Letter from David Lammy MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice to Lord Strathclyde, Chair of the Constitution Committee, responding to the Committee's report on The Rule of Law

This is the government's response, published 23 February 2026.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Lord Chancellor welcomes the Committee's report and its emphasis on judicial independence as a 'shared responsibility', and says that across Government 'we will continue to consider' its recommendations, without responding to them individually.

• He highlights the Committee's conclusion that maintaining judicial independence is a 'shared responsibility' of the judiciary, Government and Parliament, noting that the Lady Chief Justice made the same point to the Justice Committee.
• He states that independent courts are of 'absolute and fundamental importance' and describes them as 'a vital protection against overreach by the executive'.
• He is 'keen to build constitutional capital' on judicial independence through a 'bipartisan alliance', and 'expect[s]' to write to the Committee Chair and the Chair of the Justice Committee as he thinks through next steps. No date is given.
• He points to the inclusion of law and rights education in the new statutory citizenship curriculum at key stages 1 and 2, and to Attorney General's Office public legal education work, including a Youth Ambassadors Programme.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error