Attorney General Lord Hermer KC to replace Braverman-era litigation risk guidance

In a major speech on the rule of law, the Attorney General, Lord Hermer KC, has indicated he will shortly be replacing the guidance for government lawyers on litigation risk that Suella Braverman introduced during her time as Attorney General:

…in the coming weeks I will issue an amended guidance for assessing legal risk across government that will seek to raise the standards for calibrating legality that the thousands of brilliant lawyers working in every part of government activity apply to deliver for the people of this country – I want them to feel empowered to give their full and frank advice to me and others in government and to stand up for the rule of law.

He also confirmed that the UK will abide by interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights and that the government will be relying less on minister-made laws rather than parliament-made laws. Or trying to, at any rate. There’s a lot in the speech and it’s worth reading in full. Overall, the message is that the new government will be moving on from the very ‘thin’ and minimalist approach to international law and rule of law generally pursued in recent years, characterised by the question “what can we get away with?”