A court is a Parliamentary institution and one of the main sources of English law which has the authority to resolve legal disputes between parties and carry out justice in both civil and criminal divisions in accordance with the rule of law. The courts have a function that gives the public the chance to bring their claims before a court and those accused of a crime have the right to present a defense before a court. The courts is part of the law making process and it is clear that the judges make law in two ways by interpreting and applying the law and by developing the common law which forms parts of the judiciary.

On the purpose of my court observation I visited two courts. Firstly, On Tuesday 26th of October the Supreme Court in Parliament Square. The Supreme Court is the last court of appeal for both civil and criminal cases from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The court hears appeals on arguable points of law of the general public and is bound by its own decisions. The Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and now undertakes the work previously carried out by the House of Lords. These changes took place in order to emphasise the separation of powers in our constitution, and for more independence between the senior judges from the United Kingdom’s law makers. However, the previous decisions of House of Lords are still binding on future courts even after being abolished. It’s also important to note that the Supreme Court’s first Justices were former Lords of appeal and members of the House of Lords.

Outside of the entrance was a commemorative poem by a former poet Sir Andrew Motion, curved into stone seats. There was also a sign near the entrance doors stating the Privy Council. The courthouse is the home to both the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest court of appeal in the United Kingdom’s overseas territories and crown dependencies, and in other independent commonwealth countries. The Privy Council was established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 and on the 1st of October 2009, the Judicial Committee moved from the Privy Council Chamber in Downing Street to the newly renovated building. Court room three is now used for Privy Council sittings. Furthermore, the Justices of the Supreme Court also sit as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Once in the courthouse, you go through strict security checks before entering the glass panelled doors, emblazoned with the Supreme Court’s emblem and phrases from the judicial Oath. The doors then lead me to the reception whereby a man behind a desk gave me information on current court sittings. He informed of a case judgement that was starting at 10:00am and of another at 10:30am and then handed me booklets on both the cases.

The case judgement took place in court room two for the appeal case of; Cadder (Appellant) v Her Majesty’s Advocate (Respondent) (Scotland)[1]. The judges present were; Lord Hope, Deputy President, and six other judges and behind the Justices sat the qualified barristers who work for the judiciary for a year and are referred to as the advocates purely because of the work they undertake. The entrance to the court room was surrounded by a glass screen etched with words: ‘justice cannot be for one side alone but be for both.’ On top of the courtroom on the wall was a glass sculpture of the Supreme Court emblem. The seats were made of black leather and were very modern in style.

The Appellant was detained by the Scottish police on suspicion of a serious assault. He was told that he was entitled to have a solicitor informed of his detention but he did not pursue that right. However, he was interviewed without a lawyer being present and convicted. The following Acts were looked into in regards to the appeal; Section 14 and 15 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. The question arose if it is a breach of the rights to a fair a trial recognised in Article 6(1) and 6(3) (c) of the European Convection of Human Rights.

In relation to the case the following cases were referred to in order to reach a judgement of the appeal; Salduz v Turkey (2008) 49 EHRR 421 [2] and Her Majesty’s Advocate v Mclean [2009] HCJAC 97 [3]. The Supreme Court issued its ruling for the appeal rejecting the practice in which the Scottish police of being able to question suspects without a solicitor present as it is a violation of Human Rights laws.

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