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THE JUDICIARY, main roles:
final court of appeal for all UK civil cases…
THE JUDICIARY
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THE UK SUPREME COURT
- set up in 2009 following 2005 Constitutional Reform Act.
- Replaced Law Lords as highest court.
- physically and institutionally separate from parliament.
- 12 judges.
- compulsory retirement age = 70.
- cannot be removed by ministers or parliament unless for gross misconduct.
- free of political pressure.
uksc and europe:
- under 1998 HRA, the UKSC has power to decide whether an action by a public body or a particular law is in breach of the ECHR.
- if it finds such a breach, it issues a 'declaration of incompatibility' - requires the action to be reversed.
- obliged to respect precedents of the ECtHR.
- HORNCASTLE CASE: concerned the use of statements from witnesses not present in court. ECtHR ruled that a person convicted on such evidence had been denied access to a fair trial but the UKSC disagreed and the court was sent back.
- this case influenced the ECtHR when it came to hear a similar case 2 years later - the UKSC is both influenced by and influences the ECtHR.
- separate to the ECHR, the UKSC must take EU law into account when hearing cases that concern European treaties the UK is signed up for.
appointment procedure:
- non-political, independent and based on merit alone.
- vacancies are filed by a special select commission.
- commission is made up of: president and deputy president of the court; a member each from the Judicial Appts Commission, the Judicial Appts Board for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Judicial Appts Commission.
- commission consults with senior judges, not wishing to be appointed, before putting forward a name selected on merit alone.
- Lord Chancellor can accept or reject the nomination but not put forward their own candidate.
key cases
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COMMISSIONER OF THE POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS V. DSD and another
became known as THE JOHN WORBOYS (black cab rapist) CASE 2017
key features:
- two victims of serial rapist John Worboys successfully won a case against the Met Police for not taking their allegations seriously enough at the time.
- won substantial comepnsation.
- human rights case.
outcome and significance:
- UKSC decided victims' human rights had been breached.
- if a police force conducts an investigation into a major crime which fails in a sufficiently serious way, it could be liable to human rights action brought by the victim.
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impact on govt, legislature and the making of policy
acts as significant check and balance on govt and parliament in regard to both legislation and executive actions.
under HRA, all govt bills must include a statement saying that in the ministers view the bill either is or isnt compatible with the human rights but that the govt wishes to proceed with the bill.
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on occasions, the UK govt can choose to ignore the rulings of the ECtHR - in 2005 the EctHR ruled a blanket ban on denying all prisoners the vote was incompatible with the ECHR but parliament did not subsequently change the law.
sometimes the court can come close to overturning key aspects of govt policy.
- in 2015, the UKSC only narrowly - by a 3 to 2 margin - upheld the controversial cap on the total amount of benefits an out of work family can receive.
main roles:
- final court of appeal for all UK civil cases and criminal cases from England, Wales and N. Ireland.
- Hears appeals on points of law from the general public and of national importance.
- enforces the ECHR in the UK - thus reducing the number of cases on behalf of UK citizens heard in the ECtHR.
- acts as final court of appeal for a number of overseas territories and former colonies such as Jamaica.
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