Option: The British Judiciary

What Option: The British Judiciary covers

Option: The British Judiciary is examined in Unit AS 2, The British Political Process — the option chosen instead of pressure groups. It covers the judiciary, the rule of law and the separation of powers, the courts and the United Kingdom Supreme Court, judicial review and its grounds, judicial review and the Human Rights Act, Landmark rulings against the Executive, judicial inquiries, what secures judicial independence, tensions between the judiciary and the Executive and the effectiveness of the judiciary in holding the Executive to account.

The 9 subtopics

Each one has its own page. CCEA AS Government and Politics students sit this topic in the first year.

• The judiciary, the rule of law and the separation of powersRule of law, separation of powers and ultra vires doctrine.Open →
• The courts and the United Kingdom Supreme CourtDevolution issues and judicial precedent.Open →
• Judicial review and its groundsJudicial review, illegality as a ground of review and irrationality as a ground of review.Open →
• Judicial review and the Human Rights ActDeclaration of incompatibility, remedial order and practical outcome of the Belmarsh ruling.Open →
• Landmark rulings against the ExecutiveOuster clause and constitutional significance of the Factortame litigation.Open →
• Judicial inquiriesPublic inquiry, judge-led inquiry into a devolved administration's conduct and judge-led inquiry into an industry rather than into government.Open →
• What secures judicial independenceJudicial independence, security of tenure and sub judice rule.Open →
• Tensions between the judiciary and the ExecutiveJudicial review as a source of friction, the Lord Chancellor's role in appointments, the aftermath of the 2016 Article 50 ruling, the Independent Review of Administrative Law and the 2022 Act, quashing orders, legal aid, and the Griffith argument about the politics of the judiciary.Open →
• The effectiveness of the judiciary in holding the Executive to accountThe case for and against the courts as a check, ministerial compliance, justiciability and judicial deference, the reactive nature of litigation, success rates and cost, the remedies available, and how the judicial check relates to parliamentary accountability.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Option: The British Judiciary further

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Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is the judiciary?

   Model answer

   The judiciary is the branch of the state made up of judges and the courts, whose function is to interpret and apply the law and to determine disputes, including disputes between the citizen and the state.

2. 2

   State the rule of law.

   Model answer

   The rule of law is the principle that everyone, including ministers and government departments, is subject to the law and may act only in ways the law permits.

3. 3

   Which nineteenth-century writer gave the classic British account of the rule of law?

   Model answer

   A.V. Dicey set out the classic account in his study of the law of the constitution, published in 1885.

4. 4

   Give the three elements of Dicey's account of the rule of law.

   Model answer

   Dicey held that nobody may be punished except for a breach of law established before the ordinary courts, that everyone is equally subject to the ordinary law, and that constitutional rights in Britain arise from decisions of the courts rather than from a written code.

5. 5

   What is the separation of powers?

   Model answer

   The separation of powers is the principle that legislative, executive and judicial functions should be exercised by distinct bodies, so that each can check the others.

6. 6

   Which writer is associated with the separation of powers?

   Model answer

   Montesquieu set out the doctrine in the eighteenth century, arguing that liberty is lost when the same hands hold more than one of the three powers.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Option: The British Judiciary revision questions

Is Option: The British Judiciary examined at AS in CCEA Government and Politics?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Option: The British Judiciary cover in CCEA AS-Level Government and Politics?

9 subtopics: the judiciary, the rule of law and the separation of powers, the courts and the united kingdom supreme court, judicial review and its grounds, judicial review and the human rights act, landmark rulings against the executive, judicial inquiries, what secures judicial independence, tensions between the judiciary and the executive and the effectiveness of the judiciary in holding the executive to account. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Option: The British Judiciary organised?

By the CCEA 4830 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.