Background
The office of Lord Chancellor was reformed to remove the ability of the holder to act as both a government minister and a judge. This arrangement ran contrary to the idea of separation of powers. The reform was motivated by concerns that the historical admixture of legislative, judicial, and executive power might not conform with the requirements of Article 6 (paragraph 1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, because a judicial officer, having legislative or executive power, is likely not to be considered sufficiently impartial to provide a fair trial.
Read more about this topic: Constitutional Reform Act 2005
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