Based in the old Middlesex Guildhall on Parliament Square in Westminster, the new Supreme Court has taken over the judicial functions exercised by a committee of the House of Lords and now acts as the highest court in the UK (Box 1). For students of constitutional matters, the name of this new body — the Supreme Court — is highly symbolic. The codified constitution of the United States guarantees a key role for the US Supreme Court. By contrast, the UK’s constitution is uncodified — there is no British counterpart of the US Constitution which gives an authoritative account of the rules and principles governing political practices. As a result, the independence of Britain’s senior judges has no formal constitutional guarantee. In the eyes of some critics, without an institution similar to the US Supreme Court the liberties of British citizens would always be vulnerable.
Until recently, UK governments had not shown great interest in constitutional reform. However, the New Labour government elected in 1997 had radical plans for reform, exemplified by the introduction of devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the government’s second term (2001–05), attention turned to the judiciary. Apart from the creation of the Supreme Court, the government proposed to abolish the post of Lord Chancellor. Taken together, these measures apparently signalled a desire by the government to make the judiciary independent of the other branches of government.
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