Clause 27 - Justices' clerks and assistant clerks
Courts Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Mr Christopher Leslie (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Shipley, Labour)
I shall firstly address amendments Nos. 34, 37 and 38, and then I shall look separately at amendments Nos. 35 and 36.
Amendments Nos. 34 and 37 would require the Lord Chancellor to appoint a justices' clerk to particular local justice areas, under clause 27(1). The amendments are unnecessary because, under subsection (3), the Lord Chancellor must assign each justices' clerk to one or more local justice area. The assignment offers the right link between the clerk and the area in which they work. If the amendments were intended to ensure that the appointment would tie the clerk even more closely to a specific area, our view is that that would be undesirable. It would reduce much of the flexibility that the provisions would introduce.
Amendment No. 38 would require the Lord Chancellor to obtain the agreement of the justices' clerk of a particular local justice area before designating a member of staff of the new court agency as an assistant to that clerk. We feel that the amendment is undesirable in terms of managing civil service human resources, because nothing in current legislation requires the agreement of local justices clerks before assistants are appointed. Clerks will be civil servants—as, usually, will be their assistants—so the usual practice with civil service appointments, and who approves them, will apply. The new courts agency will hire assistants; the employer will not be the justices' clerk.
It being twenty-five minutes past Eleven o'clock, The Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.
Adjourned till this day at half-past Two o'clock.