Thejudiciaries of the United Kingdom are the separate judiciaries of the three legal systems inEngland and Wales,Northern Ireland andScotland. The judges of theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom, theSpecial Immigration Appeals Commission,Employment Tribunals,Employment Appeal Tribunal and theUK tribunals system do have aUnited Kingdom-wide jurisdiction but judgments only apply directly to the jurisdiction from which a case originates as the same case points and principles do not inevitably apply in the other jurisdictions. Inemployment law,employment tribunals and theEmployment Appeal Tribunal havejurisdiction in the whole ofGreat Britain (i.e., not in Northern Ireland).
There have been multiple calls from both Welsh academics and politicians however for aWelsh justice system.[1][2][3]
The judges of theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom are known as Justices of the Supreme Court, and they are alsoPrivy Counsellors. Justices of the Supreme Court are granted the courtesy titleLord orLady for life.[4]
The Supreme Court is a relatively new Court being established in October 2009 following theConstitutional Reform Act 2005. Formerly, the Highest Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom was theHouse of Lords Appellate Committee made up ofLords of Appeal in Ordinary, also known as Law Lords, which with other Lord Justices now form the Supreme Court. It also took overdevolution cases from theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council.[5][6] Such Law Lords were allowed to sit in the House of Lords and were members for life.
The Supreme Court serves as the highest court of appeal for all cases inEngland and Wales and inNorthern Ireland, but only for civil cases inScotland.[7] TheHigh Court of Justiciary remains thecourt of last resort in Scotland for criminal cases.[8]
The Supreme Court is headed by thePresident andDeputy President of the Supreme Court and is composed of a further tenJustices of the Supreme Court.[citation needed]
The Justices do not wear any gowns or wigs in court, but on ceremonial occasions they wear blackdamask gowns with gold lace without a wig.[citation needed]
TheUK tribunal system is part of the national system ofadministrative justice with tribunals classed asnon-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).[9] Though it has grown up on anad hoc basis since the beginning of the twentieth century, from 2007 reforms were put in place to build a unified system with recognised judicial authority, routes ofappeal and regulatory supervision, and recognised legally qualified members of tribunals as members of the judiciary who are guaranteed continuedjudicial independence.[10] The UK tribunal system is headed by theSenior President of Tribunals.[11]
An appeal lies to the Court from any order or judgment of a court in Scotland if an appeal lay from that court to the House of Lords at or immediately before the commencement of this section.
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