Judicial Appointments/Supreme Court

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 12:00 am on 27 May 2004.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Alan Beith Alan Beith Chair, Constitutional Affairs Committee 12:00, 27 May 2004

The hon. and learned Gentleman is right. Middlesex Guildhall is a busy courthouse containing numerous courts sitting all the time. That is not the only problem that the Government have when they consider court accommodation. There is a desperate need for new facilities for the commercial court: we have quite inadequate commercial court facilities in London and the busy commercial court makes substantial export earnings for this country. A number of accommodation issues need resolving, and I hope that a reasonable solution can be found within a reasonable period. However, the Committee and I do not want a fundamental reform to be introduced in such a way that does not make it apparent that it has taken place. If the same people are continuing to sit in their Room in the House of Lords and the only thing that changes is that their judgments are no longer delivered in the Lords Chamber, the steps involved in the reform would not have been justified.

My last point concerns the judiciary's relationship with Parliament. One issue that came up quite a bit in our discussions was the disadvantages of withdrawing from Parliament the expertise that serving Law Lords can bring to debates on important matters. Although there are differing views about how important that expertise is and how readily other peers with substantial legal experience could fill the gap, it is clearly desirable—for that reason and several others—that communication between judges and Parliament can develop in ways that undermine neither the proper separation of the judiciary and Parliament, nor the proper independence of the judiciary from Parliament. On the basis of its own experience, the Committee believes that communication can develop in that way.

When I took on the chairmanship of the Committee, one of the first things I did was to go and see the Lord Chief Justice. We discussed ways of enabling judges readily to appear before the Committee, so that they could give us their advice on issues on which they were knowledgeable and experienced. We worked out appropriate arrangements, which have been wholly beneficial to the Committee. Senior judges and judges from other levels of the system have given evidence on a wide range of issues, including court practice and legal aid. They gave evidence when we were preparing our report on the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, when they spoke of the courts' experience of dealing with problems in the service. We have benefited hugely from their advice and, incidentally, from that of visiting chief justices from other jurisdictions, who have also given us evidence.