Lord Phillips to challenge government on Supreme Court admin appointments

+Sabrina Cyrus Lawyer Attorney Lord Phillips to challenge government on Supreme Court admin appointments The former president of the Supreme Court, Lord Phillips, will challenge the right of the government to appoint the court’s chief executive in a proposed amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill this week. Lord Phillips has tabled the amendment alongside Blackstone Chambers peer David Pannick QC calling for the recently appointed Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling (4 September 2012), to relinquish his responsibility for the appointment. It is his first political manoeuvre since leaving office at the end of the legal year (2 April 2012) and will be seen by many as an attempt to completely separate the powers of the state from the judiciary. The current Supreme Court chief executive Jenny Rowe is a former senior civil servant who was appointed in January 2008 to run the court when it opened in October 2009 (28 January 2008). She has proved a popular choice and has been widely credited with making the court more transparent in the public eye.