CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS: Woolf calls for executive and judicial roles to be set in legislation

A raft of measures to safeguard the independence of the judiciary is vital if the government pushes ahead with its constitutional reforms, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, said last week.

Briefing reporters on the Judges Council's response to government consultations on a supreme court, judicial appointments commission and the QC system, Lord Woolf said the government had failed to appreciate the full consequences of abolishing the post of Lord Chancellor and replacing it with a purely political appointment not constrained by judicial responsibilities and constitutional convention.

Failing to fill the void left could allow future governments to subvert the judiciary, both Lord Woolf and Lord Justice Judge, the deputy head of civil justice, warned.

Lord Woolf called for 'a new constitutional settlement' and for the respective roles of the executive and judiciary to be set out in legislation.

He highlighted six steps to protect judicial independence: minimising government involvement in judicial appointments, especially ensuring it has no control over appointment policy; giving the Lord Chief Justice the primary role in disciplining judges and also making him or her the head of the judiciary; giving the judiciary control of arrangements for the deployment of judges and hearing of cases; putting the formula for court funding on a statutory footing; and retaining the Judicial Studies Board to ensure independent training for judges.

Lord Woolf said he was 'broadly in favour' of the supreme court 'if it's done well', while the Judges Council backed the retention of the QC mark, but said the professions could produce lists of approved candidates for consideration.

In other responses to the consultations, which closed last week, City giant Clifford Chance said the QC rank should be replaced by a professionally awarded quality mark, 'as the state should not be involved in granting distinctions to members of an independent profession'.

The quality mark should confer no privileges and not distort competition, it said, and should be available to all lawyers from all fields of practice.

The London Solicitors Litigation Association said the QC system should be scrapped 'in favour of a new kite mark standard to be awarded to members of both professions and to be developed by both the Law Society and Bar Council on an equal and objective basis'.

Institute of Legal Executives president George Owens said the government has taken too narrow a view of the problems with judicial appointments and should allow legal executives to apply for posts.

The current Commission for Judicial Appointments said its replacement 'must be designed to ensure its independence from vested interests or political interference'.

See Editorial (see [2003] Gazette, 13 November, 15)

Neil Rose