Justice Breyer Reflects on Great Britain's Constitutional Evolution

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WASHINGTON - Last month, Justice Stephen G. Breyer and two of his colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court were present when a major shift in constitutional law took place.

But the action took place in London, not Washington, D.C.

Breyer, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Justice Antonin Scalia were in Great Britain to mark the official opening of its Supreme Court.

This important constitutional reform saw Britain's highest court of appeal formally remove itself from the legislative branch for the first time in history. The court had previously existed as a committee of the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament...

DJ: Let's start with the symbolism of moving the judiciary out of the legislative branch, which saw the highest judges in the land - all of whom previously sat as the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords - become justices of the Supreme Court and switch to a new court building instead of being seated in the Houses of Parliament. How important is that?

Breyer: My impression is that there was great uncertainty among people who know a lot about government in Britain just what the Committee of the House of Lords was. Some people thought it was lords who had been made judges. In fact it wasn't. It was judges who were made lords. They were given the title so they could sit on what was really a Supreme Court. By moving to a new building and changing the title, they have clarified that arrangement.

DJ: So it's more of a visibility issue.

Breyer: They wanted it to be clear...

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