Using tribunals will be much easier under new regulations, according to Lord Falconer, secretary of state at the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
Addressing the annual conference of the Council on Tribunals, Lord Falconer said reforms set out in the Queen’s speech such as bringing tribunals under one executive agency would make life easier for those who go to tribunals.
Lord Falconer said: “There are probably more hearings in tribunals than there are in the courts. They matter because people need confidence that they can obtain justice in their dealings with the state and in their workplace. They need the safeguards that tribunals can provide.
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“But they need them to resolve their disputes quickly and fairly, in a way that is proportionate to the scale of the problems,” he said.
The Judicial Appointments Commission will make all appointments to the judiciary in the new tribunals system. Additionally, all tribunals will be managed by an executive agency that will work with judges and the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) ministers, rather than to different ministers across Whitehall.
