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Rules of The Court

Rules of The Court

The Supreme Court has its own Rules and Practice Directions which replace the Civil, Criminal and Taxation Practice Directions and standing orders of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.

These Rules are contained in a statutory instrument which was laid before Parliament on 1 July 2009. The Practice Directions issued by the President of The Supreme Court are available on this website.

Please see the full Rules of The Supreme Court 2009 and consult the following sections for detailed information.

  • Applications for permission to appeal: rules 10 - 17
  • Commencement and preparation of appeal: rules 18 - 26
  • Hearing and decision of appeal: rules 27 - 29
  • Further general provisions: rules 30 - 39
  • Particular appeals and references: rules 40 – 44
  • Fees and costs: rules 46 - 54
  • Transitional arrangements: rule 55

The UKSC consultation on revising its rules has now closed. The revised rules were laid before Parliament on 11 September and can be found here: The Supreme Court Rules 2024 (legislation.gov.uk). The revised rules are expected to come into force on 2 December 2024, together with new Practice Directions. Please note that any case filed before then will be subject to the Rules of the Supreme Court 2009 and the current PDs for the life of the case.

The Consultation response to the new Rules is available here