The role of the Attorney General – Law Pod UK latest
24 June 2025
In Episode 222 of Law Pod UK, Marina Wheeler KC and Rosalind English of 1 Crown Office Row are joined by Shadow Attorney General Lord Wolfson of Tredegar to discuss the legal challenges facing David Wolfson KC in his new appointment to the commission tasked with reforming the European Court of Human Rights.
During our conversation Lord Wolfson addresses the political sensitivities involved in reforming the ECtHR, particularly where it comes to the balance between national sovereignty and international human rights obligations, a topic on which he has been in public disagreement with the current government’s Attorney General Lord Hermer KC. We explore the legal questions that predate and would arise from those reforms, including the implications for the rule of law and the long term relationship between the UK and Strasbourg.
Lord Wolfson emphasises the importance of careful legal analysis and the need for clear, principled leadership in this sensitive area, since he is now tasked with reviewing how to prevent the ECtHR from blocking government policies, especially on contentious issues like immigration and climate change mitigation. Above all, he stresses that the rule of law must be observed by asserting parliamentary sovereignty over Strasbourg and other decisions by international institutions.
