The UK Supreme Court - is there anything left to think about?

Abstract

Alan Paterson's latest masterwork has left no stone unturned. It is executed with the same breadth and depth but with even more attention to detail than his Law Lords book. It will serve as a uniquely informative and thought-provoking reference work for generations of scholars. Very few academics have the guts and the energy to conduct empirical research, especially with elites. No-one has analysed the top court with Paterson's intelligence and insight. His painstaking work is humbling to the rest of us. This article therefore modestly offers a few reflections to mull over and points to watch in future. Every year, I take my class of American law students in to observe the Court and meet a different Justice and a judicial assistant, and to observe proceedings. I ask them to think about the following points and compare the UKSC in these respects with the US Supreme Court.