Lord Chancellor (Transfer of Functions and Supplementary Provisions) (No. 2) Order 2006

My Lords, this order marks a significant milestone in the Government’s plans to implement the changes contained in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. As the Minister has stated, Schedule 1 abolishes the functions of the Lord Chancellor as a Lord of Appeal under the Appellate Jurisdictions Act. This order is made under Section 19 of the Constitutional Reform Act, an Act whose provisions were much disputed in your Lordships’ House. I have no intention whatever, your Lordships will be relieved to hear, to seek to reconstruct those debates tonight, let alone pass judgment on them. Under the order, Parliament has given the Lord Chancellor the power to transfer his functions in the way set out. I want to raise only one issue, an issue that relates to paragraph 7.5 of the attached Explanatory Memorandum. That paragraph says that,"““the transfer and modification of the Lord Chancellor’s functions have been discussed in detail with a working group containing representatives from all levels of the judiciary””." Would the Minister be kind enough to confirm that such discussions have taken place since the Act received Royal Assent rather than being part of the negotiations leading to the concordat between the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor? Could the Minister also say whether, as a result of such discussions, he is sure that the judiciary are satisfied with the practicalities of such a transfer of functions as proposed in the order? The noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, expressed a degree of nostalgia in the Lord Chancellor’s relinquishing these functions. It so happens that this is the only change that we thought necessary—though we believed it would have been better achieved by constitutional convention.