20.6 - Comparisons with the Supreme Court of the UK

Question 1

Rational comparisons with the UK.

Answer 1

• Justices in both countries are guided by their own personal judicial philosophies.
• Those fighting for rights are often doing so from a point of personal inequality.
• Justices in both countries may act to ensure their own power is protected, as there are legitimacy questions that come from being an unelected court.

Question 2

Cultural comparisons with the UK.

Answer 2

• The cultural expectation of the protection of rights is much higher in the US than UK.
• In the US, there is an expectation that Supreme Court rulings are a way of informally updating the Constitution. The UK Court is beginning to act in a similar way.

Question 3

Structural comparisons with the UK.

Answer 3

• The power that each Court has is highly determined by the constitutional framework in the country.
• The entrenched and codified constitution in the US gives a far stronger protection of rights than the statute law which protects rights in the UK.
• Justices in the US are broadly unaccountable, in the UK they are accountable due to Parliamentary sovereignty so they can be ignored or changed.
• Neither SC has the power to enforce its rulings; the acceptance of rulings is largely based on cultural acceptance of the power of each Court.

Question 4

How are the impacts of the Courts different in the US vs. UK?

Answer 4

• The US constitution is sovereign. SCOTUS is created by the constitution and then interprets this document, so their rulings are sovereign by result. The UK Parliament is sovereign so the court can be ignored.
• The SCOTUS can’t really be dismantled, whereas the UK SC could.
• Justices on SCOTUS are more easily labelled conservative or liberal than in the UK.

Question 5

How are the impacts of the Courts similar in the US vs. UK?

Answer 5

• Rulings from both Courts are often met with anger, but are nonetheless upheld. Gina Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU in 2017 where the ruling was upheld but met with anger from many Conservative MPs. Rulings in the US are also met with anger such as Roe v. Wade but are upheld.

Question 6

What are the levels of independence in the UK SC vs. SCOTUS

Answer 6

• The US appointment nature is far more politicised.
• The vast funding differences between the two ($80 million for SCOTUS in 2017 vs. £12 million for UK SC.)

The UK SC is legally less independent than the SCOTUS, but in practice, SCOTUS is far less independent due to the politicised nature of appointments to courts. (Roe v. Wade being added in 1973 but then overturned in 2022 despite no constitutional amendments. The only thing changed was the views of the justices.)

Question 7

How different are the Courts in rights protection?

Answer 7

• SCOTUS can use the Constitution to strike down Congressional laws or presidential acts. SCOTUS is sovereign so it can exercise considerable power in this area. The UK SC can be overturned by a new Act of Parliament.
• The UK SC has a far greater breath of law to interpret and protect rights. SCOTUS is bound by the Constitution.
• SCOTUS is the highest court in the US, UK citizens can appeal to the ECHR limiting the significance of the UK SC.

Question 8

How is the influence of pressure groups similar in the US and UK?

Answer 8

• In both countries, a pressure group can either bring a case before the SC or influence a case (directly or indirectly). (Citizens Utd. v. FEC in the US or Miller v Sec. of State for Exiting the EU)

Question 9

How is the influence of pressure groups different in the US and UK?

Answer 9

• Pressure groups in the US have a greater range of accepted methods of influence over the courts and therefore over the protection of rights. (ABA has a direct influence over which judges are appointed but Clarence Thomas was given a rating of qualified and was still appointed)