Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in his first public statement, committed his government to implementing the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto, listing several of its promises but omitting any reference to those affecting our legal system. Under the heading ‘Protect our democracy’, the manifesto promises to ‘update the Human Rights Act’ and to ensure that ‘judicial review is… not abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays’. It says: ‘In our first year we will set up a Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission that will examine these issues in depth.’
This did not happen. Instead, the Johnson government created separate commissions chaired by senior lawyers—one an ex-Conservative minister Lord Faulks, the other Sir Peter Gross, a retired Lord Justice of Appeal—to examine administrative law and human rights. Both poured cold water on the government’s intentions, but the government did not change its plans. Dominic Raab (pictured), in his first
