mcgillianaire | The End of an Era - The Law is Dead, Long Live the Law (Reply)

The Middlesex Guildhall on Parliament Square, the new home of Britain's Supreme Court and the Commonwealth's Privy Council.

A few days ago (30 July) the House of Lords ceased to exist as a court of law. In October it will be replaced by the newly created Supreme Court of the UK and will move to its new home across Parliament Square. Constitutionally very little will change. The symbolic change reflects New Labour's desire to strengthen the visibility of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, whereby the judiciary and legislature are not just assumed to function independent of one another, but seen to be functioning that way.

Eleven of the existing Law Lords (judges of the House of Lords) will assume new positions as Supreme Justices in the new court of last resort and will be joined by a new member to retain the existing twelve-member bench. The Law Lords will lose their titles and position in the upper House. In practice very little changes because it has been over a decade since the Law Lords participated in political debates.

The reforms end more than 600 years of history of the House of Lords as a court of law. However it will retain its legislative functions.