652 / 736
itself differ greatly from one type of tribunal to
another. As you know, the Council on Tribunals
has been looking into the question of assistance
in proceedings before tribunals and will be re
porting to me soon. But the idea of a flat rate
contribution 'on the stamp' does not at present
attract me as a particularly equitable way out of
the problem. Following the advice of the Legal
Aid Advisory Committee, legal aid was extended
to the Lands Tribunal. That committee recom
mended against further extension (Legal Aid and
Advice report for 1966-67, HC Paper no 373 of
1968, p 56, para 22) and it would be a bold man
who pressed a view to the contrary in the present
financial climate.
Editor:
(c)
Have you any comment on the
Consumer Council's recent report recommending
Small Claims Courts at which legal representation
would be prohibited?
Lord Chancellor:
I agree with the Consumer
Council in thinking that it should be possible to
simplify county court procedure in the case of
small claim and I hope before long to be able to
announce something about this. But there are
features of the report I find less attractive. I could
not support a court from which particular classes
of litigants were excluded or in which represen
tation is prohibited, and, like the Council on Tri
bunals in its recent report, I do not as a matter
of general policy view with favour proposals for
the proliferation of separate courts with special
jurisdictions unless other solutions have been tried
and found wanting. I do not think one can over
look, and I think the Consumer Council under
estimates, the burden on public funds which the
proposal in its present form would involve, or the
difficulty of bearing the additional load in terms
of manpower at a time when court delays are a
serious problem, and the new Divorce Act will
be pressing very heavily on county court staff.
In other words, I hope to
achieve
the main
objective by other means.
County courts
Editor:
4
(a)
Does not the report just men
tioned indicate that county courts are failing to
fill the role originally envisaged for them?
Lord Chancellor:
No. Despite the additional
jurisdiction which Parliament is constantly assign
ing to them the county courts s'till manage to fill
their original role as the poor man's courts. The
figures for costs given in the report relate to con
tested cases, which are a small proportion of the
whole, and it must be emphasised that very often
comparatively small claims may raise difficult
issues of law and fact, which is something I believe
the Consumer Council tends to overlook.
Editor:
(b)
Nevertheless, should there not be
a drive to simplify county court procedure?
Lord Chancellor:
As I have said, this is some
thing which I have very much in mind, particu
larly in classes of case where litigants are likely
to appear in person.
Editor:
(c) In view of the widespread handling
of business by solicitors before county courts,
should they not be eligible for appointment to the
county court bench?
Lord Chancellor:
I do not myself think that
this would be an improvement. This will no doubt
be debated when the bill to give effect to the pro
posals of the Beeching Commission comes before
Parliament. Quite apart from any other consider
ation, I do not ordinarily appoint to the county
court bench barristers with a practice mainly or
exclusively in the county courts, and therefore
the premise on which the question is based is un
sound. Especially with their proposed new juris
diction, county court judges must be chosen from
the most experienced and successful practitioners
of that profession or
those professions which
Parliament decides to be appropriate.
I have
found in connection with appointments of county
court registrars that solicitors are generally un
willing to be moved from their own area.
Editor:
(d)
Should not registrars of county
courts anyway be so eligible?
Lord Chancellor:
This does not seem to be
more than a slightly less attractive variant of the
last suggestion. Apart from any other consider
ation a registrar is selected on the basis of his
experience of the work of the county courts and
he may know nothing whatever of the criminal
courts. The county court judges, on the other
hand, are nowadays expected to an increasing
extent to be able to sit at sessions and under
Beeching every newly appointed circuit judge will
have to be ready to sit in the Crown Court if called
192