Pressure is mounting on Lord Falconer to take personal charge of discussions with the judiciary as to how to ensure judicial separation following the creation of the Ministry of Justice.


After the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, said the split had created a 'serious constitutional problem', Lord Holme, chairman of the House of Lords constitution committee, called on Lord Falconer to step in as negotiations 'appear to have broken down'.



'An impasse between the executive and the judiciary is far more than a wrangle about the machinery of government, but rather a constitutional crisis in the making,' he said.



'Rather than "daring" the Lord Chief Justice and his colleagues to put the matter before Parliament, the Lord Chancellor and his officials should be locked in a room with the senior judiciary until they mutually agree appropriate safeguards. It is time the government learned to treat the other branches of government with respect.'



Rupert White