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Dear Readers,

As the legal term draws to a close, the UKSC Blog would like to take this opportunity to reflect on our first ten years as a blog and thank you, our readers, for contributing to this first decade.

The UKSC Blog was conceived in 2009 by two individuals: Hugh Tomlinson QC of Matrix Chambers and Dan Tench, partner at CMS. The move from the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords (which had for over 300 years served as the UK’s highest court) to the birth of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, was a monumental event in the constitutional history of appellant decision making in this country. To mark this, Hugh and Dan wanted to create an outlet for commentary upon the Court’s work. The result of their innovation is the UKSC Blog, which has covered and commented upon every case handed down by the Court in that time.

2019 therefore marked not only the first decade of the UKSC Blog, but also the 10th anniversary of the Court itself.

Many of you reading this post will have some connection with the UKSC Blog. Many among you have contributed to it, edited it, contributed art work for the Blog, shared its content on social media, quoted from it in the press or even more importantly, you are one of the 3 million people who have read the UKSC Blog over the last decade. Many of you also support those lawyers, and in particular, often young lawyers, the future of our profession, who produce it.

In numbers, this means:

  • 603 – the number of cases decided by the UK Supreme Court in its first ten years;
  • 3,042 – the number of articles published on the UKSC Blog, including case comments, features and interviews with the Justices in its first ten years; and
  • 42,000 – the average number of readers accessing the Blog each month.

In this day and age, it is a remarkable thing to have a Blog which is 10. We like to think that its output is the creation of a unique record of the Court’s jurisprudential life, as it considers the most pressing matters of public and constitutional importance, which shape our society. And we all ought to be very proud of it.

The Supreme Court is now in recess until 13 January 2020. A full list of the cases scheduled for the Hilary term will be made available by the Court early in the New Year.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we will look forward to posting again in 2020.

Best wishes from the UKSC Blog Editorial Team 2019:

Dan Tench, Emma Cross, Emma Boffey, Rose Falconer & Adam Kosmalski (CMS) and Hugh Tomlinson QC, Matthew Ryder QC, Anthony Fairclough & Emily Campbell (Matrix)