the judiciary + supreme court

Question 1

what does the judiciary do?

Answer 1

-make/enforce certain laws
-responsible for interpreting constitution
-shouldn’t be influenced by external control

Question 2

what is the j made of?

Answer 2

-judges/justices/magistrates
-crown/magistrates/appeal/high/supreme court
-juries in crown courts

Question 3

what do different courts deal with?

Answer 3

-diff types of offenses
-civil + criminal cases
-diff judges in diff courts

Question 4

which courts/judges are more political (clarify law + set legal precedents)?

Answer 4

-Court of Appeal + SC- establish common law (judical review)

Question 5

what is the role of the judicary?

Answer 5

-to interpret + administer law as laid down by Parliament
-e.g.- police offers may use ‘reasonable force’ to detain a suspect, judges decide what is/not reasonable

Question 6

what is the Separation of Powers?

Answer 6

-3 branches of political system seperate if system us to function well + check power of each branch
-purpose to defend citizens’ liberty
-judiciary must remain seperate from other institutions

Question 7

why is the role of the judiciary political in the UK?

Answer 7

-judges + other parts of judicial process ha
ve political roles
-e.g. director of public prosecutors decies who will be prosecuted
-e.g. 2016/7 SC rules in favour of Gina Miller case- parliament should debate/scrutinise/vote on Brexit deal

Question 8

what is judicial review?

Answer 8

-power of a senior judge at the Court of Appeal/SC level for review
-actions of govt/public authorities declared unlawful if exceed authority
-court of judtice called on to interpret meanings in constitutions
-UK- happens w/judges interpreting laws + actions, e.g. after ECHR ratified in UK

Question 9

what is ultra vires?

Answer 9

-‘beyond the powers’
-actions taken by govt bodies that exceed scope of power given to them by laws/corporate charters
-principle is basis for judicial rviews

Question 10

what is independence?

Answer 10

-judges free from political pressure

Question 11

what is neutrality?

Answer 11

-judges themselves are free from political leaning/bias

Question 12

why do judges need to be independent + neutral?

Answer 12

-judiciary needs to be independent to perform an effective check on executive’s power
-judicial independence=important requirement of seperation of powers
-citizens need to know their rights are protected by an independent judiciary + are satisfied with judiciary

Question 13

how independent were judges pre-CRA?

Answer 13

-lord chancellor (LC) had key role in appointment of judges
-HofL + Lord justices of Appeal appointed by the queen on PM’s advice
-high court, circuit judges/recorders appointed by the Queen on LC’s advice
-Courts + Legal Services Act widened entry to the judiciary, reflecting changes in audiences’ rights

Question 14

what were the three main problems pre CRA?

Answer 14

-dominated by politicians- LC/PM had main roles in selection process
-secretive- CR organisation Charter 88 criticised old selection- secretive + lacked selection criteria
-discriminatory- process of ‘secret soundings’- real scope for discrimination- lawyers falling back on gender/racial stereotypes- judiciary did not reflect populace

Question 15

what did the CRA do?

Answer 15

-duty on govt ministers to uphold judicial independence- cannot influence judicial decisions through access to judges
-reform of LC- judicial functions to the President of the Courts of England Wales, new LC trains, guides+ deploys judges
-indepenent SC established
-independent Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC)- selects candidates for judicial appointment to Justice sec.
-a Judicial Appointents + Conduct Ombudsman- investigates + reccomends complaints abt appointments process + judicial conduct complaints handling

Question 16

why was there still worries?

Answer 16

-govt retains control of legal system- Justice ministry
-politicians have entered political dialogue w/judges
-PM can veto SC judge appointments
-LC can reject names put forwards by JAC

Question 17

criticisms of the judiciary?

Answer 17

-80% of judges went to Oxbridge
-50%+ of middle-ranking circuit judges went to Oxbridge
-2004- 16% of judges were women, 9% of senior judges (high court+) were women
-1 member of court of appeal= minority, 13% of Eng./Wales pop=minority

Question 18

different types of courts?

Answer 18

-SC- SC justices, Law Lords, appeals from Court of Appeal/High Court
-Criminal division- appeals from Crown Court against conviction/sentence
-Court of Appeal- civil division, appeals from High Court/civil courts/tribunals in civil cases
-high court- Queen’s Bench division, divisional court of QBD (usucally from magistrates), family division/matters
-crown court- trials by judge/jury post committal by magistrates, appeals from magistrate/youth courts
-county courts
-magistrates court- adult/youth court, family panel
-tribunals- diff. types of case, related to employees/ers

Question 19

benefits of a SC?

Answer 19

-separation of powers
-increases power of the judiciary
-SC’s role= more transparrent
-losens power of politicians to control the judiciary- more independent of govt.
-modernises judiciary (appointments process)

Question 20

drawbacks of a SC?

Answer 20

-cost
-little consultation- judges are very powerful
-decreases parliamentary sovereignty- chanegs constitution
-assumed more power since inception- more politicised
-judiciary composition is unchanged