My Lords, Ladies, friends, colleagues,
Lady Chief Justice, thank you for that generous welcome, and your kind words.
I am deeply grateful for your leadership…
And look forward to working alongside you…
In the months and years ahead.
I congratulate my colleague and friend, Ellie Reeves…
On her appointment as Solicitor General.
Madam Solicitor, your dedication…
Your expertise…
And your energy…
Will be of enormous value to this Government…
And to this country…
And I know you will serve the law with distinction.
I also want to pay tribute to my predecessor, Shabana Mahmood…
Who achieved so much in her time in this office…
Steering the system back onto a steadier path…
After such difficult years.
It is the honour of my life to be sworn in as Lord Chancellor.
The boy from Tottenham…
Son of parents who came to this country from Guyana…
Part of the great Windrush generation,
Answering the call of a country…
That needed rebuilding after the war.
They came here with little, but gave so much…
Because they believed in the values of this nation
In fairness, freedom, and equality.
The boy whose Mum brought up five children alone…
Working every hour god sent…
Just to put food on the table…
Teaching us the meaning of service, and sacrifice.
The boy who fried chicken in KFC…
But who carried aspirations far bigger than his uniform…
Though not, perhaps, quite as big as this day…
Nor indeed, quite as big as this uniform…!
That boy could never have imagined…
That he would be standing here, before you today.
It has been a long journey…
But in many ways, it feels like coming home.
My whole life has been about justice.
Growing up in the shadow of the Broadwater Farm Estate…
Justice was not abstract.
It was real.
Ever-present.
Often harsh.
Too many boys who looked like me were written off.
Too many were told to set their sights low.
Too many found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
But I was fortunate.
Education gave me a way out…
A gift that lifted my sights,
… when others told me to lower them.
Even then, though, I recall one teacher saying to me
“A barrister, David? Really?
I think you should become a fireman.”
But justice is what called me to the Bar….
To advocacy…
To giving a voice to those who had none…
To defending the principle that all are equal before the law.
It led me into public service…
Into politics…
And my work on the Lammy Review…
Into racial inequality in our criminal justice system.
From student, to barrister, to practice in California…
Justice has been my compass.
Justice has been my cause.
And now, as Lord Chancellor…
Justice is my charge.
So I stand here humbled,
I stand here honoured,
And believe me when I say –
I stand here feeling the full weight of this ancient office…
More than a thousand years old.
The names of its holders echo through history
Becket… Bacon… More… Wolsey.
Some of them noble,
Some… notorious.
And I wonder what they would think about our nation’s first black Lord Chancellor.
I think of those who came before me,
Who gave new life to the ancient promise of Magna Carta
That no one is above the law…
And that the law must protect the liberties of us all.
I think of Lord Elwyn-Jones…
Who, before he wore these robes, stood at Nuremberg…
To face down the architects of racial hatred and war…
Ensuring that even the most powerful can be held to account before the law.
And who later passionately defended legal aid…
So that fairness would not be the preserve of the wealthy.
And I think of Lord Irvine of Lairg…
Who brought the Human Rights Act into being…
Weaving equality into the fabric of our common law.
And so my task is threefold.
First, to respect the rule of law.
As Thomas Fuller once said – and Lord Denning often quoted –
“Be you never so high, the law is above you.”
That is the essence of our inheritance.
No one is above the law, and all are equal beneath it.
Woman or man.
Rich or poor.
Black or white.
This is Britain’s greatest gift to the world.
But we take these principles for granted…
At our peril.
As rights are eroded abroad…
As democracy retreats in too many places…
I will do everything in my power to defend those values…
At home, and overseas.
Second, I am to defend the independence of the judiciary.
That independence is part of our prestige…
It is why our justice system is trusted the world over…
And why international businesses choose our courts…
And our laws…
To settle their disputes.
And I promise you –
I will defend that independence to the hilt.
In recent years we have seen troubling signs…
Of judges denounced for doing no more than interpreting the law…
And even attacked in their own courtrooms.
And we have seen, at the darkest extreme…
Where this road ends.
We see it in Putin’s Russia…
Where the courts no longer speak for justice…
But for power…
To crush, silence and oppress critics.
I am clear
In Britain there will always be space for dissent.
There will always be space for debate –
The freedom to disagree is part of who we are.
But debate must never become intimidation.
Disagreement must never become violence.
You must be free to do your work…
To make decisions on the most difficult and contested questions…
Without interference…
Without influence…
And without fear for your safety.
Because when those who uphold the law are threatened…
The rule of law itself is threatened.
That is something no free society can ever allow.
And on my watch, it will not be.
Finally,
I am charged with the efficient and effective support of the courts…
Ensuring they are fit for the people they serve.
I inherit a system that has been under too much pressure…
For far too long.
The past few years have tested the justice system like never before.
From the pandemic…
To the pressures now facing our courts, prisons and probation services.
I know you, our judiciary…
And so many others across our courts and tribunals…
Have carried that weight.
You have kept the machinery of justice turning…
Never letting it falter.
I am profoundly grateful.
Thanks to my predecessor, the justice system is now stabilising…
And we are on the road to recovery.
It will be a long journey…
But we walk it with determination.
Those efforts have, necessarily, focused in on criminal justice…
On prisons, and probation…
On driving down the backlog in the Crown Courts.
And I will carry on that transformative work,
Through the Sentencing Bill…
Delivering punishment that cuts crime…
And Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review…
So our criminal courts are not just fit for today’s demands…
But resilient for tomorrow’s…
And so justice is no longer delayed, and denied…
To so many.
At the same time, our justice system is far broader…
Touching every single part of our lives.
Workers, seeking redress against unfair treatment…
Small businesses, fighting for payment owed…
Separating families, securing their child’s future…
All of them rely on our civil and family courts…
And our tribunals.
So I will strive to protect and advance every part of that system…
From legal aid, that protects the most vulnerable…
To support for victims of crime.
And I will champion our world class legal services…
Which power growth…
Generating over £42 billion for our economy each year.
That is something we shouldn’t whisper about, but shout with pride.
As Foreign Secretary, I once found myself in a skyscraper…
In the heart of Abu Dhabi…
Some 4000 miles away…
Yet in that glittering tower…
Billions of dollars in transactions…
Were carried out under English law…
Just one illustration…
Of the phenomenal reach of our greatest export.
English law is now used in around 40 percent of all cross-border business and financial transactions…
But – we can go even further…
And, supported by our new English Law Panel…
We will…
To reinforce our position as a global legal leader…
For the prosperity of this nation.
I’ll come to a close with this.
I pledge that this office will stand, as it has at its best moments in history…
For fairness…
For dignity…
And for the belief that every citizen is equal under the law.
To my wife, Nicola, and to my children thank you.
None of this would be possible without your love and support…
Your patience…
And dare I say it, your tolerance.
I am proud – incredibly proud – to be the first Lord Chancellor of Afro-Caribbean heritage…
And to swear this oath today is the greatest honour of my life.
I will work with determination.
I will serve with devotion.
And I will defend…
With every fibre of my being…
The rule of law.
The boy from Tottenham is now Lord Chancellor…
And he remains, above all, a servant of justice.
Thank you.
