The UK Judiciary

What The UK Judiciary covers

Judicial independence and impartiality, the reforms that separated the top court from the legislature, and what judicial review lets the courts do to ministers — including the Miller rulings.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Judicial Independence and ImpartialityRecall questions on what the judiciary is and on the difference between being independent of government and being impartial between parties.Open →
• The Constitutional Reform Act, Separation of Powers and AppointmentsRecall questions on the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and judicial independence, the separation of powers, how judges are appointed, the social make-up of the senior judiciary and why it matters.Open →
• The UK Supreme Court and the Grounds of Judicial ReviewRecall questions on the creation, size and jurisdiction of the UK Supreme Court, and on judicial review, its grounds of illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety, and the remedies courts can grant.Open →
• Judicial Review and the Miller CasesRecall questions on what the courts can and cannot do to Acts and to ministerial decisions, and on the rulings of 2017 and 2019.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The UK Judiciary further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Judicial independence vs Judicial impartiality

  Judicial independence: courts remain institutionally free from outside control. Judicial impartiality: judges decide without personal bias.

• Judicial review vs Appeal

  Judicial review: courts test whether public action is lawful. Appeal: a higher court reconsiders a decision.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is the judiciary?

   Model answer

   The branch of the state made up of judges, whose role is to interpret and apply the law and to settle legal disputes.

2. 2

   Define judicial independence.

   Model answer

   The principle that judges must be free from control or pressure by the executive, the legislature or any outside interest.

3. 3

   Define judicial impartiality.

   Model answer

   The principle that judges must decide cases on the law and the evidence alone, without personal or political bias.

4. 4

   Distinguish judicial independence from judicial impartiality.

   Model answer

   Independence is freedom from outside interference, whereas impartiality is the absence of bias within the judge's own approach to a case.

5. 5

   Name three safeguards of judicial independence in the UK.

   Model answer

   Security of tenure, salaries paid automatically from the Consolidated Fund, and the contempt of court and sub judice rules.

6. 6

   Explain what security of tenure means for senior judges.

   Model answer

   They hold office during good behaviour and can be removed only by the monarch after an address from both Houses, so they cannot be sacked for unpopular rulings.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

The UK Judiciary revision questions

What does The UK Judiciary cover in AQA A-Level Politics?

4 subtopics: judicial independence and impartiality, the constitutional reform act, separation of powers and appointments, the uk supreme court and the grounds of judicial review and judicial review and the miller cases. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The UK Judiciary organised?

By the AQA 7152 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.