Throughout the year the court has been celebrating the anniversary. Activities have included opening a new public exhibition, running a student essay competition, and, in October, hosting lectures and presentations across the UK.

President of the Supreme Court, Lord Reed said: “Over the last 15 years the UK’s highest court has become one of the most open and transparent in the world, as well as one of the most highly respected.

“The role of the judges remains the same as it was when they sat in the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, but they now do their work in a much more visible setting. We are very proud of the work we have done, and pleased that we have been able to welcome over 1 million members of the public.

“I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in the next fifteen years.”

The first justices at the court had previously heard appeals in the House of Lords, where they sat as law lords in the Appellate Committee. However, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 abolished the appellate jurisdiction of the upper chamber, and established instead the Supreme Court.

The law lords moved across Parliament Square to the Supreme Court, where they also continued their duties as members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council – which hears appeals from the Commonwealth.

In total the court has:

• heard 1,112 cases in front of a total of 33 justices
• welcomed 1,013,196 visitors
• conducted 5,839 tours
• provided more than 6 million live and on-demand streams of cases
• supported more than 4,000 online course learners

As the new judicial year gets underway, the justices will once again be hearing legal arguments in a wide variety of important cases. Members of the public are free to visit the court, and public tours can also be booked.

The Supreme Court is also working towards unveiling two new websites and improving the portal for users of the court.