The Supreme Court:15 Years of Shaping ‘Property’ Part Two: The Power and Role of the Court and Policy (and Other) Reasoning Themes

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom turns 15 in 2024. This milestone provides the ideal opportunity to consider how the Supreme Court has shaped the concept of ‘property’ through its judgments. This paper, which is the second produced from this project, continues to elucidate some of the ‘themes’ that arise from a consideration of Supreme Court decisions relating to ‘property’ and, through its thematic review, gives a new perspective on the property decisions handed down by the Court as a foundation for future exploration. The themes explored are (i) the power and role of the Court; and (ii) the influence of policy and other reasoning. The project makes two key contributions. First, giving the decisions a fresh review within thematic groupings has allowed for the emergence of new reflections, showing some cases in a new light and allowing for comparisons between cases not previously linked. Secondly, we contrast how specific themes are dealt with across decisions and analyse their internal consistency. Ultimately, our finding and analysis of common threads such as the Court's dialogue with Parliament, its prioritisation of commercial lenders and the business-focused lens through which it interprets agreements, and its development of property protection through anti-discrimination jurisprudence, we find that the Court, in shaping property, has ended up shaping its own role.