LORD CHANCELLOR
COMMISSIONS WIDE-RANGING
REVIEW OF TRIBUNALS

In a speech to the Council of Tribunals' conference in London this morning the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, announced a wide-ranging, independent review of tribunals in England and Wales. The last such review took place in 1957 under the chairmanship of Sir Oliver Franks.

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Andrew Leggatt, a retired appeal court judge, to head the review. Sir Andrew will be assisted by Dame Valerie Strachan who retired recently as Chairman of HM Customs and Excise, and a small panel of expert consultees.

Lord Irvine has asked Sir Andrew to report by March 2001.

"This review is to be at a strategic level. It is to look at the administrative justice system as a whole: its coherence, its accessibility, its organisation and so on. As with Lord Justice Auld's review of the criminal courts, this review should not attempt to produce a detailed and costed blueprint for change.

The Lord Chancellor said that there has been a fundamental change in the nature of, and pressures on, tribunals over the last forty years. "In his recent report on the Crown Office, Sir Jeffery Bowman pointed to a number of specific issues which need closer examination, including the haphazard growth of tribunals, complex routes of appeal, and the need for mechanisms to ensure coherent development of the law.

"The Tribunals system has for too long been ignored. Significant steps have been taken to modernise the civil and criminal justice systems. It is high time that we also looked afresh at the whole system of administrative justice, which has a colossal impact on the lives of well over 470,000 people every year.

"It is astonishing to see the extent to which tribunals have expanded since they were last reviewed in 1957." Since then he said "from the 30 or so tribunals of the 1950s we now have close on 100. Tribunals have been joined by Ombudsmen and many other regulatory bodies, which have similar judicial functions. The administrative justice system now handles more cases than the civil courts.

"It is also very diverse: the largest tribunal hears over 300,000 cases a year; some rarely sit. Some are based on a presidential structure, some are regional. Some panels are legally qualified. Some are not. Some are very formal, with legal representation common. Many are not."

The Lord Chancellor has commissioned Sir Andrew to look at six key areas to ensure that:

• there are fair, timely, proportionate and effective arrangements for handling disputes, within an effective legal framework;

• the administrative and practical arrangements for supporting decision-making meet the requirements of the ECHR for independence and impartiality;

• there are adequate arrangements for improving people's knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities in relation to tribunals;

• whether the arrangements for the funding and management of tribunals are efficient, effective and economical.

• to consider performance standards for tribunals, to ensure these are coherent and consistent - and effective; and

• that tribunals overall constitute a coherent structure for the delivery of administrative justice.

"Our drive for a more modern, integrated Government, puts the emphasis on what the user needs, not the provider.

"We must ensure that tribunals really are seen to be entirely independent of Government. They must also be seen to be wholly impartial, and responsive to the needs of a modern, diverse society.

"We must also be sure that tribunals really do provide an effective control on the implementation of Departments' policies and service management. And we must ensure that citizens have the right information so that they can use each of the tribunal systems effectively, so that they know what standards of service to expect, and so that they know whether those standards are being met.

"Just as I am committed to the reform of the civil and criminal justice systems, so I am with the administrative justice system. It is a system that has served us well. If we are to ensure its continued success over the coming decades, it is time for us to take a fresh look at the whole system from first principles."

Notes for Editors

•   Website

The review's website address is: www.tribunals-review.org.uk

•   Expert Consultees

Martin Partington - Professor of Law, Bristol University
Richard Susskind - IT Advisor to the Lord Chief Justice
Carol Harlow QC, FBA - Professor of Public Law, London School of Economics
Doris Littlejohn CBE, JP - for President of the Employment Tribunals (Scotland)
David Hatch CBE, JP - Chairman of the National Consumer Council

•   Terms of Reference

Sir Andrew's terms of reference are as follows:

"To review the delivery of justice through tribunals other than ordinary courts of law, constituted under an Act of Parliament by a Minister of the Crown or for purposes of a Minister's functions; in resolving disputes, whether between citizens and the state, or between other parties, so as to ensure that:

• There are fair, timely, proportionate and effective arrangements for handling those disputes, within an effective framework for decision-making which encourages the systematic development of the area of law concerned, and which forms a coherent structure, together with the superior courts, for the delivery of administrative justice;

• The administrative and practical arrangements for supporting those decision-making procedures meet the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights for independence and impartiality;

• There are adequate arrangements for improving people's knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities in relation to such disputes, and that tribunals and other bodies function in a way which makes those rights and responsibilities a reality;

• The arrangements for the funding and management of tribunals and other bodies by Government departments are efficient, effective and economical; and pay due regard both to judicial independence, and to ministerial responsibility for the administration of public funds;

• Performance standards for tribunals are coherent, consistent, and public; and effective measures for monitoring and enforcing those standards are established; and

• Tribunals overall constitute a coherent structure for the delivery of administrative justice.

The review may examine, insofar as it considers it necessary, administrative and regulatory bodies which also make judicial decisions as part of their functions."

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