The judicial system badly needs modernising to speed up the processing of cases and reduce queues, and his government has introduced reforms which it claims will do this, but no one else seems to agree.

ECONOMIST: Why Italian politics is impossible

Five judicial reviews were brought by four protest groups, including 18 councils, campaign group High Speed 2 Action Alliance (HS2AA), which represents more than 70 affiliated groups and residents' associations, and a golf club.

BBC: HS2 ruling 'a victory' despite unlawful compensation move

The speed of the court's decision likely reflects unwelcome political intervention in the judicial system, said Dr. Omar Ashour, director of Middle East Studies at the University of Exeter and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution in Doha.

CNN: Row over Egypt's new constitution reflects wider tensions