Amendment Paper as at
Monday 20th October 2003

CONSIDERATION OF BILL

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COURTS BILL [LORDS], AS AMENDED

NEW CLAUSES

Accessibility of justice

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

       'In doing any thing in the discharge of his general duty in relation to the courts under section 1, the Lord Chancellor must have regard for the need for justice to be accessible.'.

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Judicial independence

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

       'The Lord Chancellor is under a general duty to preserve and maintain the independence of the judiciary.'.

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Circuits

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

    '( )   The courts boards within an individual Circuit may from time to time meet together to consider matters relating to the courts in that Circuit area.

    ( )   Before altering any Circuit area, the Lord Chancellor must consult with the courts boards affected.'.

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General duty

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

       'The Lord Chancellor and the Department for Constitutional Affairs are under a general duty to preserve and maintain the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary and the lay magistracy.'.

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Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

1

Page     1,     line     5     [Clause     1],     leave out 'and effective' and insert ', effective and accessible'.

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

48

Page     1,     line     10     [Clause     1],     leave out 'and'.

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

49

Page     1,     line     10     [Clause     1],     at end insert ', and that there is at least one magistrates' court in every local government area in the United Kingdom (at least one within every borough and district council area in England and Wales)'.

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Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

50

Page     2,     line     2     [Clause     1],     at end insert 'which must include a report on the operation of this legislation and must contain a report by analysts independent of Her Majesty's Government about how the changes brought about by this legislation and other changes since May 1997 have affected the accessibility of courts to court users.'.

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

47

Page     2,     line     7     [Clause     2],     at end insert 'and shall ensure that all those who sit as justices' clerks continue to retain their status independent of the Civil Service, owing their duty to the court and to the impartial administration of justice, whilst retaining all their pre-existing employment rights and benefits'.

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Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

46

Page     3,     line     4     [Clause     3],     at end insert 'and shall ensure that accessibility of the courts to court-users is an overriding priority, and ensure that all guidelines on the provision of courts reflect this, to guarantee that no court buildings will be closed in future if the local magistrates believe they should remain open to provide local justice, irrespective of other factors'.

   

Mr David Heath
Mr Simon Hughes

56

Page     3,     line     35     [Clause     4],     leave out from 'specifying' to first 'the' in line 38 and insert—

'(a)	in respect of areas except London, areas which are the same as, or fall entirely within, the police areas listed in Schedule 1 to the Police Act 1996 (c. 16) (division of England and Wales, except London, into police areas), and

(b)	in respect of London, at least five separate areas falling entirely within'.

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb

2

Page     3,     line     35     [Clause     4],     leave out from 'which' to first 'the' in line 38 and insert—

'(a)	in respect of areas except London, are the same as, or fall entirely within, the police areas listed in Schedule 1 to the Police Act 1996 (c. 16) (division of England and Wales, except London, into police areas), and

(b)	in respect of London, fall entirely within'.

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

51

Page     3,     line     35     [Clause     4],     after 'as', insert '(or in any event no larger than)'.

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Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

3

Page     4,     line     6     [Clause     5],     after 'concerned', insert—

    '( )   in particular, to scrutinise, review and make recommendations about the way in which the Lord Chancellor is discharging his duty under section 21 in relation to the courts with which the board is concerned;'.

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Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb

4

Page     5,     line     13     [Clause     8],     at end insert—

    '( )   No local justice area may include areas which form part of more than one area specified under section 4.'.

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb

5

Page     5,     line     13     [Clause     8],     at end insert—

    '( )   No local justice area may include areas which form part of more than one area established under Schedule 11 to the Police Act 1996 (c. 16).'.

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

52

Page     5,     line     14     [Clause     8],     at end insert 'but only with the prior consent of the lay justices for that area and in any event not in a way which removes the co-terminosity of a local justice area with a police authority area'.

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Mr Christopher Leslie

37

Page     9,     line     8     [Clause     17],     leave out paragraph (c).

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Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

8

Page     14,     line     14     [Clause     30],     after 'courts', insert '(including family proceedings courts and youth courts)'.

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

6

Page     14,     line     33     [Clause     30],     after 'place', insert 'in the local justice area'.

   

Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb
Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

7

Page     14,     line     33     [Clause     30],     at end insert—

'(e)	a place where specific facilities are available which are necessary in the interests of justice'.

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Mr David Heath
Norman Lamb

55

Page     44,     line     14     [Clause     92],     at end insert—

    '(3A)   The Lord Chancellor may not under this section prescribe fees which seek to recover—

(a)	the costs of judicial salaries; or

(b)	the notional cost in use of heritage buildings.'.

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Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

53

Page     45,     line     6     [Clause     93],     leave out 'and'.

   

Mr William Cash
Mr Nick Hawkins
Mr David Wilshire

54

Page     45,     line     8     [Clause     93],     at end insert ', and

(c)	the proceedings have been instigated by or with the consent of the Attorney General.'.

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Mr Christopher Leslie

38

Page     47,     line     27     [Clause     97],     leave out 'a local justice area, or particular local justice areas' and insert 'the local justice area or areas specified in the order'.

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Mr Andrew Dismore

9

Page     49,     line     17     [Clause     100],     after 'may', insert ', if the claimant consents,'.

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Mr Andrew Dismore

10

Page     50     [Clause     100],     leave out lines 27 to 34.

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Mr Christopher Leslie

39

Page     56,     line     13     [Clause     103],     leave out subsection (3) and insert—

    '(3)   For subsection (1) substitute—

    "(1)   The Lord Chancellor, after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice, may appoint as Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court a person who is—

(a)	a solicitor of the Supreme Court of at least 7 years' standing, or

(b)	a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland of at least 7 years' standing."'.

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Mr Christopher Leslie

40

Page     59,     line     30     [Clause     109],     at end insert—

    '( )   Schedule (Transitional provisions and savings) contains transitional provisions and savings.'.

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NEW SCHEDULE

   

Mr Christopher Leslie

NS1

To move the following Schedule:—

'Transitional provisions and savings

Interpretation

1

In this Schedule "the JPA 1997" means the Justices of the Peace Act 1997 (c.25).

Orders contracting out the provision of officers and staff

2

Any order which, immediately before section 2 comes into force, was in force under section 27(3) of the Courts Act 1971 (c.23), including, in particular, any order made under section 27(3) by virtue of —

(a)   section 4(7) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 (c.9), or

(b)   section 82(3) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (c.23),

shall have effect as if made under section 2 for the purpose of discharging the Lord Chancellor's general duty in relation to the courts (and may be amended or revoked accordingly).

Local justice areas

3

The first order under section 8 must specify as a local justice area each area which was a petty sessions area immediately before the time when that section comes into force.

Appointment and assignment of lay justices

4

A person who, immediately before section 10 comes into force, was a justice of the peace for a commission area under section 5 of the JPA 1997 shall be treated as having been—

(a)   appointed under section 10(1) as a lay justice for England and Wales, and

(b)   assigned under section 10(2)(a) to the local justice area which—

(i)	is specified as such in the first order under section 8, and

(ii)	immediately before section 10 comes into force, was the petty sessions area in and for which he ordinarily acted.

The supplemental list

5

(1)

The existing supplemental list shall have effect as the supplemental list required to be kept by section 12; and any name which, immediately before that section comes into force, was included in that list under a provision listed in column 1 of the table shall be treated as having been entered in the list under the provision listed in column 2—

	Provision of the JPA 1997	Provision of this Act
	Section 7(2)	Section 13(1)
	Section 7(4)	Section 13(5)
	Section 7(6)	Section 13(4)

(2)	"The existing supplemental list" means the supplemental list having effect under the JPA 1997 immediately before section 12 comes into force.

Keepers of the rolls

6

A person who, immediately before section 16 comes into force, was under section 25 of the JPA 1997 keeper of the rolls for a commission area shall be treated as having been appointed under section 16 as keeper of the rolls for each local justice area which—

(a)   is specified as such in the first order under section 8, and

(b)   immediately before section 16 comes into force, formed part of, or consisted of, that commission area .

Chairman and deputy chairmen of the bench

7

A person who, immediately before section 17 comes into force, was under section 22 of the JPA 1997 the chairman (or a deputy chairman) of the justices for a petty sessions area shall be treated as having been chosen under section 17 as the chairman (or a deputy chairman) of the lay justices assigned to the corresponding local justice area specified in the first order under section 8.

Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate)

8

(1)

The person who, immediately before section 23 comes into force, was under section 10A of the JPA 1997 the Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate) shall be treated as having been designated as such under section 23(a).

(2)	A person who, immediately before section 23 comes into force, was under section 10A of the JPA 1997 the deputy of the Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate) shall be treated as having been designated as such under section 23(b).

Justices' clerks and assistant clerks

9

A person who—

(a)   immediately before section 27 comes into force, was a justices' clerk for a petty sessions area (or areas), and

(b)   is transferred to the Lord Chancellor's employment by virtue of paragraph 11 of Schedule 2,

shall be treated as having been designated as a justices' clerk under section 27(1)(b) and assigned under section 27(3)(a) to the corresponding local justice area (or areas) specified in the first order under section 8.

10

A person who—

(a)   immediately before section 27 comes into force, was employed to assist a justices' clerk by acting as a clerk in court in proceedings before a justice or justices, and

(b)   is transferred to the Lord Chancellor's employment by virtue of paragraph 11 of Schedule 2,

shall be treated as having been designated as an assistant to a justices' clerk under section 27(5)(b).

11

(1)

Any regulations made under—

(a)   section 42 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 (c.101) (compensation in connection with Parts 2 and 3 of the 1949 Act), or

(b)   paragraph 16 of Schedule 3 to the Justices of the Peace Act 1968 (c.69) (compensation in connection with section 1 of the 1968 Act),

and in force immediately before paragraph 20 of Schedule 4 to the JPA 1997 is repealed by this Act shall continue to have effect and may be revoked or amended despite the repeal by the Justices of the Peace Act 1979 (c.55) of the provisions under which they were made.

(2)	The power to make amendments by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) of regulations falling within paragraph (a) of that sub-paragraph shall extend to making provision—

(a)   for compensation to or in respect of persons falling within sub-paragraph (3) to be payable if such persons suffer loss of employment, or loss or diminution of emoluments, attributable to anything done under Part 2;

(b)   for the determination by persons other than magistrates' courts committees of claims for compensation to be made;

(c)   for the payment by the Lord Chancellor of compensation payable under the regulations.

(3)	A person falls within this sub-paragraph if—

(a)   on 2nd February 1995 he held the office of justices' clerk or was employed to assist a justices' clerk, and

(b)   is transferred to the Lord Chancellor's employment by virtue of paragraph 11 of Schedule 2.

(4)

A person who under regulations made by virtue of sub-paragraph (2)(a) is entitled to compensation in respect of anything done under Part 2 is not entitled to compensation in respect of that thing under a scheme made under section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1972 by virtue of section 2(2)(a) of that Act.

Family proceedings courts

12

Any justice of the peace who, immediately before section 49 comes into force, was qualified to sit as a member of a family proceedings court shall be treated as having been authorised to do so by the Lord Chancellor under section 67 of the 1980 Act (as substituted by section 49).

Youth courts

13

Any justice of the peace who, immediately before section 50 comes into force, was qualified to sit as a member of a youth court shall be treated as having been authorised to do so by the Lord Chancellor under section 45 of the 1933 Act (as substituted by section 50).

Inspectors of court administration

14

Any person who, immediately before section 58 comes into force, was an inspector of the magistrates' courts service under section 62 of the JPA 1997 shall be treated as having been appointed as an inspector of court administration under section 58(1).

Collection of fines and discharge of fines by unpaid work

15

(1)

This paragraph applies if section 97 and Schedule 5 are brought into force before section 8.

(2)	Section 97 and Schedule 5 have effect in relation to the period ending with the date on which section 8 comes into force as if any reference to a local justice area were a reference to a petty sessions area.

Register of judgments and orders

16

The register having effect under section 73 of the County Courts Act 1984 (c.28) immediately before section 98 comes into force shall be treated as part of the register required to be kept under section 98.'.

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Prepared 20 Oct 2003