Influential Lord Chancellor Sworn In
One of the senior members of Tony Blair's Cabinet -- the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg -- has been sworn in at a ceremony at the Law Courts in central London.
Lord Irvine will have a key role in guiding the government's plans for constitutional reform.
At a strictly formal occasion - no speeches, but much pomp and ceremony as the solemn oath of office is sworn - he took on one of the most influential yet least publicly-recognised roles in the new cabinet.
As the most senior legal figure in England and Wales, he will occupy the Woolsack as Speaker of the House of Lords, sit as a law lord in the highest appeal court in the UK, and run one of the biggest government departments.
The Lord Chancellor himself appoints every judge below the level of the Court of Appeal, and his advice is almost invariably taken by the Prime Minister on the more senior appointments as well.
Although the Scottish Office and the Welsh Office will have day-to-day responsibility for devolution, the Lord Chancellor is expected to chair a Cabinet committee with overall responsibility for the constitution of the United Kingdom.
He is a champion of the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British law,
and is pledged to review how Legal Aid-funded services are provided, probably with a bigger role for less expensive advice services. He also supports reform of the House of Lords by abolishing the voting right of hereditary peers.
But some legal commentators predict he will prove less radical than his
predecessor, fellow Scot Lord Mackay, when it comes to reform of the legal
profession. In the past he has expressed reservations about the readiness of the new breed
of High Court and appeal judges to extend the scope of judicial power when
reviewing decisions of the executive in Whitehall.
Alexander Irvine, 56, is known to friends as "Derry". He has been head of a highly successful set of barristers' chambers for the past sixteen years.
Lord Irvine introduced Mr Blair to his future wife Cherie Booth when he took on the two young employment lawyers as pupils at his chambers in the late 1970s. In 1980, at the Blairs' wedding, he proposed a toast as "Cupid, QC".
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