HC Deb 10 December 1984 vol 69 cc329-30W
Sir John Biggs-Davison

asked the Attorney-General why it is proposed to remove mention of the sovereign from, and otherwise to reword, the oath taken by jurors; and what account has been taken of representations on this proposal.

The Attorney-General

The new oath has been introduced, by means of a practice direction given by the Lord Chief Justice, to achieve greater intelligibility and simplicity. There have been no formal representations.

sample taken on its own is not large enough to be statistically reliable. To produce reliable regional figures would at present require special sampling exercises to be carried out. This could only be done at disproportionate cost. The Law Society is, however, looking at ways of improving its collection of information and is hoping in due course to be able to provide this information on an area basis.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Attorney-General why information concerning the number of complaints about delays in the processing of legal aid applications is not collected.

The Solicitor-General

There could be considerable practical difficulties in compiling a comprehensive record of complaints about delays. Any applicant for legal aid, or his solicitor, who is concerned about the time being taken to process his application may telephone or write (sometimes both) to the Law Society's area office, and he may approach the Law Society's headquarters direct. The complainant may also write simultaneously to his Member of Parliament or to the Lord Chancellor or both. For an accurate picture, complaints in each of these forms would need to be separately recorded and centrally collated. This could only be done at disproportionate cost.