In discussions today with several Scottish legal professions, I casually asked about Boris Johnson and Co and their attack on the judiciary. The response was pretty much consensus that while they might be able to fiddle with the English legal system, just let them try messing ...
...with it in Scotland. One very good point that was raised was the fact that if the UK Government does fiddle with the English legal system with respect to Judicial review, the avenue for petitioners down south to find support in Scotland and to file here, would still be open.
In other words, Boris Johnson is likely to face a continually battering from opinions rendered in Scotland as a result of undermining access to justice in England and Wales because the right to justice is not merely a throwaway principle, it's a fundamental right.
From a purely personal standpoint, the idea of watching English petitioners finding ways to file in Scotland and the Scottish courts battering the UK Government on behalf of their English counterparts who have their hands tied, well that kind of makes me smile.
The consequence, of course, would be the raised profile of the Scottish Legal system and their professionals were shown to be manifestly more democratic than the system south of the border where their professionals are restrained by a dictatorial government.
In essence Boris's attempts to undermine the English judiciary may miss the target completely resulting in a Coup and contrecoup where he finds the comparison of Scotland and English legal systems shows how manifestly undemocratic his changes are.
It's the legal equivalent of standing up in the commons and yelling "We're now a dictatorship!". I have a feeling a lot of English advocates are possibly going to end up double silked (it means they have the right to argue north and south of the border).
