The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 ( 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66) (sometimes known as the Judicature Act 1873) was an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

in 1873. It reorganised the

English court system The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales. Except in constitutional matters, ...

to establish the High Court and the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, and also originally provided for the abolition of the

judicial functions of the House of Lords Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, for many centuries it had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers and for Impeachm ...

with respect to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It would have retained those functions in relation to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

for the time being. However, the

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Liberal government fell in 1874 before the act entered into force, and the succeeding

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creat ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

government suspended the entry into force of the act by means of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Commencement) Act 1874 ( 37 & 38 Vict. c. 83) and the

Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1875 Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero created by Rob Liefeld * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * ...

( 38 & 39 Vict. c. 77).

History

The legislation for the act was drafted by the Judicature Commission which was chaired by

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

Hatherley. Other members of the commission included judge George Bramwell, lawyers Sir John Hollams, Sir Robert Collier, and John Burgess Karslake, and parliament member George Ward Hunt.

Liberal view

One of the reasons that the Liberal government under Gladstone wanted to abolish the judicial aspect of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

was that it was concerned for the poor quality of

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s at this court. Judges at the House of Lords secured their position by mere virtue of the fact that their fathers were

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

s and so individuals would automatically inherit seats in the upper house rather than securing their position through merit. Therefore, some of the best

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

s in the land were prohibited from sitting as judges in the upper house simply because of their parentage.

Conservative view

However, under the Conservative government, the 1874 and 1875 acts retained the judicial aspect of the House of Lords and ensured the quality of judicial appointments to the House of Lords by legislating under the

Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 59) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the judicial functions of the House of Lords by allowing senior judges to sit in the House of Lords as ...

, for the mechanism of

law lords Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

. The reigning monarch could appoint any individual to be a peer and thus a judge in the House of Lords. These judicial life peers would hold seats only for the duration of their life; their seat would not pass through their inheritance to their son. Thus,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and subsequent monarchs were able to appoint leading lawyers to adjudicate in the House of Lords by making them life peers.

Provisions

Short title, commencement and extent

Section 1 of the act provided that the act may be cited the "Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1873". Section 2 of the act provided that the act would come into force on 2 November 1874. This act was repealed and replaced was repealed and replaced by section 2 of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Commencement) Act 1874 ( 37 & 38 Vict. c. 83). Section 2 of the

( 38 & 39 Vict. c. 77) provided that the act would come into force on 1 November 1875, except any provision of that act declared to take effect before the commencement of the act and except sections 20, 21 and 25, which would come into force on 1 November 1876. The preamble to the act provided that the act would extend to

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876

Lord Cairns, Disraeli's

, sought to remove the

jurisdiction for Scottish and Irish appeals as well, which would have completely removed its judicial jurisdiction. However, the Lord Chancellor could not muster the necessary support in Parliament for the bill as originally proposed in 1874 or when it was reintroduced in 1875. Finally, when it became clear that the English legal profession was firmly opposed to the reform proposals, the

removed the provisions for the abolition of the judicial functions of the House of Lords, although it retained the provisions that established the High Court and the

History

Liberal view

Conservative view

Provisions

Short title, commencement and extent

Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876

See also

Notes

References

External links

Further reading