8.1 - The Impact of the Supreme Court on Legislative and Policy-Making Processes

Question 1

What is the Supreme Court?

Answer 1

The highest court of appeal in the UK.

Question 2

How many people are in the Supreme Court?

Answer 2

12.

Question 3

Who does the judiciary represent?

Answer 3

The courts and judges.

Question 4

Why are judgements reached in senior courts more important?

Answer 4

They can set legal precedents that can be referred to in subsequent cases.

Question 5

Who works out how laws interact in the real world?

Answer 5

• Parliament makes the laws.
• The judges decide how they actually work in the real world.

Question 6

Why are the judiciary arguably more important for legislation than Acts of Parliament?

Answer 6

‘Whoever hath the absolute authority to interpret any written or spoken laws, it is he who is truly the lawgiver and not the person who first wrote or spake them’.

Question 7

What provides the basis for English Common Law?

Answer 7

How senior judges interpret Acts of Parliament and resolve cases creates legal precedent.

Question 8

Why are decisions of the supreme court supremely important?

Answer 8

The decisions it reaches must be followed in future cases.

Question 9

What used to be the highest court of appeal prior to the Supreme Court?

Answer 9

The Lords.

Question 10

Which Lords acted as the highest court of appeal?

Answer 10

The 12 Law Lords in the Appellate Committee.

Question 11

Why were the Lords split from the judiciary?

Answer 11

Having the Lords also act as as the highest court of appeal breached the principle of the ‘separation of powers’.

Question 12

Who split the Lords from the Judiciary?

Answer 12

Blair.

Question 13

When did Blair split the Lords from the Judiciary?

Answer 13

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

Question 14

What replaced the Appellate Committee?

Answer 14

The Supreme Court.

Question 15

Why is the supreme court better than the previous appellate committee?

Answer 15

• Separates powers.
• More open to public scrutiny.

Question 16

How far does the jurisdiction of the supreme court reach?

Answer 16

Across the whole UK and is the highest court of appeal for all civil cases.

Final court of appeal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, the High Court of the Justiciary fulfils this role.

Question 17

How does the Supreme Court hold the government to account?

Answer 17

There is a judicial review on how the government has acted.

Question 18

How is Supreme Court membership decided?

Answer 18

• Five-member selection commission made of the most senior judges in the UK.
• Then passed to justice secretary who has the opportunity to reject a nomination.
• Then passed to the monarch to make the appointment.

Question 19

Why is it vital that justices of the supreme court are independent?

Answer 19

Decisions should be reached on the principles of justice, rather than political pressure.

Question 20

Why do some criticise the supreme court?

Answer 20

The privileged nature of the justices make it unlikely to reflect the way in which law interacts with modern society.

Question 21

How is the Supreme Court unrepresentative?

Answer 21

Mostly men, who have been privately educated and then attended Oxbridge.

Question 22

What does the social status of judges tend to mean about case decisions?

Answer 22

They tend to favour (hmm..) the establishment.

Question 23

How does the government still retain some political influence over the appointment of justices?

Answer 23

The justice secretary does not need a legal background, yet has the power to reject a nominee.

Question 24

How can the Supreme Court be pulled into politics?

Answer 24

In cases concerning major political disputes, the neutrality of the court could be argued.

Question 25

How can the Supreme Court claim to be neutral and independent?

Answer 25

• Judges are not allowed to be party members.
• Judicial salaries are not determined by Parliament.
• It is incredibly difficult to remove senior judges from office.
• Appointments are more transparent since the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
• Court cases are generally open to the public, so any bias would become apparent quickly.
• Parliament is under ‘sub judice’ when a case is being heard.

Question 26

What is sub judice?

Answer 26

The inability of Parliament to express an opinion on cases that are currently being heard.

Question 27

How have judges recently become less socially conservative?

Answer 27

The judiciary has become more willing to confront both Parliament and the executive.

Question 28

How has the judiciary stood up to Parliament recently?

Answer 28

• The Gina Miller case, the government did not have the authority to begin withdrawal from the EU.
• supreme court ruled that the government’s Rwanda scheme was unlawful

Question 29

What is judicial neutrality?

Answer 29

The rule of law requires that judges must be neutral.

Question 30

Why is the UK Supreme Court less powerful than those found in the USA?

Answer 30

There is no codified constitution to refer to legislation.

Question 31

What constitutional and political functions does the Supreme Court hold?

Answer 31

• Determining the meaning of law.
• Deciding whether a public body has acted beyond its authority.
• Establishing where sovereignty is found within the UK.
• Declaring when the government has acted in defiance of the HRA.

Question 32

Why do decisions made in the Supreme Court carry greater weight than in other courts?

Answer 32

There is no place to appeal above the Supreme Court.

Question 33

What is ultra vires?

Answer 33

The principle that one has ‘acted beyond one’s authority’.

Question 34

Where can ultra vires often be applied?

Answer 34

To quash actions made by governmental departments that overstep the mark.

Question 35

To what extent does the Supreme Court influence the executive and Parliament?

Answer 35

• Determining the meaning of the law.
• Establishing whether a public body has acted ultra vires.
• Determing location of sovereignty in the UK.
• Declarations of incompatibility with the HRA.

Question 36

Why is the power of the Supreme Court to determine location of sovereignty so important?

Answer 36

The location of sovereignty can be disputed, so their decisions can be very important.

Question 37

What was the Gina Miller case?

Answer 37

The Supreme Court ruled that as Parliament decided to join the EU, Parliament must also decide to leave the EU, not the government.

Question 38

Why are judges unable to strike down Acts of Parliament?

Answer 38

Due to Parliamentary sovereignty.

Question 39

What does the Supreme Court do in an event of the ECHR being infringed?

Answer 39

The judges issue a formal statement of incompatability, which places significant pressure on Parliament to amend the law.

Question 40

Is the Supreme Court influential? (Yes)

Answer 40

• The UK’s most senior court.
• The UK’s final court of appeal.
• Supreme Court justices are the most senior in the UK.
• Significant pressure can be placed on government to amend/repeal Acts that are incompatible with other laws.
• The Supreme Court decides the location of sovereignty in the UK.

Question 41

Is the Supreme Court influential? (No)

Answer 41

• Parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament can ignore decisions.
• The Supreme Court cannot initiate cases.
• The Supreme Court cannot cause the government to repeal laws.
• The Supreme Court is bound by what the law states.