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Lord Woolf Lord Woolf the Lord Chief Justice delivered the Squire Centenary Lecture in the Law Faculty on the evening of March 3 2004. His title was "The Rule of Law and a Change in Constitution". He dealt with the most important changes to the structure of the English Courts since the Judicature Acts of 1873- 5. The position of the Lord Chancellor is to be abolished, and also the judicial function of the House of Lords. A new Supreme Court will replace the House of Lords and there are to be new arrangements for securing judicial independence and the separation of powers.

You can listen to Lord Woolf's speech below:

Other formats of this recording, and a transcript of the lecture, are available via the University's Streaming Media Service, and you can view a photograph gallery of the event.

Lord Woolf's lecture has generated a nation wide debate on these contentious issues. A representative selection of comments and subsequent debate in the national media can be found at the following websites:

BBC News (4 March 2004);
The Independent (4 March 2004);
The Guardian (4 March 2004);
The Telegraph (4 March 2004);
The Times (4 March 2004);

Lord Woolf prepares to speak The Guardian (5 March 2004);
The Guardian Leader (5 March 2004);
The Independent (5 March 2004);
The Telegraph (5 March 2004);
The Times (5 March 2004);

The Observer (7 March 2004);

The Times (8 March 2004);

The BBC (9 March 2004);
The Guardian (9 March 2004);
The Independent (9 March 2004);
The Telegraph (9 March 2004); and
The Times (9 March 2004);

There were also two responses from the Downing Street Press Office (in the morning and afternoon of 4th March 2004) and further information on these issues is also available from the Lord Chancellor's Department.