Chapter 16- The judiciary Flashcards
Superior judges
Justices of the Supreme Court
The Lord Justices of Appeal in the Court of Appeal
High Court judges (puisne)
Inferior judges
Circuit judges who sit in Crown and County court.
Recorders who are part time judges
District judges who hear small claims in county court
District judges in magistrates court
Tribunal judges
Qualifications of the Judiciary
Set out in the Courts and Legal Services act 1990
Selection of the Judiciary
System was reformed by Constitutional Reform Act 2005, before it was Lord Chancellor who selected and the system was secretive. They were not independent from political influence.
Security of tenure of superior judges
They cannot be dismissed by the Gov. This right originated from the Act of settlement 1701. Before 1700 monarch could dismiss judges at will. Now contained in the Senior courts act 1981 for superior judges in the constitutional reform act 2005.
Power to remove a superior judge has never been used for an English judge but was used in 1830 for an Irish judge.
Immunity from suit
Judges are given immunity from prosecution for any acts they carry out in performance of their judicial function.
They also have immunity from being sued in a civil case for actions taken or decisions made in the course of their judicial duties.
Immunity from suit allows a judge to perform their duties without the fear of repercussions. It gives them complete independance.
Sirros v Moore (1975)
Case in crown court, judge wrongly ordered someone’s detention. Person started claim for false imprisonment against judge.
COA held that, although detention had been unlawful, no action could be taken as judge acted in good faith.
Independance from case
Judges must not try any case where they have any interest in the issue involved.
Pinochet case (1998)
House of Lords judges heard appeal by Pinochet former head of Chile. There was claims to extradite him to Chile for crimes involving torture and deaths.
Amnesty international had been granted leave to participate in the case.
After HOL ruled Pinochet could be extradited, it was found one of the judges, Lord Hoffman was an unpaid Director of amnesty international. The case was retried with a new panel of judges.
Reasons for judicial independance
Seen as important in protecting the liberty of the individual from abuse of power by the executive.
Important that judges should be impartial in their decisions.
It is vital that each judge is able to decide solely on the evidence presented in the court.
Judges must be free to exercise their judicial powers without interference from litigants.
Advantages of judicial independance
Due to fact judges are independent, decisions are made only on the basis of the facts and the law.
This ensures fairness in all cases and is an important advantage of judicial independence.
It increase public confidence they know their cases will be decided fairly
