Bar Council Welcomes Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill
25 March 2008
The Bar Council today welcomed the publication of the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, which was announced by the Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Jack Straw MP. The draft Bill follows the July 2007 Green Paper, The Governance of Britain, and a consultation on its contents. The Bill aims to rebalance power between Parliament and Government, and to give Parliament more ability to hold Government to account.
Key points from the draft Bill include limitations on the power of the Prime Minister to declare war; recasting the role of the Attorney General; reinforcing the independence of the judiciary, and greater input from the House of Commons into the selection of some public officials.
Commenting on the draft Bill, Tim Dutton QC, the Chairman of the Bar, said:
‘We welcome any move on the part of the Government to strengthen the relationship between Parliament and British citizens, and which renders Government accountable. While we will need to examine the detail of the draft Bill, we hope that this represents a positive shift in the balance of power between Parliament and the Executive.
‘The Bar contains a wealth of constitutional expertise, and we look forward to ensuring that the Government benefits from the Bar’s depth of knowledge. It is vital that any Constitutional Renewal Bill results in an improved balance of power between Parliament and Government, and we hope that the Houses of Parliament will consider carefully all the proposed changes to our constitution.’
