The Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC) was a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, responsible for supervising and regulating

administrative justice Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), adjudica ...

and

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

s. It was created by the

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (c. 15) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for several diverse matters relating to the law, some of them being significant changes to the structure of the courts and fund ...

, and came into being on the 1 November 2007, under the chairmanship of Baron Newton of Braintree. It was abolished as of 19 August 2013 by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government under the

Public Bodies Act 2011 The Public Bodies Act 2011c 24 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for t ...

Composition

The Council was composed of: *The

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

; and *Between ten and fifteen members who were appointed by the

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

, the

Scottish ministers The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...

and the

Welsh Ministers The Welsh Government ( ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Wales. The government consists of cabinet secretaries and ministers. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the Senedd (Welsh Pa ...

. There was a Scottish committee of the Council composed of: *The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration; *The

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the organisation that handles complaints about public services in Scotland. The Ombudsman service is independent of government and with a duty to act impartially. The SPSO is responsible for looki ...

; *Scottish members of the Council. There was a Welsh committee of the Council composed of: *The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration; *The Welsh Public Services Ombudsman; *Welsh members of the Council.

Functions of the Council

Administrative justice

The "administrative justice system” is the overall system by which decisions of an administrative or executive nature are made in relation to particular persons, including: *Procedures for making such decisions; *

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

under which such decisions are made; and *Systems for resolving disputes and airing grievances in relation to such decisions. The Council was to: *Keep the administrative justice system under review; *Consider ways to make the system accessible, fair and efficient; *Give advice on the development of the system to: **Lord Chancellor, **Scottish Ministers, **Welsh Ministers, and **

Senior President of Tribunals The Senior President of Tribunals is a senior judge in the United Kingdom who presides over the UK tribunal system. The Senior President is appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Lord Chancellor following the recommen ...

; *Refer proposals for changes in the system to those persons; and *Make proposals for research into the system. The Council could make reports on any of these issues it thinks appropriate.

Tribunals

The Council was to keep under review, and report on, the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

and working of the listed tribunals (the tribunals under its supervision), in general and individually. It is also to report on any other matter relating to the listed tribunals or referred to it by the Lord Chancellor, the Scottish and Welsh ministers. The Council could scrutinise and comment on

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

relating to tribunals. The listed tribunals will ultimately be the

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is a first-instance general tribunal in the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since t ...

and

Upper Tribunal The Upper Tribunal is a superior court of record and general tribunal in the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and to ...

created under the 2007 Act but, during the transitional period 107 existing tribunals were transferred to the supervision of the Council on 1 November 2007.

Statutory inquiries

The Council was to keep under review, and report on, the constitution and working of statutory inquiries, any important matter that relates to statutory inquiries or which was referred to it.

Programme of work

In planning its programme of work, the Council had to consider the work of: *The

Civil Justice Council The Civil Justice Council is a UK non-departmental public body that advises the Lord Chancellor on civil law (common law), civil justice and civil procedure in England and Wales. It was established in 1998 under section 6 of the Civil Procedure A ...

; *The

Social Security Advisory Committee The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) is a statutory body that provides impartial advice to the UK government on social security issues. When the SSAC reports on government proposals for regulations the report must be presented to Parliament ...

; and *The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. The Council had to publish an

annual report An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance. ...

, s.44/ Sch.7, para.21

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom 2013 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Government agencies established in 2007 Government agencies disestablished in 2013 Legal organisations based in the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) United Kingdom administrative law