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The judges |
Not less than three
judges from the following:
(a) The
'Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice'
(b) The Lords of Appeal
in Ordinary—the 'Law Lords''. Life peers who have been barristers far at
least 15 years. Usually appointed after sitting as Lords Justices of
Appeal in the Court of Appeal.
(c) Peers who have held
high judicial office (e.g. previous Lord Chancellors).
Does not sit on Fridays, most of their Lordships are
not young.
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Constitutional Reform
Act 2005 |
Judicial independence for the first time.
The Act enshrines in law a duty on government ministers to uphold the
independence of the judiciary. They are specifically barred from
trying to influence judicial decisions through any special access to
judges.
Abolishing the Lord Chancellor.
The Act brings to an end the post of Lord Chancellor, transferring
his judicial functions to President of the Courts of England and Wales.
The Lord Chief Justice, currently Lord Phillips, will become President of the
Courts of England and Wales. He will be responsible for the training,
guidance and deployment of judges. He will also represent the views of the
judiciary of England and Wales to Parliament and ministers.
Supreme Court. The Act also
establishes a new, independent Supreme Court, separate from the House of
Lords with its own independent appointments system, its own staff and
budget and, ultimately, its own building (the old Middlesex Guildhall). The 12 judges of the Supreme
Court will be known as Justices of the Supreme Court and will no longer be
allowed to sit as members of the House of Lords. The current Law Lords
will become the first 12 Justices of the Supreme Court, with Lord Bingham
as President of the Supreme Court.
Independent Judicial Appointments Commission.
A new system of appointing judges, independent of the patronage of
politicians, is also brought in by the Act. Appointments will be solely
on the basis of merit, and solely on the recommendation of the new
Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). The minister will have severely
limited powers to reject names put forward by the JAC. He will only be
able appoint candidates recommended by the JAC and will have no power to
select his own candidates.
Also
here.
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