The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 59) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the judicial functions of the House of Lords by allowing senior judges to sit in the House of Lords as life peers with the rank of baron, known as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.McKechnie, William Sharp, 1909: The reform of the House of Lords; with a criticism of the Report of the Select Committee of 2nd December, 1908, p.13 The first person to be made a law lord under its terms was Sir Colin Blackburn on 16 October 1876, who became Baron Blackburn.
Subsequent developments In section 25 of the act, in the definition of "high judicial office" the words "or of paid Judge of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council" were repealed by section 8(2) of, and part I of schedule 5 to, the Justices of the Peace Act 1968, which came into force on 25 October 1968.
In section 6 of the act, the words from " and shall continue " to " Crown " were repealed by section 1(1) of, and part I of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1973, which came into force on 18 July 1973.
Section 23 of the act was repealed by section 1(1) of, and part VI of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989, which came into force on 16 November 1989.
The whole act was repealed for the Isle of Man by section 1(2) of, and schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision (Isle of Man) Act 1991, which came into force on 25 July 1991.
The whole act was repealed for the United Kingdom by sections 145 of, and 146 of, and schedule 17 and paragraph 9 of part 5 of schedule 18 to, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which came into effect on 1 October 2009. The act transferred the judicial functions from the House of Lords to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Following the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the practice of appointing Lords of Appeal in Ordinary was discontinued. The last person to be made a law lord was Sir Brian Kerr on 29 June 2009, who became Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore.
See also Appellate Jurisdiction Act Judicature Act List of law life peerages and List of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
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References
Further reading Robert William Andrews and Arbuthnot Butler Stoney. The Supreme Court of Judicature Acts, and the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876. Fourth Edition. Reeves & Turner. Chancery Lane, London. 1885. Second Edition. 1883. M D Chalmers, assisted by Herbert Lush-Wilson. Wilson's Supreme Court of Judicature Acts, Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876, Rules of Court and Forms. Third Edition. Stevens and Sons. Chancery Lane, London. 1882. William Downes Griffith and Richard Loveland Loveland. The Supreme Court of Judicature Acts, 1873, 1875, & 1877: The Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876. Second Edition. Stevens and Haynes. Bell Yard, Temple Bar, London. 1877. William Thomas Charley. The New System of Practice and Pleading Under the Supreme Court of Judicature Acts, 1873, 1875, 1877, The Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876, and the Rules of the Supreme Court. Third Edition. Waterlow and Sons. London. 1877.
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