Here’s a constitutional conundrum. It turns out Obiter was wrong last week when we predicted that the new lord chancellor’s swearing-in would be rushed through before judicial end-of-term. In fact, we now understand that the Rt Hon Alex Norris MP will have a couple of months to be fitted for his robes: the ceremony now looks set for the start of the new legal year.

Hence the conundrum. Under the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 as amended by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the lord chancellor is supposed to take his official oath ‘as soon as may be after his acceptance of office’. Does this mean that, until Norris gets around to it, the lord chancellor’s various daily duties – not least the appointment of judges – must be put on hold?

What if some unforeseen constitutional crisis requiring the lord chancellor’s seal were to blow up? Would David Lammy have to be summoned from his plough in Tottenham? We wait with interest. 

 

Topics