Supreme Court

Question 1

What did the creation of the SC bring an end to?

Answer 1

it brought an end to the situation in which the highest court in the land was located within the Lords

Question 2

What is the SC?

Answer 2

the highest court in the UK political system

Question 3

When was the SC established?

Answer 3

opened in 2009 established by Constitutional Reform Act of 2005

Question 4

Why was the SC designed?

Answer 4

• to end fusion of powers at highest level of UK judiciary
• to create greater transparency
• to bring UK in line with most other Western countries
• to establish the country’s highest court clearly independent of parliament

Question 5

What are the roles of the SC?

Answer 5

• final court of appeal for rulings made by the lower courts
• final court for appeal for criminal cases in Eng, Wales, NI
• final court of appeal for civil across whole of UK
• hears appeals on arguable points of law that matters wider public and of constitutional importance

Question 6

How does EU law play a role in SC?

Answer 6

before Brexit the court had responsibility to interpret law passed by EU

Question 7

How does the SC play a role in devolved bodies?

Answer 7

• still final court of appeal for criminal cases (except from scotland) and for civil cases
• makes rulings on cases where the devolved authorities may not have acted within their powers

Question 8

Give an example of the SC ruling that a devolved body had exceeded its power

Answer 8

SC overruled Scottish gov’s scheme to introduce ‘named person’ service as it was in conflict with A8 of HRA because it would allow public bodies to share personal information without consent

Question 9

Explain the composition of the SC

Answer 9

• 12 members
• always odd number at hearings so majority verdict can be reached
• in most cases five or possibly 9

Question 10

How many judges took part in 2016-17 review of High Court ruling of who should initiate UK’s exit from EU?

Answer 10

11 took part - review of the HC ruling that parliament rather that government should initiate the UK’s exit from the EU

Question 11

What is the gender composition of the SC?

Answer 11

• one female justice Lady Hale
• pressure on public institutions to reflect diversity in their composition
• The Times “pale, male and stale”

Question 12

Explain the experience of a SC judge

Answer 12

• will usually have served as a senior judge for two years
• or been a qualified lawyer for at least 15 years

Question 13

Who were the original members of the SC?

Answer 13

former law lords

Question 14

Who makes nominations for SC judges?

Answer 14

independent five member selection commission

(consists of the president, deputy president of court, member of the judicial appointments commission, member of equivalent bodies for Scot and NI)

Question 15

Who approves nominations for SC judges?

Answer 15

• lord chancellor either confirms/rejects nomination (cannot reject names repeatedly)
• then confirmed by PM and then monarch

Question 16

What two key principles does the judicial system in the UK rest on?

Answer 16

• judicial neutrality
• judicial independence

Question 17

What does judicial neutrality mean?

Answer 17

the expectation that judges will exercise their functions without personal bias

Question 18

In which two ways must the impartiality of the SC be safeguarded?

Answer 18

through conflicts of interest
through public activities

Question 19

How do judges remain impartial during conflicts of interest?

Answer 19

• refuse to sit in a case that involves a family member, friend or professional associate
• doing so would give rise to doubt about the justice’s detachment

Question 20

How do judges remain impartial during public activities?

Answer 20

• may write and give lectures to educate public
• may involve themselves in charitable and voluntary activities
• must avoid political activity
• may serve on an official body, e.g. gov commission, provided it does not compromise their political neutrality

Question 21

How has the SC become more transparent?

Answer 21

• it is more transparent in explaining its rulings than its predecessors
• its website carries full details of its decisions, the reasoning behind them
• allows for greater public scrutiny
• welcomes visitors
• its proceedings are televised over the internet

Question 22

How can we suggest the SC is not entirely neutral?

Answer 22

• the narrowness of the SC’s composition in terms of gender, social and educational background is a real concern
• disproportionate number of white, privately educated males

Question 23

What was Radmacher v Granatino case?

Answer 23

• case involved a pre nuptial agreement between marriage partners
• ruled that claims made in the event of a divorce should be limited

Question 24

How can we use the Radmacher v Granatino case to argue against the neutrality of the SC?

Answer 24

• Lady Hale was the only one of the nine justices to dissent from the majority verdict
• gave the reason that the vast majority of people who would lose out as a result of this precedent would be women

Question 25

What did Lady Hale say in her interview in 2015?

Answer 25

called for greater effort to promote greater diversity of background in appointments to the SC

Question 26

What did Lady Hale say about the composition of the SC ?

Answer 26

out of the 13 justices sworn since her appointment:
- all were men
- all were white
- all but two from independent schools
- all but two attended Oxbridge

Question 27

What is the idea of judicial independence?

Answer 27

the idea that judges must be free from political interference

Question 28

Why is judicial independence vital?

Answer 28

• because they may be called on to administer justice in cases where there is a conflict between the state and an individual citizen
• people must know that they will receive impartial justice
• judges need to be confident that they can make a decision without fear that their career prospects will suffer

Question 29

What in built guarantees of independence does the UK judiciary?

Answer 29

• terms of employment
• pay
• appointment

Question 30

How do the terms of employment guarantee independence?

Answer 30

• judges cannot be removed from office unless they break the law
• only limit on their service is official retirement age
• security of tenure
• immune from legal action arising from any comments they may make on cases in court

Question 31

How does pay guarantee independence?

Answer 31

• judges salaries are paid automatically from an independent budge (consolidated fund)
• no possibility of manipulation by ministers

Question 32

How do appointments guarantee independence?

Answer 32

• judicial appointments commission
• selection commission
  both are transparent in their procedure and free from political intervention

Question 33

What is the most visible sign of the SC’s independence?

Answer 33

the fact that it is physically separate from parliament

Question 34

What concerns were raised in 2011 that posed a threat to the independence of the SC?

Answer 34

concerns raised by its first president, Lord Phillips, on the subject of funding

Question 35

What was Lord Phillips response to the spending cuts imposed on the court system as part of the coalition?

Answer 35

he argued that the court was at risk unless it could be allocated pre set, ring fenced funding

Question 36

How did justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, respond to Lord Phillips?

Answer 36

dismissed his argument
insisted the SC was independent of political interference
the SC could not uniquely be permitted to set its own budget

Question 37

What is one of the most important roles of the SC?

Answer 37

to interpret the 1998 HRA - the SC can issue a ‘declaration of incompatibility’ if it believes an existing piece of UK legislation is in conflict with HRA

Question 38

How is power of SC limited?

Answer 38

• parliamentary sovereignty means SC cannot strike down laws
• no codified constitution against which the SC could test legislation

Question 39

What is judicial review?

Answer 39

the court can inquire whether ministers have followed correct procedures

Question 40

How does the SC influence executive and parliament?

Answer 40

judicial review - can examine the actions of public bodies to investigate whether they have acted beyond one’s powers

Question 41

Example of a successful judicial review

Answer 41

the government had not consulted fairly on compensation for people affected by the planned High Speed Rail link

Question 42

Why is judicial review vital?

Answer 42

• vital means of defending citizens rights
• enables legality of government actions to be properly scrutinised
• indicator of the growing prominence of rights in UK

Question 43

What is the criticism of judicial review?

Answer 43

it is argued to place too much power in the hands of unelected and unaccountable judges

Question 44

What is ‘judge made law’?

Answer 44

• issue of privacy
• judges have been accused of creating their own privacy law through the way in which they interpret the HRA

Question 45

What do judges appear to give priority to and how does this occur?

Answer 45

• right to privacy over right to freedom of expression
• specific legislation on the subject had not been passed by parliament and was not explicitly covered by common law

Question 46

What has been the most important constitutional case that has come before the SC to date?

Answer 46

January 2017 ruling of Brexit - whether the government needed the authority of parliament to trigger the process of leaving the EU following the referendum the previous June