New Department of Constitutional Affairs: Lord Chancellor

Monday 30 June 2003 at 12:35 am | In News | 1 Comment

*The Prime Minister transferred the administrative functions of Lord Chancellor to a new Department of Constitutional Affairs. The new Lord Chancellor is Lord Falconer who is also the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. (Lord Falconer is an old university friend of Tony Blair).
*The Lord Chancellor no longer sits as a judge nor Speaker of the House of Lords.
*An independent Appointments Commission will appoint judges, but details are uncertain.
*There is to be consultation on whether there should be a new Supreme Court to replace the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords.
*The reasons for the changes appear to be to separate the judiciary the legislature and the executive.
*The consultation and any amending legislation will probably take three years.
*For the period of transition, Lord Falconer will exercise all the functions of Lord Chancellor as necessary. However, Lord Falconer does not intend to sit as a judge in the House of Lords before the new Supreme Court is established.
Justice – case for a Supreme Court (PDF file)
Lord Bingham’s speech (PDF file)
Bar Council reaction
Political reaction

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  1. could please confirm or not whether assets relating to kentex haulage or diamond transport have been frozen and any link with wayne oneal.

    Comment by i heffron — Wednesday 5 November 2003 7:48 pm #

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