Q&A: Legal reforms

MPs have urged the government to put their plans to abolish the historic office of lord chancellor on ice. BBC News Online examines the background.

Who are the law lords?

Sitting as part of the House of Lords, the law lords are the last resort for appeals against decisions taken at all other courts around England and Wales.

High profile judgements in recent years have included stripping the home secretary of powers to set minimum jail terms for murderers and ruling that General Pinochet was not immune from prosecution over criminal acts conducted during his rule in Chile.

What does the lord chancellor do?

The lord chancellor is a role which stretches back more than a thousand years in Britain.

He is a cabinet minister, is head of the judiciary and sits as a judge, and also presides over the House of Lords, sitting on the famous "woolsack".

Why is the post being scrapped?

Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the change in his cabinet reshuffle last year.

There has been criticism that it is just not right that a cabinet minister should also sit as a judge - hardly the "separation of the powers" preached to new democracies.

The government also believes that the lord chancellor's role is too wide.

By setting up a new Department of Constitutional Affairs, it should be possible to focus much more on establishing the best possible justice system, it says.

All judges would also be selected by an independent appointments' commission, rather than by a politician lord chancellor.

And what is all this about a supreme court?

At present, the law lords, on a special committee of the House of Lords, act as the highest court in the land.

That arrangement has also provoked disquiet, with critics saying it is very odd for the law lords to both help make the laws when legislation is passed and then independently judge how they are applied.

Now ministers want that system to end and for it to be replaced by a separate supreme court.

But it will not follow the US example and be able to judge whether laws are constitutional.

How is the way judges are appointed being changed?

Until now, judges have been appointed after "soundings" by the lord chancellor.

The government is hailing the changes as a chance to reduce the interference of politicians in the process.

An appointments' commission will recommend a candidate for each judicial vacancy.

The constitutional affairs secretary, currently Lord Falconer, would be allowed to reject that name once but the commission could then insist he accept it.

Supreme Court judges will instead be selected by the secretary of state from a shortlist of between two and five candidates compiled by a separate appointments board.