Who decides cases in England and Wales — the professional judiciary, lay magistrates and tribunal judges — and the constitutional framework that appoints, protects and structures them.
A system of justice is only as sound as the people who sit in judgment, and the rules surrounding them are tightly drawn. This chapter begins with the structure of the judiciary and the court hierarchy, including the reshaping brought about by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, before turning to judicial independence, immunity from suit and the different routes by which senior and junior judges can be removed. It then covers appointments through the Judicial Appointments Commission, the composition of the Supreme Court, High Court and the judges below them, and the tests for actual and apparent bias that may require a judge to step aside. The chapter closes with lay magistrates — how they sit, sentence and are advised on the law — and the two-tier tribunal system created in 2007.
