Appellate Committee of the House of Lords | |
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Established | 1 November 1876 |
Dissolved | 30 September 2009 |
Location | Palace of Westminster, London |
Composition method | Appointed by Monarch on advice of Prime Minister. Chosen name recommended to PM by a selection commission. |
Authorized by | Convention; Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 |
Judge term length | Life tenure |
Number of positions | 12 |
Senior Law Lord | |
Second Senior Law Lord |
This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales |
Law of England and Wales |
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Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, for many centuries it had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers and for impeachments, and as a court of last resort in the United Kingdom and prior, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of England.
Appeals were technically not to the House of Lords, but rather to the King-in-Parliament. In 1876, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act devolved the appellate functions of the House to an Appellate Committee, composed of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (informally referred to as Law Lords). They were then appointed by the Lord Chancellor in the same manner as other judges.
During the 20th and early 21st century, the judicial functions were gradually removed. Its final trial of a peer was in 1935, and the use of special courts for such trials was abolished in 1948. The procedure of impeachment became seen as obsolete. In 2009, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom became the new court of final appeal in the UK, with the Law Lords becoming Supreme Court Justices.[a]
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