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People respond to outcomes rather than reasoning, the deputy president of the UK Supreme Court told me last week. Lord Hodge was reflecting on the reaction to the court’s ruling in the For Women Scotland case, where he gave the leading judgment.

“We decided the question of statutory interpretation,” he explained, “and have left it to others to work out the consequences. And of course the Equality and Human Rights Commission has the unenviable task of giving guidance on this matter.”

The court delivered its ruling in April and the commission’s guidance has still not been approved by ministers, much to the frustration of its former chair Baroness Falkner of Margravine.

In the course of a wide-ranging interview for A Lawyer Talks, Hodge told me why he thought former judges should not comment on matters of political controversy. But he regarded it as acceptable to talk about the rule of law. I had to weave my way carefully round the restrictions but in the end I had a much better understanding of what the UK’s second most senior judge thinks about the great issues of the day, across the UK and beyond.

And since Hodge is not planning a formal valedictory speech when he retires at the end of this month, I took the opportunity to ask him for his reflections after 12 years in the Supreme Court — and his unique transformation into an English lawyer.

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