New Constitutional Era..

Sunday 29 February 2004 at 12:04 am | In News | Post Comment

The Constitutional Reform Bill published 25 February 2004.

Judicial independence for the first time. The Bill enshrines in law a duty on government ministers to uphold the independence of the judiciary. They will be specifically barred from trying to influence judicial decisions through any special access to judges.
Abolishing the Lord Chancellor. The Bill brings to an end the post of Lord Chancellor, transferring his judicial functions to President of the Courts of England and Wales. The Lord Chief Justice, currently Lord Woolf, will become President of the Courts of England and Wales. He will be responsible for the training, guidance and deployment of judges. He will also represent the views of the judiciary of England and Wales to Parliament and ministers.
Supreme Court. The Bill also establishes a new, independent Supreme Court, separate from the House of Lords with its own independent appointments system, its own staff and budget and, ultimately, its own building. The 12 judges of the Supreme Court will be known as Justices of the Supreme Court and will no longer be allowed to sit as members of the House of Lords. The current Law Lords will become the first 12 Justices of the Supreme Court, with Lord Bingham as President of the Supreme Court.
Independent Judicial Appointments Commission. A new system of appointing judges, independent of the patronage of politicians, is also brought in by the Bill. Appointments will be solely on the basis of merit, and solely on the recommendation of the new Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). The minister will have severely limited powers to reject names put forward by the JAC. He will only be able appoint candidates recommended by the JAC and will have no power to select his own candidates.
Full details here

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