From: ce11son@yahoo.ca
On Sat, 12 Dec 2015 01:46:24 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
wrote:
>Charles Ellson wrote:
>>11 Dec 2015 20:10:40 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman" wrote:
>>>Stephen Sprunk wrote:
>>>>On 11-Dec-15 09:02, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>>>>Stephen Sprunk wrote:
>>>>>>On 10-Dec-15 19:01, Charles Ellson wrote:
>
>>>>>>>As applied to General Pinochet when there was an attempt to deal
>>>>>>>with him in the UK some years ago, that's sovereign immunity not
>>>>>>>diplomatic immunity (which most "sovereigns" be they monarchs or
>>>>>>>presidents don't have).
>
>>>>>>It was a UK law, not international law, that extended state
>>>>>>immunity in UK courts to former heads of state; the House of Lords
>>>>>>ruled that didn't protect crimes against humanity or thus Pinochet.
>>>>>>However, extradition to Spain was denied on medical grounds, and he
>>>>>>was sent home to Chile.
>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>Diplomatic immunity never came up because he wasn't a diplomat when
>>>>>>he was arrested. . . .
>
>>>>>Several points:
>
>>>>>1) It's the Law Lords, ...
>
>>>>Correction noted, but it's immaterial.
>
>>>It's one of those many weirdnesses about UK government in which they
>>>don't have separation of powers.
>
>>Not so, the UK Supreme Court was created to disconnect the judiciary
>>from government both physically and legally.
>
>We're going to have to wait for about nine replacement appointments.
>
>>"Law Lords" are not members of the nobility (at least not when sitting
>>as a judge if any do have a title) but of the judiciary; "Lord" is
>>just a shared title. The description "UK Supreme Court" is itself a
>>bit of a misnomer as it is functionally multiple courts with common
>>staffing which is not supreme for all purposes within the UK and also
>>serves as a final court of appeal for some Commonwealth countries.
>
>Multiple courts? Do they sit as three-member panels or something like
>US Circuit courts?
>
In the UK alone, its functions are :-
Final court of appeal for criminal cases in :-
England and Wales
Northern Ireland
Final court of appeal for civil cases in :-
England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
The cases are considered under the laws of the jurisdiction from which
they originate although with civil cases that often reaches out to
many other non-UK jurisdictions for references anyway; maritime and
international trade cases are IIRC the ones usually trawling the
planet for case references.
It also acts as a tribunal for devolution matters involving the
national administrations within the UK.
A further role is as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which
acts as the final court of appeal (where a legal system has not
developed its own) for various Commonwealth countries, UK overseas
territories, crown dependencies, military sovereign base areas and
some English religious courts.
"Five judges normally sit to hear Commonwealth appeals, and three for
other matters. These judges are usually Justices of The Supreme
Court." [https://www.jcpc.uk/about/judicial-committe.html] This would
seem to provide a more distinct separate legal identity than exists
with the SC dealing with different jurisdictions within the UK (where
a decision affecting one does not inevitably affect either of the
others).
All cases are normally heard at the SC building at Westminster Hall
(presumably like other courts they can decide to do a "site visit" if
it is necessary to examine a location involved in a case). Most SC
cases seem to be heard by 5 judges
[https://www.supremecourt.uk/decided-cases/index.html], but at least
two recent ones were heard by seven so it looks like the old practice
of using any odd number between 5 (maybe 3) and all available judges
still applies.
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