A Level: Government and Politics (Pearson/Edexcel)
Component 2, Chapter 4: Relationship between the Institutions
Component 2, Chapter 4: Relationship Between the Institutions
The Judiciary
Judiciary - refers collectively to all UK judges, from lay magistrates up to the 12
senior justices sitting in the UK Supreme Court
Criminal Law - deals with crimes by an individual or group against the state, e.g.
violent behaviour, serious fraud or burglary; such cases are normally bought
forward by the state
Civil Law - concerned with interrelationships between different individuals and
groups, for example, matters such as wills or contracts; individuals rather than the
state generally buy cases
Common law - (sometimes called case law or judge-made law) is the term for the
body of legal precedent resulting from the rulings of senior judges
Judicial review - The process by which judges review the actions of public officials or
public bodies in order to determine whether or not they have acted in a manner that
is lawful. Because of parliamentary sovereignty and supremacy of statute law,
judicial review in the UK is generally seen as being less significant than in the USA,
where the Supreme Court can strike down regular statutes that are judged to have
violated the US constitution
The Nature of the Judiciary
• The judiciary is one of the 3 branches of the UK political system.
• All officials are concerned with the dispensation of justice.
o Crime level is important to politics
• Judges are involved directly with law making and politics.
• As well as their legal role, institutions also have a political role that often
overlaps.
Component 2, Chapter 4: Relationship between the Institutions
Component 2, Chapter 4: Relationship Between the Institutions
The Judiciary
Judiciary - refers collectively to all UK judges, from lay magistrates up to the 12
senior justices sitting in the UK Supreme Court
Criminal Law - deals with crimes by an individual or group against the state, e.g.
violent behaviour, serious fraud or burglary; such cases are normally bought
forward by the state
Civil Law - concerned with interrelationships between different individuals and
groups, for example, matters such as wills or contracts; individuals rather than the
state generally buy cases
Common law - (sometimes called case law or judge-made law) is the term for the
body of legal precedent resulting from the rulings of senior judges
Judicial review - The process by which judges review the actions of public officials or
public bodies in order to determine whether or not they have acted in a manner that
is lawful. Because of parliamentary sovereignty and supremacy of statute law,
judicial review in the UK is generally seen as being less significant than in the USA,
where the Supreme Court can strike down regular statutes that are judged to have
violated the US constitution
The Nature of the Judiciary
• The judiciary is one of the 3 branches of the UK political system.
• All officials are concerned with the dispensation of justice.
o Crime level is important to politics
• Judges are involved directly with law making and politics.
• As well as their legal role, institutions also have a political role that often
overlaps.
