Attorney General Geoffrey Cox suggests Supreme Court judges could be interviewed by MPs

Geoffrey Cox has said the UK could adopt a Canadian-style system to appoint judges
MPs could play a role in appointing judges to the Supreme Court, according to Geoffrey Cox
AFP via Getty Images
Ted Hennessey12 February 2020
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MPs could play a role in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, the Attorney General has said.

Geoffrey Cox ​insisted the Government has "no desire" to see politically appointed judges, but proposed a potential Canadian-style appointments system in which parliament interviews candidates.​

In Canada, potential nominees must undergo an interview phase where nominations are reviewed by an advisory board.

The person must also appear before a parliamentary committee, and then the prime minister decides whether to press ahead with the nomination.

Judges in the Supreme Court may have to go through a Canada-style appointments system
Jay Galvin/Creative Commons

The Tories pledged at the general election to examine the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts, and vowed to set up a Constitution, Democracy & Rights Commission within a year to come up with proposals to restore trust in democracy.

Mr Cox, speaking at a Q&A at the Institute for Government, on Wednesday morning, said: "Let me make plain, we have no desire to see politically appointed judges, that is completely off the table.

“There is no question of politicians appointing judges, we have a good system now, the Judicial Appointments Commission.

"We’re not going to be talking about a party politically appointed set of judges.

"However, I think there is a case for looking at how Supreme Court judges are appointed."

He went on to say: "One of the things that is worth looking at in my view is how it’s done in Canada.

"In Canada now, for appointments to the Supreme Court, there is a committee of the Canadian parliament that will carry out interviews.

"In our country it could be a joint committee of the House of Lords and the House of Commons under clear guidance. There would be rules as to the questions that could be asked.

"But what it would lend, potentially, is transparency to a position which, people have seen, has enormous power.

"Now I’m not saying that that is something that I would support. But it’s something, I think, that the commission may need to look at.

Mr Cox, who is tipped to lose his job in tomorrow's Cabinet reshuffle, added: "The chief justice of Canada has recently commented that he now thinks that it is indispensable to public confidence in the supreme court of Canada."

But Labour MPs immediately hit back at the proposed overhaul, saying it would lead to a politicised judicial system.

Jo Stevens, MP for Cardiff Central, said it would be "a very dangerous step in a very dangerous direction."

Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti added: "A bucket full of maple syrup won’t sweeten the threat that his far-right Government poses to the Rule of Law."

The seeds of the Government's battle with the courts were sown during the Brexit rows, when campaigner Gina Miller successfully challenged the Government over then prime minister Theresa May's right to trigger Article 50 without a vote in Parliament.

The Supreme Court ruling in 2019 that Mr Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful fuelled Tory suspicions about judicial activism.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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