Constitutional Reform Act 2005 instance of Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relevant to UK constitutional law. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the previous appellate jurisdiction of the Law Lords as well as some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and removed the functions of Speaker of the House of Lords and Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales from the office of Lord Chancellor.Abolition of the office of "Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain", generally known as the Lord Chancellor.
Setting up of a "Supreme Court of the United Kingdom" and moving the Law Lords out of the House of Lords to this new court.
Other measures relating to the judiciary, including changes to the position of the Lord Chief Justice and changes to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.The bill caused much controversy and the Lords made amendments to it. The most significant of these was the decision not to abolish the position of Lord Chancellor, as, unlike other Secretaries of State in the UK Government, a number of the Lord Chancellor's functions are explicitly defined in law, and transferring these functions to other individuals would have required further legislation. However, although the post was retained, its role in relation to the judiciary is greatly reduced and the office holder is no longer automatically Speaker of the House of Lords because of the Government's announced intention to appoint Lord Chancellors from the House of Commons. Other measures remained generally the same as stated above.
The newly created Cabinet position of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (originally created to wholly replace the Lord Chancellor's executive function) continued, although the holder of that Cabinet post—renamed Secretary of State for Justice in 2007—currently also holds the office of Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor remains the custodian of the Great Seal (the bill as originally written put this into commission).
The bill was approved by both Houses on 21 March 2005, and received Royal Assent on 24 March.
type of example of manifestation of representation of