LORD PHILLIPS OF WORTH MATRAVERS LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND AND WALES
“JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ”
COMMONWEALTH LAW CONFERENCE 2007 NAIROBI, KENYA
12 SEPTEMBER 2007
Introduction
The topic I
have chosen for this address is judicial independence.
Last year I had
the pleasure of spending a few days with some of you at the Commonwealth
Magistrates and Judges Association meeting in Toronto. I spoke then about the changes brought about by our
Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and the Concordat between the judiciary and the
Lord Chancellor that had resulted in the
Lord Chief Justice replacing the Lord Chancellor as the head of the
judiciary of England and Wales. These changes had been introduced six months
before that meeting. I little thought that before the next year was out I would
see the Lord Chancellor transformed into a Minister of Justice.
On 29 March of
this year the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, announced that responsibility for the prisons and offender
management would be moved from the Home Office to the Department for
Constitutional Affairs, headed by the Lord Chancellor, turning that Department
into the Ministry of Justice. These dramatic changes have had important
implications for the independence of the judiciary, and have been the subject
of comment in reports of Parliamentary Committees both the Commons and in the Lords.
Both have been
critical of the way that the judges have been treated by the Government and
they focus on a number of areas of significance to judicial independence. So I
am going to refer in this talk to recent experience in my jurisdiction.
I am, of course,
aware that any problems that we face in the United Kingdom are as nothing to
the challenges faced by the judiciary in other parts of the Commonwealth. In
December 2003 there was a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Abuja,
Nigeria, at which they endorsed the so-called Latimer House Guidelines on the relationship between the three branches
of state and I am going to adopt these
as the framework for this speech.
The
Commonwealths Fundamental Values are expressed in the following terms:
‘We believe in
the liberty of the individual under the law; in equal rights for all citizens
regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief; and in the individual’s
inalienable right to participate by means of free and democratic political
processes in framing the society in which he or she lives.’
These values can
only be secured by a rigorous application of the rule of law. The rule of law
is the bedrock of a democratic society. It is the only basis upon which
individuals, private corporations, public bodies and the executive can order
their lives and activities. And if the rule of law is to be upheld it is
essential that there should be an independent judiciary.
What are the
requirements of an independent judiciary?
All English
judges swear an oath to administer justice ‘without fear of favour, affection
or ill-will’ and I suspect that this or a similar oath is sworn by judges
throughout the Commonwealth. Judicial independence requires that judges should
be true to that oath. And if the rule of law is really to prevail, the
individual citizen must be confident that the judge will apply the law to them
without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
They will not
have that confidence, very probably with good reason, if judges are subjected
to influences, pressures or inducements to decide a case one way rather than
the other. A Constitution will not be satisfactory unless it contains
safeguards that protect the judges against influences, pressures and
inducements such as these.
This is how
these principles were expressed at Latimer House:
‘An independent,
impartial, honest and competent judiciary is integral to upholding the rule of
law, engendering public confidence and dispensing justice. The function of the
judiciary is to interpret and apply national constitutions and legislation,
consistent with international human rights conventions and international law,
to the extent permitted by the domestic law of each Commonwealth country’.
I would add this.
The rule of law will not fully prevail unless the domestic law of a country
permits judges to review the legitimacy of executive action. This is
increasingly becoming the single most important function of the judge in the
field of civil law, at least in my jurisdiction.
At Latimer
House it was stated:
‘Best democratic
principles require that the actions of governments are open to scrutiny by the
courts...’
I would put it
even more strongly. It is not simply a matter of best practice. The rule
of law requires that the courts have jurisdiction to scrutinise the
actions of government to ensure that
they are lawful. In modern society the individual citizen is subject to
controls imposed and enforced by the executive in every aspect of life. The authority to impose most of these
controls comes, directly or indirectly, from the legislature. The citizen must
be able to challenge the legitimacy of executive action before an independent judiciary.
Because it is the
executive that exercises the power of the State and because it is the executive, in one form or another, that
is the most frequent litigator in the courts, it is from
executive pressure or influence that judges require particularly to be
protected.
The appointment of judges
This is the
obvious place to start consideration of judicial independence. The Latimer
House Guidelines require an ‘appropriate independent process for judicial
appointments’ that will
‘guarantee the
quality and independence of mind of those appointed... Appointments at all
levels should be made on merit, with appropriate provisions for the progressive
removal of gender imbalance and other historic factors of discrimination.’
We are not told
what those appropriate provisions are, which is a pity because this goal is not
easily achieved.
Before our
constitutional changes it could certainly not be said that we had an
appropriate independent process for judicial appointments. Our process was
neither appropriate nor independent. Appointments were made on the recommendation
of the Lord Chancellor, who was a Government Minister. The process, at least as far as appointments of the senior judiciary were
concerned, was not transparent. The Lord Chancellor’s Department made its own
enquiries as to the most eligible candidates. Often these had not even applied
to go on the Bench, in which case the Lord Chancellor did his best to persuade
them to do so.
This
unconventional method of appointment in fact worked rather well. Candidates
were selected on merit, there was no question of any political considerations
being involved, and the Lord Chancellor usually acted on the advice of the
senior judiciary, who were in a position to identify able practitioners.
Selection was, however, from a rather narrow pool and this did nothing for the
diversity of the judiciary.
I believe that,
if we are to have a judiciary that has the confidence of the citizens, it is
essential that this judiciary fairly represents all sections of society that
are in a position to provide candidates of
the requisite ability. Our system of selection must encourage such candidates
to come forward. It is also essential that it should, in practice, be as easy
for a woman both to become and to serve as a judge as it is for a man.
Under the
Constitutional Reform Act we now have an independent Judicial Appointments
Commission. The judiciary is well
represented on the Commission, but does
not provide a majority or the Chair. All appointments are made by open
competition. The Commission recommends candidates to the Lord Chancellor, who
has a very limited power of veto. The Commission has a specific statutory duty
to “encourage diversity in the range of persons available for selection for
appointments”. I consider this to be a significant aspect of the legislation.
We cannot,
however, leave encouragement of diversity to the Appointments Commission. The
Commission can properly expect help from all involved in the justice system in
performing this duty.
The Commission,
independently appointed, is of very high calibre, but the process of selection
from vacancy notice to appointment has proved over-bureaucratic and far too
slow. We are confident that we shall be able to put that right. My
understanding is that, so far as
judicial appointments are concerned, we are catching up with the rest of
the Commonwealth in
that most members
have transparent appointment systems that are
protected from political influence, although there are one or two notable
exceptions.
Although in
general I can see no role for the executive in selecting judges, there is a
case for a limited power of veto in relation to the most senior appointments.
The senior judiciary today have, to some extent, to work in partnership with
government. It would, I think, be
unfortunate if a Chief Justice were appointed in whose integrity and abilities
the Government had no confidence.
There is a
growing tendency to challenge the mandate of the judge. Some say that our decisions
are not legitimate, because we have not been elected. They point to the United States where some judges are
elected and where, at the highest level in the Federal system, candidates are
subjected to confirmation hearings. No sooner had it been created than our new
Ministry of Justice published a Green Paper on The Governance of Britain. This made the following comment about
judicial appointments:
‘The Government
is willing to look at the future of its role in judicial appointments: to
consider going further than the present arrangement, including conceivably a
role for Parliament itself, after consultation with the judiciary, Parliament
and the public if it is felt that there is a need’.
I am only aware
of one Commonwealth country where Parliament is involved in judicial
appointments, and that is Mozambique. I, for one, can see no need for such an
innovation in the United Kingdom.
Terms of Service
The next comment
that I have to make will, I know, receive general acclamation. Judges should be
properly paid. That means that judges should be well paid. There are at least
two reasons for this. In most Commonwealth jurisdictions the judiciary is
recruited from practising lawyers. Practising lawyers tend to earn quite a lot.
Public service can never hope to compete in pay with the private sector, but if
the disparity between the two is too great, recruiting able lawyers to the
Bench becomes difficult. The other reason for paying judges well is that a good
salary makes it easier to resist corruption. It is an
unfortunate fact that in some of the newer democracies there is a long
tradition of litigants, and indeed others, expecting to pay for what should be
provided free.
I am fortunate in
coming from a jurisdiction where it is inconceivable that a litigant should
even attempt to bribe a judge. I have told this to visiting judges from some of
the new Central and Eastern European democracies and it was quite obvious that
they simply did not believe me. This emphasises the importance of the simple
principle that an independent judiciary does not take bribes. I believe that
the best paid judges in the Commonwealth are those of Singapore. When laying
the foundations for that country’s independence, Lee Kuan Yew had the foresight
to set judicial salaries at a level comparable with the private sector which
may account, in part, for the high standing of the judiciary of that
jurisdiction.
The Latimer
House Guidelines provide:
‘As a matter of
principle, judicial salaries and benefits should be set by an independent body
and their value should be maintained.’
Judges should
never feel that if they do not please the government their salaries may be at
risk.
For that reason
in many countries judicial salaries are a direct charge on the Consolidated
Fund and are voted by the legislature. Some Constitutions, for
instance that of Uganda, provide that salaries and other benefits shall
not be varied to the disadvantage of the
judiciary. In the United Kingdom the Government follows the recommendations of
an independent Top Senior Salaries Review Body when fixing judicial salaries,
and we have no reason to complain of the result.
Not only should
judges be properly paid, they must have security of tenure. The Latimer House
Guidelines provide:
‘Judicial
appointments should normally be permanent; whilst in some jurisdictions
contract appointments may be inevitable, such appointments should be subject to
appropriate security of tenure.’
What is essential
is that the judge should not have to depend upon the decision of the executive either to obtain or to keep his
office, for such dependence might incline him to favour the interests of the
executive when performing his duties. In the United Kingdom it requires a
resolution of both Houses of Parliament to remove a High Court judge and judges at the lower levels
can only be removed after disciplinary proceedings, to which I shall turn shortly.
Discipline
Whatever the
Constitution may say, judicial independence depends upon the government
respecting the principle of judicial independence. They will be more inclined
to do so if the judiciary have the confidence and respect of the populace. We are all sadly aware of some members of
the Commonwealth where judges have been dismissed or forced from office by the
abuse of executive power. The reaction of the populace to the suspension of the
Chief Justice of Pakistan is an example of the importance that the support of
the people can have for the rule of law. The authority of the Supreme Court of
India, which is second to none, is, I believe, firmly founded on the respect
that the people of India have for that court.
Where judges have
been forced from office, this has often been on the pretext of judicial
misconduct. This emphasises the importance of a sound system for disciplining
the judiciary that is free of influence of the executive. I am constantly being
faced with the demand ‘how are judges to be accountable?’ Judicial independence
does not require absence of accountability, but there is nonetheless sometimes
a tension between independence and accountability. So far as a judge’s judicial
decisions are concerned the judge is accountable by way of appeal.
So far as other
aspects of his conduct are concerned, it is important that there should be a
system that permits complaints to be made and investigated. This is another
form of accountability. The Latimer
House Guidelines provide that:
‘A Code of
Ethics and Conduct should be developed and adopted by each judiciary as a means
of ensuring the accountability of judges.’
A sub-committee
of our Judges Council, which represents all levels of our judiciary, has
prepared just such a code of conduct.
Breach of that
code of conduct could properly be made the subject of a judicial complaint —
that is a complaint against a judge. The Latimer House Guidelines have this to
say about discipline:
i.
In cases where a judge is at
risk of removal, the judge must have the right
to be fully informed of the charges, to be represented at a hearing, to
make a full defence and to be judged by an independent and impartial tribunal.
ii.
Grounds for removal of a judge
should be limited to:
a)
Inability to perform judicial duties;
b)
Serious misconduct.
iii.
In all other matters, the
process should be conducted by the Chief Judge of the courts.
iv.
Disciplinary procedures should
not include the public admonition of judges. Any admonitions should be
delivered in private, by the Chief Judge.
Both under the
old regime and under the constitutional changes we have departed quite
significantly from this guidance. Under the old regime the Lord Chancellor
himself dealt with complaints against judges, aided by a substantial sector of
his department.
He could dismiss
circuit judges and below for misconduct or impose a lesser sanction such as a
reprimand. Before taking such action he would discuss the case with the Lord
Chief Justice, and in practice, would seek his agreement. Under the
Constitutional Reform Act, statutory Regulations have been made to deal with
judicial discipline. These are of
considerable complexity. They run to 23
pages.
The Lord
Chancellor retains the right to remove from office judges below the rank of the
High Court.
The Lord Chief
Justice has the right to give a judicial office holder formal advice, a formal
warning or a reprimand or to suspend him from office in certain circumstances. The vital principle
is, however, that none of these actions can be taken unless the Lord Chancellor
and the Lord Chief Justice agree on it. It is unconventional to have a Minister
involved in this way in judicial discipline, but I think that it is no bad
thing. The Guidelines recommend that discipline is left to the Chief Justice,
but I cannot help thinking that this might leave the public, or the media,
with a suspicion that the Chief Justice
was looking after his own.
Under our new
system all complaints are made, or referred, to an Office for Judicial
Complaints, which vets the complaint to see if it is one that falls within the
system. More than half do not, being complaints about judicial decisions rather
than judicial conduct.
Complaints that
are not screened out will be considered by a nominated judge, who will either
make a recommendation straight away to me and the Lord Chancellor, or refer the
case to an investigating judge. Ultimately a recommendation will be made to the
Lord Chancellor and me and we have to decide what action, if any, to take. The judge who is
the subject of the complaint has a right to make submissions at every stage
and, if he is not content with the Lord Chancellor and my decision, he can
refer the case to a Review Body.
Complaints
against magistrates, of whom there are about 30,000, follow a somewhat
different course as they are considered by Advisory Committees of magistrates,
which recommend the appropriate disposal to me and the Lord Chancellor. The
system places quite a heavy
burden
on
us,
for
we
have
to
give
personal consideration to
any case in which disciplinary action is recommended. Overseeing the entire
process is a Conduct Ombudsman and, very often, when a complaint is dismissed,
the complainant appeals to the Conduct Ombudsman, alleging that his complaint
has not been properly investigated. The Ombudsman reports to me and the Lord Chancellor, so here is a further
considerable volume of reading.
So far as I am
concerned the Achilles heel of this system is the appeal to the Review Body.
This is made up of two judges and two lay members and a review can sometimes
take several days. There is no downside to seeking a review and judges against
whom complaints have been upheld seek a review almost as a matter of course. There is a case
for altering the regulations so that either wholly unarguable cases are
filtered out or a cost sanction is imposed where a Judge insists on taking such
a case to review.
Resources
To carry out
their functions judges need courts to sit in and staff to man them. They always
have, but today they also need expensive information technology. The Latimer House Guidelines provide:
‘Sufficient and
sustainable funding should be provided to enable the judiciary to perform its
functions to the highest standards. Such funds, once voted for the judiciary by
the legislature, should be protected from alienation or misuse. The allocation
or withholding of funding should not be used as a means of exercising improper
control over the judiciary.’
A note to this
Guideline comments:
‘The provision
of adequate funding for the judiciary must be a very high priority in order to
uphold the rule of law, to ensure that good governance and democracy are sustained
and to provide for the effective and efficient administration of justice.
However it is acknowledged that a shortfall in anticipated national income
might lead to budgetary constraints.’
Although the
guideline envisages that financial resources will be provided directly to the
judiciary by the legislature, this is not always, or indeed usually, what
happens. In some jurisdictions judges
are responsible for running the court system and are provided with resources
for this by the legislature. This is true of the Federal system in the United
States and in Japan, which I recently visited, the judges run the courts. While
such a system undoubtedly underpins the independence of the judiciary, it is
important that judges are not drawn into day to day administration, as that
should be for the administrative staff. Our role should be strategic decision
making, as after all our principal role is to judge cases.
The more common
model is one under which court accommodation and court staff are provided by
government. This is the model we presently have in the United Kingdom.
This model will, however, not work so as to preserve the
independence of the judiciary and deliver a sound system of justice unless the
executive and the judiciary are partners in the decision making process; the
judiciary must have at least a joint and equal voice in directing those that
provide the administration so as to ensure that the judiciary, and all others
involved in the administration of justice, not least the court users, have
the facilities that are needed for the efficient and effective administration
of justice.
The
Constitutional Reform Act requires an incoming Lord Chancellor to take an oath
to ‘discharge my duty to ensure the provision of resources for the efficient
and effective support of the courts for which I am responsible’. Before the
Constitutional Reform Act the Lord Chancellor had entrusted the running of the
court system to Her Majesty’s Court Service, an executive agency. At that time
the duties owed by the Court Service were owed to the Lord Chancellor, both
because he was the head of the judiciary and because he was the Minister
responsible for the agency. When the Lord Chief Justice became head of the
judiciary in place of the Lord Chancellor, this altered the duties owed by the
Court Service. It continued to
owe a duty to report to the Lord Chancellor as the responsible Minister, but it
also owed a duty to the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary responsible
for the administration of justice to provide the infrastructure necessary to discharge
those responsibilities. Close
communication and co-operation with the Lord Chief Justice and the senior
judges when decisions were taken was essential in order to ensure that what was
needed for the administration of justice was provided.
This did not
happen. The Lord Chancellor and the staff in his Department continued to act as
if he retained primary responsibility for the administration of justice and had
sole responsibility for deciding what resources should be allocated to this and
how they should be deployed. Decisions were taken without our participation and
we were then belatedly told what was proposed.
Allied to this
was another unsatisfactory feature in relation to resources. The money needed
for the court service came out of the budget of the Department for
Constitutional Affairs that the Lord Chancellor headed. That budget also had to
pay for legal aid.
Expenditure on
criminal legal aid proved much larger than had been anticipated. The
consequence was that the Court Service was told that they had to cut back on
their expenditure to help to fill the black hole that had opened up in the
finances.
The vulnerability
of our resources to the demands of other responsibilities of the Department was
a matter that was causing us serious concern.
This concern
greatly increased when, on 21 January of this year, I read an article in the
Sunday Telegraph suggesting that the Home Secretary, John Reid, intended to
divest his Department of responsibility for prisons and the justice system and
transfer this to a new Ministry of Justice. I got on to Lord Falconer, the Lord
Chancellor, to find what this was all
about to learn that he was no wiser than I was. However after two months of
intense speculation, but without formal or meaningful consultation, the Prime
Minister announced on 29 March 2007 what was described as a major Machinery of
Government change. A new Ministry of Justice was to be formed to be headed by
the Lord Chancellor. This would combine his previous responsibilities for the
courts and legal aid with responsibility for the prisons and offender management.
My immediate
concern was as to the impact that these changes might make on court funding.
The courts would now be in competition with the prisons. The prisons were full
to overflowing and dealing with the prison problem was likely to be the Lord
Chancellor’s primary concern.
If the prisons
proved to be under-funded there could be a further squeeze on court resources.
There might even be a perception that judges were going soft on sentencing in
order not to exacerbate a need for expenditure on prisons at the expense of the
courts. I made a public statement saying that the Prime Minister’s statement
raised important issues of principle and that structural safeguards needed to
be put in place to protect the due administration of justice.
Early the
following month we sent to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee of the
House of Commons a position paper in which we asserted that the creation of the
Ministry of Justice was “not a simple Machinery of Government change but
one which impacted on the separation of powers”. Neither the (then) Lord
Chancellor nor the Prime Minister accepted that the changes had any
constitutional significance.
The
Constitutional Affairs Committee, having taken evidence from, among others,
myself and the Lord Chancellor, concluded in a Report published at the end of
July:
‘Significant
changes to the Lord Chancellor’s responsibilities as Secretary of State took
place as a result of the creation of the Ministry of Justice. They are of
constitutional importance as they may affect, in practice or public perception,
the exercise of the Lord Chancellor’s statutory function of guardian of judicial independence, both in
organisational and budgetary terms... such changes go far beyond a mere
technical Machinery of Government change and as such should have been subject
to proper consultation and informed debate, both inside and outside Parliament.’
We persevered in
negotiations with Lord Falconer for the safeguards that we needed, but he made
it clear that there were certain parameters that were not negotiable, including
the status of the Court Service as an executive agency and a refusal to
contemplate ring-fencing of the Court Service’s budget. We were unable to reach
agreement within these parameters. In the end we asked him to agree to a
fundamental review of the best method of running the court system in the light
of the creation of the new Ministry of Justice.
He was not prepared to agree to this.
On 26 July the
House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution published a Report on
‘Relations between the executive, the judiciary and Parliament. This commented:
‘The creation of
the Ministry of Justice clearly has important implications for the judiciary.
The new dispensation created by the Constitutional Reform Act and the Concordat
requires the Government to treat the judiciary as partners, not merely as
subjects of change. By omitting to consult the judiciary at a sufficiently
early stage, by drawing the parameters of the negotiations too tightly and by
proceeding with the new Ministry before important aspects had been resolved,
the Government failed to do this. Furthermore, the subsequent request made by the judiciary for
a fundamental review of the position in the light of the creation of the
Ministry of Justice was in our view a reasonable one to which the Government
should have acceded in a spirit of partnership’.
We now have a new
Lord Chancellor — for the first time a member of the House of Commons — in Jack
Straw. He has acknowledged our concerns and has asked for time to consider
them.
This is a
reasonable request, but we have emphasised the urgency of getting a
resolution of the
situation. This ongoing
saga illustrates an aspect of judicial independence that
has been giving rise to concern in a number of jurisdictions. Judges should
not, as I have said, become involved in the detail of administration , but if
administration of the court system is shared with the executive this must be
done in a way that leaves the court service and the judges working as a team.
The former must recognise that they have a duty to provide what the latter need
in order to achieve the efficient and effective administration of justice. By
way of example, this is a topic that has
received detailed consideration in Canada, in Denmark, in the Netherlands and
in the Republic of Ireland and as I have recently learned in a number of Commonwealth jurisdictions,
including this one with the Kenya Judiciary Strategic Plan.
Relations with the executive
This brings me on
to the more general topic of relations between judges and the executive. When I
started in the law nearly fifty years ago, judicial review was in its infancy.
Judges were reluctant to review the exercise of discretionary powers vested by
the legislature in the executive. All of this changed with the application of
the Wednesbury test and, more
recently, the requirement that has arisen as a result of the Human Rights Act
1998 for the judge himself to apply a test of proportionality to executive
action that interferes with human rights.
Ministers do not
enjoy having their decisions ruled unlawful by judges. Sometimes they react by
making a personal attack on the judge. Happily this does not happen very often
and when it does it has tended to be the Home Secretary who has taken public umbrage,
for his area of responsibility has been such that he has been often in the
firing line.
Thus in 2003
David Blunkett on a number of occasions attacked judges who had made decisions
in favour of asylum seekers of which he disapproved. He wrote a newspaper
article under the headline ‘It’s time for judges to learn their place’. On an
earlier occasion Michael Howard had reacted to a judgment against him with the
public comment ‘the last time this particular judge found against me. . . the
Court of Appeal decided unanimously that he was wrong.’
It is difficult
for judges to know how to respond to attacks of this kind, for a public
slanging match with Ministers is not going to enhance confidence in the administration of justice. The action
taken by Lord Woolf in relation to the earlier matter was to write privately to
David Blunkett, protesting at his behaviour. I will not tell you what he said,
but David Blunkett recorded in his diary, now published, that ‘I have received
a monstrous letter from Harry Woolf’.
When the Lord
Chancellor was Head of the Judiciary it was his duty to stand up for the judges
in the face of any inappropriate behaviour by his Cabinet colleagues. That duty has been preserved in the
Constitutional Reform Act. Section 1 provides:
‘This Act does not adversely affect —
(a) the existing constitutional principle of the rule of law, or
(b) the Lord Chancellor’s existing constitutional role in relation to
that principle;
Section 3
provides, among other things:
‘(1) The Lord
Chancellor, other Ministers of the Crown and all with responsibility for
matters relating to the judiciary or otherwise to the administration of justice
must uphold the continued independence of the judiciary...
(5) The Lord Chancellor and Ministers of the Crown must not seek to
influence particular judicial decisions through any special access to the judiciary.
(6) The Lord Chancellor must have regard to:
(a) the need to defend that independence.’
That duty was put
to the test last summer when an experienced judge was attacked not merely by
the media but by the Home Secretary and by a Junior Minister in the Lord
Chancellor’s own Department, for imposing a sentence in a child abuse case that
it was suggested was ‘unduly lenient’. The sentence was not, in fact, unduly
lenient. The judge had correctly applied complex legislative provisions
and sentencing guidelines. But that is
not the point. The Attorney-General has
a power to refer sentences that are
alleged to be unduly lenient to the Court of Appeal and it is wholly
inappropriate for any Minister to pre-empt either his decision or that of the
Court of Appeal. Coincidentally or not, one newspaper began a campaign,
identifying judges whose sentences were alleged (not always correctly)
to have been increased by the Court of Appeal on the ground that they were
unduly lenient and calling for their resignation.
Three days passed
from the first criticism before the Lord Chancellor, appearing on Question
Time, commented that it was completely wrong for the judges to have become the
whipping boys for something that was not their fault and went on to say that
the judge was not at fault. His own Minister was forced to apologise publicly
for her comments. The House of Lords Select Committee criticised the Lord
Chancellor for an inadequate response to this incident.
It also
criticised me for not moving faster behind the scenes to get action taken.
Unfortunately I was at the time in Warsaw, where I was chairing an
international judicial conference, but I was in touch with what was going on in
England. Some say that I should have made a public statement in support of the
judiciary. Whether such action is desirable is a matter to which I shall
return.
The Latimer
House Guidelines provide:
‘While dialogue
between the judiciary and government may be desirable or appropriate, in no
circumstances should such dialogue compromise judicial independence’.
I have always
believed that it is important, if possible, for judges to maintain good relations
with Ministers. I have to date managed to achieve this, both with Home
Secretaries and with Lord Chancellors. I meet frequently with the Lord
Chancellor and regularly with the Home
Secretary to discuss matters of common interest — typically the effect that
administrative or legislative options will have on the administration of
justice. It is important at such meetings that the line is clearly drawn
between what are and what are not appropriate areas of discussion and Ministers
are, in my experience, quick to accept if told that a topic is ‘off limits’.
Ministers
responsible for meeting the challenge of terrorism can be particularly
concerned when measures that they have introduced are held by the courts to be
incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Charles Clarke, when
he was Home Secretary, was keen to discuss with the Law Lords, in advance of
taking such measures, issues of principle that they might raise and he was
aggrieved when the Senior Law Lord, Lord Bingham, declined an invitation to
meet. He subsequently commented “the judiciary bears not the slightest
responsibility for protecting the public, and sometimes seems utterly unaware
of the implications of their decisions for our security” and suggested that “it
is now time for the senior judiciary to
engage in a serious and considered debate as to how best legally to confront
terrorism in modern circumstances”.
The problem with
this is that it is the judge’s job to resolve disputes as to the legality of
action or legislation when those disputes arise. If he advises the Government
on that question beforehand he will place himself in a position where he cannot
do so, or appear to do so, impartially.
The House of Lords Select Committee commented:
‘It is essential
that the Law Lords, as the court of last resort, should not even be perceived
to have prejudged an issue as a result of communications with the executive.’
Relations between the judiciary, the media and the public
It is important
that justice should not only be done but be seen to be done, and freedom to report
court proceedings is one of the most important aspects of freedom of
expression. And yet, when two or more judges are together, it is not long
before they are complaining about the media. A theme that is popular with some
of the media in the United Kingdom is that judges are soft on sentencing. After
a sentence is reported, perhaps for causing death by dangerous driving, there
will follow a report of the comment of a relative of the victim that four years
imprisonment is no punishment for taking a life.
For every hundred
sentences that go unreported, there will be singled out for criticism the sentence that, on its face,
appears lenient, without report of the explanation, painstakingly given by the
judge in his sentencing remarks for his choice of sentence. There is also a
tendency to accuse judges of using, or abusing, the Human Rights Act in order
to justify their wish to treat criminals more
leniently.
The Editor of the Daily Mail gave evidence
to the House of Lords Select Committee. He commented that the public saw “an
increasingly lenient judiciary handing down lesser and lesser sentences”. He
had commissioned a poll of 1000 members of the public and only 18% had faith
that the sentences that they wanted passed against criminals would be reflected
by the courts whereas 75% felt that sentences were too lenient. This perception is totally at odds with reality, for sentences imposed
by judges have been becoming
steadily heavier. The Editor accepted no responsibility for the public’s
misconception, notwithstanding editorial comment such as this in an edition of
his own newspaper:
‘Britain’s
unaccountable and unelected judges are openly, and with increasing arrogance
and perversity, usurping the role of Parliament, setting the wishes of the
people at nought and pursuing a liberal, politically correct agenda of their
own, in their zeal to interpret European legislation.’
This was quoted
by the House of Lords Select Committee, which reached the conclusion that
‘the media,
especially the tabloid press, all too often indulge in distorted and
irresponsible coverage of the judiciary, treating the judges as “fair game”.’
What is the
solution? For once the Latimer House Guidelines have nothing to offer.
They state
‘Legitimate
public criticism of judicial performance is a means of ensuring accountability’
and ‘the criminal law and contempt proceedings are not appropriate mechanisms
for restricting legitimate criticism of the courts.’
But what of illegitimate
criticism? One of the legal correspondents for whom I have a high regard
expressed the view to the Select Committee that public relations are important
and judges ought to be doing more to retain — and even regain — the public’s
confidence. In particular he expressed disappointment that I had allowed over a year to go by without a press
conference and suggested that I was wrong to treat the media as uniformly
hostile. I would add that I have since had a press conference and I by no means
consider that the media are uniformly hostile. But it is true that I have a
diffidence about talking too often to the media. Ideally a judge should be
judged by his judgments, not by pronouncements made out of court.
The Select
Committee concluded that judges were over diffident about talking to the media.
They expressed
the view that it was appropriate for them to communicate with the media on
appropriate issues and that there was no reason why they should not communicate
with the media about their activities outside the courtroom.
We have the
benefit of an outstandingly able Communications Office that provides much
useful information to the media, and is able to correct, sometimes in advance,
erroneous press coverage or to explain some of the restrictions to which judges
are subject. If there is one
misconception that is more prevalent than any other it is that it is open to judges to decide cases, or
impose sentences, according to their personal inclinations.
We are, however,
giving careful consideration as to whether we should identify judges who, with
the benefit of media training, can be available to give the viewpoint of the
judiciary in circumstances where it seems desirable to communicate this.
I should very
much welcome learning of the experiences and views of others in this delicate
and controversial area.
Training
The Latimer
House Guidelines recommend that a culture of judicial educations should be
developed under the control of an adequately funded judicial body with the
curriculum controlled by judicial officers who have the assistance of lay
specialists. I do not believe that anyone would cavil at this recommendation.
It is, of course, a recommendation that calls for substantial expense. I am happy
to say that we have always received an allowance for judicial training that
reflects the importance of this area, even if it does not cover all that we
would like to do.
Our Judicial
Studies Board is run by judges for judges, and is one of the foundations of our
judicial independence. I am also keen that, insofar as we can manage it, we
should help other jurisdictions with judicial education, either by responding
to invitations to send judges abroad, or by welcoming judges who want to come
to learn about the administration of justice in our jurisdiction.
Accountability
I have already
referred more than once to accountability and to the increasing demand that
judges should be accountable. The duty to give
reasons and the appellate system is the way that judges should be accountable
for their decisions and a system for judicial complaints is the way in which
judges should be accountable for their general conduct. The duty to give
reasons for all decisions is a clear example of “explanatory” accountability, which
not only facilitates appeals but assists transparency and scrutiny by the
other branches of State and the
public. But that is not the end of the story. Insofar as we insist, as I
believe we should, in having an input into all aspects of the administration of
justice and, in particular, to the running of the court system, then it is not
unreasonable to expect us to account for the way in which we have discharged
our responsibilities. The question is how and to whom?
The House of Lords
Select Committee expressed the view that Select Committees “can play an
important role in holding the judiciary to account by questioning in public”. I
do not find that phrase attractive. It suggests subservience and
a command and control relationship
between judiciary and Parliament, which is not appropriate. The judiciary is a
separate and independent arm of State. The Select Committee elaborated their
thoughts as follows:
‘We believe that
Select Committees can play a central part in enabling the role and proper concerns of the judiciary to
be better understood by the public at large, and in helping the judiciary to
remain accountable to the people via their representatives in Parliament.
Not only should
senior judges be questioned on the administration of the justice system, they
might also be encouraged to discuss their views on key legal issues in the
cause of transparency and better understanding of such issues amongst both
parliamentarians and the public. However, under no circumstances must
committees ask judges to comment on the pros and cons of individual judgments.’
I have no
difficulty with the last sentence. Furthermore I can see merit in the
suggestion that Select Committees can represent an appropriate and helpful
forum for me or for other senior judges to explain or state our views on
aspects of the administration of justice that are of general interest or
concern and upon which it is appropriate for us to comment. The appearance of
judges before Select Committees should, however, be a relatively rare, and thus
a significant event.
I do not believe
that it would be desirable for judges to appear to be at the beck and call of
Parliament.
I have made it
plain that I intend to produce an Annual Report on the administration of justice. I see this as part of the
judiciary’s explanatory accountability. My current thinking is that this Report
should be made to the Queen in Parliament and I should be prepared to answer questions
on its content. In this way the report and my answers to questions on its
contents will be instruments to provide the right measure of explanatory accountability.
Conclusion
There are just a
few words that I would like to say in conclusion on the topic of judicial independence. A judge should value
his independence above gold. Not for his or her own benefit, but because it is
of the essence of the rule of law and a judge should care passionately for the
rule of law. It is the satisfaction of
reaching decisions without fear or favour, affection or ill-will that
makes being a judge a vocation that has no equal.
