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16 January 2026 / Professor Emeritus Brice Dickson
Issue: 8145 / Categories: Case law , In Court , Equality , Public
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The Supreme Court: 2025 in review

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Quieter court, louder consequences? Brice Dickson analyses the output of the Supreme Court in 2025
  • The Supreme Court issued just 49 decisions in 2025, continuing a multi-year decline in caseload, while co-authored judgments became a striking feature of the court’s work.
  • High-profile cases addressed biological sex under the Equality Act 2010, public rights on Dartmoor, fair trials in sexual offence cases, and transparency in public interest immunity claims.
  • In contrast, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council delivered a record 57 decisions, generally faster and shorter than Supreme Court judgments.

2025 was the second year in a row during which the composition of the Supreme Court remained unchanged. However, Lord Hodge retired on the last day of the year; his position as deputy president was taken up on 1 January by Lord Sales, while his role as one of the two Scottish judges traditionally sitting on the court has been assumed by Lord Doherty, formerly a judge in the Inner House of the Court

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Sidley—James Inness

Sidley—James Inness

Partner joins capital markets team in London office

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Haynes Boone—William Cecil

Firm announces appointment of partner as UK general counsel

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Devonshires—Nicholas Barrows

Firm appoints first chief marketing officer to drive growth strategy

NEWS
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NLJ this week: CPR tweak closes third-party disclosure gap
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
NLJ this week: Court of Appeals wrestles with Mazur fallout
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’
NLJ this week: Appeal court reins in ‘wrong defendant’ switcheroo

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Driving test fraudsters steer towards jail
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
NLJ this week: Deepfakes demand data law muscle
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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