Judges and the Lord Chancellor in the changing United Kingdom Constitution: Independence and accountability

Recent constitutional developments in the UK have brought the issues of judicial independence and accountability to the fore, raising questions about the function, meaning and requirements of independence, the needs of accountability, and the relationship between the concepts. They have also drawn attention to the position of Lord Chancellor and raised questions about whether it is appropriate for a government Minister to have responsibility for defending judicial independence, what such a defence requires and how effective it is likely to be. It is argued that the best defence for judicial independence is an open and accountable judiciary.