Around the world, there are numerous examples of backlashes against judicial power. As courts become more assertive in their use of public law to constrain political power, political elites often respond by curbing (or threatening to curb) judicial power. In some contexts, the backlash against judicial power has led to a major and controversial restructuring of the relationship between the judiciary and the political branches (e.g., Hungary and Poland). This paper situates recent threats to the power of the UK Supreme Court in comparative perspective. The paper considers: a) the extent to which the contemporary discourse of judicial power in the UK employs certain generic court-curbing tropes; and b) the extent to which this discourse may be changing to justify a new phase of court curbing directed, in particular, at the UK Supreme Court.

Our 2020 Annual Conference was scheduled to be held at the University of Wrocław in Poland on July 9-11, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICON·S Executive Committee has decided to postpone our 2020 Conference to 2021. Our next Annual Conference will take place from July 8-10, 2021, in Wrocław, Poland.
Procedural details regarding the organization of the 2021 Conference will follow in the months ahead.
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