Committees

Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers

Inquiry

The Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers (the Attorney General, Solicitor General and Advocate General for Scotland) are Government ministers with particular constitutional and legal responsibilities (notably, in upholding the rule of law).

This inquiry will focus on how these roles currently operate and how they have evolved since the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which fundamentally altered the role of the Lord Chancellor. In particular it will examine the extent to which office holders are able to remain impartial given their position in the executive branch of Government, and whether their ability to uphold the rule of law and defend the independence of the judiciary is affected.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was Friday 18 March 2022.

Reports, special reports and government responses

No reports or special reports published.

Oral evidence transcripts

View all oral evidence transcripts
27 April 2022
Inquiry Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Witnesses Lord Keen of Elie (former Advocate General of Scotland (2015-20) at Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, former Lords Spokesperson (2016-20) at Ministry of Justice, and former Lords Spokesperson (2016) at Home Office)
Committees Constitution Committee
Open PDF
148KB
Open HTML
123KB
Oral Evidence
23 March 2022
Inquiry Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Witnesses Sir Jonathan Jones QC (Hon) (Senior Consultant on Public and Constitutional Law at Linklaters LLP, and former Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary (2014-20) at Government Legal Department), and Sir Richard Heaton (Warden at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, former Permanent Secretary (2015-20) at Ministry of Justice, and former Permanent Secretary (2012-15) at Cabinet Office)
Committees Constitution Committee
Open PDF
233KB
Open HTML
256KB
Oral Evidence
16 March 2022
Inquiry Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Witnesses Dr Conor Casey (Lecturer in Law at School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool), and Dr Conor McCormick (Lecturer and Director of the Human Rights Centre at School of Law, Queen's University Belfast)
Committees Constitution Committee
Open PDF
207KB
Open HTML
381KB
Oral Evidence

Written evidence

View all written evidence
RLC0017 - Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Witnesses Society of Labour Lawyers
Committees Constitution Committee
Open PDF
83KB
Open HTML
56KB
Written Evidence
RLC0018 - Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Witnesses The Bar Council
Committees Constitution Committee
Open PDF
52KB
Open HTML
10KB
Written Evidence
RLC0019 - Role of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Officers
Witnesses Attorney General's Office
Committees Constitution Committee
Open PDF
88KB
Open HTML
49KB
Written Evidence

Other publications

No other publications published.

Contact us

  • Email: constitution@parliament.uk
  • Phone: 020 7219 5960 (committee staff) | 020 7219 8286 (Press Officer)
  • Address: Constitution Committee, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW