The Supreme Court has had more exposure in the last week than since its establishment ten years ago. For this retired magistrate it was a pleasure to witness the eloquence and purposeful arguments put forward by both sides` lawyers. The final judgement was a masterpiece in logical structured reasoning which left no room to doubt the diligence in the way that that judgement was reached. It was regrettable and inevitable that as soon as it had been broadcast some politicians on the Leave side of the Brexit debate accused their lordships and ladyships of bias. The accusation made in 2016 by the Daily Mail will not be forgotten.
Enemies of the people: Fury over 'out of touch' judges who have
'declared war on democracy' by defying 17.4m Brexit voters and who could
trigger constitutional crisis
- Judges ruled Brexit could not be triggered without a Westminster vote
- The Lord Chief Justice and two colleagues were branded 'out of touch'
- They were accused of putting Britain on course for a 'constitutional crisis'
Published: 23:38, 3 November 2016 | Updated: 15:26, 4 November 2016
Yesterday the Attorney General putting forward his best booming bombastic response suggested that it was not unlikely that in future aspiring appointees to the Supreme Court would require some sort of vetting. When I applied to the magistracy on the application form there was a box to be filled in naming the political party to which I had given my vote in the previous general election. I left it blank only for the form to be returned some time later with an accompanying letter which told me that my application would be rejected unless I filled in the appropriate information. I complied. It is some years since that iniquitous demand has been rescinded. When we are witness to the interrogation that takes place in the USA for Supreme Court appointments we should be very thankful that our current system is as it is. It is the very distance from political interference which gives strength to our senior judiciary. It would be a very thin edge to a very thick wedge were we to allow even a hint of political interference in the process.
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