by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor
Lord Falconer of Thoroton
The Government announced plans for significant constitutional reform on 12 June 2003, designed to enhance the independence of the judiciary and to ensure clarity in the relationship between the Executive and the judiciary. I plan shortly to introduce the required statutory instruments to bring into force those parts of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 that will deliver the central aspects of those reforms. As of 3 April 2006, I intend to bring the new Judicial Appointments Commission into being and commence those aspects of the Act that give statutory effect to the provisions of the Concordat I agreed with the Lord Chief Justice.
As of 3 April, the Lord Chancellor's role as a judge will cease. The Lord Chief Justice will hold the additional title of President of the Courts of England and Wales and be legally recognised as the head of the judiciary in England and Wales. As set out in the Concordat, the role of the Lord Chief Justice will be significantly reformed and strengthened. To support the Lord Chief Justice, the Judicial Office for England & Wales has been established and the new head of that Office has recently been appointed and taken up post.
In addition, to give effect to the new arrangements for the handling of judicial disciplinary matters, a new Office for Judicial Complaints will be established. The arrangements relating to judicial complaints and discipline will be published shortly.
Judicial Independence and Rule of Law
As of 3 April, for the first time there will be a guarantee of continued judicial independence enshrined in statute, underpinned by particular duties binding on the Lord Chancellor and Ministers of the Crown to uphold judicial independence. The Act also formally recognises the constitutional principle of the Rule of Law and the Lord Chancellor's role in relation to that principle.
Judicial Appointments Commission
As of 3 April 2006, the Judicial Appointments Commission will be formally launched. The appointment of Baroness Prashar as the inaugural Chair of the new Commission was announced on 6 October 2005. The Queen has given effect to the following appointments:
Judicial members
Lord Justice Sir Robin Ernest Auld
Lady Justice Heather Hallett DBE
Her Honour Judge Frances Margaret Kirkham
District Judge Charles William Frank Newman
Tribunal member
His Honour Judge David Stephen Pearl
Lay Justice Member
Lorna May Boreland-Kelly DBE JP
Professional Members
Mr Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption OBE QC
Mr Edward Nally
Lay Members
Professor Hazel Gillian Genn CBE
Sir Geoffrey David Inkin OBE
Mr Francis John Plowden
Ms Harriet Greville Spicer
Ms Sara Catherine Nathan
The appointment of the final Judicial member will be announced shortly.
The Judicial Appointments Commission will have responsibility for making selections for the appointment of all judicial office-holders (as provided for in Schedule 14 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005). Baroness Prashar, the Lord Chief Justice and I have considered the arrangements necessary to ensure that the Commission can make the decisive and confident start that we are all agreed is essential. Details of these agreed arrangements have been published today on my Department's website. They will ensure that the transitional period is as short as possible, whilst bringing about a smooth and effective handover of business to the new Commission.
It is intended that the majority provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 establishing the Judicial Appointments Commission will come into effect as of 3 April 2006. This document provides additional details of the arrangements for the launch of the Judicial Appointments Commission, as announced in the Lord Chancellor's Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament of 23rd January.
The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice have discussed with Baroness Prashar, the inaugural Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission, the appropriate arrangements for the launch of the Commission. In those discussions, Baroness Prashar set out three key principles that should underpin the approach to any transitional arrangements for the new Commission, which the Lord Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor firmly support. These three principles are:
As a result of the above discussions, the following arrangements have been agreed:
Where there are reserve lists arising from competitions carried out under the Lord Chancellor's supervision, the Commission will select candidates for the vacancies concerned subject to the exceptions listed below.
The Commission will not assume responsibility for advising on the appointment of magistrates until it indicates that it is ready to do so.
The current Office of the Commissioner for Judicial Appointments, which considers complaints about the handling of applications for judicial appointment, will cease to exist on 31 March. The new Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman will come into post on 3 April and will consider any complaints about appointments for which the new Judicial Appointments Commission is responsible. In order to ensure that any candidates who have complaints arising from those competitions for which the Lord Chancellor will remain temporarily responsible may have their complaint independently considered, the Lord Chancellor intends to direct (under the power provided for in Paragraph 15(3) of Schedule 13 of the 2005 Act consideration by the new Ombudsman.
Competitions in progresson 3rd April 2006 as programme currently stands
There are a small number of competitions that will still be in progress on 3rd April 2006 which will remain the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor. These are:
It is possible that the following competitions may also remain the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor after the launch of the Judicial Appointments Commission, although the likelihood is that these will have been completed before April 2006: