Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what rules, guidance or conventions they consider to be applicable to the provision of professional legal services, including advocacy, legal representation and the giving of legal advice, by retired UK judges.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
There is a longstanding convention that prohibits former holders of salaried judicial office from returning to private legal practice. This is reflected in the terms and conditions of service which apply on appointment to judicial office, which state that candidates accept appointment on the understanding that it is “intended for the remainder of a person’s professional life” and that “following termination of their appointment they will not return to private practice as a barrister or a solicitor".
The Government has noted the report, “Work in Judicial Retirement”, which relates to judges in the High Court and above and the longstanding convention prohibiting salaried judges from returning to legal practice. The Government has also noted the evidence of Lord Burnett, the then Lord Chief Justice, to the Justice Select Committee in 2018, that the convention “is part and parcel of ensuring, and always has been, that the standing of our judiciary is very high indeed.”
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the policy report by Patrick O’Brien and Ben Yong, Work in Judicial Retirement, published in June.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
There is a longstanding convention that prohibits former holders of salaried judicial office from returning to private legal practice. This is reflected in the terms and conditions of service which apply on appointment to judicial office, which state that candidates accept appointment on the understanding that it is “intended for the remainder of a person’s professional life” and that “following termination of their appointment they will not return to private practice as a barrister or a solicitor".
The Government has noted the report, “Work in Judicial Retirement”, which relates to judges in the High Court and above and the longstanding convention prohibiting salaried judges from returning to legal practice. The Government has also noted the evidence of Lord Burnett, the then Lord Chief Justice, to the Justice Select Committee in 2018, that the convention “is part and parcel of ensuring, and always has been, that the standing of our judiciary is very high indeed.”
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their response to Sir Duncan Ouseley’s independent report on the operation of the closed material procedure under the Justice and Security Act 2013, which was carried out pursuant to section 13 of the Act and laid before Parliament in November 2022.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government is carefully considering the recommendations made by Sir Duncan Ouseley in his Independent Report on the Operation of Closed Material Procedures under the Justice and Security Act 2013 and is working to establish how any recommendations that we take forward could be sustainably and effectively implemented. Subject to this detailed ongoing work, the Government aims to publish its response to Sir Duncan’s report by early 2024.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to prepare and lay before Parliament the annual reports, required by section 3A of the Law Commissions Act 1965, on the extent to which Law Commission recommendations were implemented for the reporting years (1) 2018–19, (2) 2019–20, (3) 2020–21, (4) 2021–22, and (5) 2022–23.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
A draft of the Government’s report on the implementation of Law Commission recommendations is currently being prepared and is expected to be laid before Parliament as soon as practicable this year. It will provide an update on the implementation status of all relevant Law Commission recommendations since the report was last published in 2018.