UK Law Articles
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The Times
September 12 2000
Lawyers told not to waste courts' time
BY FRANCES GIBB, LEGAL EDITOR
THE Queen's Counsel credited as the architect of the Human Rights Act has told lawyers not to clog up the courts with "bad" cases.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill, QC, who led the campaign for the Act over 20 years, said: "The challenge for the courts and the legal profession is to make the Act a measure that commands widespread public confidence. Lawyers could bring the Act into disrepute by bringing misconceived or poorly prepared cases, clogging up the system and creating a judicial backlash."
The Act, which takes effect on October 2, was "not a gravy train for lawyers," he added. "It is up to all of us to use it in pursuit not only of our clients' interests but in the wider public interest in justice and human rights' protection."
Already sets of barristers' chambers are promoting their expertise in the Act. Earlier this year Cherie Booth, a QC in employment and human rights law, helped to found Matrix Chambers, dedicated to human rights work.
The Act, which enshrines the European Convention on Human Rights, is the first statute setting out people's rights and responsibilities since the Bill of Rights in 1688.
Some £60 million has been set aside by the Lord Chancellor's Department to cope with the legal costs: £39 million for legal aid and £21 million for extra court sittings, if needed.
Powers have been granted by Parliament for eight more High Court judges to tackle the extra workload and the number of judicial review courts - those hearing challenges to public bodies - has been doubled to 12 a day.
John Wadham, director of the civil rights group Liberty, said it was "probably the most important positive change for rights since the Bill of Rights". He added: "People can now be much more confident that their rights will be respected - to privacy, for example, or to a fair trial."
Others dislike the Act. Lord Kingsland, the Shadow Lord Chancellor, says that it shifts legislative power to the judges; and the former Home Secretary Michael Howard argues that it constitutes "a profound weakening of our accountable democratic traditions".
Francis Bennion, a parliamentary draftsman, says that it will bring "confusion to our laws with little corresponding benefit - except to legal practitioners in the field".
