Select Committee on Constitutional Reform Bill Written Evidence


More Annex A

Constitutional Reform Bill Part 3 and Schedules 10, 11 and 12—Concordat-minor amendments

Judicial appointments and discipline


ClauseProposed amendment

87(2)I wish to introduce an amendment requiring that the definition of "subject to disciplinary procedures" and "under investigation for an offence" must be prescribed in regulations made under clause 85, and therefore subject to Parliamentary approval, and not in rules under clause 87, which are not subject to Parliamentary approval.
56(2)(a), 59(2), 62, 66, 67, 68 I have asked Counsel to consider whether it is necessary to introduce amendments making it clearer that in every selection, the Commission selects one candidate for each vacancy it is asked to fill; it does not offer the Minister a choice between different candidates.
60I will introduce an amendment to bring clause 60 into line with clause 54, by setting out that it is for the selection panel to determine the selection process to be applied to the selection of a Lord Justice of Appeal.
61I will introduce an amendment to delete clause 61(3)(a), which would currently prevent a Lord Justice of Appeal from sitting on the selection panel to appoint another Lord Justice of Appeal; this contradicts clause 61(1)(b), which envisages that a Lord Justice might well be designated to sit on such a panel.
67I have asked Parliamentary Counsel to confirm that the wording of clause 67(1)(b) (which requires the Commission to apply the selection process) does not prevent the Commission from delegating some of its functions.
74, 75, 76, 88, 90 I have asked Parliamentary Counsel whether it is necessary to introduce amendments to make it clear that the consideration of complaints is potentially a process with two or more stages: all complaints will be examined, and those which raise relevant issues will go on to be investigated.
75I will introduce an amendment to provide that the time limit of 28 days for complaining to the Ombudsman runs from the receipt of the determination by the Commission, or Minister, concerning the complainant's complaint.
76I have asked Parliamentary Counsel to consider whether it would be advisable to introduce an amendment to ensure that the Ombudsman must prepare a report on any complaint he has examined under clause 75, and then decided to investigate; but not on those he decides do not need a full investigation.
81, 92If Parliamentary Counsel considers it necessary, I will introduce amendments to ensure that "individual" in subclauses (2)(b), 3(a) and (5) in each of these clauses covers both the subject of the information and the giver of it.
88I have asked Parliamentary Counsel to confirm that under the wording in clause 88, the Ombudsman's role is to consider the handling of a complaint about the conduct of a judge, but not to consider the actual original complaint. The trigger point for considering a complaint will be 28 days after the notification of the various matters dealt with here.
90I will introduce an amendment to provide that clause 90(3) should have the same effect as clause 76(4), ie the recommendations for compensation must relate to loss which appears to the Ombudsman to have been suffered by the complainant as a result of maladministration.
90, 91I will introduce an amendment to provide that the Ombudsman's powers will include the setting aside of decisions relating to conduct and discipline, and remitting matters for reconsideration, including consideration at any particular stage in the prescribed procedure.
102I will introduce an amendment to provide that this part of the Bill refers to both Great Britain and Northern Ireland in relation to some appointments. This is because some of the tribunal appointments with which the Commission will be involved relate to Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as England and Wales.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to ensure that the chairman of the Commission will be a lay person who will be selected specifically as Chairman, and not drawn from the lay Commissioners generally.
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment to insert the word "other" after "1" in para 2(d); and para 2(e) should be replaced to read "1 other should be a lay justice member". These two amendments are designed to provide that one member will be a tribunal member and one a JP, and that neither of these would also qualify as either a judicial member under 2(a) or a professional member under 2(b). This does not alter the make up of the committee, it merely clarifies the membership.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment which will ensure that the composition of the judicial membership of the Commission follows the Concordat ie 1 Lord Justice of Appeal; 1 puisne judge of the High Court; 1 other who must be either a Lord Justice of Appeal or a puisne judge of the High Court; 1 Circuit judge; and 1 district judge.
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment to make it clear that the tribunal member and the magistrate member are separate categories of membership of the Commission.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to make it clear that a lay member of the Commission must be resident in England and Wales, and not in the rest of the UK. The judicial members will inevitably be judges in England and Wales, and the lawyers practise in England and Wales. Requiring the lay members to be resident in England and Wales achieves consistency.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to provide that a lay justice member is a justice of the peace who is none of the following—(a) a District Judge (Magistrates Courts); (b) a practising barrister in England and Wales; (c) a practising solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to provide that a request to the Minister from the panel for appointment to the Commission must specify whether the appointment is of the Chairman. It must also specify which type of Commissioner is to be appointed, for example, judicial, professional, lay and so on.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment so that, before selecting a person for appointment as chairman or one of the professional members, the Minister must consider, in addition to whether the person has held judicial office which would make them inappropriate for appointment, whether they have also any past service as a member of a House of Parliament, as a civil servant, a Commissioner, a member of staff of the Commission or as a lawyer.
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment so that responsibility lies with the panel and not the Minister, when selecting persons for appointment as lay members, including the chair, that, so far as practicable, that the persons so appointed include at least one who appears to the panel to have special knowledge of Wales.
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment which will allow the Minister to have the power to pay the remuneration and expenses of the members of the advisory panel
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment relating to the order-making power under para 7. I wish to make it clear that, when the power to increase the number of judicial members is exercised, a corresponding amendment is made to specify the numbers of each level of the Judiciary that will be Commissioners, so that the numbers of each type of Commissioner is kept in the same proportion as outlined in para 2.
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment so that the Minister must seek the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice before increasing the size of the Commission.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment so that the term "senior Head of Division" is defined, which will make it clear who performs the role of the Lord Chief Justice when the Lord Chief Justice is not available for any reason. The definition is (a) the Master of the Roll's; (b) or if that office is vacant, the President of the Queen's Bench Division; (c) if both these offices are vacant, the President of the Family Division; (d) if all those offices are vacant, the Chancellor of the High Court.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to allow the possibility of the Minister making appointments of staff to the Commission even after he has appointed a Chief Executive, until the JAC determines that it no longer needs the assistance of the Minister. In so doing, the Minister will be required to seek the consent of the Chief Executive, once appointed. The Minister's power to make appointments in this regard will not be exercisable after three years.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to ensure that the consent of the Chief Executive, once appointed, should be required by the Minister when appointing staff and providing assistance to the Commission. Once the Commission is established then the Minister's powers in this respect will conclude.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to provide for a continuing power to transfer staff to the Commission for up to three years.
Schedule 10 I will introduce an amendment to clarify that (a) the Minister may require the Commission to seek his consent in relation to spending specified amounts and (b) to clarify that the Minister's power to issue directions to the Commission can relate to all of the Commission's costs and expenditure, or to costs and expenditure of a specified description.
Schedule 10I will introduce an amendment to provide that the third member of the panel to appoint Commissioners cannot be a member of either House of Parliament.
Schedule 11 I will introduce an amendment to provide that the Minister has the power to pay the Acting Ombudsman.
Schedule 12 As stated in the Concordat, lay justices and General Commissioners of Income Tax are to be added to the remit of the Commission at such time as the Commission informs the Secretary of State that it is practicable to do so. I will introduce an amendment to make this possible.
Schedule 12, Part 1  I will introduce an amendment to insert the offices of Ordinary Masters and Registrars under the functions of section 89(3) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, as these posts should fall with the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 1  I will introduce an amendment to insert the offices of Chief Child Support Commissioner and Child Support Commissioner under section 22(1) of the Child Support Act 1991and the offices of Chief Social Security Commissioner and Social Security Commissioner under paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 4 to the Social Security Act 1998, as these posts should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 1  I will introduce an amendment to insert the offices of Masters of the Queen's Bench Division and Masters of the Chancery Division under under section 89(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, as these posts should fall within the remit of the Commission.
 Schedule 12, Part 1  I will introduce an amendment to provide that the office listed under section 89(3) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, currently referred to as `Chief Chancery Master of the Chancery Division' be amended to `Chief Chancery Master' (discussions are currently underway with Parliamentary Counsel to confirm that this is the appropriate title for the post.)
Schedule 12, Part 2  I will introduce an amendment to insert the offices of deputy Master of the Queen's Bench Division and deputy Master of the Chancery Division under section 91(1) of the Supreme Court Act 198, as these posts should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 2  I will introduce amendments to delete references to Deputy Circuit Judge, Vice Presidents of the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the Court of Appeal and Deputy Judge of the High Court, as these are authorisation and deployment issues. In accordance with the Concordat, these functions will be carried out by the Lord Chief Justice in consultation with the Secretary of State.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert the appointment of the Common Sergeant under section 12(2) of the City of London (Courts) Act 1964, as this appointment should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert the appointment of a panel of persons experienced in land drainage under section 31(1) of the Land Drainage Act 1991, as this appointment function should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert nomination by the Minister of a list of persons eligible for membership of police appeals tribunals under para 1(1) of Schedule 6 to the Police Act 1996, as this function should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to remove reference to section 4(3) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 from Schedule 12, as this relates to a deployment function and, as such, should not be within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert the appointment by the Minister of a panel of potential chairmen of tribunals under section 6 of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992, as this function should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert appointments by the Minister to a panel of chairmen for England and Wales under Paragraph 6(2)(a) of the Deregulation (Model Appeals Provision) Order 1996, as this appointment function should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert Paragraph 2 of the Chemical Weapons (Licence Appeal Provisions) Order 1996 as this refers back to the Deregulation (Model Appeals Provision) Order 1996, which should also to be added to this Part (see above).
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert the drawing up of a panel of deputy chairmen for each Agricultural Land Tribunal; panel of persons representing farmers; panel of persons representing the owners of agricultural land by the Lord Chancellor under Paragraphs 14(1), 15(1)-(3) of Schedule 9 to the Agriculture Act 1947, as these functions should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert appointment by the Minister of a panel of potential chairmen of Social Security Appeal Tribunals, Disability Appeal Tribunals, and Medical Appeal Tribunals under sections 41(4), 43(5) and 50 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, as this function should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to insert appointment by the Minister of a President of VAT Tribunals under Paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 12 to the Value Added Tax Act 1994, as this function should fall within the remit of the Commission.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to delete reference to the "Ombudsman" and section 3(5) Car Tax Act 1983, as this is not an appointment function and should be moved to Schedule 1.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to delete reference to the "Ombudsman" and para 17(4) of Schedule 3 to the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, as this is not an appointment function and should be moved to Schedule 1.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to delete reference to para 1(2) of Schedule 34 to the Education Act 1996 and to "Member of the legal panel for the constitution of Independent Schools Tribunals" as this Act has recently been repealed.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment to delete reference to the "Ombudsman" and section 5(4) of the Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979, as this is not an appointment function and should be moved to Schedule 1.
Schedule 12, Part 3  I will introduce an amendment deleting references to the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949, as this Act has recently been repealed.
92I have asked Parliamentary Counsel to consider whether it is advisable to introduce an amendment deleting clause 92(3)(b) on the basis that it is unnecessary, as clause 92(3)(c) appears to cover the position.






 
previous page contents next page

House of Lords home page Parliament home page House of Commons home page search page enquiries index

© Parliamentary copyright 2004