Granted the existence of the difficulty, it is nonetheless the responsibility of the first Law Officer, a responsibility of the first importance, to uphold the rule of law. It is a responsibility that should not be subordinated to party political considerations when the integrity of judicial institutions is under challenge. Curiously enough, in April 1996 the Commonwealth Law Ministers, who include the present Attorney, set up a Working Party with a remit to identify matters which impact on the actual and perceived status of the judiciary, including public knowledge of the judicial function. It is ironic that within 12 months our major concern should be political ignorance of the judicial function. By way of an aside, I note that one critic said that he felt free to attack Wik because it was a split decision.
Unanimous judgments are more authoritative and less vulnerable to criticism.
The European Court publishes its decisions as judgments of the Court, without disclosing the existence of dissent or the identity of the dissenters. The strategy deprives critics of dissenting judgments with which to confront the majority and may have been a key to the success of the European Court. The appearance of unity and unanimity can play a part in protecting a court from criticism. The Chinese judges know this only too well. It did not appeal to my colleagues on the High Court.