Lords committee presses for action on judicial independence
16 Oct 08
Ministerial Code should state clearly that criticism of decisions inappropriate
A House of Lords committee has reiterated calls for UK Government ministers to refrain from publicly criticising judges and their legal rulings.
The Constitution Committee wants the Ministerial Code updated to reflect this. The call comes in a follow-up to last year’s report on relations between the executive, judiciary and parliament. In that report, the committee criticised the then Home Secretary John Reid for making public statements about the sentence given in the Craig Sweeney case, and Lord Falconer, then Lord Chancellor, for failing to ensure that ministers did not question individual judges.
As yet, no changes have been made to the code, though the Government has said it is considering the recommendations.
The committee, which last year criticised the establishment of the Ministry of Justice because of the lack of prior consultation with the Lord Chief Justice or the Lord Chancellor, has further stressed that any future constitution or machinery of government changes that impact significantly on the judiciary should include consultation with the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice at the early stages of the policy making process.
Whether courts should have a role in providing guidance to Government on compatibility of proposed or recently enacted legislation with the Human Rights Act is another subject considered.
The committee recommends that courts should be able to make advisory declarations on the compatibility of legislation after hearing submissions from two or more parties in the normal legal manner. It believes that this would avoid legislation being undermined by ongoing legal challenges under the Human Rights Act.
Other recommendations in the report include:
• the roles of Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice should continue to be combined in a single office holder as at present;
• the Lord Chief Justice should continue to publish an annual report;
• media coverage of legal judgements should be factually accurate and temperately expressed to avoid repetitions of the mistakes following the Craig Sweeney case, and this should be reflected in the Editors' Code of Practice.
Lord Goodlad, chairman of the committee, said: "It is important that government and ministers understand and respect the vital independence of our judiciary.”
The report is available at: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/lords_constitution_com
mittee.cfm