Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

In a statement issued by the Lord Chancellor at the end of March 2010, shortly before Parliament rose for the General Election Campaign, the Government indicated that is was engaged in another major set of structural changes to the institutional framework of the English legal system – namely merger of the Courts and Tribunals Services. There was also mention of changing the institutional context within which the Parole Board operates.

The statement conceded that these changes would require a great deal of further work before they could be implemented. The details are unlikely to be available for some time. Underlying the proposals, however, is a clear intention within the Ministry of Justice that it should start to make its contribution to the substantial efficiency savings that all politicians agree must be achieved as part of the overall strategy of getting Britain’s public finances into better shape.