comparison

Question 1

role and power similarities

Answer 1

-Both have power of judicial review
E.g. NFIB v. OSHA (US); Miller v. The Prime Minister (UK)

-Both resolve conflict between national and regional government
E.g. Court review of UK government veto of Scottish
Transgender Bill (UK); Hawaii v. Trump (US)

-Both highest court, final interpretation of the law
E.g. any case would do here

Question 2

role and power differences

Answer 2

-Can court strike down Acts of Congress?
E.g. Steinfeld and Keidan v. Secretary of
State (UK); Obergefell v. Hodges (US)

• Role to interpret a codified constitution?
  E.g. uncodified constitution with range of
  sources (UK); codified constitution written at
  Philadelphia Convention in 1787 (US)

Question 3

independence and neutrality similarities

Answer 3

-Both have separate judiciary
E.g. Constitutional Reform Act 2005(UK); principle of separation of powers influenced by Montesquieu (US)

-Both appointed for long terms, cannot be
fired
E.g. Retirement at 75, e.g. President Brenda Hale retired in 2020 (UK); RBG death in office (US)

-Both can be put under pressure by politicians and the media to rule a specific way
E.g. Miller v. Secretary of State judges
accused as ‘enemy of the people’ by Daily
Mail (UK); Democrat criticism of Dobbs v.
Jackson (US)

-Both can be accused of bias
E.g. Radmacher v. Granatino (UK); Bush v.
Gore (US)

Question 4

independence and judiciary diff

Answer 4

-To what degree is appointment of judges political? More independent in UK
E.g. Nomination by Independent Appointment Commission (UK); Partisan appointments of
Kavanaugh, Coney Barrett (US)

-To what degree are judges partisan? More ideological in US
E.g. Judges banned from political
activities (UK); Bush v. Gore (US)

-To what degree does the court reflect the population in social background? More diverse in US
E.g. 1 of 12 female, 0 of 12 ethnic
minority (UK); 4 of 9 female, 5 of 9
ethnic minority (US)

Question 5

effectiveness of protection of civil rights

Answer 5

-Both have independent Supreme Court to protect rights
E.g. Jones v. Metropolitan Police (Extinction Rebellion protests ban) (UK); NFIB v. OSHA (US)

-Both have pressure groups to campaign for rights
E.g. BLM, Liberty, Christian Institute (UK); ACLU, NAACP, BLM, La Raza (US)

-Both have legal protection of rights
E.g. HRA 1998 (UK); Bill of Rights
(US)

-In both rights are more at risk in times of crisis
E.g. Indefinite detention of terror
suspects (UK); Patriot Act (US)

Question 6

effectiveness of protection of civil rights

Answer 6

-Ability of Supreme Court to strike down
laws restricting rights
E.g. Steinfeld and Keidan v. Secretary of
State (UK); Obergefell v. Hodges (US)

-Protection of rights by an entrenched
constitution
E.g. Policing Act (UK); Federal Marriage
Amendment (US)

-Number of access points available for
pressure groups to protect rights
E.g. National Right to Life lobbying at federal
and state level - Dobbs v. Jackson and state
heartbeat bills (US); Liberty lobbying against
Policing Act (UK)