§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
On how many occasions during the past year the Appeal and Appellate Committees of the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have included Lords of Appeal other than Lords of Appeal in Ordinary in their composition. [HL2010]
§ The Lord ChancellorAppeal and Appellate Committees of the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council included Lords of Appeal in Ordinary on 70 occasions in the year from Easter 1998 to Easter 1999. One hundred and six appeals were heard in that period.
One Appeal Committee (that which considered the petition of Senator Pinochet for a re-hearing) included Lords of Appeal other than Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, namely Lord Goff of Chieveley and Lord Nolan. Only the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary determine petitions for leave to appeal.
In relation to full appeals before Appellate Committees, 20 out of the 54 appeals heard included only one Lord of Appeal who is not a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, four appeals involved two such Lords of Appeal and two appeals involved three (one of whom was the recently retired Lord Lloyd of Berwick). No Appellate Committee of five has ever included more than three Lords of Appeal other than Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, on which Privy Counsellors who hold or have held high judicial office may sit (a larger number of judges than the Lords of Appeal), heard 52 appeals. Twenty-seven of these appeals involved one judge who was not a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, 13 involved two such judges and three appeals involved three such judges.