The rule of law—that political philosophy that protects accountability, just law, open government, and accessible and impartial justice—appears, like democracy, to be in recession. This recession can be swift or slowly accrue. It has been swift in both Poland and Hungary. The Freedom House index of basic freedoms in countries traces the decline. In Poland, the government has sought to curtail the independence of the judiciary. In Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s self-declared ‘illiberal democracy’ has similarly sought to control the judiciary, with the head of the judicial council, Csaba Vasvári, complaining recently of excessive political control and challenges to the rule of law.
Does the rule of law, however, face such challenge in the UK? Is the government’s current legislative programme, in part guided by the Lord Chancellor and deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab (who at the time of writing continues to hold that position), the continuation of a
