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While the Leggatt Report, and its recommendations for the structural reform of tribunals, continues to attract a great deal of attention, it is important to note that two other major initiatives affecting the way in which tribunals work are moving forward to finalisation and implementation. The first of these initiatives is the Council on Tribunals' new Framework of Standards. The Framework outlines the issues that the Council is concerned with in its review of the work of tribunals. It makes clear the Council's priorities and will assist tribunals in reviewing their own performance. The second initiative is the development by the JSB of a competence framework for tribunal training. This framework sets out the basic areas of knowledge, skill, behaviour, and personal qualities required to fulfil a particular tribunal role effectively and can be used in the design of tribunal training programmes. The broad objective of all of these important areas of reform is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the tribunals system while promoting the highest standards of professionalism among tribunal chairs and members. The work being undertaken by the Council on Tribunals and the JSB contributes to the vision of the Leggatt Report, but the implementation of the Standards and Competences Frameworks will not be constrained by the scope or timetable of any reforms to be introduced as a result of Leggatt Report. I am therefore pleased that this issue of the journal includes pieces on each of the three limbs of reform, and a description of the work of the Tribunals for Users Programme at the Lord Chancellor's Department, which is currently taking Sir Andrew Leggatt's proposals forward. This issue also includes a further response to the Leggatt Report from the user's viewpoint, as described by the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Given the emphasis in the Leggatt Report on the need for tribunals to be accessible to users, NACAB's assessment makes very interesting reading. Professor
Hazel Genn |
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Crown Court |