News : July 2007
Conference: Advancing Administrative Justice in Wales
In June the Council hosted a conference on 'Advancing Administrative Justice in Wales', its second national event in Wales. Opened by Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan, the conference provided an opportunity to discuss issues of common interest and to identify future priorities in advancing administrative justice in Wales.
In the morning session we were pleased to welcome Lord Justice Thomas and His Honour Judge Hickinbottom who spoke about administrative justice and tribunal reform in Wales.
Guy Tompkins, Regional Director in the Tribunals Service spoke about the Tribunals Service strategy in Wales. The final morning session was an illuminating review of the current use of Welsh Language in the justice sector by Her Honour Judge Eleri Rees who holds the position of Liaison Judge for the Welsh Language.
In the afternoon delegates heard perspectives on the administrative justice scene in Scotland and Northern Ireland, from Alistair MacLeary, the Chairman of the Council's Scottish Committee and Siobhan Broderick from the Northern Ireland Court Service.
A full report of the conference will be available on the Council's website in due course.
Tribunals Service: Welsh Language Scheme
The Tribunals Service's support for the principles of the Welsh Language Act 1993, has been set out in its Welsh Language Scheme which is currently out for public consultation.
The scheme sets out how the Tribunals Service will ensure the Welsh and English languages are treated on a basis of equality when dealing with the public in Wales.
The scheme has been drawn up over the last year by Tribunals Service judiciary and staff with the assistance of representatives from the Welsh Language Board, Her Majesty's Courts Service and Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales. The group has helpfully provided advice on the draft Welsh Language Scheme as well as other issues ranging from language training to the recruitment of Welsh speaking members.
The scheme sets out how the Tribunals Service will provide a service in Welsh to the public in Wales and covers:
- Service planning and delivery;
- Dealing with the Welsh speaking public;
- Our public face; and,
- Implementing the scheme
The aim is for the Tribunals Service to become fully compliant with their Welsh Language Scheme within four years of it coming into effect, although they have already started working to ensure that consideration is given to the Welsh Language for their customers in Wales.
Following the public consultation period which ended on 10 July 2007, the Tribunals Service is intending to launch its scheme at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Mold on 7 August.
- View the consultation document (pdf, 470KB)
Council on Tribunals: MHRT Round Table Discussion
The Council held a round table discussion with key representatives from the Mental Health Review Tribunal's (MHRT) key stakeholder groups to discuss the findings of a recent MHRT stakeholder survey.
The meeting, chaired by the Council's Chairman, Lord Newton, heard presentations from Corinne Ryan of the Institute of Mental Health Act Practitioners; Richard Charlton, of the Mental Health Lawyers Association; and Marion Rickman, a legal member of the MHRT.
The key areas for improvement identified by the survey included:
- timeliness and efficiency of processes
- ease of contact and communication being actioned
- office staff competency and skills
- strategic direction and feedback
- organisation and process.
The meeting was also attended by Jeanne Spinks, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive of the Tribunals Service (TS) and Guy Tompkins, TS Area Director, who acknowledged concern about the MHRT's administrative failings and set out the Tribunals Service's long-term programme of improvements, which included:
- relocating the MHRT secretariat to Leicester by March 2008 to improve staff recruitment and retention rates
- introducing experienced managers from other well performing tribunals into the management team
- replacing the IT database
- designing and rolling out the electronic movement of documents between the secretariat and its key stakeholder groups, i.e. hospitals, solicitors and MHRT members
- setting up a customer service team to handle all complaints.