UK Lord Chief Justice Calls For High Court To Be Scrapped

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

05 July 2004

Under proposals which have received the support of Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, and Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, the United Kingdom could see the High Court and county courts scrapped in favour of a single civil jurisdiction.

Under the current system, High Court judges in the Queens Bench Division work in the criminal and county courts when they are not working on QBD cases. Speaking to the Law Gazette news service last week, Lord Phillips explained the implications of this, observing that:

"If you start a case in the High Court, you won't always get a High Court judge trying it. I think logic drives one to the conclusion that we ought to have a single civil jurisdiction."

Supporters of the reforms have argued that under the proposed system, cases could be allotted to suitable judges, thus increasing the fluidity of the judiciary.

Lord Woolf supported this view, telling the Law Gazette that: "The fewer the structural barriers within the civil justice system the better."

Law Society President, Peter Williamson also came out in favour of the proposals, observing that:

"There is much to be said for replacing the current two-court system with a single, civil jurisdiction. We believe it could improve efficiency, reduce overall costs and improve access to justice by bringing greater clarity to the procedures."

However, he added the proviso that: "Any reform process must preserve the quality of our senior judiciary."

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