Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

The Government has just published the first Annual Report giving details of its responses to Law Commission reports. These are made under the Law Commissions Act 2009.

Having been a Law Commissioner I am particularly interested in those reports for which I was responsible. At least 2 – Publication of Local Authority Reports and Housing: Proportionate Dispute Resolution – are not mentioned at all. And a key feature of our work on Housing – that the law affecting all landlords, whether private or public sector, should be unified – is also wholly ignored.

There are an awful lot of other reports which are still in the pending trays in Government. Perhaps it is understandable that at the beginning of a new Parliament with a new Government wanting to deliver lots of new initiatives, detailed matters of law reform are lower on the political agenda.

This will need careful scrutiny to see whether the Law Commission’s impact is what it should be – given the resources devoted to its work.

The report is available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/report-law-commission-proposals-jan-2011.htm

Welcome to 2011 – the year when many of the policies outlined by the Coalition Government start to take shape. Among developments to watch will be:
1 Impact of the Legal Services Act 2007 on shaping the legal profession and how they deliver legal services;
2 Sentencing policy – will the plans outlined by the Lord Chancellor survive political pressures within the Government?
3 Legal aid – what will remain of legal aid, particularly civil legal aid and how will legal services to the poor actually be delivered?
I will try to keep you up to date in the blog.
Meantime, have a very happy New Year!