Term Paper on "Judiciary Branch of Government"

Term Paper 6 pages (2747 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Each country has a prescribed number of seats as follows: England fills 523 seats; Wales fills 38 seats, Scotland fills 72 seats and Northern Ireland fills 17 seats. Chief Officer of the House of Commons is the Speaker who is elected by the MPs. The "House of Lords" is comprised of the "Lords Spiritual" and the "Lords Temporal." The Lords Spirituals are comprised of the Archbishops which are from Canterbury and York; Bishops from London, Durham as well as Winchester; Twenty-one (21) diocesan bishops who are most senior of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal consist of those individuals which are either are all the hereditary peers and peeresses of England, Scotland, and Great Britain. They are the United Kingdoms hereditary peers and peeresses as well as life peers that are a creation for giving the House assistance in its duties and lastly of all other life peers.

Appeals from the Court of Appeals in England and Wales as well as Northern Ireland both civil and criminal plus from the Court of Session in Scotland on civil matters are all heard in the House of Lords. Appeals from a Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Courts in Both England and Wales as well as the High Court in Northern Ireland are heard here as well. Court Martial Appeals are also heard in the House of Lords. Statutory provisions govern the guidelines upon the right to appeal is based upon for this court with differing time limits as well as other factors. Presently there exist twelve Lords of Appeal in the Ordinary whoa re in the position by appointment from among the Lords Justices of Appeal and are generally inclusive of two judges from the Scottish bench. Former Lords of Appeal in the Ordinary and former Lord Chancellors as well as those holding or having held other judicial office of a high nature hold entitlement to sit as Law Lords under the Act however it is unusual if more than a few of them sit more frequently than upon occasion. Since 1876 the House of Lords in discharging judicial duties has been comprised of professional individuals. The Appeal Procedure in inclusive of three phases defined as: The "Preparatory Phase," "Hearing Phase, and the "Judgment Phase."

The Prime Minister has the power to confer by Sovereign advice hereditary as well as life peerages upon individuals and is generally done for giving recognition in politics or other services to the crown. The Lord Chancellor presides over the House of Lords. Permanent officers in the House of Commons are inclusive of the "Clerk of the Parliaments" whose responsibility is for records of House proceedings as well as the promulgation of Acts of Parliament. The Clerk acts as accounting officer and House staff administrator. The highest court in the United Kingdom is the House of the Lords, Supreme Court of Appeal. Decisions made in this court are binding on all lower courts on all points of all for the entire United Kingdom inclusive of civil cases in the countries. Decisions are also binding in relation to criminal cases for the countries of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom Courts are the Queen's Courts and The Queen is responsible for all appointments to the judiciary and acts on the advice of ministers. Generally judges will be appointed from among practicing "barristers," also called advocates and solicitors in parts of Great Britain. Collectively barristers are referred to as the "Bar" or "Counsel" in when referred to as a group. The responsibility of the solicitor differs somewhat from the barristers and the advocate contains differences in functioning as well. Undertaking legal business for individual and corporations are the solicitors. Barristers give advice in relation to legal problems which has been previously submitting via Solicitors and are to be presented in the higher courts. Both Solicitors and Barristers present cases in the lower courts and people represent themselves as well. Barristers and advocates belong to the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales, the Faculty of advocates in Scotland and the General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland and finally the Executive Council of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland.

The judiciary in the United Kingdom and Great Britain is considered to be independent with the adjudications of the judiciary not be subject to the direction or control of the ministers. The Lord Chancellor, Home Secretaries of the State of Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for administration of justice. In England and Wales the Lord Chancellor is the head of the judiciary and is responsible for all court administration, tribunals and court procedures. He is also responsible for appointment of magistrates to the judiciary as well as being responsible for administration of civil law reform and legal aid appointments. The police service, prisons, probation service and the Home Secretary hold responsibility for the administration of criminal law. The attorney general and solicitor general are the principal advisors of English Law to the Governments advisors of law representing the Crown in certain domestic as well as international cases. Finally responsibility for enforcing law falls on the Attorney General.

In Scotland the Secretary of State recommends all judiciary appointments appoints the staff of the high Court, Justiciary and Court of Session and is responsible for Scotland's criminal law, police, prison system as well as legal aid. The administrator in all North Ireland courts is the Lord Chancellor.

Summary and Conclusion:

As this work has demonstrated the judicial position in the UK is quite different from that of the judicial position in the U.S. The reason that very little is said in reference to the role and function of British Judges is due to the fact that in contrast to the judges in the U.S. The judges in the U.K. are not only appointed but are independent from the court itself and is not in a pressurized position in terms of adjudication of a case. There is much less likelihood that they will be influenced by public opinion or the ministers in the rendering of judgment in a case. Another element is in the fact that U.S. Court Justices acquire tenure in their service or they can be assured of their job until retirement barring gross neglect or breach of their duties on the bench. The judiciary in the U.K. On the other hand retains the position for only short periods and though they may cycle back around into the position it is never expected that they are a permanent employee of the British government structure.

References:

Stevens, Robert (1979) Law and Politics: The House of Lords as a Judicial Body Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979

Countries of the World (1991) Embassy of the United Kingdom: Civil Courts [Online] at Highbeam Research.

Wise, D. & Cummings, M. Jr. (1981) Democracy under Pressure: An Introduction to the American Political System 4th ed. (1981) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. ISBN: 0-15-517343-X. Lib. Congress No. 81-80036.

Civil law refers to offenses that are not of a heinous nature generally referring to white collar or non-violent crimes, or crimes that do not involve drugs or bodily harm to another individual.

2 Criminal law refers to offenses of theft, burglary, robbery, extortion, murder, rape, assault and other such offenses as well as being inclusive of drug charges.

Wise, D. & Cummings, M. Jr. (1981) Democracy Under Pressure: An Introduction to the American Political System 4th ed. (1981) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,… READ MORE

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