Justice Minister Bridget Prentice has commissioned Dr Jonathan Spencer, an external consultant, to carry out an independent review of the Civil Justice Council.
The Civil Justice Council, established in 1998, is an independent non-departmental body made up of representatives from the civil justice system. It is an advisory public body whose primary task is to promote the needs of civil justice and to monitor the system to ensure that progress to modernise it continues.
Dr Jonathan Spencer is carrying out the independent review of the Council in line with Cabinet Office Guidance for Public Bodies.
The review will examine:
- the Council's strengths and weaknesses, the extent to which it has established itself as an authoritative influence in the civil justice world, the extent to which it has chosen important issues to address, and its success in doing so
- the effectiveness of its chosen ways of working and the way in which it works and communicates with other organisations
- the ways in which the Council and its work should be adjusted to maximise its effectiveness in the future, together with your views on priority areas of work for it to address.
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4 February 2008: The Ministry of Justice has announced an independent review of the Civil Justice Council.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Bridget Prentice has made a written ministerial statement on the review, in which she said that 'the review is a timely opportunity to illustrate publicly the considerable achievements of the Council and to help it develop further'.
Terms of reference
The review will:
- review the role and performance of the Civil Justice Council and make recommendations
- evaluate the continuing need for body to perform the role and functions of the Council as set out in the Civil Procedure Act 1997
- review whether a non-departmental body like the Council remains the most appropriate form of body to carry out those functions
- assess the past effectiveness of the Council
- consider ways in which the Council could be made more effective