Baroness Carr says public understanding is essential to maintaining trust in the judiciary.
Rule of law engagement is essential to improving public understanding of the judiciary and maintaining public trust, the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, has said.
Speaking at an event on engaging society with the rule of law during the European Law Institute’s annual conference, Baroness Carr said public trust was fundamental to judicial legitimacy. The conference focused on Europe and the rule of law, including cultural engagement and legal resilience.
Baroness Carr said transparency and continued engagement were needed to maintain public confidence. She highlighted research indicating that people who have a better understanding of the courts tend to have greater trust in them.
She said public understanding of the judiciary’s work was therefore important to maintaining and strengthening that trust.
The Lady Chief Justice also addressed the relationship between the rule of law and people’s everyday lives. She noted that people may not routinely think about concepts such as the rule of law or judicial independence, but nevertheless rely on them to live their lives and exercise their rights within a fair and functioning society.
Baroness Carr said there was a need to build greater understanding of what the rule of law is and why it matters. She also highlighted the potential role of culture in helping people connect everyday values with the institutions that uphold them.
The comments were made during a panel discussion examining different approaches to improving public understanding of the rule of law, why that understanding matters and the role culture can play.
The panel was chaired by Bruno Lasserre, President of the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents and former Vice-President of the French Council of State. Other panellists included legal journalist Joshua Rozenberg, International Bar Association Executive Director Mark Ellis, Democracy Reporting International Executive Director and Co-Founder Michael Meyer-Resende, and Roland Wadge, President of the Council of Notariats of the European Union.
The event formed part of the European Law Institute’s annual conference, whose overarching theme was “Europe and the Rule of Law: Cultural Engagement and Legal Resilience.”