Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876
Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876
(39 & 40 Vict.) CHAPTER 59.
An Act for amending the Law in respect of the Appellate Jurisdiction of the House of Lords; and for other purposes.
[11th August 1876]
B E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Preliminary.
1 Short title.
1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as ‘TheAppellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876.’
2 Commencement of Act.
2. This Act shall, except where it is otherwise expressly provided, come into operation on the first day of November one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, which day is herein-after referred to as the commencement of this Act.
Appeal.
3 Cases in which appeal lies to House of Lords.
3. Subject as in this Act mentioned an appeal shall lie to the House of Lords from any order or judgment of any of the courts following; that is to say,
(1) (1.) Of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal in England; and
(2) (2.) Of any Court in Scotland from which error or an appeal at or immediately before the commencement of this Act lay to the House of Lords by common law or by statute; and
(3) (3.) Of any Court in Ireland from which error or an appeal at or immediately before the commencement of this Act lay to the House of Lords by common law or by statute.
4 Form of appeal to House of Lords.
4. Every appeal shall be brought by way of petition to the House of Lords, praying that the matter of the order or judgment appealed against may be reviewed before Her Majesty the Queen in her Court of Parliament, in order that the said Court may determine what of right, and according to the law and custom of this realm, ought to be done in the subject-matter of such appeal.
5 Attendance of certain number of Lords of Appeal required at hearing and determination of appeals.
5. An appeal shall not be heard and determined by the House of Lords unless there are present at such hearing and determination not less than three of the following persons, in this Act designated Lords of Appeal; that is to say,
(1) (1.) The Lord Chancellor of Great Britain for the time being; and
(2) (2.) The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary to be appointed as in this Act mentioned; and
(3) (3.) Such Peers of Parliament as are for the time being holding or have held any of the offices in this Act described as high judicial offices.
6 Appointment of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary by Her Majesty.
6. For the purpose of aiding the House of Lords in the hearing and determination of appeals, Her Majesty may, at any time after the passing of this Act, by letters patent appoint two qualified persons to be Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, but such appointment shall not take effect until the commencement of this Act.
A person shall not be qualified to be appointed by Her Majesty a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary unless he has been at or before the time of his appointment the holder for a period of not less than two years of some one or more of the offices in this Act described as high judicial offices, or has been at or before such time as aforesaid, for not less than fifteen years, a practising barrister in England or Ireland, or a practising advocate in Scotland.
Every Lord of Appeal in Ordinary shall hold his office during good behaviour, and shall continue to hold the same notwithstanding the demise of the Crown, but he may be removed from such office on the address of both Houses of Parliament.
There shall be paid to every Lord of Appeal in Ordinary a salary of six thousand pounds a year.
Every Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, unless he is otherwise entitled to sit as a member of the House of Lords, shall by virtue and according to the date of his appointment be entitled during his life to rank as a Baron by such style as Her Majesty may be pleased to appoint, and shall during the time that he continues in his office as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, and no longer, be entitled to a writ of summons to attend, and to sit and vote in the House of Lords; his dignity as a Lord of Parliament shall not descend to his heirs.
On any Lord of Appeal in Ordinary vacating his office, by death, resignation, or otherwise, Her Majesty may fill up the vacancy by the appointment of another qualified person.
A Lord of Appeal in Ordinary shall, if a Privy Councillor, be a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and, subject to the due performance by a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary of his duties as to the hearing and determining of appeals in the House of Lords, it shall be his duty, being a Privy Councillor, to sit and act as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Supplemental Provisions.
7 Pension of Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.
7. Her Majesty may by letters patent grant to any Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, who has served for fifteen years, or is disabled by permanent infirmity from the performance of the duties of his office, a pension by way of annuity to be continued during his life equal in amount to the pension which might under similar circumstances be granted to the Master of the Rolls, in pursuance of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1873.
Previous service in any office described in this Act as a high judicial office shall for the purposes of pension be deemed equivalent to service in the office of a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary under this Act.
The salary and pension payable to a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary shall be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom, and shall accrue due from day to day, and shall be payable to the person entitled thereto, or to his executors and administrators, at such intervals in every year, not being longer than three months, as the Treasury may from time to time determine.
8 Hearing and determination of appeals during prorogation of Parliament.
8. For preventing delay in the administration of justice, the House of Lords may sit and act for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals, and also for the purpose of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary taking their seats and the oaths, during any prorogation of Parliament, at such time and in such manner as may be appointed by order of the House of Lords made during the preceding session of Parliament; and all orders and proceedings of the said House in relation to appeals and matters connected therewith during such prorogation, shall be as valid as if Parliament had been then sitting, but no business other than the hearing and determination of appeals and the matters connected therewith, and Lords of Appeal in ordinary taking their seats and the oaths as aforesaid, shall be transacted by such House during such prorogation.
Any order of the House of Lords may for the purposes of this Act be made at any time after the passing of this Act.
9 Hearing and determination of appeals during dissolution of Parliament.
9. If on the occasion of a dissolution of Parliament Her Majesty is graciously pleased to think that it would be expedient, with a view to prevent delay in the administration of justice, to provide for the hearing and determination of appeals during such dissolution, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by writing under her Sign Manual, to authorise the Lords of Appeal in the name of the House of Lords to hear and determine appeals during the dissolution of Parliament, and for that purpose to sit in the House of Lords at such times as may be thought expedient; and upon such authority as aforesaid being...
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