Ministry of Justice
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Review of the Civil Justice Council
An independent review of the Civil Justice Council was announced by the Ministry of Justice today.
The Civil Justice Council is an advisory public body with responsibility for overseeing and co-ordinating the modernisation of the civil justice system.
The review will examine in particular:
* 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, including the Council itself, its committees and the secretariat, and including the way in which it works and communicates with other organisations; and
* the ways in which the Council and its work should be adjusted, if at all, to maximise its effectiveness in the future.
Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said:
"The review is a timely opportunity to illustrate publicly the considerable achievements of the Civil Justice Council and to help it develop further."
The review will be conducted by Dr Jonathan Spencer and will seek the views of the members, those who work with the Council and the end users of the Civil Justice System. It is due to be complete in spring 2008.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Civil Justice Council was established in 1998 and has never been reviewed formally.
2. Dr Jonathan Spencer CB, an external consultant, was a board member at the DCA from 2002 to 2005 responsible for DCA consumer strategy and for a wide range of constitutional and justice system reform programmes. As a consultant he also carried out a highly regarded review of the Family Justice Council in 2006. He has both the experience and independence to carry out a proportionate and intelligent review.
3. Information about the review and its terms of reference can be found at the Ministry of Justice website: http://www.justice.gov.uk/reviews/civil-justice-intro.htm
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