Ministers consider plans to privatise court system

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Ministers are considering plans to privatise the courts system after a Whitehall inquiry exposed wide variations in the administration of justice across the country.

All the higher courts in England and Wales and their 10,000 staff have been included in the review. It was headed by Kenneth MacKenzie, a retired senior civil servant, and ended on Friday.

Among the candidates for privatisation are court security and departments responsible for storing court records.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's Department said that the final decision on the status of certain court services would be taken by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, when he had received final recommendations in the spring.

After the fiasco of railway privatisation, and against a background of greater private-sector involvement in the National Health Service, any proposal to allow businesses to profit from the justice system will prove controversial.

In the first ever review of the Court Service agency, the Government has asked lawyers and the public whether underperforming courts would benefit from privatisation.

Many responses have highlighted concern that the administration of justice varies greatly from court to court. The most serious criticisms are that delays in hearings and poor service to witnesses and defendants are hampering the application of justice.

These concerns echo those made by Sir Robin Auld in his review of the criminal courts published in October. He recommended setting up a unified criminal court after reporting that the "overwhelming weight of submissions ... shows that the machinery of criminal justice is not working as well or as fairly and as sensitively as it could".

A spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's Department said total privatisation was not an option, but acknowledged that some services could be given to private companies. "There are some discrete functions of the Courts Service which have been contracted out for some years but these contracts are still managed by the Courts Service," she added.

The MacKenzie review questions whether the status of the Court Service as an executive agency of the Government "provides the most appropriate means of the delivery of court services over the next five years as against privatisation". But while many of those who took part in the review said they wanted to see a more "commercially aware" approach by the courts, lawyers and unions oppose privatisation. The First Division Association, the trade union for senior civil servants, said it would oppose any proposal to privatise services.

Rosie Eagleson, general secretary of AMO, the magistrates' courts staff union, said: "We would be absolutely appalled if the public sector lost its responsibility for the administration of justice." But she added: "There are specific areas which are vulnerable to the threat of privatisation."

The Solicitors' Family Law Association said most members would oppose plans for privatisation. It said: "To achieve greater consistency across the Courts Service there should be better enforcement of minimum standards."

The association told Mr MacKenzie: "Some of our members feel they and their clients receive an excellent service ... others receive what they regard as an appalling service."

Lawyers and court staff have complained of a creeping privatisation of the courts, from prisoner security to the register of county court judgments. Fears have been raised that the role of court bailiffs will soon be performed by private security companies.

Supporters of a privatising programme argue that a uniform approach to the administration of justice would help to iron out local and regional variations in the administration of justice. An injection of private finance might also end the trend towards the closure of under-used courts, mostly in rural areas.

The Courts Service, established in 1995, has administrative responsibility for the Court of Appeal, the High Court, crown courts and some tribunals, and advises the Lord Chancellor on the administration of justice in magistrates' courts.