Constitution Committee
22 April 2026
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Constitution Committee House of Lords
00:05 - 01:21
Speaker 1
To this meeting of the House of Lords Constitution Committee. Today, we're holding our annual evidence session with the president and deputy president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and I'm therefore delighted to welcome back lord Reid of Alamore for what will sadly be his final appearance before the committee as president of the supreme court before his retirement next January. I'm also delighted to welcome lord Sales for his first appearance before the committee following his appointment as deputy president in January 2026. And may I say on behalf of the entire committee that you are both very welcome here. Now to our our members, may I remind you all to declare any interests that are relevant to today's meeting the first time that you speak.
I have no relevant interests of my own to declare. Now we have a a number of questions to ask about the work of the supreme court, but before we turn to them, I understand, lord Reid, that you would like to make a short opening, statement, and we look forward to hearing that, and you are very welcome to do so now. Thank you.
01:22 - 03:11
Speaker 2
Well, thank you very much, and thank you all for the invitation to give evidence this morning. We greatly welcome the opportunity to be able to explain the work of the court to parliament and indeed to a wider public. I thought in these opening remarks, I might just say a word about two aspects of our work which may not otherwise be focused on in in the questions. One is to say something about some of the cases we've been deciding over the last year, and the other is to say a word about our international work. So far as the cases are concerned, this is obviously the the core rationale of our existence.
We have to develop the common law to make sure that it stays up to date and suitable society as it is today. And we also have an important job in interpreting legislation, which isn't always doesn't always deal clearly with the problems that life throws up. Examples of statutory interpretation during the last year which illustrate the importance of the task are, first of all, the decision in the case about the interpretation of the Equality Act of 2010 and what was meant by the word woman. It's been a controversial decision, but it shows it's an illustration of how the interpretation of legislation can have important social consequences. Another example, also important in its own way that I thought I would mention, was a case to do with whether AI related inventions can be patented.
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