Role of the Supreme Court

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12 Terms

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Principles of the SC

  • Highest court in the UK

  • Independence from political pressure

  • Membership due to legal experience and good judgement as opposed to political bias

  • Only Plmt able to overturn SC decisions by passing new, or amending existing, legislation

    • Rwanda Bill: ruled illegal as SC said Rwanda was not a safe country, Plmt passed law to say Rwanda was a safe country

  • Enforces the ECHR, rule of law and freedom of information act

  • Asserts Common Law Rights

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Cases that the SC hears

  • Judicial reviews for important bodies, such as the govt

  • Cases that have implications for other bodies in order to set a precedent

  • Cases that involve important interepretations of the law

  • Cases that are in the public interest

  • Cases are a key issue of human rights

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Roles of the Supreme Court

  1. Ensuring the rule of law is applied

  2. Interpreting the law

  3. Conducting judicial review

  4. Hearing cases

  • Ensuring the law is correctly applied and is being followed equally by everyone

  • Appellate court

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Roles of the Supreme Court - ensuring the rule of law is applied

  • Oversees the work of lower courts in the UK

  • All courts have a duty to ensure maintenance of the rule of law, but this is a key role of the SC

  • Ensuring all citizens are treated equally under the law

  • Trials and hearings:

    • Ensuring that all parties gain a fair hearing and

    • The law is applied in the spirit it’s intended

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Roles of the Supreme Court - interpretation of the law

  • Precise meaning of statute/common law is not always clear

  • Needed: circumstances under which those in a court conflict about what the law is suppposed to mean

  • Sets judicial precedent: other judges must follow the same interpretation as the SC

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Roles of the Supreme Court - conducting judicial reviews

  • Process citizens go through when they feel they have been mistreated by a public body

    • E.g. different treatment of citizens, clear injustice such as acting ultra vires, devolution (power and limits of devolved bodies)

  • Examines and establishes wrongdoing

  • Compensation given, or reversal of decision

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Roles of the Supreme Court - hearing cases

  • Up to 11, usually 5, SC judges hear each case

    • Majority needed to pass

  • Only the ECHR can reverse the SC’s judgement if human rights are at stake

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Roles of the Supreme Court - achievement of democratic objectives

  • Ensuring the govt doesn’t overstep powers

  • Asserting the rights of citizens

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Examples: Human Rights Act 1998

  • Boosted the SC

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2013- applications for judicial review + impact

  • More than 15 000 applications made, most refused

  • Impact:

    • Govt restricted cases able to apply for legal aid

    • Raised court costs

  • Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary - aimed to “drive out meritless applications” used as a “cheap delaying tactic” to govt actions

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2014- JR cases heard, success rate

  • 4062 heard

  • 36% successful

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2015-19 - decrease in JR applications

  • JR applications down by 44%