Off with their Wigs! Judicial Revolution in Modern Britain (Societas) Book

On 12th June 2003, the Blair Government abruptly announced fundamental changes to the UK's legal system. The highest court in the UK will no longer be the House of Lords, but a new Supreme Court; senior judges will cease to sit in Parliament. At the same time, the ancient office of Lord Chancellor - Cabinet minister, legislator, judge, head of the judiciary and appointer of judges all in one - is to be abolished. The unfortunate manner in which these reforms were announced meant that the principles underlying them have yet to be fully articulated and evaluated in the public domain. This book, commissioned by the think tank Policy Exchange, sets to put this right. Charles Banner and Alexander Deane address each aspect of the reforms in separate chapters, discussing the pros and cons of the existing system and examining various alternative models for the new judicial infrastructure proposed by the Government. Exclusive interviews with a number of senior judges, lawyers, academics and MPs - representing all sides of the debate - are cited at length throughout the book, which is aimed at both lawyers and non-lawyers. This book constitutes an assessment of proposed changes in the English judiciaryRead More