The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom began operating in 2009.
The court came into legal operation on 1 October 2009, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the United Kingdom’s highest court. Its creation followed Part 3 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which separated the country’s final appellate court from the legislature.
The change was institutional as much as legal. Before 2009, senior judges known as the Law Lords heard the highest appeals while also being members of the House of Lords. The new Supreme Court placed that final appellate function in a separate court based at the former Middlesex Guildhall, across Parliament Square from the Palace of Westminster.
The court hears civil appeals from England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It also hears criminal appeals from England and Wales and from Northern Ireland. The date can be confused with 2005, when the legislation was passed, but the court itself began operating in 2009.