Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC) is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases from Scotland.^[a]

As the United Kingdom's highest appellate court for these matters, it hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population. Additionally the Supreme Court hears cases on devolution matters from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.^[2][3] As a consequence, the court must include judges from the three distinct legal systems of the United Kingdom – England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, made up collectively of twelve Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish judges.^[1]

The Court usually sits in the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster, though it can sit elsewhere and has, for example, sat in the Edinburgh City Chambers,^[4] the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast,^[5] the Tŷ Hywel Building in Cardiff^[6] and the Manchester Civil Justice Centre.^[7]

The United Kingdom has a doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty and no entrenched codified constitution,^[8] so the Supreme Court is much more limited in its powers of judicial review than the constitutional or supreme courts of some other countries such as India, United States, Canada and Australia. It cannot overturn any primary legislation made by Parliament. However, as with some other courts in the UK, it can overturn secondary legislation if, for example, that legislation is found to be ultra vires to the powers in primary legislation allowing it to be made.

Further, under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998, the Supreme Court, like some other courts in the United Kingdom, may make a declaration of incompatibility, indicating that it believes that the legislation subject to the declaration is incompatible with one of the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights. Such a declaration can apply to primary or secondary legislation. The declaration does not overturn the legislation, and neither Parliament nor the government is required to agree with any such declaration. However, if they accept a declaration, ministers can exercise powers under section 10 of the Human Rights Act to amend the legislation by statutory instrument to remove the incompatibility or ask Parliament to amend the legislation.

As authorised by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Part 3, Section 23(1),^[9] the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was formally established on 1 October 2009 and is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom.^[10] Section 23 of the Constitutional Reform Act limits the number of judges on the Court to 12, though it also allows for this rule to be amended, to further increase the number of judges, if a resolution is passed in both Houses of Parliament.^[11] Most cases are decided by a panel of five of the judges (justices); in particularly important cases, the court may use a panel of eleven justices.

The Supreme Court assumed the judicial functions of the House of Lords, which had been exercised by the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (commonly called "Law Lords"), the 12 judges appointed as members of the House of Lords to carry out its judicial business as the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. Its jurisdiction over devolution matters had previously been exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

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