The creation of a judicial appointments commission would lead to a judiciary that is not prepared to take risks to develop the law, former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay warned this week.

Giving evidence to the parliamentary select committee on the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), Lord Mackay argued that a commission's role should be limited to an advisory one.

He insisted that the power to appoint judges should sit with a government minister - advising the Queen - who is ultimately responsible to parliament.

Lord Mackay predicted that if a commission had the power to choose who sat as judges, problems would arise because that body might also have a corresponding duty to discipline or remove unsatisfactory members of the judiciary.

He suggested that this might undermine the independence of judges.

When asked whether the commission might choose 'safe' candidates who would not court controversy, Lord Mackay agreed that this could be the case, to the detriment of the legal system.

'The law has been developed by judges who are not safe,' he said.

And Lord Mackay said boundaries to the commission's role should extend to the lowest courts in the land.

'My experience suggests to me that most minor appointments are very important,' he said.

'For those parties that are adjudicated at that level, they are very important.'

Lord Mackay also argued for the retention of the role of Lord Chancellor on the grounds that otherwise all secretaries of state would become 'indistinguishable'.

He suggested that if the powers were to no longer rest with the head of the DCA, they could be transferred to the Attorney-General.

The DCA is inviting responses to a package of consultation papers regarding judicial appointments, the creation of a supreme court and the future of the Queen's Counsel system by 7 November 2003.

Paula Rohan