House of Lords

After hundreds of years, the House of Lords will no longer exercise authority as the court of last resort in the United Kingdom. According to www.parliament.uk,

"[t]he final appeal hearings and judgments of the House of Lords took place on 30 July 2009. The judicial role of the House of Lords as the highest appeal court in the UK has ended.

From 1 October 2009, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom assumes jurisdiction on points of law for all civil law cases in the UK and all criminal cases in England and Wales and Northern Ireland."

Final House of Lords judgments include decisions on assisted suicide and royalties for the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale".

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat