The Law Lords
Also by Maxwell Barrett CHILD LAW INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 CRIMINAL LAW INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 FAMILY LAW INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 LAW OF EVIDENCE INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 LAW OF TORT INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN LAW INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 ROAD TRAFFIC LAW INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97 SENTENCING INDEX: Case Precedents 1900 97
The Law Lords An Account of the Workings of Britain s Highest Judicial Body and the Men who Preside Over It Maxwell Barrett
Maxwell Barrett 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-72519-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-40558-9 DOI 10.1057/9780230596993 ISBN 978-0-230-59699-3 (ebook) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
For Agapi and Athena
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Contents List of Plates Acknowledgements ix x Introduction 1 1 The Origins of the Appellate Committee 7 The Norman king as the fount and source of justice House of Lords appeals in the early nineteenth century the reforms of 1824 the trial of Daniel O Connell the appointment of Lord Wensleydale the enactment of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 the creation of the Appellate Committee 2 The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary 18 Family background nationality education early career at the Bar becoming a Queen s Counsel marriage and children appointment to the bench promotion within the judiciary the procedure of appointing a Lord of Appeal elevation to the House of Lords biographical details of the Lords of Appeal who have served since 1876 3 The Lord Chancellor 70 The role of Lord Chancellor the present Lord Chancellor the early Lord Chancellors receiving the Great Seal the Great Purse the Lord Chancellor as speaker of the House of Lords the Lord Chancellor as judge the problems with having a politician as head of the judiciary the Lord Chancellor as Government Minister the Lord Chancellor as Keeper of the Royal Conscience the Lord Chancellor and religion the Lord Chancellor as keeper of public records the future role of the Lord Chancellor 4 Life on the Appellate Committee 120 Inside the House of Lords the facilities available to the Lords of Appeal the use of personal researchers the lay-out at hearings the conduct of hearings time limits recording of cases deciding a case producing a judgment the everyday strain of being a Lord of Appeal 5 The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 158 Membership of the Privy Council the origins of the Judicial Committee Lord Brougham s brainchild the Judicial Committee Act 1833 becoming a Privy Councillor No. 1 vii
viii Contents Downing Street the conduct of Judicial Committee hearings appearing before the Privy Council deciding cases the practice of giving a single opinion the shrinking jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee Afterword 174 Notes 186 Bibliography 194 Index 207
List of Plates 1 Lord Irvine of Lairg 2 Lord Browne Wilkinson 3 Lord Hoffmann 4 Lord Denning 5 Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone ix
Acknowledgements I am very grateful to the various Lords of Appeal past and present and to the retired Lord Chancellor who generously agreed to let me interview them for this book during the summer of 1997. On a more personal level I would like to thank my family and friends for their kindness towards me throughout the period that I was writing this work. My wife, Agapi, has been a tower of support. My parents, Della and Michael Barrett, have afforded me every encouragement. My brother, Dr Gavin Barrett, BL, has been particularly helpful, especially as regards making comments on the final text. My other brother, Conor, has also been supportive. My good friend Jennifer Powell has generously worked as a one-woman Reuters agency for the last year or so, trawling through the newspapers and the Internet each day to find anything that might be of relevance to this book. My college friends, Dr Jonathan Rush and Stefano Pistillo, have been consistently helpful. Finally my daughter, Athena, has done what she and her mother seem to do best make everything seem so worthwhile. Notwithstanding the assistance I have received from the abovementioned people, any views expressed in this book are entirely personal, and the responsibility for any factual errors which may occur in the text rests with me alone. Maxwell Barrett, Dublin x