The British Bill of Rights is now a face-saving exercise

Michael Gove's most momentous decision to date, the promise to ditch the legal aid dual-contracting regime, is the latest in an ever-lengthening list of about-faces that has seen his stock rise among the legal profession since he replaced Chris Grayling as secretary of state for justice.

As Grayling's all-too-long tenure at 102 Petty France continues to be scrubbed clean with industrial-strength bleach, one almost feels sorry for the leader of the House of Commons. Already on the scrapheap is his ridiculous prison book ban and the grossly disproportionate criminal courts charge.

Gove has even had time to shine a light on our rotten prison estate - something Grayling shied away from - and display the supreme testicular fortitude to duke it out with the foreign secretary over the unconscionable Just Solutions International contract with Saudi Arabia.

Who is this true reformer we all feared in May 2015? What wrong will he right next? 'How about human rights,' I hear you cry. Well, there has even been a welcome development there. Appearing before the EU justice sub-committee, the Lord Chancellor confirmed that the long-awaited consultation paper on repealing the Human Rights Act is, after repeated delays, soon to be published.

Appointed by the prime minister to smash the formal ties between the UK and Strasbourg, Gove seems, however, to have reached the conclusion that his predecessor's plans were - surprise, surprise - flawed. The justice secretary admitted that the British Bill of Rights will be based on the European Convention of Human Rights and be subject to the 'primacy of European law'.

The once highly contentious Bill will maintain all the rights included in Labour's 1998 legislation and contain only minor amendments, such as a shield for members of the armed forces, a greater emphasis on free speech, and protection for journalists' sources.

Gove, a former hack himself, even had time to crack - what I assume was - a joke by suggesting that the 'bad name' human rights have with the British people should be addressed. We can only hope Gove's cabinet colleagues and friends in the press were listening. They, above all others, are the reason why human rights are held in such low regard by the public.

The government's goals have clearly shifted. Gone are Grayling's Frankenstein proposals that would have seen the Tories build a monstrous law exclusively from the human rights they agreed with. By contrast, the justice secretary's latest comments portray him more as a cosmetic surgeon trying to fill in some lines and wrinkles with a lashing of Botox. This now has the feel of a face-saving exercise and nothing more.

Nevertheless, practitioners would do well to remain cautious. The devil will be in the detail of the consultation, and we can certainly expect to hear more rhetoric about 'ambulance-chasing' lawyers targeting British troops between now and its release. 'I'm at the mercy of the prime minister,' said Gove, 'He has to be happy with the document.' Here's hoping the content doesn't make David Cameron 'physically sick' when he gets round to reading it.

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD