From House of Lords to Supreme Court

Are we becoming a little to Americanish?

From 31 July 2009, the judicial function of the House of Lords and its role as the final - and highest - appeal court in the UK will end, bringing about a fundamental change to the work and role of the House of Lords.

A new United Kingdom Supreme Court, separating the judicial function from Parliament (those who make the law from those who interpret it in courts), will open in early October 2009 opposite the Houses of Parliament in Parliament Square - formerly the Middlesex Guildhall.

It will continue the work currently undertaken by the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. This move will enhance the independence of the Law Lords and increase the transparency between the top levels of the UK judicial system and Parliament.

At the end of July, the Law Lords will sit in the Lords Chamber to hear appeals and give the final House of Lords judgments.

From 27-30 July, the Law Lords will hear appeals in the Lords Chamber.

The final judgments of the House of Lords take place on 30 July from 4.30pm in the Lords Chamber.

You can watch the unique and final judicial proceedings of the House of Lords on ParliamentLive and can view the appeals and judgments from the public gallery of the Lords Chamber.

For further details, please visit the Judicial Business section or contact the judicial office.The current Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the Law Lords) will be the first justices of the 12-member Supreme Court and are disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Lords. When they retire from the Supreme Court they can return to the House of Lords as full Members but newly-appointed Justices of the Supreme Court will not have seats in the House of Lords.