The House of Lords is the ultimate court in the appeal process in England and Wales but is confined to purely legal points and defining the law much as the Supreme Court defines constitutional issues.
It has heard many high-profile cases, including the recent Gen Pinochet appeal case.
Despite its rather grand title and impressive surrounds in the Houses of Parliament, the actual hearing is rather less formal than an ordinary court of appeal or High Court. The appeal to the Appellate Committee is heard in one of the rooms off the lengthy corridors within Westminster.
Five law lords sit on the committee. In the Sunday Times appeal, they are Lords Nicholls, Steyn, Cooke, Hope and Hobhouse. There is no pomp or ceremony and all five are dressed in ordinary suits. Only the lawyers don the wigs and gowns.
The only other person who is in formal wear is the usher who wears a full dress suit with white shirt and bow tie and a gold buckle in the form of a coat of arms.
The lords sit around a large desk at the same floor level as everybody else.
There is no equivalent of the judges' bench. Before them are the lawyers and there are some public benches at the back. The room is not enormous and carved wooden bookcases are set around the walls supporting huge ancient books.
On one side of the room are three stone arches formed within the walls and on the other are windows overlooking the Thames.