Law firms hit back at government’s judicial overhaul

Oliver Dean | 11th March 2026 | Politics

Justice Secretary David Lammy argues that the reforms will ease the strain on the judicial system (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Reforms to the judicial process risk concentrating power in the hands of politicians, law firms warn.

Leading law firms have condemned the government's Courts and Tribunals Bill after it passed its first Commons vote, warning that David Lammy's proposed reforms risk concentrating power in the hands of politicians and undermining the independence of the criminal justice system. Roger Gherson, senior partner at Gherson Solicitors LLP, said the legislation posed a direct danger to civil liberties, pointing to recent sanctions litigation as a warning of what could follow. "The concentration of power in the hands of politicians and the judiciary is a threat to freedom, liberty, and democracy," he said. Gherson pointed to the case of the £38 million superyacht Phi, which was seized by the UK in March 2022 as part of sanctions against Russia, as a sign of things to come. "This case alone gives one a taste of how things would likely play out in the future if these reforms to the Courts and Tribunals Bill actually come to force," he said. "Political justice to order irrespective of the reality ...

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