Clause 18
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill
1:30 pm
Vera Baird (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Redcar, Labour)
The amendments would remove the ability of the High Court to transfer any class of case to the upper tribunal for the purposes that we have already started to discuss. It would be for the Lord Chief Justice, with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor, to designate classes of cases for which the upper tribunal would have sole responsibility and for the High Court to decide other cases, as and when they arise. That seems the right balance. The initiative is with the judiciary throughout, which again seems correct.
If the amendments were carried, it would not be possible for a class of cases to be transferred. The whole power would not have been excluded, but it would have to be exercised on a case-by-case basis. That seems a wasteful use of judicial resources. As I said, the power is intended to be used only in fairly technical cases. Classes of cases would be more likely to be moved when there were good technical reasons to do so and not otherwise. It seems sensible to have that power so that a tranche of cases, which might be similar or which might have the same technical components, could go over at once, instead of each case having to be considered separately.
The Lord Chief Justice is content that he can define a class of case of this nature. Therefore, we should not gainsay that by saying that each and every individual one ought to be considered separately. I hope that it is the judiciary’s approval and support, which I have now brought to the Committee, that will facilitate the hon. Gentleman’s seeking to withdraw his amendment.