There is trouble brewing between our most Senior
Judges and the government. On the face of it the decision over who can appoint
the Chief Executive of the Supreme Court is not that exciting. But it raises an
extremely important issue over our constitution.
Traditionally the right to make this appointment has
been with the Lord Chancellor who is also the Minister of Justice. In days gone
by, the Lord Chancellor had a judicial role. It is now very much a political role;
the current incumbent is Chris Grayling who is not even a lawyer. The Supreme Court
is the final court of appeal in this country. Its judges are our most senior
and its decisions are, by their nature, of great social importance.
The Supreme Court judges argue that the appointment of
the Chief Executive should be in their hands and not those of a politician. It is a role which controls the finding of the
court and should therefore be independent of any political influence or
control.
The Supreme Court must always be independent of
government. It will often be called upon to make decisions about how
governments have acted. Politicians have never been slow to vent their
disagreement with the courts. Indeed such has been the political displeasure of
certain Human Rights Cases that there have been threats to abolish the very act
which gives us all the right to enforce them –
I remember the former Home Secretary David Blunkett once saying that he 'begged to differ' with the views of the courts. That is fine. Politicians can differ as much as they like. But the problems begin when they can excercise control over the judiciary.
This is why it is so important that there is a
complete separation between the Courts and the Executive. If the person running
our highest court is answerable to a politician it is not difficult to see the
potential for a conflict. As Lord Pannick says in the guardian article quoted –
"The
existing appointment provision [has] led more than once to confusion in parts
of the government machine that the chief executive should in some sense be
acting at the behest of ministers."
An
independent judicial system has always been at the heart of our democracy. That
is why this apparently dull argument over who has the power to give someone a
job is so important and could ultimately affect all of us.
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