Legal Village

Government's justice ministry meddling will only muddy the waters

Posted 2/04/2007 by Jonathan Djanogly

I had thought the revised role of the Lord Chancellor included standing up for the judges and the independence of the judiciary. But in the light of Thursday’s announcement, this claim must be under serious doubt.

Tony Blair claimed the new Ministry of Justice “will help to bring together management of the criminal justice system, meaning that once a suspect has been charged, their journey through the courts – and, if necessary, prison and probation – can be managed seamlessly”.

What does this new piece of jargon – seamless management – actually mean? And who knows how splitting the Home Office is likely to guarantee a seamless delivery of justice?

In addition to the funding crisis facing the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), with swingeing cuts this year and next, Lord Falconer – who should be protecting the judiciary – is also attacking them. Only last week, he criticised judges for suggesting that prisoners should serve shorter sentences in order to prevent overcrowding. How does this come within his remit; and is this not another example of how this Government is dangerously confusing roles such as that of the Attorney General?

The melee around the new legal aid contracts and the cuts in the legal aid budget are also symptomatic of the many problems the Government and the DCA face over other woeful attempts at ‘reform’.

The Ministry of Justice itself sounds like something from the world of cartoons. Should we expect to see Charlie Falconer, as the new Justice Minister emerging from the DCA precincts, armed and clad like Judge Dredd, ready to dispense justice seamlessly? Or will this be another spectacular waste of money as the Government attempts to pack the mess it has made into smaller piles of muddle?

With the Easter recess of Parliament upon us, this leaves civil servants with four weeks to ensure that the two departments communicate seamlessly. Who is it that will take the rap when this latest piece of ill-thought through reorganisation founders? Will Falconer be transferred as fast as you can say ‘Margaret Beckett’?

It is the police who will actually be responsible for ensuring that they communicate with the right people, since they will be inter-reacting with the Home Office and the new justice ministry. Is two weeks long enough to roll the message out to the rank and file?

While the police and the judiciary make easy scapegoats, this radical change should clearly not have been rushed through without debate. Remember, the reason John Reid was made Home Secretary in the first place was because of miscommunication between the Prison Department and the Immigration Department.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis pointed out that  the proposal had been described as “batty” by one of Reid’s predecessors, “Balkanisation” by the one before that and similarly dismissed by this Home Secretary only last year.

Clearly, Blair is intent on leaving even more of a muddle for the Chancellor to deal with. As many observers have pointed out, if the services are not working in the Home Office, how are they to work better and how are communications to improve by splitting the department?