United Kingdom Supreme Court Parliamentary Sovereignty Brief Background Responsibilities

Popular Sovereignty Popular Sovereignty: The legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive and judicial bodies The legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive and judicial bodies The concept also holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation, so that it is not bound by written law or precedent The concept also holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation, so that it is not bound by written law or precedent Popular sovereignty contrasts with that of Judicial Review Popular sovereignty contrasts with that of Judicial Review Up until 2009, House of Lords retained judicial authority in the UK Up until 2009, House of Lords retained judicial authority in the UK

Brief Background The creation of a Supreme Court for the United Kingdom was first debated in a July 2003 Department of Constitutional Affairs Consultation Paper The paper laid out the argument that no true judicial separation existed between the judicial functions and legislative functions in the House of Lords Non-judicial members of House of Lords were never given jurisdiction over legal decisions, but Gov’t wanted to create more transparency for citizens Those who argued against the formation of a Supreme Court noted costs would rise w/ a formation of a separate court and problems may arise between UK Supreme Court and EU stipulations The Supreme Court was established by Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and started work on 1 October 2009 It assumed the judicial functions of the House of Lords; 12 sitting Lords preside over the UK Supreme Court

Powers and Responsibility The main role of the UK Supreme Court is to hear appeals from courts in the United Kingdom's three legal systems: England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland The Supreme Court acts as the highest court for civil appeals in Scotland, but Scottish Supreme Court has jurisdiction over criminal courts The Court's focus is on cases that raise points of law of general public importance: Commercial disputes, family matters, claims of incompatibility with Human Rights Commercial disputes, family matters, claims of incompatibility with Human Rights The court can overturn secondary legislation if that legislation is found to be beyond the powers of the primary legislation that allowed it in the first place The court may also make a “Declaration of Incompatibility” which means that it believes that the legislation subject to the declaration is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights

Understanding the UK Supreme Court UK’s Supreme Opens for Business ature=related ature=related ature=related ature=related Opening of UK Supreme Court ure=related ure=related ure=related ure=related From House of Lords to Supreme Court Issues between UK and EU Courts