If she will make a statement on the judicial appointments commission.

The judicial appointments commission will be launched on 3 April 2006 as part of a package of constitutional change. My right hon. Friend issued a written ministerial statement this morning announcing the appointment of Baroness Usha Prashar of Runnymede by Her Majesty the Queen as the first chair of the commission.

Is the Lord Chancellor suitably chastened by the annual report in which he is criticised for intervening inappropriately to secure the selection of a candidate whom the panel deemed insufficiently qualified, and what is he going to do about it?

My noble Friend the Lord Chancellor does not accept that view. In fact, he told the Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs today that the commissioner's view was unfair and wrong and that it was "inappropriate" to put that person's name in the public domain.

My hon. Friend will know that the Lord Chancellor has made a number of important statements about the diversity of the judiciary, encouraging the appointment of more women and ethnic minorities. How will he ensure that those important vision statements will be taken on board by the new commission, bearing in mind that it is an independent body, and how will we ensure that the transition from the Lord Chancellor making the appointments to the new committee doing so is as smooth as possible?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that important question. We should not see merit and diversity as mutually exclusive, and we are assured that the commission will take both into account. People who were previously unrepresented in the judicial system are beginning to be appointed on merit and in greater numbers.