ABSTRACT
The case load of the Supreme Court consists almost entirely of cases raising an 'arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the Supreme Court at that time'. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (CRA), which set up the Supreme Court, has little to say about the criteria for appointment or the qualities necessary to do the job. Things changed after the changes made to other judicial appointments by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into force. It was decided voluntarily to adopt the new model for Supreme Court appointments even before the Supreme Court came into existence. It has long been recognized, as Justice Felix Frankfurter of the United States Supreme Court put it, that a person 'brings his whole experience, his training, his outlook, his social, intellectual and moral environment with him when he takes a seat on the supreme bench'.
