HM Courts and Tribunals Service in United Kingdom

HM Courts & Tribunals Service was created in 2011 as an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The Ministry of Justice is one of the largest government departments bringing together areas responsible for the administration of the courts, tribunals, legal aid, sentencing policy, prisons, the management of offenders and matters concerning laws and rights.

The Agency operates as a partnership between the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals.

The creation of HM Courts and Tribunals Service was from the old services of the Tribunals Service and HM Courts Service.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service provides the system of support, including infrastructure and resources, for the administration of the business of the courts in England and Wales and those tribunals throughout the United Kingdom, for which the Lord Chancellor is responsible. The agency provides the support necessary to enable the judiciary, tribunal members and magistracy to exercise their judicial functions independently.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service works with an independent judiciary to provide a fair, efficient and effective justice system.

Staff

The Chief Executive is responsible for the day-to-day operations and administration
of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service and for the leadership of its staff. He works under the general direction of the Board.

The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice will not intervene (whether directly or indirectly) in the day-to-day operations of the agency.

All staff of the agency have a joint responsibility to the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice for the effective, efficient and speedy operation of the courts and tribunals. All
members of the judiciary have a similar responsibility to the Lord Chief Justice to work with the staff to deliver these objectives.

Staff work in the agency is subject to the directions of the judiciary in relation to the conduct of the business of the courts and tribunals in matters such as listing, case allocation and case management, in accordance with existing Crown, county and magistrates’ court and tribunal processes.

Staff of the agency have a responsibility both to the Lord Chancellor and to the Lord Chief Justice to ensure that any advice they give is high-quality, impartial, transparent and honest.

Existing line management arrangements and the terms of conditions of employment of members of staff within the agency remain unaffected by the joint responsibility.

The extent to which staff fulfil their responsibility will be reflected in the annual objectives and appraisals of all Senior Civil Servants within HM Courts and Tribunals Service and those in the courts and tribunals who work most closely with the judiciary.

Locations

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service has an estate of around 500 buildings in England and
Wales. This estate is a result of a series of organisational mergers which culminated in the creation of HM Courts & Tribunals Service in 2011. There are 236 magistrates’ courts; 172 county courts; 76 main Crown Court centres (and another 15 Crown Court ‘satellite’ centres); and tribunals sit at around 100 locations.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service courts

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service administers the work of the Royal Courts of Justice, the County Court, the Family Court, the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts.

In 2014, the HM Courts and Tribunals Service provided the introduction of the single Family Court and the introduction of the single County Court.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service tribunals

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service is responsible for the following tribunals:

• Gangmaster Licensing Appeals
• Pathogens Access Appeal Commission
• Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commissionç
• Employment Tribunal
• Employment Appeal Tribunal
• Gender Recognition Panel
• Reserve Forces Appeal Tribunal
• Special Immigration Appeals Commission

First-tier Tribunal:

• General Regulatory Chamber
• Immigration and Asylum Chamber
• Mental Health
• Primary Health Lists
• Asylum Support
• Care Standards
• Criminal Injuries Compensation
• Property Chamber
• Social Security and Child Support
• Special Educational Needs and Disability
• Tax Chamber
• War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation

Upper Tribunal:

• Administrative Appeals Chamber
• Immigration and Asylum Chamber
• Lands Chamber
• Tax and Chancery Chamber

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service responsibilities

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service is also responsible for non-devolved tribunals in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service is responsible for:

• providing the supporting administration for a fair, efficient and accessible courts and tribunal system
• supporting an independent judiciary in the administration of justice
• driving improvements across all aspects of the administration of the courts and tribunals
• collaborating effectively with other justice organisations and agencies, including the legal professions, to improve access to justice
• working with government departments and agencies to improve the quality and timeliness of their decision-making, which will reduce the number of cases coming before courts and tribunals

Complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigates complaints from
individuals who have received poor service from government departments, other public
organisations and the NHS in England. It has the power, in law, to investigate and make the final
decision on complaints about public services for individuals. It can also recommend how mistakes can be put right and ask organisations to produce action plans to show how they will be implemented.

In the year 2014, the Ombudsman accepted 66 complaints against HM Courts & Tribunals Service for investigation; of these 51 were completed in 2014.