Senior Courts Act 1981

Senior Courts Act 1981

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate with amendments the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925 and other enactments relating to the Supreme Court of England and Wales and the administration of justice therein; to repeal certain obsolete or unnecessary enactments so relating; to amend Part VIII of the Mental Health Act 1959, the Courts-Martial (Appeals) Act 1968, the Arbitration Act 1979 and the law relating to county courts; and for connected purposes
Statute book chapter	1981 c.54
Dates
Royal Assent	28 July 1981
Commencement	1 January 1982
Other legislation
Amendments	Courts and Legal Services Act 1990
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Official text of the statute as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database

The Senior Courts Act 1981, originally named the Supreme Court Act 1981 (c.54), is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act defined in statute the structure of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, now known as the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice and the Crown Court.

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 established a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 1 October 2009. To avoid confusion, the Supreme Court Act 1981 was renamed the Senior Courts Act 1981, and all statutory references to the Supreme Court of England and Wales have been amended to refer to the Senior Courts of England and Wales.

Section 75

The following directions have been given pursuant to section 75(1) by the Lord Chief Justice. They are titled "Classification of the business of the Crown Court and allocation to Crown Court centres":

• Practice Direction [1995] 2 All ER 900, [1995] 1 WLR 1083 (26 May 1995)
• Practice Direction [1998] 3 All ER 384, [1995] 1 WLR 1244, CA (30 June 1998)
• Practice Direction [2000] 1 All ER 380, CA (Crim) (10 January 2000)

References

• Civil Procedure (The White Book), Thomson, Sweet & Maxwell