Six out of twelve of the so-called Law Lords have opposed the separation of Britain’s supreme court of appeal from the legislature. In their response to government proposals for an independent supreme court the six unelected legislators complain that they will not be able to advise other legislators if they do not sit in the legislature and that they will lose the “suitably prestigious” location for their court.
Four of the remaining judges expressed support for the reform, saying that the separation of judiciary and legislature was a “cardinal feature of a modern, liberal, democratic state governed by the rule of law.” The other two judges expressed no opinion.
The first female “Law Lord,” who will take her seat in January, has also expressed support for the reform of the supreme court. Justice Brenda Hale also criticised the sexism of British judges. She said that many found it difficult to accept women as their equals and required female judges to leave the dining room at their official lodgings after dinner so that men could talk in their absence. Justice Hale also criticised the wearing of bizarre 15th century wigs by judges, which she said reinforced the idea that all judges were old men.