The new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, today welcomed the challenges facing him and the judiciary as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
" The transfer to me of judicial functions from the Lord Chancellor takes effect next April. My priorities are to ensure the judiciary are ready to manage the significant constitutional reforms and to provide leadership to full and part-time judicial office holders in England and Wales – judges, tribunal members and the magistracy – in total some 40,000 people.”
The changes will radically alter the nature of the office of Lord Chief Justice. A new Judicial Office for England and Wales, led by a senior civil servant, Debora Matthews, is being set up to assist judges to carry out their new responsibilities.
The Lord Chief Justice’s major new responsibilities will be:
- to represent the views of the judiciary of England and Wales to Parliament, to the Lord Chancellor and to Ministers of the Crown
- to provide appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of the judiciary of England and Wales within the resources made available by the Lord Chancellor
- to manage the deployment of the judiciary of England and Wales and the allocation of work within the courts.
Lord Phillips also spoke on two other issues – judicial management of criminal law and the general application of the law by the judiciary.
Regarding the management of criminal law he said: “Traditionally the Lord Chief Justice has taken the lead in the criminal jurisdiction and sat little outside that jurisdiction, save in the Divisional Court. However, the demands of the criminal jurisdiction have become very much more exacting over the past few years. So it seemed to me that the task of the heading up criminal justice requires concentration on the various aspects of criminal justice to an extent that would not leave time for the proper performance of the other duties of the Chief Justice.
“For this reason I have asked Sir Igor Judge, President of the Queen’s Bench Division, to be Head of Criminal Justice with the intention that he will concentrate in this field. He is the ideal person to perform this role and I am grateful to him for agreeing to take on this very exacting appointment in addition to his role as President.
“Criminal justice will remain one of my main concerns. It is an area of vital importance and one that I approach with enthusiasm. I shall personally chair the Sentencing Guidelines Council; I shall sit regularly in the Criminal Division and I intend to continue the practice of taking the Criminal Division out on circuit. I intend, however, also to sit in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal and to ensure that some of the appeals on which I sit are appeals from the Family Division.
“We are on the brink of a new era in the role of the judiciary in England and Wales – I am proud to be the first Lord Chief Justice who will become the head of that judiciary.”
Turning to the general application of the law, Lord Phillips said: “There is one point I would like to make very clear. I’m taking up this office at a time when it is said in various quarters that judges are in conflict with Government. They are not. Judges are in conflict with no-one. The judiciary has a clearly defined role which is to apply the law as laid down by Parliament.”
Notes for Editors
- From 3 April 2006 the new Judicial Office, as an Associated Office of the , will provide direct support to the Lord Chief Justice and the judiciary.
- Based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London the Office will assist the senior judiciary in their roles and responsibilities under the Constitutional Reform Act 2004, including:
- the Lord Chief Justice's new role as Head of the Judiciary;
- judicial deployment;
- judges' well being; and
- their conduct and discipline
ENDS
