This Report covers the expenditure plans of the Lord Chancellor's and Law Officers' Departments for 1998-99. The plans are summarised in Table 1 below, and set out in more detail in the following chapters. The chapters are ordered so as to group together Departments responsible to the same Minister.
TABLE 1: Summary Cash plans Class VIII Votes 1-7 |
The Lord Chancellor is responsible for the Lord Chancellor's Department (including the Court Service and Public Trust Office executive agencies), the Northern Ireland Court Service, the Public Record Office and HM Land Registry.
The Attorney General is responsible for the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and the Treasury Solicitor's Department.
The Lord Advocate is responsible for the Crown Office Scotland.
The Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) supports the Lord Chancellor in the appointment of judges, Queen's Counsel, magistrates and tribunal Chairmen and members. It oversees the local administration of the magistrates' courts. Through the Legal Aid Board and the courts, it is also responsible for funding the legal aid scheme, and it promotes the provision of legal services and wider access to justice. It also promotes the reform of civil law in England and Wales and sponsors the Law Commission.
The Court Service, which became an executive agency in April 1995, provides administrative support for the higher courts and certain tribunals in England and Wales.
The Public Trust Office, which acts as trustee and executor of estates and protects the properties and affairs of mentally incapable people, became an executive agency in July 1994. The Lord Chancellor is accountable to Parliament for the Court Service and Public Trust Office, but decisions relating to the day-to-day running of agencies are the responsibility of their chief executives. They are directly accountable to the Lord Chancellor for the effective and efficient management of each agency.
The Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) is similarly responsible for the administration of justice, including the provision of legal aid, in Northern Ireland.
The Public Record Office (PRO) is entrusted with the maintenance of the core of the national archival heritage, advises government departments on the selection of records for preservation and makes records available to the public.
HM Land Registry maintains a register of title to freehold and leasehold land in England and Wales, and delivers land registration services to the public.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, was set up under the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. It is responsible for deciding independently whether criminal proceedings begun by the police in England and Wales should be continued, and for prosecuting those cases it decides to continue.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was set up under the Criminal Justice Act 1987. It investigates and prosecutes the most serious or complex cases of fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and thus contributes to the deterrence of such fraud.
The Treasury Solicitor's Department provides legal services to most Government departments. The Treasury Solicitor is the Head of the Government Legal Service. The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, which serves the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, is also included in this report.
The Crown Office (Scotland) is the headquarters of the Procurator Fiscal Service, which provides Scotland's system of independent public prosecution, investigating crime, sudden and suspicious deaths and fires, and holding Fatal Accident Inquiries. The Lord Advocate's Department in London (for which the Crown Agent is the Accounting Officer) houses the Scottish Parliamentary Draftsmen.