judiciary is too powerful

• Establishes sovreignty - 2016 Gina Miller case established Parliamentary sovreignty -> judicial review on whether the Secretary for leaving the EU (Davis) could trigger Article 50 without Parliament's agreement
• Ultra vires - 2016 ruled that when Chris Grayling was Justice Secretary he acted ultra vires by amending the Legal Aid Act to restrict civil legal aid to people who had lived abroad continuously for 1 year, arguing a decision as important as this should have been argued in Parliament NOT introduced in secondary legislation
• Ultra vires - 2015, Trump argued the Scottish government acted Ultra Vires by building a wind farm on his new golf course, SC disagreed
• Ultra vires - 2019, R v PM, Johnson suspended Parliament for 5 weeks. Miller thought he was doing this to prevent questions on the Brexit deadline. 70 prominent figures (+ Miller) argued he was acting ultra vires + WON
• HRA - 2004 Belmarsh case, Blair government used powers given by Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 to hold foreign terrorist suspects indefinitely without trial. SC ruled this was incompatible with the HRA as British terrorist suspects were not treated the same way
• HRA - 2010 re sex offenders; whether evidence gathered by pedophile hunters was a violation of pedophile's human rights. SC ruled against, protecting the children's human rights
• HRA - 2010 Case of Private Smith, ruled that the HRA should apply to military personnel abroad, mother thought inquiry should tell her why her son died not how
• Set precedent - 2016 R v. Jogee the SC overturned the common law principle of ‘joint enterprise’
• Reforms - judges no longer see themselves as subordinate to the Executive and are willing to challenge state power and assert the rights of citizens
• Reforms - Growth of judicial review since the 1960s (following Ridge v. Baldwin in 1964 and M v Home Office in 1993)
• Reforms - rise of liberal ideaology and the 'rights culture' + appointment of liberal-minded judges since the 1990s
• Reforms - 1998 Human Rights Act
• Reforms - 2005 Constitutional Reform Act which improved judicial independence
• Reforms - ‘Too independent’ - Daily Mail called judiciary ‘Enemies of the people’ for 2016 Gina Miller case
• Can decide on an incredible range of things

  • Legality of legislation - 2016 R v. Jogee, Pimlico Plumbers v Smith 2018
  • Acting ultra vires - Trump v Scotland, 2019 R vs PM, Grayling legal aid 2016
  • HRA incompatibility - 2004 Belmarsh, P vs Cheshire 2014
  • Sovereignty - 2016 Gina Miller
  • Trade unions - Unison v Ld Chancellor
  • Legal precedent - NHS Trust V y 2018
  • Family law - Vince v Wyatt 2015
  • Right to privacy - PJS vs Newsgroup 2015
  • Application of the law - Schindler V Duchy of Lancaster 2016
• Highest court since leaving the EU - cannot appeal to the European court of Justice
• Unelected and unaccountable, lacking democratic legitimacy despite its involvement in political matters
• Media pressure on executive