Supreme Court report shows record number of visitors

The Court’s fifth Annual Report and Accounts was laid before Parliament yesterday.

The report contains analysis of the Court’s judgements over the past year, in which the Supreme Court sat for 136 days, up from 127 in 2013/14 - although it heard fewer appeals and gave fewer judgements in that time (from 120 to 89, and 115 to 81).

The report suggests relevant factors include longer hearings, growth in the number of appeals heard by panels of seven or nine Justices (12 per cent, up against 9 per cent last year) and fewer ‘linked’ appeals where different cases about the same legal issues are heard together.

The number of applications for permission to appeal considered by the Justices rose by 34 per cent to 269, with a particular increase in requests to bring criminal appeals and public law cases about employment, housing and taxation.

The number of applications for the Court to hear appeals about legal procedure fell from 38 to 22.

There were also fewer cases considering crime, immigration and taxation issues than in 2013/14, but more decisions relating to prisoner detention and contract law.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), which is co-located with the Supreme Court and shares the Court’s administration, heard 60 appeals during 2014/15, up from 51, and gave 57 judgements, up from 32.

In financial terms, the Court’s net operating cost fell by over £700,000 to under £4.5 million when compared with the £5.2 million recorded in 2013/14.

The accounts show that the Supreme Court and JCPC spent £12.4 million during 2014/15 (almost half of which was judicial and staff costs), and recouped almost £8 million in court fees, contributions from the UK court services, and other income.

Writing in the report’s introduction, chief executive Jenny Rowe, who is retiring this Autumn, noted the changing constitutional context in which the Court has operated over the past year, “most notably with the independence referendum in Scotland, followed by the work of the Smith Commission”.

She also referenced the St David’s Day process in Wales and added: “Work in both these areas is on-going and we will be keeping in touch with developments.”

The report details some ways in which the Court maintains working relationships with each of the UK’s jurisdictions, as well as international links with foreign judges and jurisdictions, particularly those served by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.