Summer is over - at least for Lord Falconer. Next Tuesday, the Constitution Secretary is due back on the Woolsack and, a week later, the House of Lords will resume detailed consideration of his plans to reconstruct our legal system.

The Constitutional Reform Bill is a huge measure, with 111 clauses followed by 190 pages of schedules. Even though Lord Falconer has until next spring to get it through both Houses of Parliament, it will not be an easy task. But he is nothing if not shrewd. He knows that some parts of it are more attainable than others.