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UK Trades in the ‘House of Lords’ for a ‘Supreme Court’
London & Bermuda Newsletter
Since 1876, the court of highest jurisdiction in the UK has been the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. The more ad hoc arrangements in place until that date were superseded by an 1876 statute enabling the appointment, for remuneration, of Life Peers qualified to undertake the judicial work of the House of Lords. This gave the UK its “Law Lords”, who have occupied the Law Corridor in the House of Lords until the present day.
By 2003, although no complaint was made in legal quarters about the independence of the Law Lords, it was felt that the demands of transparency and the separation of powers required a change in organisation of the Appellate Committee, as part of the constitutional reforms proposed by the government. The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Middlesex Guildhall on Parliament Square was eventually chosen to house the new body.
The renovation of the new site now virtually completed, the newly constituted court opened for business at the start of the legal year in October 2009.
The work of the new Supreme Court varies little from that of its previous incarnation. It will be composed of 12 judges: the senior lord of appeal will become the president (and the second senior lord of appeal the deputy president) and the remaining judges will be termed justices of the Supreme Court. The justices will be able to call on the services of eight judicial assistants. The court, as at present, will remain the final court of appeal for the entire United Kingdom, except for criminal appeals in Scotland. Its jurisdiction will, however, include the devolution jurisdiction currently exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. There is no question of the UK Supreme Court having jurisdiction to strike down legislation in the manner of the US Supreme Court, although there is much commentary as to whether the justices will interpret their role any differently in this new context.
The costs of renovation and move from the House of Lords excepted, the new Supreme Court is intended to be funded entirely from court fees. A new and simpler set of procedural rules is being developed and proceedings in the court may – from a technical and legal point of view at least – be filmed or broadcast. The building will be open to the public and will house an exhibition area as well as an extensive library.
Perhaps unfortunately, in light of the desire for transparency, the first cases to be heard by the Supreme Court will be heard under rules of secrecy because they involve allegations of terrorism and violation of the Official Secrets Act.
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