§ 10.11 p.m.
§ Lord Hardierose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 12th March be approved [27th Report from the Joint Committee].
The noble and learned Lord said: My Lords, this order contains rights of audience in England and Wales. Historically, rights of audience have been the preserve 726 of barristers and to a lesser extent solicitors; but this order will extend rights of audience to a third category: legal executives.
The draft instrument was laid before the House on 12th March of this year. By this order the Institute of Legal Executives will become the first new authorised body for the purposes of Section 27 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. The 1990 Act established a framework for the granting of rights of audience and the right to conduct litigation. The institute will join the General Council of the Bar and the Law Society as bodies authorised under the Act to grant right of audience to its members. This order will enable the institute to grant rights of audience before a court to suitably qualified fellows of the institute through the issue of separate rights of audience certificates for civil proceedings, matrimonial proceedings and coroners' courts proceedings.
The authorisation of the institute so that it may grant rights of audience to its members has been welcomed by those who have considered the application. It will extend rights of audience as was allowed under the 1990 Act, but the procedures under that Act have proved to be too cumbersome and susceptible to delays so that rights of audience generally have not been extended as widely as had been envisaged.
The Government are committed to reforming these procedures and will announce their proposals in due course. The order is limited to the Institute of Legal Executives and to the rights of audience which its fellows may acquire. When qualified, fellows of the institute will have the right to appear in five different categories of court proceedings: first, in open court in county courts on matters which are within the normal jurisdiction of a district judge; secondly, in family and related proceedings within the normal jurisdiction of district judges in the county courts and before magistrates in family proceedings courts; thirdly, before justices in magistrates' courts in relation to all matters originating by complaint or application, including application under the licensing and betting and gaming legislation, but excluding any complaint or application affecting the liberty of the subject; fourthly, the four specified tribunals under the direct supervision of the Council on Tribunals where the tribunal rules provide for a non-discretionary right of audience to be available to barristers and solicitors; and, finally, in coroners' courts in respect of all matters determined by those courts. Legal executives may now appear in certain proceedings either where there is no restriction on representation or with the leave of the court or tribunal concerned, but by this order fellows of the institute will be able to appear as of right in the proceedings that I have outlined.
One consequence of the success of this application is that we propose that those fellows who become authorised advocates should become subject to the Legal Services Ombudsman.
The support and advice of the ombudsman will be important in seeking to ensure that standards of service by fellows of the institute are maintained. A separate order to that effect has been laid before both Houses. 727 The application by the institute under the 1990 Act was approved by the Lord Chancellor and the designated judges in November 1997. The decision marked an important development in the widening of rights of audience initiated by the Act.
However, it is unfortunate that the procedures under the 1990 Act are so labyrinthine and slow. The institute's application was first started in November 1993 and will not be concluded until later this month. It is the Government's intention to improve that approval process, and our proposals will ensure that applications such as that can be processed expeditiously in future.
Fellows of the Institute of Legal Executives already play an important role in the legal process, and the success of its application will ensure an even greater contribution in the future. As such, I commend this instrument to the House. I beg to move.
Moved, That the draft Order laid before the House on 12th March be approved—[27th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Hardie.)
§ Lord KingslandMy Lords, this Motion is welcomed and supported by Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 was of course an Act introduced and passed through your Lordships' House by the previous government. We therefore welcome any dispassionate and objective improvements that might be made to that Act should it be found to fall short of the highest standards in any way.
I noted what the noble and learned Lord said about labyrinthine procedures and the need to introduce more expeditious ways of granting approval under Sections 27 and 29 of that Act. Can he give us any indication of the direction that any alternative procedures are likely to take?
§ Lord HardieMy Lords, I am not in a position to give any details of the proposals at the moment. The Government will announce their proposals for approval access in due course. All that I can say is that it is intended that the proposals will make it simpler for existing rights to be extended and for others to acquire rights in the future. I am happy to write to the noble Lord once I have more detailed information.
§ Lord KingslandMy Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord for his reply. I am much obliged to him for the information that he has given me.
§ Lord HardieMy Lords, approval of the instrument will lead to an important increase in the number of people qualified to appear before courts and tribunals. It also marks an important stage in the process of legal executives towards their more general recognition as an independent and separate branch of the profession. I commend the order to the House.
On Question, Motion agreed to.