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UK Government and Politics > Judiciary > Flashcards

Judiciary Flashcards

1
Q

What did the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 do?

A

Turned the fusion of powers into the judiciary being separate from the legislature and the executive.

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2
Q

Who used to be chief justice?

A

Lord Chancellor

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3
Q

What was the issue with having the Lord Chancellor as chief justice?

A

Was a member of all three branches of government

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4
Q

Who was the first woman to serve as President of the Supreme Court?

A

Brenda Hale

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5
Q

What was the court ruling in September 2019?

A

The prime minister had acted unlawfully in proroguing parliament.

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6
Q

What is the judiciary?

A

All those directly involved in the administration and application of justice

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7
Q

What was the highest court of appeal?

A

Law Lords and the Appellate Committee of the House of Laws

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8
Q

What is the highest court of appeal now?

A

Supreme Court and the 12 justices on the bench

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9
Q

What three systems play a part in the UK Supreme Court?

A

High Court Justiciary and Court of Session in Scotland, the Court of Judicature in Northern Ireland and the Court of Appeal in England and Wales.

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10
Q

What is the court below the Supreme Court?

A

Court of Appeals - split into criminal and civil divisions

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11
Q

What is the senior judiciary?

A

Comprises of justices in the Supreme Court, head of divisions, Lord Justices of Appeal, High court Judges and deputy High Court judges.

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12
Q

What do senior judges do?

A

Use their power of judicial review to clarify or establish a legal position where statute law is unclear or absent.

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13
Q

What is common law?

A

Formed of legal precedents thats serves as a guide to both lower courts and future lawmakers

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14
Q

What was the old appointment process?

A

Secret soundings - close associates to the Lord Chancellor - only drawn from a small social circle

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15
Q

What did the CRA do to the appointmnets process?

A

Reduced the power of the Lord Chancellor

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16
Q

Who is now in charge of the appointment process?

A

Judicial Appointments Commission

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17
Q

What are the requirements for becoming a Supreme Court justice?

A

Either hold high judicial office for at least 2 years or have 15 years as a qualified practicioner

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18
Q

How many members are on the selection committee?

A

5

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19
Q

What does the Lord Chancellor have the right to?

A

Veto a decision - means the commission has to reconsider its selection

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20
Q

What are the benefits of the new system?

A

Meritocracy rather than cronyism, scrutiny and a thorough process

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21
Q

What are the drawbacks of the new system?

A

Complicated and the Lord Chancellor can still veto an appointment.

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22
Q

What is the rule of law?

A

No one is above the law

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23
Q

What is the role of judges?

A

Interpreting statutes and dispensing justice

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24
Q

What does the separation of powers help do?

A

Protect freedom and ensure no party of the government is too powerful

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25
Q

Can judges overturn statutes?

A

No - parliament is sovereign

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26
Q

What law used to take precedent?

A

EU law - 1991 High Court ruled that UK law had to be set aside - ditched after Brexit

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27
Q

What has meant that the role of the judiciary has grown?

A

HRA and CRA

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28
Q

What is judicial independence?

A

Members of the judiciary should be separate and independent from government.

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29
Q

What does security of tenure mean?

A

Judges cannot be removed or disciplined by the government - only on misconduct

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30
Q

What does judges having high salaries mean?

A

Prevent corruption - not voted on by parliament - Consolidated fund

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31
Q

What is contempt of court?

A

Illegal for any MP or Peer to interfere with the result of a court case

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32
Q

What else is covered under contempt of court?

A

Media and politicians cannot comment on an ongoing case

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33
Q

What is convention that politicians do not do?

A

Criticise court rulings

34
Q

What is the importance of judges legal training in upholding judicial independence?

A

They have proved themselves as neutral, fair and judging cases on legal principles - appointed on track record not on politics

35
Q

What can some judicial decisions have?

A

Political consequences - sometimes controversial

36
Q

Who has overall control of the legal system?

A

Justice Ministry and the government

37
Q

What has become an increasing tendency?

A

Politicians to have an open discussion on sentences and protection of rights - indirect pressure on the judiciary

38
Q

What is evidence of judges trying to maintain independence?

A

Activism - proper application of law

39
Q

What is judicial neutrality?

A

Judiciary should avoid allowing their personal opinions to affect their decisions in cases

40
Q

What should judges not show?

A

Systematic bias towards or against any groups in society

41
Q

What are judges not allowed to do?

A

Be members of political parties

42
Q

What does a narrow pool of recruitment mean?

A

Judges don’t represent society - all have the same views

43
Q

How have judges been perceived as liberal?

A

Criticisms of government decisions when they undermine the liberties of citizens

44
Q

Who lost a series of cases in 1990 against prisoners?

A

Michael Howard

45
Q

What proportion of magistrates are women?

A

50%

46
Q

What is judicial review?

A

Someone challenges the government on the basis that they have exceeded their powers

47
Q

What does ultra vires mean?

A

Beyond its power

48
Q

What has happened to the number of judicial review cases?

A

Increased dramatically

49
Q

How many times was Howard overruled between 1992-6?

A

10 times

50
Q

What was declared unlawful in 2010?

A

Interim cap on migration - not been brought before parliament for discussion

51
Q

What did the Supreme court argue in 2010?

A

Government did not have the legal power to freeze the assets of suspected terrorists

52
Q

What did the Court of Appeal argue?

A

Hunt did not have the power to order the closure of Lewisham A&E - breached NHS Act 2006

53
Q

How can Judges make their decisions?

A

Only rule that the body has exceeded the powers given to it in law or that the law has been applied unfairly

54
Q

What was passed in 2000?

A

Freedom of Information Act

55
Q

What did the FIA do?

A

Gave citizens the right to see all public documents

56
Q

What is the limitation to the FIA?

A

Government can withhold information if it felt that the publication would cause damage to public interest

57
Q

What can judges be asked to do?

A

Chair public enquiries

58
Q

What was the 2003 Hutton Inquiry?

A

Circumstances around the death of the weapons inspector David Kelly

59
Q

What was the Gibson Inquiry?

A

2010 - British intelligence services thought to be involved with US forces in the torture of terrorist suspects.

60
Q

What was the inquiry into the phone hacking?

A

2011 Leveson Inquiry

61
Q

When was the Grenfell Inquiry?

A

2017

62
Q

What must the law be under the rule of law?

A

Knowable and accessible

63
Q

Where do features of the rule of law feature?

A

Bill of Rights 1689

64
Q

What strand of the rule of law did Belmarsh undermine?

A

No one can be punished without trial

65
Q

What does parliamentary privilege undermine

A

No one is above - also Prince Andrew and Partygate and Cummings

66
Q

What does parliamentary sovereignty undermine?

A

That general principles of the constitution derive from judges decisions

67
Q

What is the average age of the supreme court in 2021?

A

65

68
Q

Has there ever been a BAME supreme court justice?

A

No

69
Q

How many male justices have there been?

A

27

70
Q

How many female justices are there?

A

Only ever been 4

71
Q

When was the Reilly v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions case?

A

2013

72
Q

What was the 2013 case a dispute over?

A

Lawfulness of “welfare to work”

73
Q

What was the result of the 2016

A

The government had acted ultra vires

74
Q

What was the HM Treasury vs Ahmed case?

A

2010 - freeze assets of people who have been associated with Al Quaida - claimant successful

75
Q

Another example of JR?

A

Miller case in 2017

76
Q

What proportion of cases find against the public body?

A

36%

77
Q

What is a delcaration of incompatibility?

A

Allowed by the HRA - non binding - a law doesn’t work with the HRA

78
Q

What case put EU law as precedent?

A

Factortame

79
Q

What treaty brought UK judges into conflict with both parliament and the executive?

A

Maastricht Treaty

80
Q

Example of a HRA case

A

Naomi Campbell - right to privacy vs freedom of speech/ of the press

UK Government and Politics (10 decks)

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