Appendix: Government Response
Immediately prior to the Summer Recess your Committee
produced its sixth report for the 2006-07 session, entitled The
creation of the Ministry of Justice.
Your Committee reached three conclusions. First,
that the creation of the Ministry of Justice amounted to an event
of constitutional importance which 'should have been subject to
proper consultation and informed debate both inside and outside
Parliament'. Second, that the creation of the Ministry of Justice
illustrated a failure of the Government 'to learn the crucial
lessons from the way changes to the Lord Chancellor's office were
announced and subsequently affected between 2003 and 2005'. And
finally, that the circumstances surrounding 'the creation of the
Ministry of Justice has led to a highly undesirable public conflict
between the senior judiciary and the previous Lord Chancellor'.
With regard to the first two of these I would like
to draw your attention to the Government's recent response to
Recommendation 3 of the House of Lords Select Committee on the
Constitution's report, Relations between the executive, the
judiciary and Parliament, copies of which have already been
provided to your Committee. I certainly understand the sentiment
behind your Committee's conclusion but suggest it was the major
changes in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, including the end
of the role of the Lord Chancellor as head of the judiciary, which
can rightly be said to have been of constitutional importance.
The establishment of the Ministry of Justice was predominantly
a machinery of government change.
On your third point, I understand that my predecessor
as Lord Chancellor discussed the possibility of a Ministry of
Justice with the Lord Chief Justice as soon as he judged appropriate.
On 29 March 2007 the Lord Chief Justice ended a statement on the
announcement of a Ministry of Justice by saying "the senior
judges have already made it plain that structural safeguards must
be put in place to protect the due and independent administration
of justice. These concerns must be addressed. Provided that they
are, there would be no objection in principle to the creation
of a new Ministry with responsibility for both offender management
and the court service." I agree with the Committee that public
conflict between the judiciary and the executive is highly undesirable.
I take my role as Lord Chancellor and the relationship with the
judiciary very seriously indeed and I am working closely with
them to resolve matters of concern to them.
I am grateful for the time and effort your Committee
has put into its inquiry, and look forward to appearing before
you again in the future.
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
16 November 2007
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