Editing Law of the United Kingdom (section)

==Courts and tribunals==
{{Main|Judiciaries of the United Kingdom}}
[[File:middlesex.guildhall.london.arp.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Middlesex Guildhall]] is home to the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]].]]

The [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] is the highest court in the UK for all criminal and civil cases in [[England and Wales]] and Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law.<ref name=supreme>{{cite web |url= http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |title= ''Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom'' |access-date= 11 March 2007 |archive-url= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090117132005/http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |archive-date= 17 January 2009 |url-status= dead }}&nbsp;{{small|(252&nbsp;[[KiB]])}}, [[Department for Constitutional Affairs]]; accessed 22 May 2006.</ref> The Supreme Court is the final court, in the normal sense of the term, for interpreting United Kingdom law. Unlike in some other systems, for example, the United States, the Supreme Court cannot strike down statutes. Its precedents can be expressly overridden by Parliament, by virtue of the doctrine of [[parliamentary sovereignty]]. The Supreme Court came into being in October 2009, replacing the [[Appellate Committee of the House of Lords]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283939.stm UK Supreme Court judges sworn in] BBC News, 1 October 2009</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |title= Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom |access-date= 11 March 2007 |archive-url= http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090117132005/http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |archive-date= 17 January 2009 |url-status= dead }}&nbsp;{{small|(252&nbsp;KB)}}, Department for Constitutional Affairs. Retrieved on 22 May 2006</ref>

In [[England and Wales]], the [[Courts of England and Wales|court system]] is headed by the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales]], consisting of the Court of Appeal, the [[High Court of Justice]] (for civil cases) and the [[Crown Court]] (for criminal cases). The [[Courts of Northern Ireland]] follow the same pattern. 

In Scotland, the chief [[Courts of Scotland|courts]] are the [[Court of Session]], for civil cases, and the [[High Court of Justiciary]], for criminal cases. [[Sheriff court]]s, as they deal with both criminal and civil caseloads, have no equivalent outside Scotland.

Certain tribunals for administrative law cases have UK-wide jurisdiction, notably those dealing with immigration—the [[Upper Tribunal|Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber)]] and [[Special Immigration Appeals Commission]]—military and national security, competition and intellectual property, and a few others. Similarly, the [[Employment Appeal Tribunal]] has jurisdiction throughout [[Great Britain]] but not in Northern Ireland.

The [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] is the highest court of appeal for several independent [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, the [[British Overseas Territories]], and the British [[Crown Dependencies]].