The annual report of the Supreme Court offers a comprehensive insight into the important and varied work of the Court throughout 2021 which saw:
- 149 applications for leave lodged
- 145 applications for leave resolved
- 77 full appeals resolved
- 101 judgments delivered
- 5 requests to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling
In his foreword, Chief Justice O’Donnell highlights the Court’s key achievements, including the revision of Practice Direction SC19 to include an indicative timeline for the hearing of an appeal; the success of a two-day conference hosted by the Access to Justice Working Group aimed at identifying and informing the group’s strands of work; and the introduction of the ‘Judgment Summary’ project in November 2021, which sees an accompanying summary published alongside each judgment to promote public understanding and improve the accessibility of Supreme Court judgments. The foreword also reflects on the Supreme Court’s continuing commitment to embracing technology as a means of enhancing access to justice for all court-users.
The case summaries, along with the requests for preliminary rulings, can be found in the report.