Judicial Reform

Learning Objectives

• To understand what changes have been made to the judiciary in recent years

• To explain why these changes were necessary• To assess the impact of these reforms

Constitutional Reform Act 2005

How was the Judiciary reformed in this piece of legislation?• Dept. for Constitutional Affairs takes on functions of Lord Chancellor’s

department, such as legal aid, civil law and the administration of the court system

• Criminal law remains the responsibility of the Home Office – rewieving sentencing and whether to increase or decrease it

• The Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office will implement government reform

• New Supreme Court to replace Judicial Committee of HoL as the highest court of appeal

• Independent Judicial Appointments Commission to recommend candidates for appointment as judges.*However, the final say of appointment of judges still lies with the PM & Secretary of State for Const. Affairs

Did we need a Supreme Court?Arguments for a Supreme Court

• Removes the Lord Chancellor and his department and so ends the “fusion” of powers which is so controversial.

• Removes a member of the Executive – the LC – from direct control of judicial appointments. This will reinforce the independence of the Judiciary to perform a vital function in limiting and reviewing the act of the govt.

• Judicial review is v. important b/c judges must be free to find for or against the govt.

• People appointed to SC will only be recommended by an independent Judicial Committee, therefore the PM still has the final say.

• Even though the LC’s post has been evaporated, the problem of executive influence has not been address. e.g. the conflict presented by the Attorney General who decides whether cases against govt are brought to trial. He is an MP and a lawyer.

• Home Secretary & Home Office still have control of criminal law proceedings. These were not given, as suggested, to a Ministry of Justice headed by a minister directly responsible to Parlt.

Arguments against a Supreme Court

• Why do you think the Supreme Court was set up?

• Which areas needed reforming?

• Why did they need reforming?

Why was judicial reform necessary?

In 2003 momentum grew for reform of the British Judiciary, mainly due to the following reasons; The Role of the Lord ChancellorAppointment of JudgesHouse of LordsJudicial Independence

The Role of the Lord ChancellorAn historical oddity?• The ancient office of Lord Chancellor was a

historical oddity. The holder was a cabinet minister, speaker (chairman) of the House of Lords and also Head of the Judiciary.

• In this third capacity he advised the Govt. on legal and constitutional matters, appointed senior judges in consultation with the PM and was leading figure in the making of Govt. policy on legal matters.

• He was therefore a member of all three branches of Govt.

• His position was the most dramatic example of the lack of separation of powers in the UK.

• If Britain was to claim to be a modern democracy it had to change this.

Chris Grayling MP is the current Lord

Chancellor.

• Senior judges were appointed by the PM and the Lord Chancellor (both party politicians) - there could be no guarantee that the Judiciary would be free from political influence.

• This would place under threat the principles of the Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary

Appointment of Judges

House of Lords = Judges were part of Legislature/Judiciary• It was confusing and potentially unjust that the highest

appeal court - the House of Lords should be made up of Judges who were also members of the legislature and who therefore had a place in the making as well as the implementation of the law.

House of Lords

Independence of the Judiciary in a modern democracy• In nearly all modern democracies it is firmly established that

the Judiciary (which upholds the rights of citizens, controls the arbitrary power of the government and maintains the principles of justice and the Rule of Law) should be totally independent of Govt and protected from influence of Govt.

Judicial Independence

How was the judiciary reformed?• In 2003, the decision was taken to undertake reform. This led to

the Constitutional Reform Act of 2005.• The three main reforms of this Act were: The position/role of the Lord ChancellorThe Judicial Appointments CommissionThe Supreme Court

The position/role of the Lord Chancellor

The position of the Lord Chancellor was

retained, but its holder no longer presides over the

House of Lords and is no longer the head of

the courts system.

Chris Grayling MP is the current Lord

Chancellor & Sec for Justice

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd is the

current Lord Chancellor.

Instead the Lord Chief Justice - a

non-political post - was created to be

the head of the judicial system.

In 2003, a new Department of Constitutional Affairs was set up with the

post of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in the cabinet and to advise the Govt. on constitutional issues.

This post was discontinued in 2007 and was replaced by a Secretary of State for Justice, but is now the purview of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg now has responsibility

for the Department of Constitutional

Affairs.

• The Commission ensures that there is no political influence over the decision.

• Though senior politicians do have some say in the final appointment, it is expected that there be no more political interference.

The Judicial Appointments Commission

A new Judicial Appointments Commission was set up to

propose candidates for promotion to senior judicial

positions.

• The 12 Law Lords who sat in the House of Lords and formed he highest Court of appeal in the UK were removed to a new Supreme Court in 2009.

• Though the powers of the new court remained the same as those enjoyed by the former Law Lords, it was an important step in establishing its independence.

The Supreme Court

The separation of the Supreme Court from the House of Lords

was largely symbolic, but the new name and location may go some way to persuading the public and the media that the UK’s highest

court is truly independent.

The Supreme Court

Learning Objectives

• To understand how the Supreme was set up• To examine the role and functions of the

Supreme Court• To assess what impact the Supreme Court has

had on the judicial system

What are the role and powers of the Supreme Court?

Read the hand out ‘The Supreme Court’.

• Construct a diagram that explains the meaning of the text. For example, draw a flow chart for a text that explains a process, or a branch diagram for a text that describes how something is classified.

• There are no paragraphs or headings – you will need to break the text into segments and label each segment in a meaningful way in your diagram.

What impact has the Supreme Court had on the judicial system?

Things that have changed… Things that have not changed…

• Using the table you have just completed, briefly explain your answer to this question.

• Write the equivalent of a 10 mark answer.

10 marks = 10 minutes

What impact has the Supreme Court had on the judicial system?

Homework

• Read the two documents on the VLE;• Appointing Supreme Court Justice• Vacancies at the Supreme Court• Produce a flow diagram of the appointment

process of Supreme Court judges with the stages clearly labelled and a brief explanation of each stage.

• No more than 1 A4 page. This can be done on the computer or by hand.

Extra Reading

• A potted history of the Law Lordshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8176958.stm

• Q&A UK Supreme Courthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283967.stm

• Five Things About The Supreme Courthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8283608.stm

• Fear over UK Supreme Court impacthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8237855.stm