Select Committee on Lord Chancellor's Department First Report


1 Introduction

1. This is the Committee's First Report since its establishment, in January this year, to scrutinise the work of the Lord Chancellor's Department and associated public bodies. It is the result of an early decision that we should undertake a brief inquiry into the very significant piece of legislation coming out of the Lord Chancellor's Department which is the Courts Bill. Although the Bill follows the report of the Auld Review of the criminal courts, and was prefigured in the White Paper Justice for All,[1] it was not itself published in draft and as a result had been the subject of no direct pre-legislative scrutiny. We therefore considered that it would be helpful to the House if we were to produce a brief report highlighting the main issues of concern, particularly those on which bodies submitting evidence to us have anxieties.

The Courts Bill

2. The Courts Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 28 November 2002. On introduction, the Bill was 113 pages in length, consisting of 101 clauses and 7 schedules. The Bill is due in the House of Commons for Second Reading on Monday 9 June, having been amended in a number of places during its passage through the Lords.

3. The White Paper Justice for All, which preceded the Bill, set out the intention to:

"legislate to integrate the management of the courts within a single courts agency to replace the existing Magistrates' Courts' Committees and the Court Service. This will build on the best attributes of both organisations to work to deliver decentralised management and local accountability within a national framework. The aim of the new agency will be to enable management decisions to be taken locally by community focused local management boards, but within a strong national framework of standards and strategy direction. It will be accountable to Parliament through the Lord Chancellor's department."[2]

4. The White Paper recognised that the current fragmented court framework was divisive, inefficient and lacked national accountability. Accordingly, the proposals for a unified court management service requiring the "integration of management and local flexibility and accountability within a national framework of national standards" received much support and forms the basis for the Courts Bill.

5. If implemented, the Bill will make significant changes to the present court system, including the unification of the criminal courts and the abolition of the present Magistrates' Courts Committee structure. It will introduce new courts boards[3] and make provisions for fines officers and court security officers. It will also allow courts to make orders for costs against third parties in criminal proceedings and award damages in the form of periodical payments in personal injury cases. A central role is given to the Lord Chancellor under the Bill's provisions, which place him under a general duty to ensure an efficient and effective system to support the courts.

Conduct of our inquiry

6. To assist Members of the House of Commons with their examination of the Bill, we decided to hold a brief series of evidence sessions before the Bill reached this House. Following an announcement by the Committee of its intention to take oral evidence on the Bill, we received written submissions from a number of organisations, including:

  • Association of Justices' Chief Executives
  • Law Society
  • General Council of the Bar
  • Magistrates' Association
  • Justices' Clerks Society
  • Central Council of Magistrates' Court Committees
  • Medical Defence Union.

All these submissions were considered by the Committee. Those which are not otherwise available (from the organisations concerned)[4] are published with this Report.[5]

7. Oral evidence was taken from a total of 9 organisations and individuals over three sessions. They included the Law Society, the General Council of the Bar, the Magistrates Association, the Justices' Clerks' Society, Professor Lee Bridges (Legal Research Institute, University of Warwick) and Nicola Padfield (Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge), as well as officials from the Lord Chancellor's Department. All the oral evidence is published with this Report.[6]

8. We have not attempted to conduct a detailed or comprehensive review of the Bill. This aim of this Report has been to highlight the most important and controversial measures in time for the Second Reading in the House of Commons. The areas we have concentrated on are:

  • The scope of the Lord Chancellor's powers, including issues relating to court closures and accessibility (Parts 1 and 2 of the Bill)
  • Courts Boards (Part 1)
  • Justices' clerks (Part 2)
  • Fines officers (Part 2)
  • Court security (Part 4)
  • Court fees and costs (Part 8).

Further amendments planned

9. We understand that the Government is planning to bring forward significant amendments to the Bill as it currently stands in one area, namely fine enforcement. These may include amendments enabling wider use of Attachments of Earnings and Deductions from Benefits within the fines collection scheme, particularly for offenders with a track record of default. It may also include the creation of a new offence penalising those who fail to provide means information and/or the financial details necessary to allow an attachment order to be made. In addition, the Home Office are looking at the feasibility of alternative sentences including unpaid work instead of fines in particular circumstances. The new amendments and alternative sentences, if taken forward, will need to be piloted along with those already set out in Schedule 3.[7] The Committee hopes that these amendments will be brought forward in time for Committee Stage rather than Report Stage, and that the timetable for Committee and Report Stages will allow for adequate scrutiny of provisions which have not been considered in the House of Lords.


1   Cm 5563, July 2002 Back

2   Ibid, p 148 Back

3   Originally known as "court administration councils", but renamed by an amendment in the House of Lords Back

4   Eg. Second Reading Briefs Back

5   HC 526-II Back

6   Ibid Back

7   HL Deb, 8 May 2003, col 1256 Back


 
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Prepared 6 June 2003