The former president of the Supreme Court has accused Parliament of surrendering control to the Government over “draconian” coronavirus laws.
Last September, Baroness Hale led a panel of 11 justices who ruled unanimously that the Prime Minister’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament was unlawful.
She received widespread press attention after she wore a spider brooch while delivering the Supreme Court's judgment.
In an essay seen by The Guardian on Monday, Baroness Hale called for the return of a “properly functioning constitution as soon as we possibly can”.
The retired judge suggested Parliament had allowed the Government to act without proper scrutiny.
The Coronavirus Act 2020, passed in March, gave the Government “sweeping” powers alongside other “draconian” regulations, and “it is not surprising the police were as confused as the public as to what was law and what was not”, she wrote.
She said that Parliament has now resumed much of its work “but it did surrender control to the government at a crucial time”.
“Maybe the lockdown and its severe consequences… were inevitable or at least the best solution that could be devised in the circumstances,” she said.
“My plea is that we get back to a properly functioning constitution as soon as we possibly can.”
Baroness Hale also referred to the row over Mr Johnson’s aide Dominic Cummings’ decision to drive from London to County Durham to self-isolate with his family.
“Others might have also felt that they had a reasonable excuse for doing something like he did. But they did not do it, either because they did not know the law and just abided by what they were told or because they felt they were not safe.
“Hence the outcry that there was one law for those in power and another law for the rest of us. There isn’t. But that’s how it felt to many.
