1 / 9

British Judiciary

British Judiciary. Hierarchy of Courts (like the U.S.) 2009: Supreme Court Created (12 justices) Prior to 2009: Law Lords were highest authority 12 members from House of Lords Prime Minister appoints justices. British Judiciary. No tradition of Judicial Review

airlia
Download Presentation

British Judiciary

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. British Judiciary • Hierarchy of Courts (like the U.S.) • 2009: Supreme Court Created (12 justices) • Prior to 2009: Law Lords were highest authority • 12 members from House of Lords • Prime Minister appoints justices

  2. British Judiciary • No tradition of Judicial Review • Declare an Act of Parliament unconstitutional • Parliamentary Sovereignty • Can only determine if government’s actions are in keeping with common law and previous acts of Parliament. • POSSIBLE CHANGE? • Britain bound by EU laws and treaties. • EU law conflicts with British law?

  3. Supreme Court Overturns Non-EU Spouses Ban • Describe the UK law. • With what international law did it conflict? • What practice did the UK law hope to deter? • Describe Lord Wilson’s justification. • How is this a SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE? • UK: no “Bill of Rights.” • EU: has “Bill of Rights.”

  4. Bureaucracy (Whitehall) • Led by the Cabinet ministers (MPs) • 100,000s of civil servants who administer the laws. • Top level bureaucrats • Experts in their field • Ministers rely on expertise • Have discretionary power • Bureaucrats: bipartisan • Retain jobs through changes in government. • Merit-based hirings. • http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ Partial List of Cabinet • HM Treasury • Home Office • Defense Ministry • Ministry of Justice • Ministry of Health • Ministry of Education • Ministry of Business • Ministry of Work and Pensions

  5. Linkage Institutions • Groups that connect the citizens to the government. • Political Parties • Interest Groups • Mass Media

  6. Political Parties and Interest Groups Similarities • Represent political POV of members. • Influence Policymaking Differences • Parties: run candidates for office. • Interest Groups: only support/endorse • Parties: broad spectrum of policies. • Interest Groups: support a few related policies.

  7. Special Interest GroupsPluralist v. Corporatist Systems Pluralist • Many rival groups compete for policy influence in a sector. • autonomous of govt. • U.S. system Corporatist • Few groups for each sector. • Officially approved by govt. • Groups involved in policymaking.

  8. Quango • Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Org. • Government funded • Approx 1,000. • Help Govt. craft policy Examples • Forestry Commission • Environment Agency • Nat’l Institute for Clinical Excellence • Which drugs to fund. Because of quangos Britain has a pluralist system with neo-corporatist tendencies.

  9. Britain and Special Interests • Historically, business and trade unions are the most powerful. • Trade Unions Congress (TUC) • Especially powerful during Collectivist Consensus.

More Related