Ministry of Justice
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The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council publishes its first annual report
RELEASED BY THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE PRESS OFFICE ON BEHALF OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE AND TRIBUNALS COUNCIL
The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC) publishes its first Annual Report today. The 2007/08 Report bridges the last 7 months of the operation of its predecessor body, the former Council on Tribunals (CoT), and the first five months of the new AJTC.
In his preface the AJTC's Chairman, Lord Newton of Braintree, says "after a year in which we have looked back with some pride on nearly 50 years of the Council on Tribunals we are all now looking firmly forward to our future as the AJTC".
He also explains the importance of the AJTC's new, wider remit to keep under review the whole administrative justice system: "In the end it's about helping to promote good quality decision-making by government, local councils and agencies - and ensuring that there are accessible, fair and effective means of securing correction or redress when grievances arise. These are things that matter to every citizen".
The report headlines some of the issues emerging from the AJTC's 2008/09 work programme, including:
* Beginning work to explore the possibility of developing generally applicable principles of administrative justice.
* Collaborative work with the Ministry of Justice, the Civil Justice Council and others to identify opportunities for promoting proportionate dispute resolution across the administrative justice landscape.
* Participation in the work of the Tribunal Procedure Committee in drafting procedural rules for the new Tribunal Chambers and Upper Tribunal.
* Building on the CoT's Tribunal User Groups Survey to ensure that there is an effective network of user groups in the reformed tribunals system.
* Working with the Tribunals Service and the Senior President of Tribunals to ensure that their respective reporting arrangements provide an adequate account of the performance of tribunals from the perspective of tribunal users.
* Publication of a paper reviewing sources of funding for research in the field of administrative justice, identifying current projects and assessing future research capabilities and priorities.
Notes to Editors
1. The AJTC's Annual Report for 2007-08 is published by The Stationery Office, priced £19.15. The report can also be obtained from the AJTC's website http://www.ajtc.gov.uk.
2. The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council was established by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to replace the Council on Tribunals. Its statutory functions include keeping under review the administrative justice system and reporting on the constitution and working of listed tribunals. The current Chairman of the AJTC is Lord Newton of Braintree.
3. Current members of the Council are:
The Lord Newton of Braintree OBE, DL
Professor Alistair
MacLeary
Professor Sir Adrian Webb
Elizabeth
Cameron
Sue Davis CBE
Penny Letts OBE
Bronwyn
McKenna
Bernard Quoroll
Professor Genevra Richardson
CBE
Dr Jonathan Spencer CB
Dr Adrian V Stokes OBE
Pat
Thomas CBE
Brian Thompson
Ann Abraham (ex officio, as
Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration)
4. The website at http://www.ajtc.gov.uk provides on-line access to information about the AJTC and its Reports and includes links to the websites of individual tribunal systems.
5. For further information about the AJTC's Annual Report or its work please contact:
Ray Burningham
AJTC
81 Chancery Lane
London
WC2A
1BQ
Telephone: 020 7855 5200
Website: http://www.ajtc.gov.uk
ENDS
