Editors --- "UK Tribunal Reforms: An Update" [2006] AdminRw 20; (2006) 57 Admin Review 95

• UK tribunal reforms: an update

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UK tribunal reforms: an update

In July 2004 the UK Government released Transforming Public Services: complaints, redress and tribunals, a white paper outlining the government response to a report by Sir Andrew Leggatt that recommended major reforms to the UK tribunal system.

The white paper details implementation of the Leggatt report’s primary recommendation—to create a unified Tribunals Service located within a central agency, replacing the previous system whereby individual tribunals were separate and located within the department whose decisions they reviewed. The white paper seeks, however, to go beyond the recommendations of the Leggatt report by placing the tribunal system in the wider context of reforming the ‘whole end to end process for administrative justice’ and dispute resolution systems more generally.^[1]

The new Tribunals Service will aim to resolve disputes in the best way possible, whether by formal or informal methods, and to prevent disputes from arising by improving the quality of decision making in the first instance. The organisation will focus on providing common administrative support to the 10 largest tribunals administered by central government, which account for more than 90 per cent of current cases. These and other tribunals will come together to promote greater independence from their associated departments, to share facilities in order to allow better access, and to standardise application and appeal procedures and provide common pathways through the process.

The white paper also proposes to change the Council on Tribunals, which was established in 1958, to the Administrative Justice Council. This new Council will carry more authority within government and place greater emphasis on the direction of administrative justice generally, rather than focusing on specific matters. It will also devote more time to producing general tribunal information for applicants and best-practice guides for the tribunals.

On 4 April 2005 the start of the ‘transitional year’ was announced, one year before the official launch of both the Tribunals Service and the Administrative Justice Council.

More information about the changes is available at <http://www.tribunalservice.gov.uk/>.

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^[1] UK Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs 2004, Transforming Public Services: complaints, redress and tribunals, HMSO, London, para 1.12.