HUMAN RIGHTS, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM - SELECTED ESSAYS

Lord Irvine of LairgHart Publishing, 25

Geoffrey Bindman

This is a collection of 21 lectures, speeches and articles, all but two of which were delivered or published while Lord Irvine was in office as Lord Chancellor.

Although their origin denies them the coherence of a measured analysis of the subjects identified in the title, together they comprise an impressive body of scholarship and a tribute to the insight and erudition of their author.

This is all the more remarkable for an author who at the same time was the busiest of cabinet ministers.

In the past, Lord Chancellors were largely exempted from the media intrusion and trivialisation that is the occupational hazard of political office.

Lord Irvine is unlucky to have been denied this immunity.

But it is also to his credit, since it reflects his courage and determination to promote overdue reforms.

These required all his skills as an advocate to win over other members of the cabinet as well as a sceptical public.

However, the result of much media attention has been to obscure his outstanding gifts and very real achievements.

Pre-eminent among the latter is the Human Rights Act 1998.

The book includes the speech with which he introduced the Bill on its second reading in the House of Lords.

It is a masterly summary of the aims of the legislation, not all of which have yet been realised.

There follow essays that - with some inevitable repetition given their origin - elaborate the same theme, extending it to embrace Lord Irvine's broader ambitions for constitutional change.

A powerful element in Lord Irvine's case for the Act, and for other constitutional reforms, is his sense of history.

He is right to stress the need to celebrate the Human Rights Act as an expression of values that are not only fundamental but that are deeply embedded in British constitutional tradition.

One of the most interesting and illuminating essays is entitled 'The spirit of Magna Carta continues to resonate in modern law'.

In another vital field, Lord Irvine's influence is more controversial - access to justice.

While he has good reason to be proud of his success in piloting constitutional reforms - and it is sad that he left office before completing them - he and his department were responsible for the virtual destruction of legal aid as we know it.

And, so far, no satisfactory alternative is on the horizon.

The book has only a single reference to legal aid, a brief comment relating to City fraud cases.

The omission is surprising.

The reason cannot be that Lord Irvine considers it uninteresting or unimportant.

Is it embarrassment? Whatever the explanation, it is a serious gap in an otherwise valuable book.

Geoffrey Bindman is a senior consultant at London firm Bindman & Partners