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Supremely busy in court

21 July 2025
Issue: 8126 / Categories: Legal News , In Court
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Cases concerning the pollution of Manchester Ship Canal and a father’s attempt to use the writ of habeas corpus to challenge a care order were among 43 Supreme Court judgments handed down last year

The total is down from 51 in the previous year. The court decided 219 applications for permission to appeal and delivered 49 judgments in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, up from 39 in the previous year, according to its annual report and accounts, laid before Parliament last week.

It also concluded the implementation of its Case Management Portal system and launched two websites, as part of a three-year ‘Change Programme’, which was delivered on time and in budget.

Vicky Fox, the court’s chief executive, said: ‘The court plays an important role in the UK and internationally, deciding appeals of great significance. It is also one the most open and transparent courts in the world.’ Fox said more than 66,000 people visited the court last year while 1.4 million people used the court’s website.

Issue: 8126 / Categories: Legal News , In Court
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
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
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
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
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
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