header-logo header-logo

Location, location, location

07 August 2008 / David Pope
Issue: 7333 / Categories: Opinion
printer mail-detail

The law lords' move to Middlesex Guildhall cannot happen soon enough, says David Pope

When Lord Falconer announced i n Dec ember 2004 that Middlesex Guildhall would be expensively renovated to house the new UK Supreme Court, I confess that I was sceptical. With so many deserving calls on public funds, I wondered how the government could sensibly justify spending £30m to move the 12 law lords from one side of Parliament Square to the other. I suspected a vanity project: the former Lord Chancellor wanted to put the bling into New Labour's dabbling in constitutional reform.

Change of Heart

I am a sceptic no longer. Not that my change of heart owes anything to the patter on the Ministry of Justice's website. I sincerely doubt that relocating the most senior judges in the land to a building a few hundred metres from the Palace of Westminster will play much part in “further separating the judiciary from the legislature”. And there is probably any number of sites in central London other than Middlesex Guildhall that

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
back-to-top-scroll