lechmere-2011

Lechmere Essay Prize 2012

One prize of £500 is offered to student members of the Inn for an essay on a prescribed topic of not more than 3,000 words. Under the terms of the Lechmere Trust, the Prize is only open to students of British or Irish origin and domicile. Entries, which should be typed and clearly marked with the entrant's name and address and student number, must be lodged with the Deputy Under Treasurer (Education) by Wednesday 15 August 2012.
The topic for the 2012 prize is one of the following: ‘An elected House of Lords would challenge the primacy of the House of Commons. This would be bad for the governance of the UK. A better alternative would be to transfer the patronage of the Prime Minister in making appointment to the House of Lords to a statutory independent appointments commission and to provide for the retirement of members of the House of Lords. If that is not possible, the House of Lords should be abolished and replaced by a statutory scrutiny commission of experts who would scrutinise and amend bills on the basis of statutory criteria’. Discuss. OR ‘It would be impossible to produce a new Bill of Rights for the UK that would command more respect from the press and the public than the Human Rights Act 1998 does. The Human Rights Act should therefore be retained as it is without amendment’. Discuss. OR ‘For the Supreme Court to refuse to give effect to a provision in an Act of Parliament on the ground that it was contrary to fundamental common law values and inconsistent with the rule of law would be a unilateral, irreversible and undemocratic constitutional change. It could lead to conflict between the courts and politicians which could well result in the courts losing authority and government seeking to undermine judicial independence. This is why the courts ought not to undermine the sovereignty of Parliament.’ Explain and discuss this view.