Constitutional Reform Act 2005
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The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (2005 c. 4) is an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 2005. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the existing role of the Law Lords and some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and remove the functions of Speaker of the House of Lords and Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales from the office of Lord Chancellor.
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[edit] Full title of the Act
The long title of the Act is:
- An Act to make provision for modifying the office of Lord Chancellor, and to make provision relating to the functions of that office; to establish a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and to abolish the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords; to make provision about the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the judicial functions of the President of the Council; to make other provision about the judiciary, their appointment and discipline; and for connected purposes.
[edit] Legislative history
The Bill was originally introduced in the House of Lords on February 24, 2004, and proposed the following, much broader, changes:
- Abolition of the office of "Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain", generally known as the Lord Chancellor.
- Setting up of a "Supreme Court of the United Kingdom" and moving the Law Lords out of the House of Lords to this new court.
- Other measures relating to the judiciary, including changes to the position of the Lord Chief Justice and changes to the Privy Council's Judicial Committee.
The Bill caused much controversy and the Lords made amendments to it. The final Act keeps the post of Lord Chancellor, though its role in relation to the judiciary is greatly reduced and the office holder is no longer automatically Speaker of the House of Lords. Another major change is that the Lord Chancellor can now be from either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. Other measures remain generally the same as stated above.
The newly created Cabinet position of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (originally created to wholly replace the Lord Chancellor's executive function) will continue, although the holder of that Cabinet post will likely also hold the ancient office of Lord Chancellor too. The Lord Chancellor will remain as the custodian of the Great Seal (the Bill originally intended to put this into commission).
The Bill was approved by both Houses on March 21, 2005, and received Royal Assent on March 24.
[edit] Changes resulting from the Act
The Bill contains provisions which reform several institutions of the United Kingdom. The document is divided in three parts: the first concern the reform of the office of Lord Chancellor, the second is about the new Supreme Court and the third regulates the appointments judges. The establishment of a new Supreme Court is the main subject of the Act and it had consequences on the HL on the one hand and on the office of Lord Chancellor on the other. The sections contained in Part 3 prescribes that the Supreme Court is established, that it will be composed by 12 judges (s.23) and that the first judges will be the actual 12 Law Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (s.24). The following sections (ss. 26-31) set out the rules for the appointment of future members of the Court; a selection commission headed by the President of the Supreme Court (schedule 8), will propose one name to the Lord Chancellor who can reject that name only one time. Clauses 32 to 37 are entitled Terms of Appointment and deal with issues such as tenure, salaries and allowances, resignation and retirement, and pensions. Another important provision of the act is in regard to the Jurisdiction: section 37 sets out that the new Court will substitute the jurisdiction of the House of Lords and the jurisdiction in matters of devolution of the Privy Council. The following clauses deal with practical matters such as procedures, staff, and resources of the new Court and the fees of the judges. The Chief Executive of the Supreme Court must prepare an annual report on the work and it must be presented to both Houses of Parliament (s.51). In the third part of the act there are provisions in regard with the judicial appointment. This issue has always have seen as a breach of the principle of separation of powers because most of the judges of the United Kingdom were appointed by the Queen with the advice of Lord Chancellor who is part of the executive power. In 1991 the Law Society has criticized this system emphasize its defects and recommend the establishment of an independent body responsible for the judicial appointment. The Constitutional Reform Act realized the hopes of the Law society. Section 61 prescribes the creation of a Judicial Appointments Commission which is now responsible of the designation of judges for English and Walsh Courts. The following sections regulate the structure and the procedures of the Commission. Although the Appellate Committee will be abolished, the current Law Lords will keep their role into the House of Lords. The new members of the Court will not take the peerage and will be called Justice of the Supreme Court
The Lord Chief Justice replaces the Lord Chancellor as head of the English judiciary.
The new Supreme Court will need a new building, separate from the Houses of Parliament where the House of Lords currently sits to exercise its judicial functions. The Act gives time for a suitable building to be found and fitted out before the Law Lords move out of the Palace of Westminster. After a lengthy survey of suitable sites, including Somerset House, it was decided that the location for the new court will be Middlesex Guildhall, in Parliament Square, Westminster, which is currently a Crown court. Lord Foster was chosen to make the necessary alterations. The building is expected to reopen in 2009 after renovations this year.
Further the Act set up a new Judicial Appointments Commission, which is responsible for selecting judges in England and Wales.
[edit] Motivation
The office of Lord Chancellor was reformed to remove his ability to act as both a government minister and a judge. This arrangement ran contrary to the idea of separation of powers. The reform was motivated by concerns that the historical admixture of legislative, judicial, and executive power might not be in conformance with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights, because a judicial officer, having legislative or executive power, is likely not to be considered sufficiently impartial to provide a fair trial.
[edit] External links
- The full text of the Act, from OPSI
- House of Common Reports on Bills January 2005 Scroll halfway down the page for this Bill's two reports.
- Department for Constitutional Affairs The official website of the Department of Constitutional Affairs, which includes a section on constitutional reform in the UK.
- The election and role of the new Lord Speaker of the House of Lords
