Lord Justice Briggs, who conducted a similar exercise looking at the Chancery courts in 2013, will lead the review. He has been asked to produce an interim report by the end of the year, according to the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls, who made the announcement. The Master of the Rolls is the most senior civil court judge in England and Wales.
According to the announcement, Lord Justice Briggs’ work will feed into the wider courts reform programme being conducted by the Ministry of Justice, while also looking at the overall structure of the civil justice system. He will also look at the relationship between those courts with the family court, and with the various tribunals.
“This will help to ensure that the reform programme designs a service which makes best use of the large capital investment proposed and provides a modern, efficient and accessible civil dispute resolution service for all,” the senior judges said.