Tribunals leadership: Consultation on reform of the office of Senior President of Tribunals
This paper sets out for consultation the proposal to reform the office of Senior President of Tribunals, as part of One Judiciary, the wider work to bring greater cohesion between the courts and tribunals.
The independent office of Senior President of Tribunals (SPT) provides leadership to the tribunals judiciary. Since the creation of the statutory office, the senior judiciary across the courts and tribunals have taken forward a number of initiatives to bring the courts and tribunals closer together (the ‘One Judiciary’ programme) and shape a modern justice system.
To give further support to One Judiciary, the government proposes to replace the existing office of SPT, which sits outside the England and Wales judicial structure, with a reconfigured one under the leadership of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, so that tribunals and courts judges alike are part of a single judicial structure. Under the proposals, the reconfigured office would, as now, provide for the independent exercise of responsibilities relating to reserved tribunals outside England and Wales.
This consultation follows the joint announcement last year, made by the then Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals, of work towards the creation of a unified leadership structure.