Raab was previously appointed Lord Chancellor and deputy prime minister in 2021 under Boris Johnson, and resigned on 6 September. His previous tenure was marked by failed negotiations with the Criminal Bar over legal aid fees, which escalated into strike action. He sought to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights, although Liz Truss halted this plan soon after entering Downing Street. His reinstatement raises the possibility the controversial Bill of Rights is back on the agenda.
Former incumbent Brandon Lewis resigned within hours of Sunak’s return from Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles III. Lewis, who served for a total of 49 days as Lord Chancellor, has held eight ministerial jobs across five departments in the past ten years.
As Lord Chancellor, he increased the offer to criminal barristers, prompting them to vote to pause their strike. Resigning, he wrote: ‘I am proud to have been appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in September, and to have signed the proclamation of His Majesty The King in the role. I have enjoyed working with the many brilliant and dedicated teams of officials across the Ministry of Justice. Our frontline prisons, probation and courts staff truly are hidden heroes.’
Law Society president Lubna Shuja said the proposed Bill of Rights ‘represents a lurch backwards for British justice and would disempower the British public by the weakening of individual rights and divergence from our international human rights obligations.
‘An early commitment from the Sunak administration to axe the Bill once and for all and revisit the recommendations made by the Independent Human Rights Act Review would be the first step to securing this goal.’
Shuja also called on Sunak to commit to implementing as a minimum the full 15% criminal legal aid rate increase for solicitors, urgently launch the Civil Legal Aid Review which has been ‘on pause since 2018’ and invest in the justice system.
PM Sunak has also selected barrister and MP for Banbury, Victoria Prentis as Attorney General of England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland.
Prentis, who replaces Michael Ellis, said: ‘One of my first priorities is to continue the government’s work in rebuilding confidence in our justice system, particularly with victims.’
She was called to the Bar in 1995 and was a lawyer for the Treasury Solicitors’ Department for 17 years, where her responsibilities included providing advice on military, prisons and national security matters and representing the government in court.
