC 38, [2014] 3 All ER 843.
Appeals heard
Astonishingly Lord Neuberger, the president of the court, sat in 46 of the decided cases (68%) and Lady Hale, the deputy president, sat in 34 (50%). The other justices sat in between 22
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