7) Judiciary Flashcards
What is the role of judges
- Apply law as stated by Parliament
- both in criminal and civil cases
What did the Constitutional Reform Act 2003 establish
- Superior judges are completely separate from parliament
- Creating a independent judiciary which is a fundamental principle under the Rule of Law
What act aims to promote diversity in judges and how does it do this through 3 ways
Tribunals court and Enforcement Act 2007
1) widened legal qualifications of judges , including legal executives etc
2) Widened range of gaining knowledge through practising/teaching law, arbitration/mediation etc
3) Experience working in law has had a decrease from 10-7yrs to now 7-5yrs
Which act aims to uphold interdependence of judiciary
Constitution reform act 2005
Who is recruitment of judges managed by
JAC
( Judicial appointments commission)
Who was responsible for appointing judges before the Constitution reform act 2005
- Lord chancellor, would take opinions from existing judges
- Would appoint and invite who to become judges
Why was the Lord chancellors involvement with picking judges so controversial
- LC appointed politically therefore, not free of political influence and bias
What changes did the Constitution’s Act 2005 bring about
- JAC manages recruitment
- Judicial posts are advertised and people must apply
- LC still minimally involved with selection of superior judges
What is the Judicial appointments commission made up of
- 15 members
- judicial and non judicial members
What are appointments now made on and what’s the rough process of it
- Appointment is made sole on merit, posts are widely advertised to attract a lot of wide candidates
- Recommendations from JAC passed onto Lord chief justice who makes decisions from list
- monarch will formally appoint all judges
What is the judiciary often criticised as
“male, pale and stale”
- only 8% is Black, Asian or minority ethic
- Only 2 female justices of the Supreme Court
Who is training of judges carried out by
Judicial college, set up in 2011
What are the three main elements to judicial training
- Knowledge of substantive law, evidence and procedure
- acquisition and improvement of judicial skills
- understanding social context which judging occurs within
What will judge do on first appointment
Induction programme, assigned a mentor (experience judge)
What are judges expected to do throughout their career
- Participation in continuing professional development, seminars and e-learning
What act guarantees judicial independence
s.3 Constitutional Reform Act 2005
- it must be upheld at all times
What should judges be free from
- Influence from legislature (not allowed to be MPSs)
- Judges should be free from political bias
What can judges do with UK legislation when comparing in to European convention on human rights (case)
GCHQ case
- judges can declare uk legislation to be incompatible with the European conventions on human rights, and therefore forcing parliament to change it
What was the case name where courts declared incompatibility with human right s.4
Belmarsh Case 2004
What is judges, security of tenure
- Where judges should not be at risk of removal just because gov don’t agree with their decisions (superior judges)
When do judges often retire at what age
- Age of 70
Who can remove judges if there is misconduct
Judicial Conduct Investigations Office
Who can dismiss an inferior judge for misconduct
- Lord Chancellor
