The House of Lords has served as the highest court in the UK for over 130 years. In 2009 a new UK Supreme Court will take over its judicial functions, closing the doors on one of the most influential legal institutions in the world, and a major chapter in the history of the UK legal system.

This volume gathers over 40 leading scholars and practitioners from the UK and beyond to provide a comprehensive history of the House of Lords as a judicial institution, charting its role, working practices, reputation and impact on the law and UK legal system. The book examines the origins of the House's judicial work; the different phases in the court's history; the international reputation and influence of the House in the legal profession; the domestic perception of the House outside the law; and the impact of the House on the UK legal tradition and substantive law.

The book offers an invaluable overview of the Judicial House of Lords and a major historical record for the UK legal system as it opens the next chapter in its history.

Edited by Louis Blom-Cooper QC, Bencher of the Middle Temple, Brice Dickson, Professor of International and Comparative Law, Queen's university Belfast, and Gavin Drewry, Professor of Public Administration, Royal Holloway, University of London

Contributors:

Justice Adarsh Sein Anand, former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India

David Anderson QC, Barrister, Brick Court Chambers

Sir Robin Auld, Lord Justice of Appeal (retired)

Eric Barendt, Professor of Media Law, University College London

Michael J Beloff QC, judge and arbitrator

Lord Bingham, Senior Law Lord

Michael Blair QC, Barrister, 3 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn

Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, Barrister

Hon Lord Brodie, Senator of the College of Justice, Scotland

Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen, Professor of Law, University of Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne

Arthur Chaskalson, former Chief Justice of South Africa

Paul Craig, Professor of English Law, St John's College, Oxford

Stephen Cretney, Emeritus Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford

Brice Dickson, Professor of International and Comparative Law, Queen's University Belfast

Gavin Drewry, Professor of Public Administration, Royal Holloway, University of London

David Feldman, Rouse Ball Professor of English Law, University of Cambridge

Brigid Hadfield, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Essex

Brenda Hale, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

HE Rosalyn Higgins, DBE, QC, President, International Court of Justice

Rt Hon Sir Anthony Hooper, Lord Justice of Appeal

Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

Rt Hon Sir Robin Jacob, Lord Justice of Appeal

Francis G Jacobs, Advocate General, Court of Justice of the European Communities, 1988-2006

Mr Justice Ronan Keane, retired Chief Justice of Ireland

Judge Kenneth Keith, International Court of Justice

Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, Justice of the High Court of Australia

Andrew Le Sueur, Professor of Public Law, Queen Mary, University of London

David Lewis Jones, House of Lords Librarian 1991-2006

Mark Littman QC, Barrister, 12, Gray's Inn Square

Kate Malleson, Professor of Law, Queen Mary, University of London

Arthur Marriott QC, Partner, Dewey & LeBoeuf

Dawn Oliver FBA, Professor of Constitutional Law, University College London

Sir Stephen Oliver QC, President of the Finance and Tax Tribunals

Sir Fred Phillips, former Governor of Antigua

Patrick Polden, Professor of Law, Brunel Law School

FMB Reynolds QC, Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Oxford

Justice Robert J Sharpe, Court of Appeal for Ontario

JR Spencer QC, Professor of Law, University of Cambridge

David Steele, former Reader in History, University of Leeds

Professor Robert Stevens, Professor of Commercial Law, University College London

John Tiley, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

James Vallance White CB, former Clerk of the Judicial Office, House of Lords

Professor Sir David Williams, Rouse Ball Professor of English Law 1983-92

Derek Wood QC, Barrister, Falcon Chambers, London

Tom Zwart, International Dean, Utrecht School of Law