Commentary on Sections Composition for Proceedings
168.The Supreme Court will, like the House of Lords, be able to sit in panels. Section 42, together with section 43, makes provision for the composition of panels. The underlying rule is that no panel should ever consist wholly or predominantly of non-permanent judges, but that otherwise, the Court should have considerable flexibility (essentially mirroring that of the Appellate Committee), including the flexibility, subject to the agreement of the parties, to commence or continue hearing proceedings notwithstanding that a judge is unable to continue.