Relations between the Institutions

-supreme court 

-the court of appeal, criminal division and civil division 

-the high court, queens bench, family, chancery (buisness law, probate, trusts) 

-crown court 

-county court 

-magistrates court 

-tribunal 

-12 members/ justices 

-in most cases 5 or 9 judges preside over a case 

-2 female justices, no minority justices 

-previously the law lords, removed from the house of lords in 205 to creat a full seperation of the judiciary 

-judges must not sit in a case involving family and they must not have any public political opinions, however they can vote 

-life tenure 

-very high salaries to avoid bribery 

-judicial appointments committee, free from political intervention 

Supreme court does not have the power of full judicial review, they cannot strike down acts of parliament or laws, as they dont have a codified constitution to say that they contradict 

-court can inquire whether minister have followed correct procedure, examine the actions of ublic bodies and investigate whether or not they have acted ultra vires 

-the last decade has seen an increased number of rebellions in the commons, govs rarely lose legislative votes, but do withdraw bills on which they fear defeat 

-government has accepted restrictions o the excersise of certain preogatives, eg military forces, even if this is not legally binding its an important precendant to be set 

-the creation of the backbench business committee in 2010 gives backbench MPs more control over the choice of topics for debates, airing issues taht might otherwise have gone unaired 

-select committees have grown in status due to the decision to allow MPs to elect their chairs, and their powers have increased 

-the increasing assertiveness of the house of lords has led to several government defeats, no single party controls the lords making management of the house more difficult, crossbenchers have become increasingly important 

-the power of the whips and the inducement of prime ministeral patronage, remain important tools of government, government can call on 100 payroll MPs, they secure a majority in the house of commons 

-government retains a number of powers including the right to change laws using secondary legislation, which has been used increasingly in recent years 

-government controls the greater part of the legislative schedule, the limited amount of time allocated to private members bills and to debates for the opposition support this point 

-ministers can still obstruct select committees from summoning officials to their hearings and they do not have to act on their reports 

-the lords usually defers to the will of the elected house after a period of parliamentary ping pong, the salisbury convention forbids the lords from blocking manifesto promises and the parliaments acts are available to help the govenrment overcome persistant opposition from the lords 

European commission- consists of officials nominated by each member state gov, enforces EU laws on member states and other govs, proposes EU laws, prepares the EU budget 

European Council- consists of the heads of government of each of the member states, meets up four times a year, takes key strategic decisions such as the administration of other new members 

Council of European Union- consists of ministers from the member states, discusses different policy areas such as agriculture trade or the environment, takes decisions on whether to adopt legislation, working in co-operation with the EU parliament 

EU parliament- the only directly elected EU institution, enjoys the righ of co-decision on most legislation with the council of the EU, has a say in the adoption of the EU budget, can accept or reject nominations to the commission 

The European Courts of Justice- enforces EU law, resolves disputes between member states and resolves any issues as and when they can