Judiciary Flashcards
Give two points on why diversity is an issue in SC
Judges dont reflect society
Makes it hard to understand cultural context of cases
Give two points on why diversity is not an issue in SC
Application of law is neutral
Growing diversity - BAME judges up by 2% in last 2 years
Give three examples of lack of diversity in SC
Little women - 25% in court of appeal, 2 out of 12 in UKSC
Little BAME - 8% of all judges, 0 in UKSC
Little young people - average age is 65, avg age of UK is 40
What are the 4 key principles of the judiciary
Rule of Law
Judicial Independence
Judicial neutrality
Judicial impartiality
What is judicial independence
Courts should not be subject to influence from other branches of government
What is judicial impartiality/neutrality
Judges should be free from bias to establish the Rule of Law
Give 3 examples of judicial independence
Separation of powers - 2005 constitutional reform act made the SC the court of appeal, lord chancellor no longer head of judiciary
Judicial appointments - executive no longer had appointment power after CRA 2005
Freedom from criticism - conventions that forbid MPs from criticising court rulings
Give one example of judicial neutrality
Anti government approach - 2002 - court ruled that the provision in the mental health act went against human rights of freedom
Name a threat to judicial neturality
Griffith Theory states social backgrounds impacts judges decisions
Name a threat to judicial independence
PM’s role in appointments - PM can veto appointments to the SC
What happened in the Miller vs Secretary state EU case
SC ruled that gov could not trigger Article 50 without Parliament’s approval, reinforcing parliamentary sovereignty.
What happened in the Miller vs PM prorogation case
SC ruled that BJ want to pororgue parliament for 5 weeks was unlawful - gave parliament limited time to scutintise Brexit legislations - Parliamentary sovereignty over the executive
What happened in the Begum vs Immigrant commission case
Shamima Begum left UK to join ISIS - stripped of citizenship - Court of appeal allowed but SC ruled she could not return to UK for appeal - showed prioritisation of collecive rights over individual rights
What is ultra vires
principle that public bodies cannot exceed the powers granted to them in law
Give two examples of ultra vires
Miller vs BJ prorogation - PMs use of royal preogative was ultra vires
Reilly vs secretary of state 2013 - SC ruled gov acted ultra vires by making jobseekers work unpaid without legal authority - BUT - law was later changed
What is the importance of judicial review
Process where judges determine in public officials have acted ultra vires
Provides clarification of the law
Give 2 points that the judiciary have great impact on parliament
CRA 2005 enhanced judicial independence
SC hears cases involving the ECHR - allowing them to rule on Acts of Parliament
Give 2 points that the judiciary dont have great impact on parliament
Brexit reduced scope for judicial review - prior, judges could suspend Acts of Parliament if they breached EU law
Ministers can pass leigslation to crrect ultra vires
Give 3 points that SC is too powerful
HRA means judges get involved in politics and clash with the government - e.g. - against prorogation of BJ
Judges, unlike MPs, are unelected and cannot be removed easily - judges hold office until 75 and are appointed
Judicial review means SC can enforce a legislation change to a department - Reilly case - court pushed gov to pass a retrospective law to validate its actions
Give 3 points that SC is not too powerful
SC act under parliamentary sovereignty as Parliament chose to be part of the ECHR and create HRA
Judges keep independence and neutrality and are better suited than politicians who are swayed - miller brexit case shows judicial independence amongst political pressures
Rule of Law is always upheld - in BJ prorogation case was ruled unlawful which shows how even PM is under Rule of Law
Name three threats with the SC’s growing power
Legislation - ability to establish precedent through common law has given “quasi legislative” power
Shift of power towards unelected judges
Separation of powers after CRA gave the SC more stature and authority in media’s eye
Give two impacts of the SC on legislation process
Enforcement of EU law - Treaty of Rome gave precedence to EU law
HRA 1998 - incorporated ECHR into UK law - court can use HRA to establish common law
