| United Kingdom Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Ministry of Justice | |
| Style | The Right Honourable (within the UK and Commonwealth) |
| Type | Great Officer of State |
| Member of | |
| Appointer | The Monarch on the advice of thePrime Minister |
| Precursor |
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| Formation |
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| First holder | The 1st Lord Cowper (as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain) |
| Salary | £159,038 per annum (2022)[2] (including £86,584MP salary)[3] |
| Website | www |
| Political offices in the UK government |
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| List of political offices |
Thelord chancellor, formally titledLord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a seniorminister of the Crown within theGovernment of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is theminister of justice forEngland and Wales and the highest-rankingGreat Officer of State inScotland[a] andEngland,[b] nominally outranking theprime minister.[4] The lord chancellor is appointed and dismissed by thesovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to theunion of England and Scotland into theKingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors[c] for theKingdom of England (includingWales) and theKingdom of Scotland. Likewise, theLordship of Ireland and its successor states (theKingdom of Ireland andUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) maintained the office oflord chancellor of Ireland until the establishment of theIrish Free State in 1922, whereupon the office was abolished.
The lord chancellor is a member of theCabinet and is, by law, theminister of the Crown responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts. The lord chancellor thus leads theMinistry of Justice and is the judiciary's voice within Cabinet. In 2005, there were a number of changes to the legal system and to the office of the lord chancellor. Previously, the lord chancellor was also the presiding officer of theHouse of Lords, the head of thejudiciary of England and Wales and the presiding judge of theChancery Division of theHigh Court of Justice. TheConstitutional Reform Act 2005 transferred these roles to thelord speaker, thelord chief justice and thechancellor of the High Court respectively.
One of the lord chancellor's responsibilities is to act as the custodian of theGreat Seal of the Realm, kept historically in the Lord Chancellor's Purse. Alord keeper of the Great Seal may be appointed instead of a lord chancellor. The two offices entail exactly the same duties; the only distinction is in the mode of appointment. Furthermore, the office of lord chancellor may be exercised by a committee of individuals known aslords commissioners of the Great Seal,[6] usually when there is a delay between an outgoing chancellor and their replacement. The office is then said to bein commission. Since the 19th century, however, only lord chancellors have been appointed, the other offices having fallen into disuse.
The office of lord chancellor may trace its origins to theCarolingian monarchy, in which a chancellor acted as the keeper of the royal seal. In England, the office dates at least as far back as theNorman Conquest (1066), and possibly earlier. Some give the first chancellor of England asAngmendus, in 605. Other sources suggest that the first to appoint a chancellor wasEdward the Confessor, who is said to have adopted the practice of sealing documents instead of personally signing them. One of Edward's clerks,Regenbald, was named "chancellor" in some documents from Edward's reign.[7] The staff of the growing office became separate from the king's household underHenry III and in the 14th century located inChancery Lane.[8] The chancellor headed thechancery (writing office), which is a contraction of "chancellery", the office/staff of the Chancellor.[9]
Formerly, the lord chancellor was almost always amember of the clergy, as during theMiddle Ages the clergy were amongst the few literate men of the realm. The lord chancellor performed multiple functions—he was the Keeper of the Great Seal, the chief royal chaplain, and adviser in both spiritual and temporal matters. Thus, the position emerged as one of the most important ones in government. He was only outranked in government by theJusticiar (now obsolete).
As one of the King's ministers, the lord chancellor attended thecuria regis (royal court). If a bishop, the lord chancellor received awrit of summons; if an ecclesiastic of a lower degree or, if a layman, he attended without any summons. Thecuria regis would later evolve intoParliament, the lord chancellor becoming theprolocutor of its upper house, the House of Lords. As was confirmed by astatute passed during the reign ofHenry VIII, a lord chancellor could preside over the House of Lords even if not a lord himself.[citation needed]
The lord chancellor's judicial duties also evolved through his role in thecuria regis. Appeals from the law courts for justice in cases where the law would produce an unjust result (pleas for the exercise ofequitable jurisdiction, in present parlance) were normally addressed to the king (in Parliament, afterMagna Carta in 1215),[10] but this very quickly bogged down because (1) Parliament was, at the time, a discontinuous affair with no fixed seat that met only for a few days a year and only when the king called it together wherever he happened to be holding court at the time and (2) the growing wealth of the kingdom ensured that an increasing number of people had the means to bring such petitions to what was, at the time, a travelingcuria. To ease this backlog, in 1280, Parliament andEdward I instructed his high ministers to adjudicate such appeals themselves.[11] Such appeals were addressed to the relevant high minister, often the Lord Chancellor. Cases that were particularly vexatious or of special importance were to be brought to the king's attention directly by the minister under whose purview they lay, but with the understanding that this would be an unusual phenomenon. Fairly quickly, the only other high minister exercising parallel jurisdiction was theChancellor of the Exchequer (through theExchequer of Pleas), and his jurisdiction was initially limited to matters concerning revenues and expenditures. There was no right of appeal from the Lord Chancellor; he could refer the matter to the king for judgment, but that was at the Lord Chancellor's sole discretion.
By the reign ofEdward III, this judicial function developed into a separate tribunal for the Lord Chancellor as the case load continued to grow. Authority was first delegated to theMaster of the Rolls, who remains the second-highest-ranking official in the English judiciary, and eventually to other members of his staff. In this body, which became known as theHigh Court of Chancery, the Lord Chancellor (or more often, his staff) would determine cases according to fairness (or "equity") instead of according to the strict principles ofcommon law, though petitioners first had to show that they could not receive an appropriate remedy in the common law courts. As a result, the Lord Chancellor became known as the "keeper of the king's conscience".
Churchmen continued to dominate the chancellorship until the 16th century. In 1529, afterCardinalThomas Wolsey, who was Lord Chancellor andArchbishop of York, was dismissed for failing to procure the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage toCatherine of Aragon, laymen tended to be more favoured for appointment to the office. Ecclesiastics made a brief return during the reign ofMary I, but thereafter, almost all lord chancellors have been laymen.Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1672–73) was the last lord chancellor who was not a lawyer, until the appointment ofChris Grayling in 2012.[12] The three subsequent holders of the position,Michael Gove (2015–2016),Liz Truss (2016–2017) andDavid Lidington (2017–2018) are also not lawyers. However, the appointment ofDavid Gauke in January 2018 meant that once again the lord chancellor was a lawyer.
At the Union of England and Scotland, thelord keeper of the Great Seal of England became the first lord high chancellor of Great Britain, butLord Seafield continued aslord chancellor of Scotland until 1708; was re-appointed in 1713; and sat as anextraordinary lord of session in that capacity until his death in 1730, since which time the office of lord chancellor of Scotland has been in abeyance.
Formerly, when the office was held by ecclesiastics, a "Keeper of the Great Seal" acted in the lord chancellor's absence. Keepers were also appointed when the office of lord chancellor fell vacant, and discharged the duties of the office until an appropriate replacement could be found. WhenElizabeth I became queen, Parliament passed anAct providing that alord keeper of the Great Seal would be entitled to "like place, pre-eminence, jurisdiction, execution of laws, and all other customs, commodities, and advantages" as a lord chancellor. Like the lord keeper, the lord chancellor is formally appointed by receiving the Great Seal in the Privy Council, however the chancellor also takes an oath at theRoyal Courts of Justice.
Formerly, it was customary to appoint commoners to the office of Lord Keeper, and peers to the office of lord chancellor. A Lord Keeper who acquired a peerage dignity would subsequently be appointed lord chancellor. The last Lord Keeper wasRobert Henley, who was created a Baron in 1760 and was appointed lord chancellor in 1761. Since then, commoners as well as peers have been appointed to the post of lord chancellor; however, until the 21st-century changes to the office, a commoner would normally have been created a peer shortly after appointment.
It is also possible to put the office of lord chancellor into commission (that is to say, to entrust the office to a group of individuals rather than a single person). The individuals who exercise the office became known asLords Commissioners of the Great Seal. Lords commissioners of the Great Seal have not been appointed since 1850.
Formerly, there were separate chancellors of England, Scotland and Ireland. When theKingdom of England and theKingdom of Scotland united to form theKingdom of Great Britain under theAct of Union 1707 the offices of the chancellor of England and the lord chancellor of Scotland were combined to form a single office of lord chancellor for the new state. Similar provision was not made when Great Britain and Ireland merged into the United Kingdom under theAct of Union 1800. Thus, the separate office oflord chancellor of Ireland continued to exist until the formation of theIrish Free State in 1922. The office of lord chancellor of Ireland was abolished, and its duties transferred to thegovernor of Northern Ireland, and later thesecretary of state for Northern Ireland. Thus, the lord chancellor remains "Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain" and not "Lord High Chancellor of the United Kingdom".
The lord chancellor is a member of thePrivy Council and of theCabinet. The ministerial department the lord chancellor heads was known as the Lord Chancellor's Office between 1885 and 1971, and theLord Chancellor's Department between 1971 and 2003. In 2003 the department was renamed theDepartment for Constitutional Affairs, and the lord chancellor was appointedSecretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. In 2007 this post was renamedSecretary of State for Justice, and the department became theMinistry of Justice.
By law, the lord chancellor is theminister of the Crown responsible for the administration of thecourts and tribunals,legal aid, and matters ofpublic guardianship andmental incapacity in England and Wales.[13][14][15][16] Likewise, the lord chancellor appoints theOfficial Solicitor andPublic Trustee, supervises the Judicial Appointment and Conduct Ombudsman, regulateslegal services through theLegal Services Board and theOffice for Legal Complaints, and undertakes continuous law reform with the assistance of theLaw Commission.[17][18][19][20] In their capacity as secretary of state for justice, the lord chancellor also administers the prison system and probation services in England and Wales.[21][22] It is for the lord chancellor to recommend the appointment of judges to English, Welsh, and UK-widecourts of law andtribunals. Since 2005, senior judges – i.e.Justices of theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom,Lords Justices of Appeal and theheads of the divisions of the High Court – are appointed by thesovereign on the advice of the lord chancellor, who in turn consults an independentJudicial Appointments Commission. Since 2013, all other English and Welsh judges employed byHis Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service are also appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the lord chancellor after consultation with the Judicial Appointments Commission.[23][24][25][26] The lord chancellor's discretion over these judicial appointments is limited by theConstitutional Reform Act 2005 and theCrime and Courts Act 2013. Nevertheless, when consulting the Judicial Appointments Commission, the lord chancellor may prescribe the scope for judicial nominations and choose to either accept or reject its recommendations.
As it concerns judges of local courts, the lord chancellor is required to consult the Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace in theEnglish andWelsh local authorities of competent jurisdiction before appointingjustices of the peace, but is not otherwise circumscribed in terms of their discretion.[27] By virtue of theCoroners and Justice Act 2009, which reaffirms local authorities' longstanding authority to appointcoroners, the lord chancellor must nevertheless approve the appointments; said approval extends to the lord chief justice's appointment of theChief Coroner of England and Wales.[28][29]
Judicial administration aside, the lord chancellor performs other executive functions. For example, the lord chancellor officiates a ceremony inWestminster Abbey at the beginning of thelegal year in front of all the judges. The ceremony is followed by a reception known as the lord chancellor's breakfast which is held inWestminster Hall. Separately, the lord chancellor is involved in the appointment of senior counsel learned in the law known as "King's Counsel". Prior to 2005, the lord chancellor personally determined whichbarristers were to be raised to said rank. This is no longer the case. Instead, the responsibility of evaluating applicants and recommending nominees rests with anindependent panel. The lord chancellor's role in this reformed selection process is now one of appointing the panel's members and assuring their recommendations comply with the principles of due process, fairness, and efficiency. The lord chancellor invariablyadvises the sovereign to appoint the resulting nominees so long as the appointments meet this benchmark.[30]
Perhaps most notably, custody of theGreat Seal of the Realm is entrusted to the lord chancellor, as has been the case for nearly a thousand years; this was confirmed by the Great Seal Act 1884 and reaffirmed by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.[31][32] Documents to which the Great Seal is affixed includeletters patent,writs of summons,writs of election,royal warrants,royal charters androyal proclamations, among many other instruments. The actual sealing of documents is performed by order of the lord chancellor under the supervision of thepermanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice, who holds the separate statutory post ofClerk of the Crown in Chancery and is thus head of theCrown Office. The lord chancellor is not keeper of theGreat Seal of Scotland, theGreat Seal of Northern Ireland, or theWelsh Seal. Rather, theFirst Minister of Scotland, theSecretary of State for Northern Ireland, and theFirst Minister of Wales are the lawful custodians.
The lord chancellor facilitates the enactment ofprimary legislation, wherebybills duly passed by the House of Lords and the House of Commons (or exclusively by the House of Commons under the provisions of theParliament Acts 1911 and 1949) receiveroyal assent and becomeActs of Parliament, that isstatute law. When royal assent is requested by Parliament, the lord chancellor submits to the sovereign a list of those bills which are ready for enactment or which are likely to have passed by the time royal assent is to be signified. The list is prepared by theClerk of the Parliaments, who transmits an advance copy to theClerk of the Crown in Chancery for inclusion in the letters patent by which the sovereign signifies their assent. Bills for granting aids and supplies tothe Crown are placed first, followed thereafter by other public bills, provisional order bills, private bills, personal bills and Church Measures.[33]
Whenever the sovereign appointslords commissioners to perform certain actions on his or her behalf (for example, to formally declare in Parliament that theroyal assent has been granted, or to prorogue or dissolve Parliament), the lord chancellor usually serves as the principal or senior lord commissioner. The other lords commissioners, by convention, are members of the House of Lords who areprivy counsellors (generally the leaders of the three main parties and the convenor of the crossbenches). In this role the lord chancellor wears parliamentary robes—a full-length scarlet wool gown decorated withminiver fur. The lord chancellor wears atricorne hat, but the other lords commissioners wearbicorne hats. During the period thatJack Straw, an MP, was lord chancellor, he was officially named as one of the lords commissioners, but did not take part in the formal ceremonies of granting royal assent and proroguing Parliament. The Lord Speaker has been appointed a lord commissioner and does take part in the ceremonies. The role of principal lord commissioner during this period has been taken by theleader of the House of Lords. There is an exception: when John Bercow was presented for royal approbation for the office of speaker of the House of Commons in 2009, and again when Bercow's successor Sir Lindsay Hoyle was presented for approbation in 2019,[34] the lord chancellor (Straw and Buckland, respectively) were the principal lord commissioner, and the lord speaker was not in the commission. This precedent has continued since then. It is unclear how these arrangements would change if a future lord chancellor were appointed from the House of Lords.
The lord chancellor performs various functions relating to the establishedChurch of England. By law, the lord chancellor must be consulted before appointments may be made toecclesiastical courts. Indeed, judges ofConsistory Courts, theArches Court of Canterbury, theChancery Court of York and theCourt of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved are appointed only after consultation with the lord chancellor.[35] Additionally the lord chancellor is,ex officio, one of the thirty-threeChurch Commissioners, who manage the assets of the Church of England.[36] Moreover, the lord chancellor appoints clergy in such of the ecclesiastical livings under the patronage of the Crown as are officially listed as being worth less than £20per annum. Lord chancellors exercise the same prerogative in regard to the less valuable livings in theDuchy of Cornwall when there is no duke of Cornwall, or when the duke of Cornwall is a minor. (The heir-apparent to the Crown, if he is the sovereign's eldest son, is automatically duke of Cornwall.) Finally, the lord chancellor is in some cases the patron of an ecclesiastical living in his own right. In total, the lord chancellor appoints clergymen in over four hundred parishes and ten cathedralcanonries.[37][38]
| Lord Chancellor (Tenure of Office and Discharge of Ecclesiastical Functions) Act 1974 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to declare the law relating to the tenure of the office of Lord Chancellor by Roman Catholics and to make provision for the exercise of ecclesiastical functions during any tenure of the office of Lord Chancellor by Roman Catholics. |
| Citation | 1974 c. 25 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 9 July 1974 |
Status: Current legislation | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Text of the Lord Chancellor (Tenure of Office and Discharge of Ecclesiastical Functions) Act 1974 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, fromlegislation.gov.uk. | |
Historically, Catholics were thought to be ineligible for the office of lord chancellor, as the office entailed functions relating to the Church of England. Most legal restrictions on Catholics were lifted by theRoman Catholic Relief Act 1829, which, however, provides: "nothing herein contained shall [...] enable any Person, otherwise than as he is now by Law enabled, to hold or enjoy the Office of Lord High Chancellor, Lord Keeper or Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal". The words "as he is now by Law enabled", however, caused considerable doubt, as it was unclear if Catholics were disqualified from holding the office in the first place. For the removal of all doubt, Parliament passed the Lord Chancellor (Tenure of Office and Discharge of Ecclesiastical Functions) Act 1974 (c. 25), declaring that there was never any impediment to the appointment of a Catholic.[39] The act nevertheless provides that, if a Catholic were to be appointed to the office, then the sovereign may temporarily transfer the lord chancellor's ecclesiastical functions to theprime minister or anotherminister of the Crown. No Catholic has served as Lord Chancellor since the passage of the Act, although several non-Anglican Protestants and one Muslim have done.
Under theRegency Act 1937 (1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6. c. 16), the lord chancellor is one of the five persons who participate in determining the capacity of the sovereign to discharge his or her functions—the other individuals so empowered are the sovereign's spouse, the speaker of the House of Commons, theLord Chief Justice of England and Wales and themaster of the rolls. If any three or more of these individuals, based on evidence that, as required by statute, shall include evidence provided by physicians, determine and declare by an instrument in writing, lodged with the Privy Council, that the sovereign suffers from a mental or physical infirmity that prevents him or her from personally discharging the duties of head of state, the royal functions are transferred to aregent, who discharges them in the name and on behalf of the monarch.
The Lord Chancellor is responsible for making a speech and raising the toast to theLord Mayor at the Lord Mayor's Dinner to His Majesty's Judges in July each year.[40]
The lord chancellor was initially consideredKeeper of the King's Conscience. As such, the lord chancellor was once also the chief judge of theCourt of Chancery in London, dispensing equity to soften the harshness of the common law. The growing workload of the Court of Chancery over ensuing centuries led the lord chancellor to become the recognised head of the English and Welsh judiciary. Immediately prior to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the lord chancellor performed several different roles as head of the English and Welsh courts. He sat as a judge in theAppellate Committee of the House of Lords (the highest domestic court in the United Kingdom), and was a member of theJudicial Committee of the Privy Council (the senior tribunal of the British Empire (except for the United Kingdom) and, latterly, parts of theCommonwealth of Nations). He was the president of theSupreme Court of England and Wales, and therefore supervised the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and theCrown Court of England and Wales. He was also,ex officio, a judge in the Court of Appeal and the president of the Chancery Division. In modern times, these judicial functions were exercised very sparingly. The functions in relation to the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were usually delegated to the senior lord of appeal in ordinary. The task of presiding over the Chancery Division was delegated to the vice-chancellor, a senior judge (now known as thechancellor of the High Court). Most lord chancellors by the end of the twentieth century gave judgments only in cases reaching the House of Lords. The last lord chancellor to preside as a judge wasLord Irvine of Lairg (in office 1997–2003), who did so as a member of theAppellate Committee of the House of Lords. However, concerns were already being expressed, including by the judiciary, at the propriety of a cabinet minister sitting as a professional judge, and his successor,Lord Falconer, never performed such a role, even before his right to do so was abolished.
When peers had the right to be tried for felonies or for high treason byother peers in the House of Lords (instead of by commoners onjuries), thelord high steward, instead of the lord chancellor, would preside. This also occurred inimpeachment trials. The office of lord high steward has generally remained vacant since 1421. Whenever a peer was to be tried in the House of Lords, a lord high steward would be appointedpro hac vice [for this occasion]. In many cases, the lord chancellor would merely be elevated to the office of lord high steward temporarily. Trials of peers in the House of Lords were abolished in 1948, andimpeachment is considered obsolete, so this is unlikely to occur again.
The judicial functions of the lord chancellor (as opposed to his role in the administration of the court system) were removed by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
The lord chancellor used to be the presiding officer of the House of Lords byright of prescription. TheConstitutional Reform Act 2005 removed this function, leaving the choice of a presiding officer to the House of Lords itself. Ultimately, the Lords chose to elect aLord Speaker of the House of Lords, which title was already used in the Standing Orders.
The lord chancellor acted as thevisitor of many universities, colleges, schools, hospitals and other charitable organisations throughout the United Kingdom. When the rules of the organisation do not designate a visitor or, when a vacancy in the office arises, the sovereign serves as visitor, but delegated the functions to the lord chancellor. Furthermore, some organisations explicitly provided that the lord chancellor was to act as visitor; these bodies includedSt. George's Chapel, Windsor, theRoyal Institution,Newcastle University and three colleges of theUniversity of Oxford (namelySt Antony's College,Worcester College, andUniversity College). Likewise, the statutes ofHarrow School,Rugby School andCharterhouse School conferred on the lord chancellor the authority to make appointments to their governing bodies. All of the aforementioned visitorial functions were abolished, vested inthe Crown or transferred to another suitable office (namely the lord chief justice) by The Lord Chancellor (Transfer of Functions and Supplementary Provisions) Order 2007 made under theConstitutional Reform Act 2005.[41]
The lord high chancellor outranks all othergreat officers of state with the exception of thelord high steward, which has generally been vacant since the 15th century. Under modern conventions, the office of lord high steward is only filled on the day of a new monarch's coronation; thus, at all other times, the lord chancellor remains the highest ranking great officer. The importance of the office is reflected by theTreason Act 1351, which makes ithigh treason to slay the lord chancellor. Alord high treasurer would be entitled to the same protection—but the office is now held in commission—as would a judge whilst actually in court, determining a case.
The lord chancellor's position in the modernorder of precedence is an extremely high one, generally being outranked only by theroyal family and high ecclesiastics. In England, the lord chancellor precedes all non-royal individuals except thearchbishop of Canterbury. In Scotland, they precede all non-royal individuals except theLord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Although lord chancellor "of Great Britain", they maintain a position in the order of precedence in Northern Ireland; there, they outrank all non-royal individuals with the exception of the Anglican and Roman Catholicarchbishops of Armagh, the Anglican and Roman Catholicarchbishops of Dublin and themoderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Throughout the United Kingdom, the lord chancellor technically outranks the prime minister, although the latter generallypossesses more power. The precedence of a lord keeper of the Great Seal is equivalent to that of a lord chancellor. The precedence of lords commissioners of the Great Seal is much lower (seeUnited Kingdom order of precedence).
The lord chancellor is entitled to an annual emolument of £227,736 and to an annual pension of £106,868. The lord chancellor's salary is higher than that of any other public official, including even the prime minister, although sometimes the officeholder may voluntarily decide to receive a reduced salary (recent holders have taken the salary of a secretary of state).
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The lord chancellor, on formal state occasions such as theState Opening of Parliament, wears legal court dress consisting of a black silk velvet cutaway tailcoat with cloth covered buttons, waistcoat and breeches worn with white shirt, lace stock and cuffs, black silk stockings and cut-steel buckled patent court shoes. Over this is worn a black silk damask robe of state with a long train trimmed with gold lace and frogging, with a black silk 'wig bag' attached to the flap collar at the back. A full-bottomed wig is worn and, in the past, a black tricorne hat was carried (the hat is still worn by lord chancellors on rare occasions, such as when they appear robed as one of theLords Commissioners).
When the lord chancellor sat in the Lords, they wore an undress version of court dress, consisting of the court dress but made of black superfine cloth rather than silk velvet, and over that a black silk robe with a train with the wig bag attached. The full-bottomed wig was also worn, and the tricorne carried.
Now that the lord chancellor is appointed from the Commons rather than the Lords, they normally wear a business suit and only wear full ceremonial dress for state occasions. There is an unofficial precedent that lord chancellors that do not have a legal background do not wear the wig.[citation needed]Jack Straw (a qualified barrister) initially did not wear one but did so afterwards, as did his immediate successor,Kenneth Clarke (a barrister andQueen's Counsel).Chris Grayling,Michael Gove,Liz Truss andDavid Lidington (none of whom had a legal background) did not do so, nor didDavid Gauke orDominic Raab (who were solicitors); butRobert Buckland,Brandon Lewis,Alex Chalk andShabana Mahmood (all of whom were barristers) did wear the customary wig when in full ceremonial dress, as doesDavid Lammy.[42]
In 2019, when serving as one of the Lords Commissioners at theApprobation of the new speaker of the Commons (SirLindsay Hoyle), the lord chancellor Robert Buckland wore the full court dress and robe of state, the full bottomed wig and atricorne hat (hats are always worn in the chamber by the Lords Commissioners on these occasions).[43]
The historic insignia of the lord chancellor is a purse containing theGreat Seal and amace.[44] The Elizabethan playSir Thomas More opens Scene II as follows:"Chelsea. A Room in More's House. A table being covered with a green carpet, a state cushion on it, and the Purse and Mace lying thereon, enter SirThomas More".
In the early 21st century, theLabour government viewed it as untenable that all three political functions (executive, legislative and judicial) should be continued in the historical office of Lord Chancellor. In the Government's view, this infringedMontesquieu's principle ofseparation of powers which declared that no person should have access to all of the three political functions. The lord chancellor could exercise all three powers, and some, such asQuintin, Lord Hailsham, often did so. The Labour Government also took the view that these powers were inconsistent with theEuropean Convention on Human Rights.
However, proposals by theBlair government simply to abolish the office met with opposition from those who felt that such an official was necessary to speak on thejudiciary's behalf inCabinet, as well as from many who opposed the sudden abolition of such an ancient office. In 2003,Tony Blair chose his close friend and formerflatmateLord Falconer to beLord Chancellor andSecretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. At the same time, he announced his intention to abolish the office of lord chancellor and to make many other constitutional reforms. After much surprise and confusion, it became clear that the ancient office of lord chancellor could not be abolished without anAct of Parliament. Thus Lord Falconer duly appeared the following day in theHouse of Lords to carry out his duties from theWoolsack. TheLord Chancellor's Department was, however, renamed theDepartment for Constitutional Affairs.
In January 2004, the Department of Constitutional Affairs published a concordat, outlining the division of authority between lord chancellor andlord chief justice and which was intended as the basis of reform.[45] The Government introduced theConstitutional Reform Bill in the House of Lords in February 2004. The bill sought to abolish the office of lord chancellor, and to transfer its functions to other officials: legislative functions to a speaker of the House of Lords, executive functions to the secretary of state for constitutional affairs and judicial functions to the lord chief justice. The bill also made other constitutional reforms, such as transferring the judicial duties of the House of Lords to asupreme court. However, unlike the responsibilities of other secretaries of state, which can be transferred from one department to another by an order-in-council, several functions of the lord chancellor are linked to the office of lord chancellor as a matter ofstatute law. Those "protected functions" of the lord chancellor can only be transferred to other ministers by Act of Parliament.[46] As a consequence, it became clear that it was extremely difficult to simply "abolish" the office of lord chancellor.
In March 2004, however, the Lords upset the Government's plans by sending the bill to aSelect committee. Although initially seen as a move to kill the bill, the Government and HM Opposition agreed to permit the bill to proceed through the parliamentary process, subject to any amendments made by the committee. On 13 July 2004, the House amended the Constitutional Reform Bill such that the title of lord chancellor would be retained, although the Government's other proposed reforms were left intact. Then, in November 2004, the Government introduced an amendment in theLords which wholly removed references to the secretary of state for constitutional affairs, changing them to ones about the lord chancellor, with the positions ofsecretary of state and lord chancellor envisaged as being held by the same person. The finalConstitutional Reform Act received royal assent on 24 March 2005 and the major transfers of the historical functions of the lord chancellor to others (such as theLord Chief Justice andLord Speaker of the House of Lords) were complete by mid-2006. However the lord chancellor and secretary of state for constitutional affairs remained a member of thePrime Minister's Cabinet, retaining most of the office's original statutory functions.
In May 2007, theDepartment of Constitutional Affairs was abolished and its functions were transferred to a newly createdMinistry of Justice which also took charge of certain responsibilities transferred from the Home Office. Lord Falconer retained thetitle,salary andoffice of lord chancellor, as well as being created the inauguralSecretary of State for Justice.
Prior to Tony Blair's premiership, were a person not apeer to be appointed to theoffice of lord chancellor, he would be raised to thepeerage upon appointment, though provision was made in 1539 for non-peers who are great officers of state to sit in between the benches in theHouse.[47] With enactment of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and the subsequent separation of the roles of lord chancellor and speaker of the House of Lords, it is no longer necessary for the lord chancellor to be a peer or to have a legal background.[d] In June 2007,Jack StrawMP was appointed lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice, thus becoming the first lord chancellor to be a member of the Commons, rather than the House of Lords or its predecessor, theCuria Regis, sinceChristopher Hatton in 1587.[49][50]
Both Straw and his immediate successor,Ken Clarke, were barristers. In 2012Chris Grayling became the first justice secretary without a legal background, in which he was followed by his three immediate successors. One of these,Liz Truss in 2016, became the first woman to serve as lord chancellor of the United Kingdom (QueenEleanor of Provence was keeper of the great seal, and so arguably lord chancellor, of England in 1253–54). Subsequently, the post was for the first time held by solicitors,David Gauke andDominic Raab.
A fictional depiction of a lord chancellor occurs inIolanthe, the frequently-revivedcomic opera byW. S. Gilbert andArthur Sullivan.[51][52][53] The lord chancellor is the central character in the work but is identified only by his title.
William Rehnquist, lateChief Justice of the United States, was inspired to add four golden stripes to the sleeves of his judicial robes after seeing the costume of the lord chancellor in a production ofIolanthe. The current chief justice,John Roberts, has not continued the practice.
A fictional lord chancellor also appears inCharles Dickens' novelBleak House (also identified only by title), presiding over the interminable chancery case ofJarndyce and Jarndyce.
Anthony Trollope'sPalliser novels feature a number of references to fictitious lord chancellors. The Liberal Lord Weazeling holds the office in the Liberal governments of Mildmay and Gresham inPhineas Finn andPhineas Redux; the Conservative Lord Ramsden holds the position in the Duke of Omnium's coalition government inThe Prime Minister. In Gresham's final government at the end ofThe Prime Minister, the former Liberal Attorney General, Sir Gregory Grogram, is finally given the position, which he had desired for some time.
"King Hilary and the Beggarman", a children's poem byA. A. Milne, relates the story of a fictional lord high chancellor, "Proud Lord Willoughby", who is dismissed for refusing to obey his king.
InDavid Gurr's thrillerA Woman Called Scylla, set in 1977, the main villain is an utterly ruthless and unscrupulous lord chancellor, who grossly abuses his many functions and powers in order to cover up his treason during the Second World War and as a stepping stone towards becoming prime minister. As the writer clearly states, this was not intended to refer to the actual holder of the office at the time of writing or at any other time.
The Lord Chancellor is portrayed byPreston Lockwood in “Rumpole and the Tap End” episode of theRumpole of the Bailey TV series. He is shown making himself a necklace/chain of office from coloured paper clips, whilst reprimanding Judge Featherstone.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)Since referred to as 'the agreement' and also 'the concordat'
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lord High Chancellor".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 3.Headquarters:102 Petty France,Westminster | ||
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