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uk government p2 > Supreme Court > Flashcards

Supreme Court Flashcards

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1
Q

what is judicial neutrality?

A

the principle that judges should not be influenced by personal political opinions and should remain outside party politics

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2
Q

what is judicial independence?

A

the principles that judges should be free of influence from other branches of government

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3
Q

what is an elective dictatorship?

A

a government that dominates parliament due to a large majority and therefore has fewer limits on its power

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4
Q

what is judicial review?

A

a power of the judiciary to review actions by other branches of government that breach the law or are incompatible with HRA

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5
Q

what does ultra vires mean?

A

‘beyond the powers’ of what is set out in statute

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6
Q

when was the Supreme Court established?

A

after the constitutional reform act 2005, came into effect in 2009

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7
Q

where did the Supreme Court reside prior to CRA 2005?

A

in the HoL as the law lords

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8
Q

what was evident with the judiciary residing in the Lords?

A

fusion of the powers

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9
Q

what did the role of Lord Chancellor look like before the CRA 2005?

A

used to reside in all three branches.
- lord chief justice (judiciary)
- presiding officer of the lords (legislature)
- chancellor (executive)

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10
Q

what does the role of Lord Chancellor now look like?

A
  • justice secretary (executive)
  • speaker in the lords (legislature)
  • president of the supreme court (judiciary)
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11
Q

is the role of lord chancellor now made by one person?

A

no. as the CRA split it into three operate roles, three different people fill these.

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12
Q

who is the current justice secretary?

A

Alex Chalk

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13
Q

who is the current speaker in the lords?

A

Lord McFall

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14
Q

who is the current president of the supreme court?

A

Lord Reed

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15
Q

how can a justice be removed?

A

by a vote from both houses in parliament, only for misconduct, not a decision on the bench

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16
Q

what is the JAC?

A

judicial appointment commission

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17
Q

how does the JAC remove political interference?

A

it is a neutral commission independent from the executive

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18
Q

what did the CRA 2005 clearly establish?

A

a clear separation of power as the judiciary is now independent from the executive and legislature

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19
Q

what is the composition of the Supreme Court?

A

11 men and 1 woman

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20
Q

how are justices appointed?

A

a special commission is created when there is a vacancy that hears applications.

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21
Q

what experience do candidates who are applying to be on the bench have to have?

A
  • have worked in a judicial high office
  • or 15 years as a solicitor
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22
Q

what can the justice secretary do in regard to the candidates?

A

may ask the court to reconsider or reject the candidate outright

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23
Q

has the power of the justice secretary to ask the court to reconsider or outright reject ever been used?

A

no as this would be saying they have no confidence in the candidate to sit as a judge

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24
Q

what is the role of the Supreme Court?

A

to determine whether the law is being applied correctly and followed equally

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25
Q

what can the Supreme Court not do?

A

strike down or repeal legislation, therefore can’t enforce their ruling

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26
Q

why can’t the court strike down legislation?

A

as parliament is sovereign

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27
Q

what is an action of public authority?

A

declared unlawful for a public body to act in a way that is ultra vires and incompatible with a convention right

28
Q

what is a declaration of incompatibility?

A

issued if legislation is incompatible with the HRA

29
Q

what message does a declaration of incompatibility send?

A

that the law should be changed

30
Q

what did the HRA 1998 do?

A

codified the European Convention of Human Rights into statute law.

31
Q

what does the codification of ECHR to British law mean?

A

that British citizens were able to defend their convention rights in British courts. Improved protection of rights as more people able to go to court and widened the capacity of the judiciary to protect civil liberties and check the executive.

32
Q

what is the background to the Belmarsh case?

A

after 9/11, Parliament passed the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. several people were detained at Belmarsh prison under this act.

33
Q

what did the Anti-terrorism, Crime and security act do?

A

allowed the indefinite detention of foreign suspects of terrorism

34
Q

what did the court decide on the Belmarsh case?

A

rule 8-1 that it was incompatible with article 5 and 15 of the HRA as it only applied to foreign nationals and not British and these people were being held indefinitely without charge

35
Q

what is article 5 of the HRA?

A

right to liberty

36
Q

what is article 14 of the HRA?

A

protection against discrimination

37
Q

what did the government do in response to the Belmarsh ruling?

A

repealed the incompatible part of the act and replaced it with the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.

38
Q

what did the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 introduce?

A

a system of control orders

39
Q

what does the principle of parliamentary sovereignty make it impossible for the court to do?

A

strike down primary legislation

40
Q

what was the issue of law in treasury v Ahmed 2010?

A

whether or not the treasury had acted ultra vires in freezing the assets of suspected terrorists?

41
Q

what was the high court decision in treasury v Ahmed 2010?

A

judge collins ruled that the assets freezing order was ultra vires and quashed them

42
Q

what did the government do in response to the high courts ruling in treasure v Ahmed 2020?

A

appealed it

43
Q

what did the Supreme Court rule in treasury v Ahmed 2010?

A

the treasury had acted in ultra vires and ruled that it should be overturned 6-1

44
Q

what did Brown government pass in response to the supreme courts ruling in treasury v Ahmed 2010?

A

terrorist assist freezing act 2010

45
Q

what did the terrorist assist freezing act do?

A

gave the treasury the power to freeze assets of suspected terrorists so they are no longer acting in ultra vires

46
Q

what is treasury v Ahmed an example of?

A

parliamentary sovereignty

47
Q

what was the issue of law in Miller v Secretary of State for exiting the European Union 2017?

A

whether the government could withdraw from the EU using royal prerogative powers - without consulting parliaments

48
Q

what did the Supreme Court rule in Miller v Secretary of State for exiting the European Union 2017?

A

that consent from parliament is required to trigger article 50

49
Q

what did the Supreme Court ruling for miller v Secretary of State for exiting the EU 2017 do to brexit?

A

slowed down the process of leaving the EU

50
Q

what was the constitutional significance of the ruling in miller v Secretary of State for exiting the EU?

A

that when treaties had been entered into by statute law, they could only be amended via the same mechanism

51
Q

what was the issue of law in unison v lord chancellor 2017?

A

whether the fees order was ultra vires

52
Q

what was the court decision in unison v lord chancellor in 2017?

A

that the fees order was ultra vires. it was unlawful under statute law because it prevented access to justice which is inherent according to the law

53
Q

at the time of the unison case, how did the justice secretary at the time respond?

A

Raab said the government would stop taking fees immediately and voluntarily reimburse claimants dating back to 2013

54
Q

how much did the government have to reimburse claimants after unison?

A

£32 million

55
Q

what was the issue of law in Steinfield and Leiden v Home Secretary 2018?

A

whether excluding heterosexual couples from entering into a civil partnership was discriminatory and not compatible with the HRA as gay couple could get married

56
Q

what did the Supreme Court rule in Keiden v Home Secretary 2018?

A

unanimously ruled that the current procedures were incompatible with human rights act

57
Q

what did the government subsequently do after the Leiden v home secretary 2018 ruling?

A

amend the civil parternship act to allow heterosexual couples to enter civil partnerships

58
Q

what was the first issue of law in Miller v PM 2019?

A

whether the prime minister had advised the queen to prorogue parliament to stifle scrutiny, which would be ultra vires

59
Q

what was the second issue of law in Miller V PM 2019?

A

whether, as a political decision, it was subject to scrutiny of the court

60
Q

what did the supreme court rule in miller v PM 2019?

A

that Johnson prorogation of parliament was unlawful

61
Q

what happened after the supreme courts ruling in miller v pm 2019?

A

speaker Bercow announced he was immediately preparing for resumption of parliament

62
Q

how many cases were brought to the Supreme Court in 2013?

A

15,000

63
Q

after 2013, what did the number of cases decline to?

A

around 2000 a year

64
Q

what can the article 50 and prorogation cases be examples of?

A

judicial activism/politicisation of the court

65
Q
A

uk government p2 (3 decks)

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