From Wikiversity

October 2, 2009

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court (court of last resort, highest appellate court) in all matters under English law, Welsh law (to the extent that the National Assembly for Wales makes laws for Wales that differ from those in England), and Northern Irish law. It has significant, though more limited, powers with respect to Scots law, and also has jurisdiction to determine devolution disputes; that is, cases in which the legal powers of the three devolved governments (the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Assembly Government) or laws made by the devolved legislatures are questioned. The Supreme Court sits in the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster, London.

The Supreme Court was established by Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and started work on 1 October 2009. It took over the judicial functions of the House of Lords, which were exercised by the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords), the 12 professional judges appointed as members of the House of Lords to carry out its judicial business. Its jurisdiction over devolution had previously been held by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The Supreme Court has no authority over criminal cases in Scotland, where the High Court of Justiciary instead serves as the supreme criminal court. It may hear appeals from the civil Court of Session, just as the House of Lords did previously, but permission to appeal is not a feature of the Scottish legal system and appeals can only proceed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom if two Advocates certify that an appeal is suitable.