As well as substantial substantive changes to the law, such as the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, there have been procedural changes, some of considerable significance. Foremost, the ancient assize courts and quarter sessions were replaced by the Crown Courts in 1971, and the judicial committee of the House of Lords by a newly constituted Supreme Court, established in 2005 and starting work four years later.

The symbolism of the newly constituted ‘Westminster Triangle’ is striking. On the south side of Parliament Square is West minister Abbey, the royal chapel, the national shrine, the embodiment of the Established Church and of the monarchy at the heart of the state, both now more decorative than powerful. To the east stands the Palace of Westminster – the Houses of Parliament – which has replaced the monarch as the new absolute ruler and the maker of laws. To the west is the Supreme Court, the ultimate interpreter and protector of the law. This court was new in name and had to be rehoused to befit its dignity, and to distance it physically from parliament. Whereas the old judicial committee met in the House of Lords itself, the new Supreme Court moved into the refurbished Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square. The building housing it is impressive, but is dwarfed by both the Abbey and the Palace.

The symbolism seems to say that the monarch as source of law may have been replaced by parliament, but whoever makes the law still controls the law. The master has changed but master there is. This is not true. The law, as we have seen, has a life of its own. It has permeated English society with notions of justice and fairness which cannot be legislated away, however self important the body trying to do so.