HL Deb 30 October 1979 vol 402 cc332-6

2.57 p.m.

The LORD CHANCELLOR (Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone)

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I wish to make a statement on the subject of the report of the Benson Commission. I understand that on Monday there is to be a debate on the adjournment in another place, and that it would be for the convenience of honourable Members there who may attend that debate if they had a Statement from me before then. I also have a short speech to make to your Lordships this afternoon on the draft Legal Aid regulations. It would not be in order for us to discuss the Benson Report on the Motions for those regulations to which, as will be seen in due course, it is irrelevant. I therefore consider that it would be for the convenience of Parliament as a whole if I make a short Statement now, even though, in the nature of things it is somewhat devoid of content.

The report of the Royal Commission on Legal Services was published on 3rd October before we resumed our labours after the Recess. Volume 1 of the report is over 800 pages long and contains 369 recommendations the implementation of which, if accepted, would rest with a large number of departments and agencies both inside and outside the Government. It is obvious, therefore, that a period of digestion and reflection is required before a coherent strategy can be evolved and that this process will require lengthy consultations with the different branches of the profession and other interested bodies.

What I particularly wish to do this afternoon is simply to express our thanks to Sir Henry Benson and his fellow commissioners for the public service they have done over 3½ years of unremitting toil, and for the lucid, well written, comprehensive and monumental character of the report which they have produced. I do so all the more warmly and sincerely because I publicly expressed doubts at the wisdom of the then Government in setting up a commission with such wide terms of reference, doubts which to some extent I retain. These, however, do not reflect in any way on my genuine appreciation of the commissioners' work and particularly that of their chairman.

I should also like to applaud the statesmanship and wisdom of both branches of the profession and others who co-operated so fully with the commission in their labours and spent many hours of time and work in providing the commission with information on which they could base their opinions. I should also like to endorse the alacrity with which they considered and accepted very many suggestions from the Commission without waiting for their formal report. My Lords, that is what I wish to say.

3.02 p.m.

Lord BOSTON of FAVERSHAM

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for the Statement he has made. I would also say that my noble and learned friend Lord Elwyn-Jones is particularly sorry not to be able to hear the Statement of the noble and learned Lord. He is attending, in an official capacity, the celebrations in Strasbourg marking the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Council of Europe and the 20th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights. While he is sorry not to be here, he is, of course, delighted to be there. I hope that that is a balanced legal observation.

My Lords, from this Bench I would ask the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor to accept that we would express our gratitude, too, to the chairman, Sir Henry Benson, in particular, and the other members of the Royal Commission for their long and arduous labours. As the noble and learned Lord has said, the report is very thorough and lengthy, and it would not be doing justice to it, in my submission, if it were not subjected now to deep and careful study, not only by the legal profession and other bodies but by the public as well. The provision of legal services is a vital part of our country's social services, and it is important that it should be exhaustively examined from time to time. Now that this vast report has been produced it is essential to allow time for it to be given careful consideration. It was, of course, published, as the noble and learned Lord has indicated, comparatively recently, and there has not yet, in my submission—and here I would also agree with him—been enough time to study it fully and to give a considered view on matters of such importance. There is, after all, a very large number of recommendations, and I do not think, if I may say so with respect, that the noble and learned Lord needs to apologise if his Statement is devoid of content on the substance of the report. I would agree that it is not the moment for final decision.

My Lords, I would add this and ask the noble and learned Lord to consider it. This report is not only deserving of most careful consideration and study; it is also important that decisions on any necessary action be taken in due course without unnecessary delay. What would be most regrettable, and indeed unforgivable, would be if this matter were to be pigeon-holed. I feel sure that we can rely on the noble and learned Lord to ensure that that does not happen.

There is only one other matter that I should wish to mention and to raise with the noble and learned Lord. It has to be acknowledged, I think, that the report has not been greeted with universal acclaim. There are those who would argue that it is not so radical in some respects as might have been hoped for in some quarters. On the other hand, and without wishing in any way to prejudge the view that one might take after more detailed study, certainly the overall view of the profession that the Royal Commission takes is a reassuring one. In saying that, I had better declare an interest as a practising member of the Bar.

My Lords, I would just add this point, and ask the noble and learned Lord to accept it, about the profession itself: that it has never shrunk from making proposals on law reform; indeed, members of it have been in the vanguard on this matter, as I have had occason to observe at close quarters. I do not believe that it will shrink from whatever reforms eventually turn out to be needed in the provision of legal services. I would come back to the point made earlier, and ask the noble and learned Lord to accept that the report itself must certainly not be neglected.

Lord WADE

My Lords, may I join in thanking the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor for making this Statement? I am impressed by the amount of work carried out by the Benson Commission. I have only one question to ask, namely, when the recommendations have been studied may we take it that priority will, if possible, be given to those recommendations that are most urgent? Finally, as I have retired from practice, may I wholeheartedly join in applauding the statesmanship and wisdom of both branches of the profession.

The LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, I am very grateful indeed to both noble Lords for the reception they have given my Statement. I should like to say to the noble Lord, Lord Boston, that Lord Elwyn-Jones is at Strasbourg at my invitation, and I was very grateful indeed that he was able to accept that invitation. It is most important that we should be represented by a legal figure of adequate weight, and I could not think of anyone more suitable to do it than Lord Elwyn-Jones. I am sorry it has deprived us this afternoon of his comments on the reports, but I am sure we can bear that with patience.

It is certainly not our intention to pigeonhole the report. As the noble Lord quite rightly said, we must recognise that there is a very large number of recommendations which depend upon the solicitors' and barristers' professions themselves; they do not rest with the Government and could not be achieved by legislation. I have already held a preliminary meeting in my office about the kind of strategy to follow. Of course, there are things that can be done without legislation, almost straight away; they are not necessarily the things which are most important but the things which are most easily done, if I may say that to the noble Lord, Lord Wade.

I cannot give any sort of timetable. The report makes quite important recommendations with regard to the actual ministerial responsibility for some of the legal services, and I am sure the House would not wish to embarrass me by asking what I think about that. At any rate, they are being considered. I quite realise that the media have in a sense, as the noble Lord, Lord Boston, said, been slightly critical of the report, but I think they rather hoped that the legal profession would not only stand in the dock as a result of these proceedings but be convicted. Well, unfortunately they have been acquitted. I do not share the sorrow that this is so. I must say that one of the deepest reasons for which I am grateful to Sir Henry Benson and his fellow commissioners is the courage and objectivity with which they investigated the matters which were put before them and came to conclusions which might not necessarily be popular with those who like to denigrate our institutions but are in accordance, I think, with the evidence. So that is another reason for being thankful. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Wade, and the noble Lord, Lord Boston, for what they have said.