Discussion
From the cranmer blog;
It may have passed the attention of most, but this week saw the eradication of the Law Lords from the Upper House. No more will the House of Lords be the highest court of appeal: in New Labour's New Britain, there is no place for this ancient institution and the subtle fusion of powers: there has to be an increasing separation. So the Law Lords have been expelled and replaced by the new Supreme Court, on the US model, to be housed in the old Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square, at a cost of some £60 million.
The appointed supreme judges will have silky new robes in a shiny new building. The Supreme Court will cost £12 million a year to run: at present, the Law Lords cost about £2 million.
But the money is of little consequence.
Although there was a certain tension in having judges in the legislature, the system has evolved over centuries, and it worked. Tony Blair removed the Lord Chancellor - the head of the judiciary - from the Cabinet, after discovering he could not simply abolish the ancient post. At the plea was to the 'rational' in order to 'modernise'. The creation of the Supreme Court is a logical consequence of this incessant constitutional tinkering, but it will be to the detriment and diminution of the status of the House of Lords. A further consequence will be the inevitable politicisation of the Court, exactly as it is in the US. Liberated from the constraints of the legislature, the judges will be more likely, spurred on by EU law and European conventions, to overturn Acts of Parliament. Their personal political views will therefore become a factor in their appointment.
It may have passed the attention of most, but this week saw the eradication of the Law Lords from the Upper House. No more will the House of Lords be the highest court of appeal: in New Labour's New Britain, there is no place for this ancient institution and the subtle fusion of powers: there has to be an increasing separation. So the Law Lords have been expelled and replaced by the new Supreme Court, on the US model, to be housed in the old Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square, at a cost of some £60 million.
The appointed supreme judges will have silky new robes in a shiny new building. The Supreme Court will cost £12 million a year to run: at present, the Law Lords cost about £2 million.
But the money is of little consequence.
Although there was a certain tension in having judges in the legislature, the system has evolved over centuries, and it worked. Tony Blair removed the Lord Chancellor - the head of the judiciary - from the Cabinet, after discovering he could not simply abolish the ancient post. At the plea was to the 'rational' in order to 'modernise'. The creation of the Supreme Court is a logical consequence of this incessant constitutional tinkering, but it will be to the detriment and diminution of the status of the House of Lords. A further consequence will be the inevitable politicisation of the Court, exactly as it is in the US. Liberated from the constraints of the legislature, the judges will be more likely, spurred on by EU law and European conventions, to overturn Acts of Parliament. Their personal political views will therefore become a factor in their appointment.
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