Appeal hearings

The law lords hear appeals from Monday to Thursday throughout the law terms, hearing about 85 appeals a year. The law lords sit on days when Parliament itself is sitting for public business and also during periods of parliamentary recess, prorogation and even (by special dispensation from the Queen) during a dissolution.

Before the Second World War the law lords used to hear appeals each day in the Chamber of the House before public business began at 4.15 p.m. When the Commons was bombed in the Second World War, the Commons moved into the Lords Chamber and the Lords moved elsewhere. The law lords moved “temporarily” to a Committee room to escape the noise of the building repairs. They were constituted into an Appellate Committee for this purpose, which first met on 16 May 1948.

The experiment proved so successful that the arrangement continued after the repairs had been completed. Today, although the law lords occasionally hear appeals sitting as the House, in the Chamber, most appeals are heard by an Appellate Committee sitting in Committee Room.

Anyone may attend judicial business without prior arrangement. A person interested in seeing the law lords at work should tell the policeman at the public entrance to the Palace and, if the law lords are sitting they will be directed to the right place. A notice at St Stephen’s entrance shows what judicial business is going on each day.

An Appellate Committee usually consists of five law lords. Proceedings are much less formal than in the courts. The five law lords sit around a horseshoe table and the senior law lord present acts as Chairman. They do not wear robes because they are not judges, but members of a Committee of the House. Counsel appear in wig and gown at the Bar across the center of the room, at which stands a lectern. Counsel for the Appellant is heard first, then counsel for the Respondent and finally counsel for the Appellant in reply. There are frequent questions from the law lords as arguments are developed and challenged. The length of hearing varies but the average is two and a half days.

Once the hearing has finished, counsels leave the room and the law lords discuss the case, the junior giving his opinion first. Judgment is always given by putting questions to the House, in the Chamber. Sittings of the House for judgment are proper meetings of the House. Only the law lords take part in judgments, although any member of the House may attend. This serves as a reminder that it is the High Court of Parliament that determines appeals.

Judgment is usually given at 2 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon a few weeks after the hearing. Each law lord who heard the appeal, starting with the senior, rises to state how he would dispose of the appeal.

The law lords’ speeches are called opinions and are the equivalent of a judge’s reasoned judgment in the courts. The law lords stopped reading out their opinions in full in 1963 and now just indicate briefly how they would dispose of the appeal, referring to the speech they have prepared, copies of which are available to all attending. Every word of an opinion is the law lord’s own – no one else is involved in the drafting.

Once all five lords have spoken, the law lord sitting on the woolsack as Speaker (i.e. the senior law lord present) puts the question to the House: "That the report from the Appellate Committee be agreed to"; and then further questions to dispose of the appeal. These orders form the judgment of the House. (2877)

TEXT 8 MAKING LAWS

TYPES OF BILLS

There are two main sorts of Bill: Private Bills and Public Bills. Private Bills are only intended to affect one particular area or organization. Occasionally a type of Private Bill known as a Personal Bill is presented to Parliament. Personal Bills affect only one or two people and they always begin in the House of Lords.

Public Bills, unlike Private Bills, are intended to affect the public as a whole and not just one area, organization or person. There are two types of Public Bill: Government Bills⁵⁷ and Private Members’ Bills⁵⁸.

The majority of Public Bills which succeed in becoming Acts of Parliament are sponsored⁵⁹ by the Government. When a new Government comes to power after a general election it will normally have a number of policies it wishes to put into effect. Where necessary it will try to change the law by introducing Bills into Parliament. Normally a Government will introduce a number of changes each parliamentary session. Each Bill will be piloted through⁶⁰ Parliament by a Minister from the appropriate Government Department, for example Ministers from the Department for Education and Skills would be responsible for seeing that an Education Bill became an Act of Parliament. Normally Government Bills succeed in getting through Parliament because the Government will have a majority in the House of Commons.

The other type of Public Bill, known as a Private Members’ Bill, is often less successful. A Private Members’ Bill is sponsored by an individual MP rather than by the Government. He or she will promote the Bill as an individual and will therefore not be able to rely on the assistance of the party whips in gaining a majority in the House of Commons. Individual Lords can also sponsor Private Members’ Bills but they have a similar problem of finding support for their Bills. Many Private Members’ Bills fail to complete their passage through Parliament, perhaps through lack of support or, more likely, because of shortage of time. Government business is usually given priority and Private Members’ Bills can get squeezed out. To be successful a Private Members’ Bill ideally needs to be non controversial and have the support of the Government. Private Members’ Bill should not be confused with Private Bills which affect only one area or group of people. (1929)

STAGES OF A GOVERNMENT BILL