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Lord Chancellor

EDM number 369 in 2000-01, proposed by Austin Mitchell on 26/02/2001.

That this House considers that the essential task of reforming the legal system cannot be rigorously or effectively pursued to its logical goal of equal access and fair justice for all until the commanding heights of the judicial and legal systems are properly rationalised; therefore suggests to the Noble Lord, the Lord Chancellor, that his purposes and those of the party for which he labours so vigorously can only be achieved by getting rid of the trappings of the middle ages which are as relevant to modern justice as the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is to naval defence; urges him to shed some of this excessive burdens and advance the work which he has begun by splitting the mediaeval office he holds into its component roles of a Minister of Justice answerable to this House and responsible for the modernisation of the legal services and for ensuring justice for all, an independent Judicial Appointments Commission responsible for the appointment, training and continuous performance review of all judges and for ensuring a properly representative bench of judges, a radically reformed Legal Service Commission committed to ensuring that an effective legal service and proper legal representation are readily available to all as of right and that an impressive actor of benign disposition and avuncular persona presides over the House of Lords and fulfils ceremonial functions; and urges the Government to support his efforts by introducing all these necessary reforms as quickly as possible.

This motion has been signed by a total of 33 MPs.

MPDateConstituencyPartyType
Austin Mitchell26/02/2001Great GrimsbyLabourProposed
Lynne Jones27/02/2001Birmingham, Selly OakLabourSigned
Peter Brand27/02/2001Isle of WightLiberal DemocratSigned
John McDonnell27/02/2001Hayes & HarlingtonLabourSigned
Alan Simpson28/02/2001Nottingham SouthLabourSigned
Frank Cook28/02/2001Stockton NorthLabourSigned
Valerie Davey28/02/2001Bristol WestLabourSigned
Jeremy Corbyn01/03/2001Islington NorthLabourSigned
Harold Best01/03/2001Leeds North WestLabourSigned
David Taylor01/03/2001North West LeicestershireLabour Co-operativeSigned
Bill Etherington05/03/2001Sunderland NorthLabourSigned
Kelvin Hopkins06/03/2001Luton NorthLabourSigned
Vincent Cable06/03/2001TwickenhamLiberal DemocratSigned
Paul Keetch07/03/2001HerefordLiberal DemocratSigned
Terry Lewis07/03/2001WorsleyLabourSigned
Michael Clapham07/03/2001Barnsley West & PenistoneLabourSigned
Eric Illsley08/03/2001Barnsley CentralLabourSigned
Paul Marsden12/03/2001Shrewsbury & AtchamLabourSigned
Ann Cryer12/03/2001KeighleyLabourSigned
John Cryer12/03/2001HornchurchLabourSigned
David Rendel13/03/2001NewburyLiberal DemocratSigned
Dennis Skinner13/03/2001BolsoverLabourSigned
Donald Gorrie13/03/2001Edinburgh WestLiberal DemocratSigned
Rudi Vis13/03/2001Finchley & Golders GreenLabourSigned
Andrew MacKinlay15/03/2001ThurrockLabourSigned
Llin Golding19/03/2001Newcastle-under-LymeLabourSigned
Teddy Taylor19/03/2001Rochford & Southend EastConservativeSigned
Mike Wood20/03/2001Batley & SpenLabourSigned
Calum MacDonald26/03/2001Na h-Eileanan an IarLabourSigned
Gareth Thomas27/03/2001Clwyd WestLabourSigned
Michael Connarty28/03/2001Falkirk EastLabourSigned
Janet Dean04/04/2001BurtonLabourSigned
Phil Sawford05/04/2001KetteringLabourSigned

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