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GAZETTE
APRIL
.
1993
The Solicitor - the Barrister
- the Politician and the Judge
Addressing the Annual Dinner of the
Council of the Law Society, former
Chairman of the Bar Council of
England and Wales, Lord Williams
of Mostyn QC said:
"There is a feeling of malaise and
unease among large sections of the
public in both our countries about
the mechanisms and workings of the
law and the legal system generally. In
the United Kingdom there has been
recent well publicised miscarriages of
justice in the criminal sphere. Civil
litigation is too slow, too burdensome
and too expensive. There is little
purpose or point in providing a Rolls
Royce service which delivers the
litigant, bankrupt, to his destination
after five years, when most litigants
would be happy arriving home at the
end of the day by bus.
As lawyers we spend our entire lives
cross-examining and questioning
other people about their practises.
We need to turn the beam of the
search light inwards upon ourselves.
This is a watershed for the law. The
undercurrent for change and reform is
overwhelming. We can swim with it.
One of the historic mistakes made by
lawyers is to allow themselves to be
seduced from their independence.
The relationship between
practitioners and the bench is too
incestuous. The true relationship
between lawyers and judges should
be one of sceptical independence,
and between lawyers and government
one of armed neutrality. The legal
profession in both our countries is
so small that too cosy a relationship
with the judiciary and government
has grown up and been tolerated for
so long. There are dangers there.
Since the passing of the Courts
Legal Services Act in 1972 solicitors
have been eligible in England and
Wales for appointment to the Circuit
Bench. Many have been appointed.
Civilisation as we know it has not
come to an end. The solicitor
appointee has done just as well or
just as badly as appointees from the
Bar to the Circuit Bench. If a man or
woman (nearly always a man) has the
experience, expertise and qualities of
character and temperament to carry
out judicial work then in my opinion
the mere fact that he or she is a
solicitor rather than a barrister should
be no bar. Indeed there is a sensible
and respectable case, certainly in
appellate tribunals, for the
appointment of academic rather than
practising lawyers. The above will
demonstrate amply that I have no
personal interest in judicial preferment.
"We need to turn the beam of
the search light inwards upon
ourselves."
No solicitor judge has been
appointed to the High Court in
England and Wales. It is necessary
for a solicitor to become a Circuit
Judge as a pre-condition to
appointment to the High Court
Bench. I have no doubt that the first
such appointment will be made
within the next twelve months.
The quality of the High Court
Bench in England and Wales is very
high. The High Court Judiciary is
noted for intellectual rigour and
distinction, political independence,
and in particular financial
incorruptibility. There has been no
example in the last 20 years of
appointment to the bench being seen
as a political donation. There is very
substantial consultation between the
Lord Chancellor's department and
the Bar about the appointment of
judges. The leaders of all six Circuits
are consulted about Assistant
Recorderships, Recorderships and
Circuit Judgeships. When it comes
to the more limited number of
possible High Court appointees the
Bar is fully consulted and I am able
to say, with confidence, that there
has been no recent appointment to
Lord Williams of Mostyn QC
the High Court Bench to which the
Bar could reasonably reject in terms
of merit.
In 1992 the present Lord Chancellor
went a good deal further than his
predecessors in agreeing that there
should be reasonable consultation
between his department and the
incumbent Chairman and Vice
Chairman of the Bar Council about
appointments to the Court of
Appeal and judicial appointments to
the House of Lords. This means that
all such appointments will be the
subject of consultation in future
including the appointments of Lord
Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls,
and Vice Chancellor. The Bar
Council never looked for nor did the
Lord Chancellor offer any sort of
veto about individual appointments.
What we have been asked for, and
provided, is a sort of short list for
the appointments that might become
vacant in the next three years or so.
This preserves the arm's length
distance between the Judiciary and
the Bar but does allow decent
considered input from the Bar about
these important appointments. I
personally would like to see the
process go further - the expansion
(Cont'd on page 90)
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