HL Deb 26 May 1982 vol 430 cc1149-50
Lord Blease

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what effects the very substantial increase in the Jurisdiction of the County Courts (Financial Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 1982 will have upon the waiting time before cases are heard, and what steps are being taken to make additional facilities, accommodation and staff available to cope with this added burden of work.

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone)

My Lords, there will be no increase in waiting time by reason of the order. On the contrary, it is thought that cases involving between £2,000 and £5,000 will be heard more quickly. Facilities and accommodation for additional hearings are already available to an adequate standard and sufficient provision has been made in terms of staff.

Lord Blease

My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord for that, I hope, helpful reply. Is he aware—it is certainly the information I have—that there is widespread concern in Northern Ireland, not about the principles of the order, and a deep anxiety (which is manifest among all branches of the legal profession and those in the county court service) about the inadequacy of the court buildings and facilities reasonably to cope with the staggering increase in the number of criminal and civil cases in Northern Ireland?

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, the noble Lord's Question related solely to the county courts order, which of course is limited to civil claims. There is of course widespread and legitimate concern about the total volume of business, for reasons which are not to do with that order. A building programme to enlarge and improve the existing courts is under way, and until that is complete it will be necessary for some cases to be moved from one venue within each division to another for hearing. The effects of the change we are discussing, as a result of the county courts order, will be gradual because it will take up to a year to absorb them.

Lord Elwyn-Jones

My Lords, will the earlier disposal of cases at the higher level of damages to which the noble and learned Lord referred be at the expense, in terms of time, of the disposal of claims for smaller sums? I could not quite follow how, from a manifest increase in jurisdiction, there would be benefit in terms of waiting time.

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, the thought is that if you transfer from the High Court, of which there is only one, a number of cases to the county courts, of which there are many, you can get rid of cases more quickly. Incidentally, I am bound to remind the noble and learned Lord, who knows it very well, that most of the High Court cases, for accidents at any rate, are tried by jury in Northern Ireland, unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Lord Elwyn-Jones

Perhaps the noble and learned Lord will forgive me if I repeat the question, my Lords. It was whether the priority given to the higher level of damages cases would have the effect of slowing up the disposal of small claims cases.

The Lord Chancellor

I hope not, my Lords, but of course one will have to keep one's eye on it. I am told that the extra work in the county courts can be absorbed by the existing staff. That has proved to be the case with the comparable order for England and Wales, which came into force on 1st October 1981. As I say, one must keep one's eye on these matters but one hopes that the experience in Northern Ireland will be comparable.

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