Informal consultation on word limits for written cases

The President and Deputy President of the Court are considering a change to the Courts' Practice Directions to reduce the word limits for Written Cases from 50 pages to 30 pages, and a maximum of 12,000 words.  

This is because the court favours brevity and has found that some counsel appear to treat the current limit of 50 pages as a target rather than an upper parameter.  The Court has also found instances of counsel attempting to bypass the page limit by adjusting margins and font size, in contravention of the directions set out in the Practice Directions. If, in the particular circumstances of a specific case, a party considers that due to complexity or the number of issues in the appeal it will need to produce longer written submissions, it will be able to apply via the Portal for permission to do so.

As you will be aware, there is no formal requirement to consult on changes to the Practice Directions, but the President and Deputy President would welcome views on this before making the decision.  For the avoidance of doubt there would be a transition period while any change is introduced. 

If you would like to offer thoughts on this, please contact UKSCandJCPCinformalconsultation@supremecourt.uk by 15 September 2026.

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