§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment he has made of the training provided to judges in understanding and correctly applying part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [179673]
§ Mr. LeslieJudicial training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), an independent body chaired by Lord Justice Keene.
The JSB provides guidance to judges, via its Equal Treatment Bench Book, on all aspects of fair treatment in courts and tribunals. The Equal Treatment Bench Book contains a section on the needs of people with disabilities and includes the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. It is publicly available on the JSB's website. In addition, the JSB provides training on the Disability Discrimination Act and proceedings brought under part 3, for District Judges who sit in the county court. The most recent training session on this topic was in March 2004. The supporting training materials are available to judges in hard copy and electronic form. The JSB keeps all of its training under regular review.