Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 36: 36: After Clause 44 , insert the following new Clause— ““Co-operation in relation to judicial training, guidance and welfare (1) Persons with responsibilities in connection with a courts-related activity, and persons with responsibilities in connection with the corresponding tribunals activity, must co-operate with each other in relation to the carrying-on of those activities. (2) In this section ““courts-related activity”” and ““corresponding tribunals activity”” are to be read as follows— (a) making arrangements for training of judiciary of a territory is a courts-related activity, and the corresponding tribunals activity is making arrangements for training of tribunal members; (b) making arrangements for guidance of judiciary of a territory is a courts-related activity, and the corresponding tribunals activity is making arrangements for guidance of tribunal members; (c) making arrangements for the welfare of judiciary of a territory is a courts-related activity, and the corresponding tribunals activity is making arrangements for the welfare of tribunal members. (3) Subsection (1) applies to a person who has responsibilities in connection with a courts-related activity only if— (a) the person is the chief justice of the territory concerned, or (b) what the person does in discharging those responsibilities is done (directly or indirectly) on behalf of the chief justice of that territory. (4) Subsection (1) applies to a person who has responsibilities in connection with a corresponding tribunals activity only if— (a) the person is the Senior President of Tribunals, or (b) what the person does in discharging those responsibilities is done (directly or indirectly) on behalf of the Senior President of Tribunals. (5) For the purposes of this section— (a) ““territory”” means— (i) England and Wales, (ii) Scotland, or (iii) Northern Ireland; (b) the ““chief justice””— (i) of England and Wales is the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, (ii) of Scotland is the Lord President of the Court of Session, and (iii) of Northern Ireland is the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland; (c) a person is a ““tribunal member”” if the person is— (i) a judge, or other member, of the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal, (ii) a judge, or other member, of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, (iii) a member of a panel of members of employment tribunals (whether or not a panel of chairmen), or (iv) any member of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 36, I wish to speak also to Amendments Nos. 37, 38 and 39. The Bill gives the senior president responsibility for the maintenance of appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of tribunal judiciary and members of the first-tier and upper tribunals under paragraph 8 of Schedule 2 and paragraph 9 of Schedule 3. It does the same for legally qualified members of the employment tribunals, the EAT and the AIT under paragraphs 40, 43 and 53 of Schedule 8. The Lord Chief Justices of England and Wales and Northern Ireland have identical responsibility for the court judiciary under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. The Government have agreed with the senior judiciary that in carrying out these responsibilities it is desirable for there to be a duty of co-operation between the senior president and the Lord Chief Justices and that this duty should include the Lord President, even though he has no statutory responsibility for such provision at the moment. In practical terms, this means the use by tribunals of institutions which report to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales—for example, the Judicial Studies Board for training, the Judicial Communications Office for advice on media and handling, and arrangements for counselling and supporting judges under the contract that was set up by the Department for Constitutional Affairs and which are now the responsibility of the Judicial Office. We do not at present consider that it would make sense to set up tribunal-specific services separate from the courts provided that the courts-based services can effectively meet the needs of the tribunals. Amendments Nos. 36, 37, 38 and 39 extend the senior president’s responsibility for training, welfare and guidance to all members of the employment tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, not just the legally qualified ones. This will put the non-legal members of these tribunals on a par with members of the first-tier and upper tribunals who are already covered in the Bill. I beg to move.