Definition of Law lord

The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. Historically, the House of Lords also functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers and for impeachment cases. Today, the House's jurisdiction is essentially limited to the hearing of appeals from the lower courts. Appeals are technically not to the House of Lords, but rather to the Queen-in-Parliament. By constitutional convention only those lords who are legally qualified (Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, or Law Lords) hear the appeals, since World War II usually in a committee known as the House of Lords Appellate Committee (also called the House of Lords Judicial Committee) rather than in the chamber of the House. In accordance with the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the judicial functions are set to be transferred to a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in the near future.

Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, or Law Lords, are appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the House of Lords in order to exercise its judicial functions, which include acting as the highest court of appeal for most domestic matters.