2.4. The civil service

Each Secretary of State is able to appoint a couple of political advisers formally known as Special Advisers to serve him or her. They have no line management responsibilities in respect of the staff of the Department. Besides this tiny number of Special Advisers, Government Departments are run by civil servants who are recruited in a totally open manner and serve governments of any political parties. The independence and professionalism of the British civil service is a fundamental feature of the British political system.

2.5. Devolved government

The UK has a devolved system of government, but this is categorically not a system of federal government such as in the United State or Australia, partly because less than a fifth of the citizens of the UK are covered by the three bodies in question and partly because the three bodies themselves have different powers from one another.

The three devolved administrations are:

• The Scottish Parliament (came into operation in May 1999 and covers the 5 million citizens of Scotland. It has 129 members elected for four-year terms. It has legislative powers over those matters not reserved to the UK Parliament and it has limited tax-raising powers).

• The Welsh Assembly (came into operation in May 1999 and covers the 3 million citizens of Wales. It has 60 members elected for four-year terms. Since 2006, the Assembly has powers to legislate in some areas, though still subject to the veto of the Westminster Parliament. The Assembly has no tax-varying powers. The Welsh Assembly, therefore, has less power than either the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly because unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland Wales does not have a separate legal system from England).

• The Northern Ireland Assembly (came into operation in May 2007 and covers the 1,5 million citizens of Northern Ireland. It has 108 members. It has legislative powers over those matters not reserved to the UK Parliament, but it has no tax-raising powers).

3. The uk Judiciary

The British judicial branch is extremely complex. Unlike most countries which operate a single system of law, the UK operates three separate legal systems: one for England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Northern Ireland. Although bound by similar principles, these systems differ in form and the manner of operation.

3.1. The Court System of England and Wales

Her Majesty’s Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales; they are constituted and governed by the Law of England and Wales and are subordinate to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

3.1.1. Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the judicial functions of the House of Lords and devolution cases from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. It started work on 1 October 2009. The court 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 does not have authority over criminal cases in Scotland. The Court's focus is on cases which raise points of law of general public importance. Like the former Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, appeals from many fields of law are likely to be selected for hearing — including commercial disputes, family matters, judicial review claims against public authorities and issues under the Human Rights Act 1998. The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lords) who held office on 1 October 2009 were the first justices of the 12-member Supreme Court.