Supreme Courts Digest 13–20 September 2026

United States Supreme Court
Denied a stay in USPS v. California, leaving in place an injunction against a new Postal Service mail-in ballot rule ahead of the midterms. Kavanaugh concurred on timing; Alito and Thomas dissented. Separate emergency docket activity continued on election-related maps and voting rules.
SCOTUSblog · JURIST

United Kingdom Supreme Court
17 September: Forthwell Ltd v Pontegadea UK Ltd [2026] UKSC 33 — Albazero exception confirmed as part of Scots law; appeal on related-company damages dismissed. Earlier in the month: In the Petition of DM No 2 [2026] UKSC 32 on a child’s views under Hague Convention Art. 13(b). Next listed judgment: 22 September.
Press summary · UKSC listings

Supreme Court of Canada
18 September: reasons in Sinclair-Desgagné v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), 2026 SCC 31. Majority applied the Opitz test and explained why an Elections Canada envelope error required annulment of the 2025 Terrebonne result. A by-election followed.
SCC case page · CBC

Supreme Court of India
18 September: stay of a Punjab & Haryana High Court ruling that struck down an Income-Tax Act reassessment provision; assessments frozen until 3 December. Other judgments this week included officiating service/promotion and methanol regulation.
LiveMint

Brazil — Supremo Tribunal Federal
15 September plenary on a possible investigation of Justice Alexandre de Moraes (Banco Master) was suspended after clashes and a request for time. Datafolha (18–19 September) recorded 48% distrust in the STF, a series high. Conflicting interlocutory orders continued over the Federal Police director.
Folha · Rio Times

South Africa — Constitutional Court
17 September: Premier of the Western Cape / City of Cape Town v Speaker of the National Assembly — Public Procurement Act 2024 declared unconstitutional in full for inadequate public participation; no suspension of invalidity. Finance minister noted the judgment.
LRC · gov.za

Poland — Constitutional Tribunal
Institutional deadlock continued: President Nawrocki has not sworn in several Sejm-elected judges, including Maciej Berek (qualifications dispute). 18 September: protest outside the Tribunal; Polish Association of Constitutional Law unanimously called for seating lawfully elected judges and implementing TK, ECtHR and CJEU rulings on composition. Presidential chancellery said it is “monitoring the situation.”
Polskie Radio · AFP · Konstytucyjny.pl

Spain — Tribunal Constitucional
Plenary admitted the Government’s challenge to Madrid Law 1/2026 (regional popular action in specified criminal cases). Suspension of the contested provisions remains in force from 16 July pending a merits decision (competence over criminal procedure).
Moncloa.com report

France — Conseil constitutionnel / Cour de cassation
Conseil: public QPC hearings on 17 September (health-professional discipline; CPP Art. 656-1); further QPC listed for 22 September. Cour de cassation (17 September) issued Third Civil Chamber rulings on co-ownership secretaries/minutes, commercial-lease preference and related property issues.
Affaires en instance · Cour de cassation

Germany — Bundesverfassungsgericht
No blockbuster mid-week merits judgment. Public debate around the Court’s 75th anniversary and trust (former Justice Lübbe-Wolff interview, 15 September). Recent published chamber/senate material includes earlier 2026 asylum-benefits and Afghanistan-admission cases.
Die Zeit · BVerfG

Italy — Corte di Cassazione / Corte costituzionale
Ex-Ilva (Taranto): Cassation listed the extraordinary administration’s appeal for 20 October, days before an appellate deadline to shut blast furnaces; commissioners sought a fresh Court of Appeal ruling on whether they may wait. Constitutional Court earlier referred Art. 3-bis citizenship rules to the CJEU (Ord. 147/2026).
Adnkronos · Corte costituzionale

Council of Europe — ECHR supervision
15–16 September: Committee of Ministers adopted 43 decisions on execution of ECtHR judgments covering 20 States, one interim resolution (Rana v. Hungary group) and 49 final resolutions closing 94 cases. Next DH meeting listed for 1–3 December.
CoE

Belgium — Cour de cassation — 15 September: Article 3 ECHR and detention conditions; other September rulings on pre-trial detention time limits and road signs.
courdecassation.be

Ireland — Supreme Court — Clarified Isaac Wunder restriction orders (M v M); earlier TikTok v DPC [2026] IESC 27 on stays of regulatory decisions.
courts.ie

Philippines — Supreme Court — Held that Congress has a mandatory duty to enact an anti-political dynasty law (Art. II s.26).
sc.judiciary.gov.ph

South Korea — Supreme Court — School-violence findings must weigh age, relationship and seriousness, not every pupil conflict.
scourt.go.kr

Pakistan — Supreme Court — Agreement in principle on a judicial-cooperation MoU with the Supreme Court of Korea.
supremecourt.gov.pk

New Zealand — Supreme Court — Leave refused (11 Sept.) in the Remuera cross-lease dispute; matter returns to arbitration.
courtsofnz.govt.nz

Disclaimer: AI-assisted report (Grok). Information gathered from public sources. Editorially approved by Robert Williams.