Like all senior judges, they are in effect appointed by the Lord Chancellor, who is the government's senior law officer and sits in the cabinet, after secret consultations among judges and top lawyers.

ECONOMIST: The law: Judging the judges | The

Many in Mr Blair's cabinet admire the Lord Chancellor's intellect.

ECONOMIST: A wigging for Lord Irvine

The current reform comes four years after the undoing of another such tie, the combination of cabinet and judicial roles in the office of Lord Chancellor.

ECONOMIST: Britain��s top judges leave home