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21 January 2026
Issue: 8146 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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Supreme Court president to step down

Lord Reed, president of the Supreme Court, has announced he will retire next January

The dual-qualified advocate and barrister replaced Lady Hale as president in 2020, having joined the court in 2012. He previously served as a judge at the Court of Session in Scotland.

Law Society president Mark Evans said: ‘We pay tribute to his service, leadership and dedication and wish him well in the future.’

The Lord Chancellor will now convene an independent selection commission to decide his successor.

Lord Reed said it ‘has been a privilege to serve the citizens of the UK, and the people of the Privy Council jurisdictions’.

His is the latest in a spate of high-profile judicial retirements—both Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, and Dame Victoria Sharp, president of the King’s Bench Division, step down in October, while Family Division president Sir Andrew McFarlane is due to retire in April.

Last week, Lord Sales was sworn in as deputy president, replacing Lord Hodge, who retired last month. 

Issue: 8146 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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