Lords of Appeal in Ordinary

Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of Lords, which included acting as the highest appellate court for most domestic matters.

On 1 October 2009, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was repealed[1][2] owing to the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The House of Lords thus lost its judicial functions[3] and the power to create law life peers lapsed, although the validity of extant life peerages created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 remains intact. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary who were in office on 1 October 2009 automatically became Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.[4] At the same time, those Supreme Court justices who already held seats in the House of Lords lost their right to speak and vote there until after retirement as Justices of the Supreme Court.[5]

  1. ^ Statute Law Database
  2. ^ UK Statute Law Database
  3. ^ "Constitutional Reform Act 2005: Section 23", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2005 c. 4 (s. 23)
  4. ^ "Constitutional Reform Act 2005: Section 24", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2005 c. 4 (s. 24)
  5. ^ "Constitutional Reform Act 2005: Section 137", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2005 c. 4 (s. 137)

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