Swearing in of the new Lord Chancellor - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Joshua Rozenberg describes the occasion on his substack - Rule of law - by Joshua Rozenberg - A Lawyer Writes (substack.com).
The appointees
The appointees are Shabana Mahmood, Richard Hermer KC (as Attorney-General) and Sarah Sackman MP as Solicitor General.
Shabana Mahmood has
been a Member of Parliament since 2010 and is the second woman to hold the office of Lord Chancellor. The first was Elizabeth Truss who was sworn in on 21 July 2016. (The speech of the Lord Chief Justice on that occasion is of interest). Mahmood is a barrister and practised in the field of professional indemnity. As a Muslim she took her oath as Lord Chancellor on the Qur'an. The oath is specified in section 6A of the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 (inserted by section 17 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005).
Richard Hermer KC is not an elected MP and is to receive a life peerage enabling him to sit in the House of Lords. Hermer was called to the Bar in 1993 and appointed Queen's Counsel (now KC) in 2009. (Emily Thornberry MP was Shadow Attorney-General when Labour was in Opposition but she was not appointed to the new government). The A-G role is set out at Attorney General - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Sarah Sackman MP is a barrister and newly elected MP - for Finchley and Golders Green. With minimal experience of the House of Commons she will stand in for the Attorney-General. See also Solicitor General - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Lord Chancellorship
The Lord Chancellorship was radically reformed by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. From the time of Sir Thomas More (1478 - 1535) until September 2012 the post was held by a lawyer and, usually, one of considerable legal experience. The Lord Chancellor was Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales, presided over the House of Lords both as a legislative Chamber and also when it sat as a court (the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords), and was also a member of the executive with a seat in Cabinet.
Today, the Lord Chancellor's office doubles with Secretary of State for Justice and the Lord Chancellor is no longer Head of the judiciary. The post does not confer a right to sit as a judge. See Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The House of Lords has its own Speaker and its role as a court has been replaced by the Supreme Court of the UK.
Fuller details of these posts are set out in this House of Lords publication -
Other:
Lord Chancellor swearing-in speech: Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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