Named persons in the supreme court: the Christian Institute and Ors v Lord Advocate

Scottish family law cases seldom find their way to the Supreme Court, but this particular challenge to the competence of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 seemed destined to make it there from its inception. The decision handed down is significant in two respects. First, in a point that may be of greater political than legal interest, it unambiguously dismisses the argument that the named person scheme in itself amounts to an unjustifiable interference with family life (although a narrower human rights argument was successful). Secondly, in a point that will be of general interest to public law academics and practitioners, it clarified and develops the court's approach to defining "reserved matters" in the devolution context.