A prominent former law officer who resigned from his ministerial role over a government threat to breach international law over Brexit today spoke out about the 'diminished' role of the lord chancellor. Lord Keen of Elie (Richard Keen QC), a former advocate general of Scotland and justice spokesperson in the Lords, was giving evidence to the Lords' constitution committee's inquiry into the role of the lord chancellor and government law officers. 

Stating that the 2005 Constitutional Reform Act had diminished the role of the lord chancellor, Keen said: 'The problem is that the lord chancellor is now also secretary of state for a major spending department. I think that is a difficulty,' he said, citing potential conflicts of interest in setting budgets.

'It would be better to remove the lord chancellor role from such a major spending department,' he said. One suggestion would be to combine the role of lord chancellor with that of constitutional affairs, which currently sits in the Cabinet Office. 

Lord Keen of Elie at launch event Barclays Eagle Labs

Lord Keen of Elie gave evidence to the Lords inquiry

Source: Michael Cross

Among the peers questioning Keen was Lord Falconer of Thoroton, who as Tony Blair's lord chancellor was the principal architect of the 2005 act. 

Several of the questions homed in on the government's commitment to the rule of law and the role of law officers in protecting it. Keen defended the government's record, saying that in five years as a law officer he was 'not aware of any instance' of the government deciding to proceed with a policy against advice. However he conceded that a law officer's judgment that an argument is 'respectable' is a 'fairly low standard'. 

Stressing that the rule of law extends not just to the domestic sphere but to international law,' he described as 'specious' the argument that parliamentary supremacy could override international law. 'A responsible government will always respect its obligations under international law.'

Questioned about his resignation over clauses in the UK Internal Market Bill, he said he found it 'offensive that the government stated to the House of Commons that it was ready to breach international law'.

Keen declined to comment generally on the circumstances in which a minister is required to resign. 'That's a matter for the minister,' he said. 

He was likewise coy on a suggestion that the declining number of lawyers in parliament created problems in appointing law officers. 'I'm not aware that we have reached that point,' he said.

 

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