Clause 72 - Process for making Criminal Procedure Rules
Courts Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Mr Christopher Leslie (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Shipley, Labour)
I will examine the matter raised tangentially by the hon. Member for Surrey Heath in respect of the Institute of Legal Executives in more detail when I get back to the Department. First, however, I should like to deal with the three amendments. They would require formal consultation with the bodies listed in sections 27 and 28 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, including the General Council of the Bar, the Law Society, the Institute of Legal Executives and others, before the procedure rule committees make any rules of court or submit them to the Lord Chancellor.
The first point to note is that the Bill does not prevent consultation with any of those bodies. Indeed, it is entirely likely that the procedure rule committees will try appropriately to consult bodies that they feel could add to their work. I assure the Committee that major revisions of procedure rules will have full public consultation, which is a proportionate and sensible approach. For lesser procedural issues and minor matters, there may be a requirement to have less formal processes for consultation, but to have to go through formal consultation on smaller, uncontroversial matters would be excessive.
Given that major revisions will have full public consultation, and that consultation with any of the bodies listed is likely, I believe that it is right to leave flexibility in the process of consultation. The formality that the amendments would introduce would be unduly prescriptive and rigid, and as the procedure rule committees will be made up of experts, they will be well placed to determine the extent of their consultation before making rules. On that basis, I hope that the amendment will be withdrawn.