§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is correct, as reported in The Times on 2nd December 1996, that the Government intend to reap the entire cost of running the civil justice system, including judges' salaries, from fees charged to litigants; and if so, how this is compatible with the constitutional right to unimpeded access to justice for all.
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)It has been the policy of successive Governments, at least since the 1920s, that the costs of the administration of civil justice should be defrayed by the litigants' fees. Until 1992, judicial costs were not included in the definition of costs to be so defrayed. However, as these costs, in common with all other costs of the courts, are a call on public funds, I decided in 1992 that they should progressively be included. Needy litigants in receipt of legal and have their court fees paid by the Legal Aid Fund.
§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is correct, as reported in The Times on 2nd December 1996:
- (a) that the Government's reported plan for the self-financing of civil justice has been decided without consulting the judiciary, arid, if so, what are the reasons for this lack of consultation; and
- (b) that they intend to make judges' salaries part of the money available to run the civil justice system;
WA 106 and, if so, whether they consider such a policy to be compatible with the independence of the judiciary.
§ The Lord ChancellorIt has been the policy of successive Governments, at least since the 1920s, that the costs of the administration of civil justice should be defrayed by the litigants' fees. The policy of full cost recovery in the civil courts was referred to in 1992 in answer to a parliamentary Question in another place [Official Report, 24th November 1992, col. 558], and specific reference to the inclusion of judicial costs was made in the Departmental Report published in March 1994 (Cm 2509, paragraph 11).
This decision does not affect the protection afforded to those judges whose salaries are charged on the Consolidated Fund. The independence of the judiciary is unaffected by the inclusion, in the total sum of money to be recovered through court fees, of a figure equal to the amount which is separately expended on judicial salaries.