Collegiality and Collectivity in Common Law Courts

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

This chapter examines the question of collegiality in relation to judgment-writing in two common law apex courts: the United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) and the High Court of Australia (HCA). During 2017, when the conference that gave rise to this collection took place, both courts went through periods of transition after the retirements of Lord Neuberger PSC and French CJ, respectively, with new leadership and new appointments: Lady Hale as President of the UKSC and Susan Kiefel AC as Chief Justice of Australia. Lady Hale has since retired and been succeeded by Lord Reed, who has reiterated the Court’s preference for ‘single judgments or at least a single majority judgment… where possible’. The aim of this comment is to draw upon statistics for each court, in order to provide context for reflections on the practice in respect of collective judging, and to complement other chapters in this collection.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCollective Judging in Comparative Perspective
Subtitle of host publicationCounting Votes and Weighing Opinions
EditorsBirke Haecker, Wolfgang Ernst
PublisherIntersentia
Chapter17
Pages303-321
Number of pages19
ISBN (Print)9781780686240
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2020

Publication series

NameIntersentia Studies on Courts and Judges
PublisherIntersentia

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