Chapter 8

Question 1

Why was the supreme court created?

Answer 1

Because prior to the constitutional reform act 2005 it had been cliamed that senior judges in the UK were independent of the political influences but there was mixed evidence to weather this was true or not and some people had doubts about weather the inderpency was being upheald

Question 2

What did the constitutional reform act 2005 aim to do and ended up doing?

Answer 2

It’s aim was to stop the doubts of judges not being independent and acted as a fresh guarantee to any doubts people had as a result of this the supreme court was created

Question 3

When did the supreme court become active and before it where was the highest court in the uk situated in?

Answer 3

It was established in 2009 - and before this the highest court in the UK was situated in the HOL and therefore was a part of the legislature and this was a strange anomaly almost unheard in the democratic world

Question 4

What did the old system look like before the reform from new labour - tony Blair - in 2005 and establishment in 2009?

Answer 4

12 Law lords and this were members of the house of lords and were expected to be neutral crossbenches but could take part in the business of the HOL if they wanted to
Head of the law lords - lord chancellor - (all lords chancellors were men before 2016) - he had three roles: speaker of the HOL + cabinet minister responsible for the direction and management of the UK legal system so a political figure and member of the executive + head of the judiciary the most senior judge in the UK showing he was far away from being an independent figure

Question 5

What were the 7 provisions of the constitutional reform act 2005?

Answer 5

1) Lord chancellor was no longer head of the UK judiciary as he had have been for centauries. Instead the lord chief of justice - a different person - who is non political and a senior judge also known as the presidents of the courts of England and Wales

2) The position of the lord chancellor still exists and combines the position with the justice sectary in the cabinet - however they are no longer apart of the judiciary

3)The lord chancellor was no longer the speaker of the HOL and is ceased (stopped) from sitting in it

4)When the supreme court is established it is composed of 12 judges senior ones known as justices of the supreme court

5)Head of the supreme court is known as the president of the supreme court

6)When a vacancy occurred on the court a special selection commission would be established with senior law officers on it

7)The act reaffirmed the principle that a SCJ can only be removed by a vote in both houses of parliament and only for misconduct not as a result of their decisions - the salary of judges is also guaranteed so they have security in both tenure salary