Legal Services Bill [HL]

Like the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, while applauding Amendments Nos. 10, 13, 15 and 16, my preference is for the approach taken by Amendment No. 5, which is to require the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor to consult and indeed to have ““the concurrence of””, in the words of the amendment, before making the appointment. Nevertheless, the suggestion made by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, is interesting. Where I find myself in complete agreement with the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, is over the substitution of the Lord Chancellor for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State can be any Secretary of State. However unlikely it might seem to your Lordships, I suppose one might foresee in future responsibility for the Legal Services Board being transferred, say, to the Home Secretary. Could your Lordships’ House be confident that the Home Secretary would have the same consideration for the rule of law as would the Lord Chancellor? After all, the Lord Chancellor is statutorily bound by the Constitutional ReformAct 2005 to take into account the rule of law. It is an obligation which is expressly placed on the shoulders of the Lord Chancellor. No Secretary of State is similarly encumbered. If, as I suspect she is going to when we come to the next group of amendments, the noble Baroness opposes the suggestion that the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor should be required to obtain the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice in making the appointment, her case will be even weaker if she insists on the deciding authority being the Secretary of State and not the Lord Chancellor. At least if it is the Lord Chancellor alone who is taking this decision, he is obliged to take it in the context of his obligations with respect to the rule of law. No Secretary of State is under—