Judicial independence and neutrality arguments for and against

What do some ague the supreme court is not upholding?

its core principles

AGAINST CORE PRINCIPLES

The supreme courts what hams its ability to be independent and neutral

increasingly politicised role

AGAINST CORE PRINCIPLES

What have conservative commentators and politicians perceive the courts to have

an increased liberal agenda

AGAINST CORE PRINCIPLES

what is an example of increased liberal agenda

ruling on Brexit Prorogation and immigration

AGIANST CORE PRINCIPLES

What do environmentalists argue the courts were in favour of

corporate and government interests

AGAINST CORE PRINCIPLES

what is the example for the environmental campaigners

Heathrow airport ruling in 2020

AGAINST CORE PRINCIPLES

what did the conservative party put in their manifesto and why

In 2019 called for reforms to judicial review to prevent supreme court from being used as a tool to ‘conduct politics’

some argue FOR

Courts uphold their core principles through training and ruling

FOR UPHOLDING CORE PRINCIPLES

What does the contentious nature of supreme court rulings mean

someone will always be unhappy with the outcome

but judges are trained to be neutral and independent

FOR UPHOLDING CORE PRINCIPLES

what reduces the influence of one judge

most cases are heard by 6-8 judges so there is not one singular judge ruling

FOR UPHOLDING CORE PRINCIPLES

How many judges decided on Brexit and prorogation ruling

11

FOR UPHOLDING CORE PRINCIPLES

who does the supreme court not rule in favour of

the executive

FOR UPHOLDING CORE PRINCIPLES

how many cases did the government win out of 11 in 2020

3

FOR UPHOLDING CORE PRINCIPLES

The supreme court is appointed by who and what does this mean

independent selection panel

less likely for judges to be politically motivated

AGAINST UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

what is seen as a barrier for the supreme court to be neutral

the courts lack of diversity

AGAINST UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

what does the supreme court not reflect

diversity of the UK population

AGAINST UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

how many of the supreme court judges are white men

10/12

AGAINST UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

what does the supreme court also reflect

a lack of diversity among senior lawyers in the UK

AGAINST UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

what does critics of the supreme court argue the lack of diversity leads to

rulings upholding elite interests

AGAINST UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

what is an example of supreme court upholding elite interests

rulings if third runway at Heathrow

FOR UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

what happened in one of the earliest cases in 2010

Supreme court rules MPs accused of expenses fraud should face criminal trials which led to 3 MPs being jailed

FOR UPHOLDING NEUTRALITY

who did the supreme court uphold the rights of in the Rwanda case

the rights of asylum seekers which went against one of the executives highest profile policies