HM The Queen officially opens The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty The Queen today officially opened The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom at an event attended by senior judges from around the world, politicians and others from the UK
Located on Parliament Square, the building which is now home to the new Supreme Court has been painstakingly restored through a Ministry of Justice managed project – with many of the previously obscured original features of the Middlesex Guildhall brought back to light.
The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh were taken on a tour of the building by The Rt Hon Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Court’s President, The Right Hon Lord Hope of Craighead, Deputy President and Jenny Rowe, its Chief Executive. Lord Phillips said: “It was a very great honour that Her Majesty performed the official opening and that it was attended by so many distinguished guests. The creation of a Supreme Court for the United Kingdom is undoubtedly a major constitutional landmark. It unequivocally separates the senior judiciary from the legislature and the executive, but also brings other benefits. The Court’s new facilities are far improved for Justices, lawyers, other court users and the public. Justice at the highest level should be transparent and we now have facilities which are truly accessible and create opportunities for people to gain a better understanding of our work and the UK legal systems in general.”
Greeted with a fanfare by The State Trumpeters of The Band of The Blues and Royals, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh met staff, contractors and artists who had contributed to the project. In the Court’s new exhibition area they saw schoolchildren from William Edward’s School and Sports College, Grays, Essex, using interactive displays that explain the UK’s legal systems and the role of the Court’s Justices. A legal debate or ‘moot’ was also staged in Court One by students from Strode’s College, Egham, Surrey.
Lord Phillips, The Prime Minister The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP and Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP addressed guests who included many senior members of overseas judiciary. Judges from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe, India and Canada were among those who attended. There were also dignitaries from the Commonwealth and Crown Dependencies, from the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, as well as Caribbean islands.
Sir Andrew Motion, former poet laureate, read his poem ‘Lines for the Supreme Court’, commissioned by the Justices of the Supreme Court to mark its establishment. The poem has been engraved onto stone benches outside the front entrance of The Supreme Court building. Prayers were led by His Grace, The Archbishop of Canterbury after Her Majesty unveiled a commemorative bronze sculpture.
Jenny Rowe, Chief Executive of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, said: “I am extremely honoured that Her Majesty was able to undertake the official opening of the Court. The Court will educate as well as adjudicate and one of our fundamental aims is to be as transparent as possible in its judgments and proceedings. These are routinely filmed and will be made available to broadcasters, which is a first for the UK. In the coming months we will be developing our education and outreach work – so there are exciting times ahead.”
Article is courtesy of the UK Supreme Court. The images on our homepage show, clockwise: the Queen meeting the Law Lords, the Queen unveiling a commemorative bas-relief and the Queen meeting students participants in the moot court session. Images are courtesy of Jim Brown, Ron Coello & Ron Coello respectively.