Has the UK Supreme Court Become More Restrained in Public Law Cases?

Abstract

In recent years, a number of academics, judges and politicians have noted that the UK Supreme Court has adopted a more restrained approach when it comes to public law than it had done previously. This article assesses the quantitative and qualitative evidence for this apparent conservative turn. It finds that, in a number of important respects, the Court has indeed adopted a more restrained approach to public law issues in recent years. However, conservatism and caution are not apparent across the board, and there are a number of areas in which the approach of the Court has been anything but restrained. Overall, the Court should not be considered ideologically conservative, nor should it be deemed constitutionally supine. Rather, it is most accurate to suggest that the Court is basing its judgments on a vision of the law rooted in the tradition of political constitutionalism.