Queen's Speech 2008: Constitution
Wednesday, 3 December 2008 12:00 AM
A constitutional reform bill to decentralise government power and ensure civil liberties for the people was announced in today's Queen's Speech.
The monarch told parliament the government was committed to "strengthening the role of parliament" as she outlined the government's legislative agenda.
The bill will also remove protest restrictions around parliament. Protests will be allowed to happen without the notice and without being in a designated area, as was previously the case.
The bill will also change the role of the attorney general, prohibiting the role from giving prosecutors advice on individual cases.
Other changes to be made with the bill include reducing the lord chancellor's role, removing the prime minister's ability to make judicial appointments and put the civil service on a legal standing.
Janet Paraskeva, the first civil service commissioner, welcomed the latter development.
"Events of recent days have highlighted the importance of these core values to an effective civil service which can be trusted to support successive governments of different political persuasions," she said.
"It is time that these values were enshrined in statute. Doing so will ensure that, in future, they can only be changed by parliament and not, as present, at the whim of any government."
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