Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am not quite sure whether I dare, as a non-lawyer, to intervene in these proceedings. I ought to declare my interest as chairman of the Council on Tribunals, although what I am about to say is entirely my view having listened to this debate. I can quite understand the force of the point that is made about a High Court judge, particularly in respect of the high-profile cases that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, referred to. But if my ears were not deceiving me he also referred to large numbers of what he described as—this is his word, not mine—rubbishy applications for judicial review. I have to express some reservations about the desirability of insisting that the scarce resource of High Court judges should be used to deal with such applications. Some element of flexibility or, one could even say, judgment probably needs to be applied to what is required in particular cases. That is my individual reaction to what I have heard.