Until 1876, the whole of the House
of Lords sat as a judicial body, but now only those members
who hold or have held high judicial office carry out this
work.
For this purpose the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 provided
for the appointment of life peers as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
to act in a judicial capacity.
They are supplemented by the Lord
Chancellor, in his capacity as senior judge in the House
of Lords, and other members of the House who have held high
judicial office.
The Lord Chancellor retains his position as such only as long
as the government of which he is a member remains in office,
but thereafter he still remains a member of the House of Lords
and assists with its judicial work.
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, or ‘Law Lords’ as
they are commonly called, must have been barristers
of at least fifteen years’ standing, or have been judges
of the Supreme
Court for at least two years.
They are appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Prime
Minister. They include judges from Scotland and Northern Ireland,
as the House is the final
court of appeal for all civil matters throughout the UK,
and for criminal matter in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
A court of three judges constitutes a quorum in the House
of Lords, but most commonly a court of five sits. In any event
there is always an uneven number, as in most courts of appeal,
because if the judges are not unanimous (as is often the case
in the House of
Lords), the decision depends on the majority. Judgments
delivered in the House are known as ‘opinions’,
and are normally delivered to the parties in printed form
rather than being read aloud in open court.
If a Law Lord wishes to express himself orally he is entitled
to do so, in which case he is said to, ’make a speech’
rather than deliver a judgment, a reminder of the days when
decisions were made by the House as a whole after hearing
speeches.
In theory, Lords of Appeal in Ordinary can sit in the Court
of Appeal, but in practice they never do so.
See Also:
Lords Justices of Appeal
House of Lords
House
of Lords: Final Appeal
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