Select committee: Constitution Committee
Recommendation 16
9th Report - The roles of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Published 18 Jan 2023
Paragraph 156
Constitution Committee Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
On balance, we do not favour the routine publication of Law Officers’ advice. Doing so would infringe on legal professional privilege and risk undermining the Government’s position should a matter reach court. This is consistent with the rule of law as fairness in legal proceedings is a fundamental part of it. In exceptional cases of national importance, especially where litigation is unlikely, there is a stronger case for publishing advice, either in full or in summary. Doing so would enhance Parliament’s ability to scrutinise the Government’s proposed actions and public trust in its adherence to the rule of law. It is difficult to codify the situations when there should be a presumption of publication but decisions to use armed force are perhaps the clearest area where publication is in the public interest. The Government should consider amending the Ministerial Code accordingly.
From: Constitution Committee, 9th Report - The roles of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers, paragraph 156, 18 January 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 March 2023 (deadline 18 March 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government agrees with the Committee on the importance of the rule of law and the value of Law Officers being politicians, but it has "no current plans to review the existing arrangements" for the offices of Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers.
- The Government agrees that "defending the judiciary against unfair, personal or threatening abuse is a core part of the Lord Chancellor’s role", but "respectfully disagrees" that a Lord Chancellor must intervene publicly, saying that an expectation of public intervention "might prove counterproductive".
- On a constitutional lead, the Government believes there is "greater strength in having a number of senior Ministerial leads on discrete constitutional matters", rather than the Lord Chancellor holding overall responsibility, and says ministerial appointments are a matter for the Prime Minister.
- On the Ministerial Code and Cabinet Manual, the Government is "always open to looking at whether updates or amendments are needed" and "remains committed to producing an updated edition of the Cabinet Manual before the end of the current Parliament". It notes a possible danger that codification "is reductive".
- On the Lord Chancellor's oath, the Government "remains unpersuaded" that rewording it to refer to upholding the rule of law would affect the discharge of the duty. On the Internal Market Act and Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, the Law Officers "have nothing further to add at this time".