HC Deb 19 May 1997 vol 294 cc374-6
31. Mr. Mackinlay

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what measures he proposes to modernise procedures within the courts; and if he will make a statement.[396]

Mr. Hoon

The Government plan to conduct a review of the present proposals for reform of civil procedures and the legal aid system. An announcement will be available in due course. On the criminal side, we will streamline procedures so that we halve the time it takes to get persistent young offenders from arrest to sentencing. Both are important measures which are relevant to modernising court procedures.

Mr. Mackinlay

Has the Minister noticed that the most popular and successful Speaker manages to preside over the High Court of Parliament without wearing a full-bottomed wig? Is it not time that the compulsory wearing of Jacobean garb in our courts was ended?

We still maintain the dock system in criminal trials, although it is intimidatory and, I think, prejudicial to fair trials. Will that be reviewed?

Mr. Hoon

Policy on court dress is indeed a matter for which the Lord Chancellor has policy responsibility. A practice direction was made on 11 April 1995 by the then Lord Chancellor Mackay, after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and heads of divisions.

On a personal note, I have great sympathy with the point made by my hon. Friend. I recall the first time that I appeared in a Crown court. I should have been worrying about the law with which I was having to deal; I should have been worried about the defendant whom I was representing; what I was really worried about was whether my wig was going to stay on my head.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The Minister rightly referred to the criminal side of the courts. In the two and a half weeks since the Government changed—I do not blame the new Government for this—about 6,000 people have been convicted of a serious criminal offence for the first time. Would it be for the Minister's Department to commission research, especially among young people, examining their life circumstances to establish which of their habits—and their families' habits—are more likely to be associated with less persistent trouble with the law? Bringing people up in a way that makes them likely to get into trouble, and then condemning them when they are in trouble, is not always the most effective way forward.

Mr. Hoon

The hon. Gentleman makes a valuable suggestion, but I think that he would do better to direct it at my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.

Mr. Bermingham

When reviewing the whole question of civil law, will the Minister consider the problems that are now being highlighted in respect of the Woolf report and the fast-track system? He might also consider a further slight amendment to the legal aid system that would save an awful lot of time: allowing the Crown court to grant legal aid for specialist evidence, rather than referring it to the Legal Aid Board, which causes insufferable delays and, therefore, delays in trials.

Mr. Hoon

The Lord Chancellor has indicated his support for the spirit of Lord Woolf s recommendations, which are designed to deliver a civil justice system that is quicker, simpler and cheaper. As we proposed in the manifesto on which my hon. Friend and I were elected, we shall undertake a review of the civil justice reforms and of legal aid; it will examine the workability, cost and benefits of the reforms. Meanwhile, we are continuing with the programme of work that should still enable us to deliver the reforms to the original target if that option were to be endorsed. We want to keep all the options open on this matter.

My hon. Friend made a helpful proposal on legal aid. I shall meet representatives of the Legal Aid Board later this week and discuss that matter with them.