Peculiarities
The Lord Chancellor's Department was significantly different from other government departments in a number of ways. Until 1992 it had no representative in the House of Commons; as Speaker of the House of Lords the Lord Chancellor could not sit in the House of Commons. The department was also exempt from being scrutinised by the Parliamentary Select Committees, something which changed in 1990. The Permanent Secretary also had to be a barrister of at least seven years standing, and the Deputy Secretary always succeeded the Permanent Secretary when he retired. Both of these changed in 1990.
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