The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers and domestically usually referred to simply as the Lords, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is granted by appointment or else by heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster. Officially, the full name of the house is the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the UK Parliament, British Parliament or Westminster Parliament, as well as domestically simply as Parliament or Westminster, is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the Sovereign (Queen-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The two houses meet in the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the inner boroughs of the capital city, London.
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to sit in the House of Lords; they did not elect a limited group of representatives. All peers who were created after 1707 as Peers of Great Britain and after 1801 as Peers of the United Kingdom held the same right to sit in the House of Lords.
The Supreme Court is the upper court of appeal in the United Kingdom for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population.
The Committee for Privileges and Conduct is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee considers issues relating to the privileges of the House of Lords and its members, as well as having oversight for its members' conduct. The Committee for Privileges and Conduct is made up of sixteen members of the House, two of which must be former holders of high judicial office.
The judiciary of the United Kingdom are the separate judiciaries of the three legal systems in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. However, the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, Employment Tribunals, Employment Appeal Tribunal and the UK tribunals system do have a United Kingdom–wide jurisdiction.
The Science and Technology Committee is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It has a broad remit "to consider science and technology".
The Committee of Selection is a committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee is appointed to propose members of select committees and the panel of Deputy Chairmen of Committees.
The Procedure Committee is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to review House procedures.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a select committee of both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom.
The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments is a select committee of both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to scrutinise all statutory instruments made in exercise of powers granted by Act of Parliament. Instruments laid before the House of Commons alone are considered by the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments, which is composed of the Commons members of the joint committee.
The Ecclesiastical Committee is a body created by the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 that comprises 30 members of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its purpose is to review Church of England measures submitted to Parliament by the Legislative Committee of the General Synod. The Lord Speaker appoints 15 members from the House of Lords, and the Speaker of the House of Commons appoints 15 MPs to serve on the committee. Members are appointed to serve for the duration of a parliament.
In the United Kingdom an Act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. As a result of the Glorious Revolution and the assertion of parliamentary sovereignty, any such Act is in theory supreme law that cannot be overturned by any body other than Parliament, although it has been recognised through the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union that Acts or parts of Acts which conflict with EU law can be disapplied.
The Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills is a joint select committee of the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Committee was first established in 1894 with a remit to consider consolidation bills. The Committee, which also considers Statute Law Revision Bills and bills prepared by the Law Commission or Scottish Law Commission to repeal outdated laws, is made up of 12 members of each House. Bills considered by the Committee originate in the Lords and are referred to it after second reading. After the Committee reports, the remaining stages in both Houses proceed formally.
The Government of the United Kingdom, formally referred to as Her Majesty's Government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is also commonly referred to as simply the UK Government or the British Government.
The European Union Act 2017 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to empower the Prime Minister to give to the Council of the European Union the formal notice – required by Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union – for starting negotiations for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee, previously just the International Relations Committee, is a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to "consider the United Kingdom's international relations". The committee was recommended by the House of Lords Liaison Committee in its report of 29 October 2015 and agreed by the House on 10 November 2015.
A joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a parliamentary committee formed to examine a particular issue, whose membership is from both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019, commonly referred to as the Cooper–Letwin Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made provisions for extensions to the period defined under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union related to the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. It was introduced to the House of Commons by Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Conservative MP Sir Oliver Letwin on 3 April 2019, in an unusual process where the Government of the United Kingdom did not have control over Commons business that day.
The House of Lords Commission is a select committee of the House of Lords which provides strategic and political direction for the House of Lords Administration. Its remit also includes approving the annual Estimate, overseeing financial support arrangements for peers, and delegate various functions to the Services, Finance, and Audit committees.