House of Lords

House of Lords is the upper house of the parliament of the United Kingdom. The House of Lords was previously a hereditary, aristocratic chamber. Major reform has been partially completed and it is currently a mixture of hereditary members, bishops of the Church of England known as Lords Spiritual and appointed members (life peers, with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the House). House of Lords currently acts to review legislation formed by the House of Commons, with the power to propose amendments, and exercises a suspense veto. This allows it to delay legislation it does not approve of for twelve months. However, the use of vetoes is limited by convention and the operation of the Parliament Acts: the Lords may not veto the "money bills" or major manifesto promises (see Salisbury convention). Persistent use of the veto can also be overturned by the Parliament Act by the Commons. Often governments will accept changes in legislation in order to avoid both the time delay, and the negative publicity of being seen to clash with the Lords. The House of Lords is currently also the final court of appeal within the United Kingdom, although in practice only a small subset of the House of Lords, known as the Law Lords, hears judicial cases. However, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 outlines plans for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to replace the role of the Law Lords.

Judiciary

Each of the separate legal systems in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland has their own judiciary. In the united Kingdom, the Lord Chancellor was the head of the judiciary. On behalf of the Sovereign he appoints judges and magistrates for criminal courts. The Lord Chancellor falls into the three arms of state, taking roles in the executive, legislative and judiciary, which is a peculiarity amongst many liberal democracies in the world today. Taking roles in the executive, legislative and judiciary, which is a peculiarity amongst many liberal democracies in the world today. However, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removes much of the power in this last role and gives it to others in the British government, mainly the newly created post of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs.