Lords to hear from senior judges about the office of Lord Chancellor

Giving evidence to the committee will be: 

• Lord Hope of Craighead – former Law Lord and Deputy President of the Supreme Court
• Lord Judge – former Lord Chief Justice
• Lord Woolf – former Lord Chief Justice and Master of the Rolls. 

The evidence session will start at 10.30 am on Wednesday 30 July in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords.

Areas the session is expected to cover include:

• How effective has the Concordat between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice been?
• How frequently do the senior judiciary discuss issues relating to the rule of law and judicial independence with the Lord Chancellor?
• What contact do the senior judiciary have with the Law Officers outside of court?
• Are appropriate mechanisms in place to allow the judiciary to communicate with Parliament? Are such communications ever channelled through the Lord Chancellor?
• Should the offices of Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice be held by the same person?
• Is the personality and political weight of the minister responsible for the rule of law and judicial independence more important than his or her formal position as Lord Chancellor?

The session will be webcast at www.parliamentlive.tv and is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.