HC Deb 20 April 1998 vol 310 cc405-6W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 4 March 1998,Official Report, column 679, if he will list the groups and individuals his officials consulted informally about the possible appointment of a judicial appointments commission. [38226]

Mr. Hoon

The groups and individuals informally consulted by officials on the possible establishment of a judicial appointments commission included the following:

  • The Lord Chief Justice
  • The Master of the Rolls
  • The President of the Family Division
  • The Vice-Chancellor
  • The Senior Law Lord (Lord Goff of Chieveley)
  • The Senior Presiding Judge
  • The Council of Her Majesty's Circuit Judges
  • The Association of District Judges
  • The Registrar of Criminal Appeals
  • The Director of Studies, Judicial Studies Board
  • The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
  • The Chairman of the Association of Stipendiary Magistrates for England and Wales
  • The Right Hon. the Lord Kingsdown (Association of Lords Lieutenant)
  • The Chairman of the Magistrates' Association
  • The Duchy of Lancaster Office
  • The President and senior officials of The Law Society
  • The Chairman and the Chief Executive of the General Council of the Bar
  • The Prime Minister's Appointments Secretary
  • Kate Malleson, University of Westminster
  • Dr. Cheryl Thomas, Wolfson College, University of Oxford
  • Professor Rodney Brazier, University of Manchester
  • Senior officials of the Lord Chancellor's Department
  • The Magistrates and Tribunals Training Adviser, Judicial Studies Board
  • The Commission for Racial Equality
  • The Equal Opportunities Commission
  • Recruitment and Assessment Services

Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what factors he took into account in deciding to consult informally rather than formally on the possible creation of a judicial appointments commission. [38208]

Mr. Hoon

The Lord Chancellor decided that officials should conduct informal consultations with a view to identifying the issues of principle and practicality that would need to be addressed in any formal consultations on the possible creation of a Judicial Appointments Commission. Following this consultation, the Lord Chancellor announced in October that he had decided not to proceed with further work, including any formal consultation process, on the possible creation of a Commission in view of the other substantial priorities facing his Department and his decision to concentrate on making changes in the existing judicial appointments process to improve its openness, flexibility and effectiveness.