Rise in urgent and important cases at UK Supreme Court
Cases where parties requested an urgent hearing, or where a larger than usual panel of Justices was convened, formed a growing proportion of the work of the UK Supreme Court in the 2015-16 financial year, according to the court's newly published annual report and accounts.
During the year, the court heard slightly more appeals (92, compared with 89 in 2014-15) in fewer sitting days (104 days, as against 136 in 2014-15), and delivered 81 judgments, the same number as the previous year.
It sat as a panel of more than five Justices in 14% of appeals, up from 12% in 2014-15 and 9% in 2013-14. This typically arises when the court is asked to depart from a previous decision of the Supreme Court or the House of Lords, or when a case raises an issue of particularly high constitutional or public importance.
The number of cases highlighted as having been dealt with within a matter of weeks from initial application to full judgment rose from three in 2014-15 to nine in the past year.
Analysis of judgments handed down during the year shows more decisions relating to children, tax and tort law, while there were no cases considering detention or extradition issues compared to five of each during the previous year.
There was a 20% decrease (to 215) in applications for permission to appeal, after a particularly high rate in 2014/15. The "grant rate" dropped to 32%, from 39% in 2014-15.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is co-located with the Supreme Court and shares the court’s administration, heard fewer appeals during 2015-16 (45 compared to 60) and gave fewer judgments (48 compared to 57), reflecting a drop in cases being brought from its various overseas jurisdictions.
Almost 100,000 people visited the court's building over the last 12 months, and the President, Lord Neuberger, personally welcomed its 500,000th visitor since 2009. The court also launched an "on demand" video archive of its proceedings.
Lord Neuberger writes in the report: “The numbers of people coming to the court – be it school parties, guided tours, university moots or simply people wandering into the building on their visit to Parliament Square – is an important demonstration of our openness. And when account is taken of the live streaming and ‘on demand’ broadcasting of our hearings and judgments via our website, which allows access throughout the world, I believe that we are doing our best to live up to our aim of making the court, its processes and its decisions properly accessible.”
The court’s net operating cost remained at £4.5m. The accounts show that the Supreme Court and Judicial Committee spent £12.5m during 2015-16 (half of which was judicial and staff costs), and recouped almost £8m in court fees, contributions from the UK court services, and other income.