Buckland rebukes government colleagues over suggestions of judicial bias
updated on 13 September 2019
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has contradicted suggestions from the top levels of the government that judges are politically biased and not truly independent.
According to the Law Gazette, political journalists reported that sources from 10 Downing Street had criticised Scottish judges for their ruling that the government’s decision to prorogue Parliament was unlawful. Government sources allegedly claimed that legal activists had chosen the Scottish courts “for a reason”.
Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng then claimed that there is widespread feeling that “judges are biased”.
Buckland responded: “Our judges are renowned around the world for their excellence and impartiality and I have total confidence in their independence in every case.” Defending the independence of the judiciary is a key aspect of the justice secretary role.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was eventually drawn into the row. He chose to defend the judiciary, saying it is “one of the great glories of our constitution - they are independent”.
This is not the first time the independence of the judiciary has been attacked in recent years. In 2016, the Daily Mail infamously ran a headline describing judges as “enemies of the people” for their ruling that the government required the consent of Parliament to give official notice of Brexit to the European Union. The justice secretary at the time, Liz Truss, was heavily criticised for her failure to defend the independence of the judiciary.
