Lord Chancellor Role Spared By House Of Lords

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

15 December 2004

It emerged last week in the United Kingdom that the House of Lords has delivered another defeat to the government's constitutional reforms, voting to maintain the status quo with regard to the post of Lord Chancellor.

Having previously rejected a proposal that the role be abolished altogether, the upper house voted by 229 votes to 206 that the Lord Chancellor should be a member of the House of Lords, and by 215 votes to 175 that he should also be a lawyer.

According to The Lawyer.com news service, Lord Phillips of Sudbury spoke out strongly in favour of maintaining the status quo, arguing that:

"The reality is that the convention or constitutional principle of the independence of the judiciary and of the rule of law is a function of our political culture. It is lodged in hearts and minds more than in the annals of the law. It is significantly bound up with the role of the Lord Chancellor, which, in its turn, is intrinsically dependent on his or her status as a senior lawyer in this House."

Earlier this year, the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitutional Reform Bill failed to reach agreement on the amendments dealing with the proposed reform of the Lord Chancellor's role.

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