The Civil Justice Council is a UK

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 ...

that advises 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 ...

civil justice Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law.Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 19 ...

and

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and regulations along with some standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or ca ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

. It was established in 1998 under section 6 of the

Civil Procedure Act 1997 The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Court in civil ...

and is sponsored by the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. It is chaired by the

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...

Composition

The Council must include: *Members of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

; *Members of the

legal profession Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first pass a bar examination after obtaining a law degree or some other form of l ...

s; *

Civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

s concerned with the administration of the courts; *Persons experienced in

consumer affairs Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesse ...

; *Persons experienced in lay advice; and *Representatives of particular kinds of litigants, for example,

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

es or

employee Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

s. *Chair:

and Head of Civil Justice, Sir

Geoffrey Vos Sir Geoffrey Charles Vos (born 22 April 1955) is a judge in England and Wales. Since January 2021, he has held the positions of Master of the Rolls and the Head of Civil Justice in England and Wales. Early life and education Geoffrey Charles ...

; *24 members; *''

Ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' members: ** Deputy Head of Civil Justice;

Functions

The Council's functions are to: *Keep the civil justice system under review; *Consider how to make the civil justice system more accessible, fair and efficient; *Advise the Lord Chancellor and the judiciary on the development of the civil justice system; *Refer proposals for changes in the civil justice system to the Lord Chancellor and the Civil Procedure Rules Committee; and *Make proposals for

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

. Subcommittees include: *Access to justice committee; *

Costs Cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is ...

committee; (whose Chair is Mr Justice Foskett QC and members include Senior Costs Judge Peter Hurst, Simon Brown QC, John Windsor (Marks and Spencer) Chris Warner (Which?) Murray Heining, Helen Buczynksky (Unison) HHJ Hodge QC, District Judge Marshall Philips, Peter Causton (solicitor representing defendant solicitors), David Marshall (solicitor representing claimant solicitors) David Greene (solicitor representing commercial litigation solicitors) Robert Wright and Adrian Jaggard). The purpose of the costs committee is to advise the Master of The Rolls as to Guideline Hourly rates to be referred to in summary assessment of costs, based upon evidence. *

Alternative Dispute Resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

committee; *

Experts An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field or area of study. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognize ...

committee. In February 2008, the Ministry of Justice announced a study of the work of the Council to: *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 1997 Act; *Review whether a non-departmental body remains the most appropriate institution; *Assess the past effectiveness of the Council; and *Consider ways in which the Council could be made more effective.

References

External links

* * {{Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) Organizations established in 1998 Legal organisations based in England and Wales Civil procedure Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom English civil law 1998 establishments in England