Law Weblog

Lord Speaker elected

4 July 2006 The House of Lords ended the 1,400-year-old tradition of having the Lord Chancellor as their speaker when they elected Baroness Helene Hayman (former Labour minister) as the Lord Speaker.
Baroness Hayman will have none of the roles of the Lord Chancellor completing the shift to a completely independent judiciary enshrined in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The next step in this reform is a supreme court in, perhaps, 2008.

The Lord Chancellor –the oldest office in the land – combined the duties of speaker in the Lords and head of the judiciary. The Lord Speaker is independent of government and elected rather than appointed by the prime minister. She is not a member of the cabinet, nor responsible for a government department. There is no judicial role.

Unlike the Speaker in the Commons, she will not call the house to order or rule on points of order, call members to speak or select amendments. The tradition of the Lord Cancellor handing the speech to the Queen at the state opening of parliament will end as does the tradition of the Lord Speaker wearing a wig, but she will wear either parliamentary robes or ceremonial robes in black with a gold trim on big occasions. The Lord Speaker will still sit on the woolsack which symbolises the source of Britain’s wealth.

St Thomas Becket who was also the archbishop of Canterbury is probably the most famous person to have held the office of Lord Chancellor, he was killed in 1170, others Thomas More and the ambitious Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. 

The Lord Speaker will receive £103,701 and an allowance of £33,990. 

Changes to Magistrates’ Courts legal aid scheme

The Criminal Defence Service (Financial Eligibility) Regulations 2006 set out the criteria relating to financial eligibility which must be satisfied before individuals involved in criminal proceedings in a magistrates’ court may receive publicly funded representation.
From 2nd October 2006 legal aid will automatically be given to individuals who are
on certain benefits e.g. income support, or
those under 16, or
those under 18 and in full-time education.

An individual will have to make contributions towards a Representation Order if his gross income is between £11,590 and £20,740 (after deductions). Those receiving over £20,740 are not eligible for assistance.

Calculations and awards will no longer be made by the Magistrates’ Court but by the Legal Services Commission by virtue of The Criminal Defence Service (Representation Orders and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2006. Very high cost cases may still attract state funding for individuals outside the earnings limit and can be referred to the High Court for its decision.