§ Sir Thomas ArnoldTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes he has made and what further changes he proposes to make to the procedures of the Copyright Tribunal; and if he will make a statement. [38740]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorLast year, my Department sought the views of users of the Copyright Tribunal to determine how satisfied they were with its performance, and how its procedures might be improved. The vast majority of respondents considered that tribunal procedures were fair, 549W flexible, unintimidating and thorough. There were, however, some concerns about the cost and speed of procedures and some suggestions were made for improvement in these and other respects. The Department is still considering, in consultation with the chairman of the tribunal, possible changes to the procedures in the light of suggestions with a view to proposing a statutory instrument providing for some amendments to the tribunal rules in due course. In the meantime, some useful changes have been made to the Copyright Tribunal practice direction and the new version was sent in July to all solicitors involved in cases currently before the tribunal and respondents to the user survey. The practice direction is issued for the guidance of parties, with a view to achieving a just, expeditious and economical disposal of proceedings. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.