Delivery of the Court's Judgment
The decision reached by the Supreme Court is formulated in written judgments (with the exception of judgments delivered ex tempore) which set out the reasons for either allowing or dismissing the appeal. Each judge may deliver his/her own separate judgment and a number of concurring judgments (judgments that draw the same conclusion) may together form a majority.
A judge who does not agree with the decision of the Court may deliver what is known as a dissenting judgment. Alternatively, the Court may prepare a single judgment, to which all members of the panel have contributed. When this happens, the judgment is attributed to the Court as a whole and it is the convention for the most senior judge on the panel (known as the presiding judge) to deliver the judgment on behalf of the other members of the Court.
When the written judgment(s) is ready to be delivered, the Court is convened, and its decision is delivered in court in the presence of the parties. The decision is given formal effect by an order of the Court. Any costs or other issues arising from the judgment are then determined by the Court.
In addition to being circulated to the parties, the judgment(s) delivered is uploaded to this website. Since October 2021, an information note is also published which summarises the issues considered and the decision reached by the Court. This summary is for information purposes only and does not purport to be an interpretation of the Court’s decision.
Decisions of the Supreme Court can be accessed here.
