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The end of the House of Lords Appellate committee

Thursday 16 July 2009 at 9:08 pm | In News | Post Comment

Today in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords, Baron Pannick, of Radlett (previously known as David Pannick QC) was involved in the case of Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay (the fabulously rich philanthropists) who argue that the unelected position of Sark’s Seigneur and Seneschal’s roles in Chief Pleas breach article three of the first protocol to the convention – the obligation to hold free elections under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.

The case in the House of Lords had the excitement of folding plain paper. It was boring in the extreme and witnessed by a small handful of people. So what? It was the end of 800 years of history. It is probably the last case that will be heard by the Law Lords before they rise for the summer; when they come back they will metamorphose into Justices of the Supreme Court. This historic event more or less clashed with the opening of the new Supreme Court – over the road – for viewing by the press. The papers this morning all contained the story of the new court but it appears not even the Guernsey Press reported the thrust of legal argument in Committee Room 1.

It is recognised that the first paragraph of this post is totally incomprehensible to most people which is why Lord Pannick earns breathtaking fees because he does. The point is, the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords has no more work scheduled.

The Guardian The Guernsey Press David Pannick Wiki entry