Definitionzzz

Question 1

Judicial Review

Answer 1

The power of the judiciary to review actions, laws and decrees of the other two branches of the government

Relatively limited within the UK

Question 2

Seperation of Powers

Answer 2

Executive and Legislative are both at Parliament, whereas the Judiciary is a separate branch from them

Question 3

HRA Compatibility

Answer 3

The Supreme Court can declare pieces of statute law to ne incompatible with the Human Rights Act

Question 4

EU Law Compatibility

Answer 4

The Supreme Court can declare pieces of statute law to be incompatible with EU law

Question 5

Ultra Vires

Answer 5

Beyond the power

The Supreme Court can declare that political actors (including government ministers) have exceeded their proper powers

Very much interpretive

Question 6

Judicial Independence

Answer 6

Judges should be free from any political or external influence so they are able to apply the law without fear of any negative consequences

Kept separate from the other branches - Judges should be free from external bias

Question 7

Judicial Neutrality

Answer 7

Judges shouldn’t have political sympathies (obviously impossible in practice)
> Judges mustn’t allow their own views and beliefs to affect their professional conduct

Judges should be free from internal bias

Primarily achieved through
> Prohibitions on direct political activity
> Legal training
> Accountability
> Judges in the UK aren’t ‘public figures’ (unlike the US)

Question 8

Super - Injunctions

Answer 8

When courts grant an individual a right to privacy and prevent the media from reporting on a particular story or from reproting the super-injunction itself

Often involves celebrities

Caused a rift between the branches
> MPs and Lords have invoked ‘parliamentary privileges’ to report injunctions with no fear of prosecution

Question 9

Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC)

Answer 9

Appoint all judges below the Supreme Court level

Lord Chancellor has limited veto

Question 10

Supreme Court Selection Commission (SCSC)

Answer 10

Appoints Supreme Court Justices

Question 11

Judicial Activism

Answer 11

The willingness of judges to involve themselves in partial disputes rather than remaining objectives (contrary to judicial neutralism)

Question 12

Civil Liberties

Answer 12

The state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially with regard to freedom of action and speech

e.g. Freedom of Information

Question 13

Rule of Law

Answer 13

No One is above the law

Everyone is bound by the law, including government ministers and the Queen