The speech made by Shabana Mahmood, the Lord Chancellor, on 16 July 2024.
My Lords, Ladies, friends, colleagues.
Lady Chief Justice, thank you for that welcome.
May I also take the opportunity to welcome Richard Hermer KC as he takes his oath today as Attorney General.
Mr Attorney, your deep expertise will be of enormous value to the Government…
And I know already that we will be allies to one another in our roles.
So too Sarah Sackman, who takes her oath as Solicitor General today.
Madam Solicitor, it took me 14 years from becoming a Member of Parliament, to serving in government.
You’ve done it in 5 days.
That is a fitting tribute to the talent and dedication you have shown to upholding the rule of law throughout your career.
I look forward to working closely with you in the months and years ahead.
I must say what an honour it is to take my own oath as Lord Chancellor today.
There once was a little girl in Small Heath, one of the poorest areas of Birmingham…
Who worked behind the till in her parents’ corner shop.
Yes, she took great inspiration from Kavanagh QC, that brilliant barrister with working class roots…
But she never dared to dream she would be sitting before you all today…
Counted among the holders of this ancient role.
So believe me, I know: along with some fairly idiosyncratic outfits, comes great responsibility.
I hold this office in the very highest regard.
I do so not just as a former barrister, but as the child of immigrants.
My parents weren’t steeped in Magna Carta, Habeas Corpus and the Bill of Rights – as I would one day be.
But they did have a strong sense, arriving here in the UK from rural Kashmir, that this country was different:
That there are rules, some written and some not, that we abide by:
Queues must be observed, near religiously…
Weather must be discussed, pretty compulsively…
But also, more seriously, there are institutions, like our courts, that are incorruptible…
And that, in this country, no-one is above the law, not even the government, and none are below it either.
To have so many of my family here today, stretching the limits of my guestlist quota, means a great deal to me.
And while I have the chance:
Mum, Dad, can I just say: jazakallah khair, thank you.
Instilled as a child, my respect for the rule of law grew stronger as I grew older:
First, studying law at university…
Then, in practice.
And it was never felt more keenly than when appearing before a member of our fiercely independent judiciary…
I can now confirm that the same tingle of nerves never goes away…
Even when you’re the Lord Chancellor appearing alongside the Lady Chief Justice.
I’d also like to thank the man who set me on my way in the law, to whom I will forever be indebted:
My pupil master – William Audland KC – who is squeezed between members of my very large, extended family in the gallery today.
I understand it’s customary for a new Lord Chancellor to draw parallels with an eminent predecessor when they take their oath…
I had a good old look around for a Lord Chancellor who looks or sounds like me, but drew something of a blank.
That’s right, folks. There wasn’t a single Brummie.
There was one who leapt out though, whose example I hope to follow:
Frederick Elwyn-Jones.
We share a few things in common:
Our Inn of Court – Gray’s.
Our political party – Labour.
As a barrister he had a passion for human rights, and was a prosecutor at Nuremberg.
I – and this government – will follow his example in defending the international rule of law and upholding human rights.
And we will certainly not be seeking to extricate ourselves from the landmark human rights convention drawn up in the aftermath of that war.
Elwyn-Jones served as Lord Chancellor for 5 years between 1974 and 1979.
By recent standards, that counts as an eternity.
I certainly hope to emulate his longevity.
It is said that he was the first Welsh speaking Lord Chancellor for centuries.
I wonder what he would’ve made of the first Lord Chancellor to speak Urdu.
I’ve carried the weight of many identities in this career…
It is a privilege, but also a burden…
I am always aware that, for the good of those who come afterwards, getting this wrong – I usually use less temperate language – isn’t an option.
But getting it right can open doors.
When I walked into the Ministry of Justice for the first time…
10 days ago, though it feels like 10 months…
I walked past the portraits of my recent predecessors:
The good, the bad and the ugly.
They all looked alike, and not much like me.
So, at the very least, I hope my appointment shows the next little girl…
In Small Heath, or wherever she may be…
That, in this country, even the oldest offices in the land are within reach of us all.
The responsibilities of this ancient office are as real today as they ever were.
The rule of law is more than an ideal.
It is more than a vague concept, employed only by academic lawyers…
It is the most enduring of British values.
We are a nation that believes in due process…
We are a nation where the law has the final word, not the mob…
And we are a nation where our disputes, however fierce, are resolved by debate and argument.
For politicians of all stripes, the law looms large.
As parliamentarians, we are not only advocates for our constituents, we are legislators…
Charged with making and shaping the laws our society will live by.
But it is our independent courts who must then interpret and enforce those laws, with no hint of political interference.
And I take seriously my oath to defend your independence…
You are the guardians of the rule of law and at the heart of our legal prestige.
It is a job that requires deep expertise, knowledge and integrity…
As you make decisions on some of the most difficult ethical and technical issues of our time…
You must be free to make them without political pressure and undue influence.
You must never be subjected to the kinds of attacks that we saw in recent years…
When newspaper headlines branded those who uphold the law: “enemies of the people”.
I will be a champion for the rule of law, and our judiciary, inside Cabinet and in our government, at home and abroad.
I will say ‘no’ where ‘no’ is warranted…
Even if, at times, I frustrate my ministerial colleagues in doing so.
After all, that frustration is not a failure of our system, but an essential feature of it.
The final part of my oath places a duty on me to ensure the provision of resources for the courts…
Which is where safeguarding access to justice truly begins.
I must first take the opportunity to acknowledge the complete dedication shown by those who work in our courts and tribunals…
And how hard you have worked to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
I know the challenges faced in our courts, and across the justice system, are very deep indeed.
I hope you saw last week, in the emergency measures that we have taken to address the prisons crisis…
That I will do what it takes to ensure justice can be done in this country.
But I know there is so much more that must be addressed:
Justice delayed is all too often justice denied…
And this has proved particularly true of women and girls who are the victims of violence and abuse.
So we must work hard across the justice system to ensure cases are heard sooner and justice is done in a timely way.
We must also continue the modernisation of our courts and tribunals – criminal, civil and family.
And we need legal aid that is fit for the needs of the modern world.
I don’t pretend that any of these have easy answers…
Nor that everything will be solved quickly.
But I can say that I will fight for our justice system…
And that I intend to be in that fight for the long haul.
Chapter 4 Verse 135 of the Quran reads:
O ye who believe!
Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah…
Even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin…
And whether it be (against) rich or poor:
For Allah can best protect both.
This is the fundamental articulation of how we, as Muslims, view justice in how we deal with the world.
It places justice above all else.
Upholding justice is the ideal that has guided my life.
It ties together both where my family came from, and the great nation we chose to call home.
And so I will fight for it, every day…
With the fierceness of many generations of small but mighty Kashmiri women…
Inherited from my mother.
And I will pursue the hard work of rebuilding our justice system…
With the dogged determination I inherited from my dad…
Who came to this country to make a new life for his family – and never took “no” for an answer.
To swear this oath today is the greatest honour of my life.
But, more even than that, it is the greatest of responsibilities.
I will work tirelessly to discharge its duties and to defend justice.
Thank you.
