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The British Constitutional Reform Act
The Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 changed the British hitherto unwritten constitution by introducing some salient, written features.
The Act modified the duties of the Lord Chancellor and reduced the number of deputy speakers from 25 to 12. The Act also removed the the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords and established a Supreme Court in the United Kingdom. It also created the Judicial Appointment Commission which is in charge of selecting candidates for judicial appointments in England and Wales.
The Act has been described as the Government’s response to the increased sensitivity of the judiciary to a need to observe the fundamentals of the British Constitution. In this paper, I will consider how far this can be said to be true. An important fundamental of the British Constitution is the independence of the judiciary. The Constitutional Reform Act has officially enshrined some changes to the constitution in law. The changes include the imposition of a duty on government to uphold the independence of the judiciary.
Section 3 (5) provides that the Lord Chancellor and other Ministers of the Crown must not try to influence judicial decisions through any special access to the judiciary. The Lord Chancellor is also enjoined to have regard for the need to defend the independence of the judiciary , to provide the judiciary with support needed to enable them exercise this function.
The above provision provides for the separation of powers. In order to maintain a check and balance on the different arms of governments provision that the Lord Chancellor should not interfere with the Judiciary’s exercise of its duties. This provision in turn will contribute to the attainment of another fundamental of the British Constitution which is the equality of everyone before the law. Any one that is accused of a criminal or civil wrong will be tried before an impartial and independent judge.
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