§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Chancellor on 1 July (WA 76), which body or individual will be responsible for the appointment of members of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. [HL3785]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)This is one of the issues on which the consultation paper on the Supreme Court (published on 14 July) seeks views. The paper consults on the question of whether the Prime Minister should recommend names to Her Majesty The Queen directly, after consulting the First Minister in Scotland and the First and Deputy First Ministers in Northern Ireland and the legal profession, or whether an Appointments Commission should be asked to recommend the names to the Prime Minister first. It proposes as one model for such a commission that its members could be drawn from the Judicial Appointments commissions or boards, which have been or will be established in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to reflect the UK jurisdiction of the new Supreme Court.