Supreme Court consults on proposed rules
17 Jan 07
Rules in preparation in advance of court taking up role in 2009
Consultation has opened on the procedure rules for the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which is due to begin work in October 2009.
Established under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the court will take over the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords, and of the Privy Council as respects devolution appeals.
Until a President of the Supreme Court is appointed, the Senior Law Lord (Lord Bingham of Cornhill) is empowered by statutory instrument to exercise the rule-making power conferred by the Act on the President.
The rule-making power must be exercised with a view to securing that “(a) the Court is accessible, fair and efficient, and (b) the rules are both simple and simply expressed”. The Act provides for consultation on the rules.
Consultation documents with draft rules can be found on Parliament’s website: http://www.parliament.uk/judicial_work/judicial_work.cfm .
Any interested party is invited to submit comments and suggestions on the draft rules and practice directions, not later than 10 April 2007.