Jonathan Sumption

Historian and judge Lord Jonathan Sumption argues that it is time to stop relying so much on the courts and to return problems to the politicians.

Sumption says parliaments are struggling to make progress or forge consensus and decisions are often overturned by courts. Many are turning to the courts to solve political and moral questions because they see politicians as ineffective. But who should decide questions such as those on abortion or on prisoners’ rights to vote, politicians or judges? Sumption says rulings of the Supreme Court or European Court often do not put an end to debate and it is time to return some problems to politicians.

Sumption was a Justice of the Supreme Court between 2012 and 2018 and has written books on history including Divided Houses, winner of the 2009 Wolfson History Prize. He gave the 2019 Reith Lectures, arguing that law was taking over the space once occupied by politics.