High Court Judges (Hansard, 15 July 1991)

§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)
My Lords, like my noble and learned friend the Lord Chief Justice, I am concerned to keep the High Court Bench up to its appropriate strength. I was glad therefore to be able to inform my noble and learned friend and the other Heads of Division on 25th June that an extra Chancery Division judge was to be appointed. That brings the total number of additional High Court judges since I took office to five, the number of additional Lord Justices in the same period being four.
While waiting times in some parts of the court are a good deal higher than I should like, in the ordinary list of the Queen's Bench Division waiting times have been reduced to two months on the warned list, 13 months on the fixtures list and seven months on the after fixtures list. Despite the number of long cases being heard in London, the waiting times for Crown Court trials in London on average are the lowest they have been for 14 years.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, I note with pleasure the announcement that the noble and learned Lord has been good enough to make in regard to one additional judge. However, does he recollect that the Lord Chief Justice said in his Mansion House speech that the whole situation of the adequacy of judges was critical; that this was causing the administration of justice to be in peril; and that part-time judges were trying important cases when it was not suitable for them to do so? Does the noble and learned Lord agree that, if accurate, that is an alarming picture? If it is accurate, what are the Government doing about it?

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, when my noble and learned friend the Lord Chief Justice spoke at the Mansion House the other evening he dealt with a number of these matters. I believe that it is right to consider the waiting times as an indication of the situation. I have pointed to the important reduction in the level of waiting times.
It is also worth pointing out that a great deal of the work of the Crown Court is carried out by circuit judges. In the period from November 1987 to the present there was an increase of 49 circuit judges. I believe that it is right to keep these matters under review. I see the Heads of Division regularly, once a month, and of course I take account of their anxieties.

§ Lord Ackner
My Lords, is my noble and learned friend aware that the situation described by the Lord Chief Justice last week will become dramatically worse? More deputies—58 per cent.—than High Court judges—42 per cent.—were trying cases in the non-jury list and in the chambers list. As from next 9 term, October, there will be no High Court judges available to try any cases in the non-jury list or the chambers list. Thus, 100 per cent. deputies will be required to do High Court work which, since the remission of a great bulk to the county court, will involve cases of £1 million or more, as the Lord Chief Justice said. Does the noble and learned Lord agree that this situation should not be tolerated and that it requires urgent action?

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, the priority that is accorded to different types of work within the High Court is a difficult and important matter. When the appointment that I have just mentioned is given effect there will be a total of 84 judges in the High Court. The way in which the services of those judges are allocated will be an important factor in considering whether the prophecy of my noble and learned friend Lord Ackner will be fulfilled. For many years in the High Court in this country opportunities have been given to deputy High Court judges—that is, senior Silks—to undertake High Court trials. That is a way of dealing with the workload and giving them appropriate experience in work that they are qualified to undertake. Circuit judges who are competent to do so sit from time to time in the High Court and deal with important cases.

§ Lord Oliver of Aylmerton
My Lords, will the noble and learned Lord explain to the House how the regular and consistent use of deputy judges under what I believe are the terms of Section 9(4) of the Supreme Court Act is reconcilable with the terms of that section which prescribe such action only as a temporary measure?

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, I have a degree of difficulty with that question. However, it is a temporary measure. As my noble and learned friend Lord Oliver knows much better than I—he has been closely associated with the High Court of Justice for much longer—this practice has continued for a long time. As far as I am aware, it has had the effect of providing experience and qualifications to those who will ultimately attain the High Court Bench.

§ Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone
My Lords, will my noble and learned friend give the House an assurance that whatever other remedy is found it will not be one of reducing the quality of those who are given pensionable employment in the High Court? Is that not an overriding consideration in the appointment of High Court judges?

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, where it is within my responsibility, I will certainly do my best to nominate to Her Majesty's service those of the highest quality. I believe that those who have been nominated during the terms of office of my noble and learned friend Lord Hailsham and Lord Havers and myself, and prior to that, have been people of the highest calibre. They have been able to carry out the onerous and demanding responsibilities that fall on members of the High Court Bench.

Lord Morris
My Lords, does my noble and learned friend recall that at the end of the 1950s there were 10 approximately 20 High Court judges whereas nowadays there are approximately 100? Is that because as a nation we have become more litigious, more criminal and less competent in administering justice, or is it because of the insidious economic effect of legal aid?

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, I am perhaps more capable of recognising facts than of analysing the reasons behind them. The workload of the High Court and of other courts has increased markedly over the period that my noble friend has referred to. It is a considerable tribute to the members of the High Court Bench as well as to the members of the Court of Appeal—I must not omit to mention Members of your Lordships' House who sit as Lords of Appeal in Ordinary—and to members of the Circuit Bench that that workload has been covered without an undue increase in the total judicial strength.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, will the noble and learned Lord dissociate himself—and, I hope, also the Government—from the remarks made by the noble Lord opposite who referred to the insidious economic effect of legal aid? I believe I heard him correctly. Does the noble and learned Lord agree with those comments?

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, I have already said that I am better at recognising facts than analysing the reasons behind them. The galaxy of reasons that my noble friend gave obviously form his opinion. I do not think it is necessary for me to enter into the field that he referred to. However, I believe it is appropriate that legal aid should be available in appropriate cases and that we must try to ensure that where it is available it is available at an appropriate level and at an affordable cost. We in this country provide legal aid at a level which bears comparison with any other country in the entire world.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, is it not clear from what noble and learned Lords have said that a critical point has been reached in relation to the manning of the High Court Bench? In those circumstances, is there not a strong case for setting up a commission to examine the position without delay and also to examine the legal aid system? We on this side of the House fully support the legal aid system so I hope the noble and learned Lord will consider that suggestion very carefully.

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, we have already announced the setting up of a Royal Commission to deal with matters connected with the criminal law. I have no doubt that the matter of long trials to which my noble and learned friend the Lord Chief Justice referred in his Mansion House speech will be considered by the Royal Commission. As regards the workload of the High Court and the appropriate manning of the High Court Bench, I believe that those matters can be dealt with in the same way as in the past. One can reach an appropriate decision having regard to the nature of the workload and the way in which the judicial resources of the High Court and the Circuit Bench are deployed.