Brandon Lewis said it is a ‘huge honour to become lord chancellor’ as he was formally sworn in to the post at the Royal Courts of Justice in London this morning.

The barrister – who replaced Dominic Raab earlier this month to become the ninth justice secretary since the Conservatives came to power in 2010 – pledged to take his role in upholding the rule of law ‘incredibly seriously’, adding: ‘It is not guaranteed and therefore it must be protected.’

Lewis also said he is ‘pleased to have reached an agreement’ with the Criminal Bar Association over its strike action, which was announced this morning – though the CBA said: ‘It is not a good start that the lord chancellor Brandon Lewis has insisted on going ahead with a premature press release.’

He was welcomed by the lord chief justice Lord Burnett, who told Lewis: ‘Your connections with the law and grounding in constitutional and legal issues provide a valuable foundation for the responsibilities you now hold.’

Burnett also emphasised the importance of the rule of law, which is ‘eroded if the resources made available are inadequate to enable the courts to function properly’.

‘Governments never have enough money to do all that they would wish,’ he said. ‘It is perhaps not unfair to say that justice has suffered more than it should have done over the last decade. We look forward to admiring your powers of persuasion and advocacy skills in your dealings with the Treasury.’

Michael Ellis KC and Michael Tomlinson were also formally sworn in as attorney general and solicitor general respectively at the ceremony, which was attended by prominent legal figures including junior justice minister Lord Bellamy KC and justice select committee chair Sir Robert Neill.

I. Stephanie Boyce, president of the Law Society, welcomed Lewis, Ellis and Tomlinson to their roles on behalf of the solicitors profession at a ‘make-or-break moment for our justice system’.

‘The Law Society stands ready to work alongside you in renewing our justice system, safeguarding our rights and maintaining the UK as a bastion of the rule of law,’ she said.

Mark Fenhalls KC, chair of the Bar Council, also thanked Lewis ‘for having engaged with the professions at the earliest possible opportunity’.

 

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