Law and Rights
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, gave a speech on 22nd June at University College London - Judicial Leadership Lord Thomas looks at the role of the judiciary in leading and shaping reform to (or overhaul of) the justice system. An interview with Lord Thomas is available at BBC Law in Action. The interviewer is Joshua Rozenberg.
A great deal of work is going on behind the scenes to try to improve the justice system. For example, there is a considerable reform programme underway within Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) aimed at developing future ways of delivering justice. Much more about this work ought to be revealed to the media and general public and perhaps, following the speech on 23rd June by the Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor, that will happen.
It will be essential that any reforms
enable the justice system to better cope with the large number of litigants in person brought about by reductions in legal aid. Any member of the public is potentially an "end-user" of the justice system since disputes can arise in numerous areas such as purchase of goods, provision of services, debt, housing, benefit claims and so on. Perhaps potential "end users" need to be somehow involved in developing and/or testing new systems. Whether that is possible I don't really know but it's a thought.
The President of the Queen's Bench Division - Sir Brian Leveson - has also delivered a speech - Modernising Justice through Technology. In fairness to government, significant investment in technology has been promised (some £700m). Information Technology seems to be central to future development of the justice system but it has to be well-designed and implemented and easy to use by end-users. One hopes that will be the case.
The speech by the Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor was covered in the immediately preceding post.
- Speech By The Secretary Of State For Justice ~ Brief Comment
Michael Gove - appointed after the general election as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor - has delivered his first major policy speech - What does a one nation justice policy look like. It is a speech with many fine-sounding, flowing...
- Appointment Of The Next Lord Chief Justice Of England And Wales Announced
Downing Street has formally announced the appointment of Sir John Thomas as the next Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Announcement and BBC 16th July. 'Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Sir...
- The Queen's Speech 8th May 2013 And The State Opening Of Parliament
In a 92 page pdf document the government has published details of the Queen's Speech 2013. The document sets out not only the speech itself but contains background details to the various Bills and policies referred to in the speech. ...
- Meet The New Secretary Of State For Justice And Lord Chancellor
Update 7th September: see The Guardian for a video of Liberty's Shami Chakrabarti talking about the appointment of Mr Grayling and the legacy of Kenneth Clarke. It is to be noted that Clarke continues in the government as Minister without Portfolio...
- A Most Interesting Speech ... The State Of The Nation
Here is a link to the CharonQC blog which discusses a speech made by Lord Judge (Lord Chief Justice) at the Mansion House on 13th July. Please have a read. It is an extremely interesting and hard-hitting speech from the Head of the Judiciary...
Law and Rights
Lord Chief Justice speech on Judicial Leadership ~ Modernising the court system
A great deal of work is going on behind the scenes to try to improve the justice system. For example, there is a considerable reform programme underway within Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) aimed at developing future ways of delivering justice. Much more about this work ought to be revealed to the media and general public and perhaps, following the speech on 23rd June by the Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor, that will happen.
It will be essential that any reforms
enable the justice system to better cope with the large number of litigants in person brought about by reductions in legal aid. Any member of the public is potentially an "end-user" of the justice system since disputes can arise in numerous areas such as purchase of goods, provision of services, debt, housing, benefit claims and so on. Perhaps potential "end users" need to be somehow involved in developing and/or testing new systems. Whether that is possible I don't really know but it's a thought.
The President of the Queen's Bench Division - Sir Brian Leveson - has also delivered a speech - Modernising Justice through Technology. In fairness to government, significant investment in technology has been promised (some £700m). Information Technology seems to be central to future development of the justice system but it has to be well-designed and implemented and easy to use by end-users. One hopes that will be the case.
The speech by the Secretary of State for Justice / Lord Chancellor was covered in the immediately preceding post.
- Speech By The Secretary Of State For Justice ~ Brief Comment
Michael Gove - appointed after the general election as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor - has delivered his first major policy speech - What does a one nation justice policy look like. It is a speech with many fine-sounding, flowing...
- Appointment Of The Next Lord Chief Justice Of England And Wales Announced
Downing Street has formally announced the appointment of Sir John Thomas as the next Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Announcement and BBC 16th July. 'Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Sir...
- The Queen's Speech 8th May 2013 And The State Opening Of Parliament
In a 92 page pdf document the government has published details of the Queen's Speech 2013. The document sets out not only the speech itself but contains background details to the various Bills and policies referred to in the speech. ...
- Meet The New Secretary Of State For Justice And Lord Chancellor
Update 7th September: see The Guardian for a video of Liberty's Shami Chakrabarti talking about the appointment of Mr Grayling and the legacy of Kenneth Clarke. It is to be noted that Clarke continues in the government as Minister without Portfolio...
- A Most Interesting Speech ... The State Of The Nation
Here is a link to the CharonQC blog which discusses a speech made by Lord Judge (Lord Chief Justice) at the Mansion House on 13th July. Please have a read. It is an extremely interesting and hard-hitting speech from the Head of the Judiciary...