Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Bill [Lords]

Our court reform programme as a whole, which I will come on to, will ensure that we use technolog...

Innovation and modernisation are vital, but will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to ...

I very much agree. We have a judicial system that is widely respected around the world for its in...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will certainly give way to the Chair of the Justice Committee.

The Secretary of State makes an important point about the balance that needs to be struck in thes...

I agree. I note that my hon. Friends are all quick to make the case for the importance of the ski...

I have to say that innovation and modernisation are not normally things that we associate with ou...

Absolutely; that is a key point. Perhaps my hon. Friend has set my Department the challenge of en...

I rise as the co-chair of the Justice Unions Parliamentary Group. I am interested in what the Sec...

I do not think that the hon. Lady is correct in the association that she makes. The reality is th...

Setting aside the whys and wherefores of the Bill, may I invite my right hon. Friend to confirm f...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving me the opportunity to respond to that point. The indep...

My right hon. Friend is making a strong case. Perhaps this is for another time, but in the contex...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point, although he takes me away a little from th...

Building on the point that was well made by my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoa...

My hon. Friend brings me back to the Bill and makes a good point—one which came up on several occ...

I welcome the Government’s amendments in the other place to paragraphs 32 and 44 of the schedule,...

Indeed, and I will turn to that point in a moment. I hope that the clarification provided by thos...

My right hon. Friend is being generous in giving way. He is talking about the use of judicial tim...

My hon. Friend raises a good point that comes back to how we ensure that judges’ time is used mos...

My right hon. Friend is being generous with his time. The place where these changes can have the ...

My hon. Friend may well be right. The Bill of course relates to courts and tribunals, and it is i...

My right hon. Friend mentioned the start times of hearings. As he will know, Northallerton magist...

Journey times are taken into account. I am conscious that substantial issues can arise in rural a...

With the distance between courts being a factor not just for claimants and defendants but for wit...

The hon. Gentleman takes me further in the direction of the debate about the court closure plan, ...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the principle of delegating functions to authorised staff is...

My hon. Friend is right, and his experience is a benefit to the House. He knows of what he speaks...

Will the Bill make it easier to set up a new tribunal? I speak in the context of my role as chair...

As it stands, and I do not want to encourage my hon. Friend to table amendments, the Bill will no...

Before I open my speech, I wish to tell the House that today is Lancashire Day. On 27 November 12...

I intervene only in fairness to the distinguished legal journalist Mr Joshua Rozenberg, for that ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that helpful intervention.

Rather conveniently, the Governme...

The hon. Lady is right to raise the importance of our judiciary, but I hope that we can reach a c...

I accept that the senior judiciary, some of whom are in the House of Lords, have said that the Bi...

I understand what the hon. Lady is saying, and I am not unsympathetic to her point, but, in fairn...

I have respect for the senior judiciary, of course, but Parliament should have control over what ...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern about always listening to eminent legal practitioners in the...

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. Those things do occur.

Let me go back to my ea...

Those of us who have campaigned were expecting to see in the Bill some of the things that have be...

I thank my hon. Friend for her work on raising these issues. She is absolutely right. Why is the ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) and my right ho...

Like the Chairman of the Justice Committee, I welcome these measures to modernise the process. Ho...

I totally agree. These are useful, practical measures on their own, but they are by no means a so...

I pay tribute to the excellent work that the hon. Gentleman’s Committee does on these and many ot...

I very much respect the point that the right hon. and learned Lady is making, but I must say to h...

Can I go back to plan B, then? Even if the hon. Gentleman thinks that the Bill is not the right p...

That is a very interesting and constructive point, because we do want to have an evidence base. A...

May I take my hon. Friend back to where he left off? Does he agree that the threat to the use of ...

Yes, I do. That is very important, and that is why it is not surprising that experienced former j...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill), the Chair o...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire), not least...

I just wish to clarify my point about Members being distracted. I agree with the hon. Gentleman t...

I am sure some Members are distracted by that, but I am incredibly pleased that neither she nor I...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. The coalition Government, as I am sure he will know, inc...

I am not sure I would like to follow the experience of the United States in this matter, but my h...

A great shock to the defendant.

It was a great shock to the barristers, particularly when I sat in the planning court and the bar...

It is an absolute pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Henley (John Howell), and I am...

I hope that the introduction of new technology will mean speeding up casework, because for far to...

I absolutely agree. Like many Members, I have had a number of constituents come to me to raise co...

I draw hon. Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and I...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, because it gives me the chance to do justice ...

I am grateful to the Chair of the Justice Committee; he has saved me some time, because my hon. F...

It gives me great pleasure to respond to the debate on this Bill, which, as many have said, is a ...