HL Deb 27 October 1966 vol 277 cc368-70

3.8 p.m.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD GARDINER)

My Lords, with the permission of the House, I should like to make a Statement about the Royal Commission on Assizes and Quarter Sessions. Your Lordships may remember that on August 11 I informed the House that Her Majesty had been pleased to approve the appointment of a Royal Commission, with the following terms of reference: To inquire into the present arrangements for the administration of justice at Assizes and at Quarter Sessions outside Greater Lon don, and to report what reforms should be made for the more convenient, economic and efficient disposal of the civil and criminal business at present dealt with by those courts I also said that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister hoped to-announce the names of the members of the Royal Commission after the Recess. I am now in a position to inform the House of the membership of the Commission.

The Chairman will be the noble Lord, Lord Beeching. His wide experience and his administrative abilities are well known to your Lordships. The other members of the Commission will be the Honourable Mr. Justice Fenton Atkinson, who is a Judge of the High Court with extensive experience of the administration of justice, particularly on circuit; Mr. H. P. Barker, Chairman and Managing Director of the Parkinson Cowan Group, formerly Chair man and now Vice-President of the British Institute of Management; Mr. R. M. Bingham, T.D., Q.C. of the Northern Circuit, Recorder of Oldham; Mr. Leslie Cannon, General President of the Electrical Trades Union; Sir George Cold stream. K.C.B., Q.C., Clerk of the Crown in Chancery and Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor; Sir Denys Hicks, O.B.E., T.D., a practising solicitor in Bristol and a past President of the Law Society; Mr. A. G. Norman, D.F.C., Chairman of the De La Rue Company, and a member of the Council of the British Institute of Management; and Mr. G. A. Wheatley, C.B.E., Clerk of the Peace and Clerk of the Hampshire County Council, and Honorary Secretary of the Society of Clerks of the Peace and Clerks of County Councils.

3.10 p.m.

VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSS

My Lords, I am sure the House will be grateful to the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for the announcement he has made. The House will also rejoice in the appointment of the noble Lord, Lord Beeching, as Chairman, and of the other most distinguished members of the Royal Commission. I think I need say only one thing in welcoming them, and that is to ask that they should bear in mind the matter that was discussed in this House on August 11: that the interests and convenience of jurors, witnesses and clients is something that should be in the forefront of their considerations.

LORD OGMORE

My Lords, we are grateful to the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for informing the House of the names of the Chairman and members of the Commission. I must say that the name of Lord Beeching in this connection strikes a somewhat ominous note. Having regard to the fact that Lord Beeching removed the railways to many of them, could the noble and learned Lord tell us how many Assize towns are likely to be swept away?

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Viscount, Lord Colville of Culross, and the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, for what they have said. I suppose Lord Beeching is widely recognised as one of the out standing administrators in this country. I am not clear why the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, should regard his appointment as ominous, unless it is ominous for the lawyers.

With regard to the point which the noble Viscount has raised, he will observe that, perhaps unusually, this Royal Commission consists of four laymen and five lawyers, and the laymen, particularly per haps Mr. Cannon, will, I am quite sure, bear in mind the convenience of those who use the courts, the parties, witnesses and jurors, and not, of course, just the convenience of the lawyers.

With regard to the number of Assize towns, that is, of course, a question which the Royal Commission will have to consider. They will consider our 61 Assize towns, which were pretty well fixed in the reign of King John according to what was convenient for the stage coach. One or two alterations were made when the thing called the railway train was invented, but of course we now have roads and motor cars. As the noble Lord no doubt knows, three Assize towns, although called towns, have a population of only 1,500, whereas Hull, Bradford and Coventry, with populations of 250,000, have no Assize. It is because of these facts that a Royal Commission is being appointed.