Supreme Court Act 1981

The Supreme Court Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (citation 1981 c. 54); the long title of which is "An Act to consolidate with amendments the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925 and other enactments relating to the Supreme Court of England and Wales and the administration of justice therein; to repeal certain obsolete or unnecessary enactments so relating; to amend Part VIII of the Mental Health Act 1959, the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968, the Arbitration Act 1979 and the law relating to county courts; and for connected purposes". The Act received Royal Assent on 28 July 1981, and came into force on 1 January 1982.

The Act defines in statute the structure of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, including the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice and the Crown Court.

It is being amended by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 which will establish a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and will change the short title of the Act from the Supreme Court Act 1981 to the Senior Courts Act 1981 when section 59 and schedule 11 of the 2005 Act come into force (not likely to occur before October 2009).

References

*Civil Procedure (The White Book), Thomson, Sweet & Maxwell