Administrative Justice Council making progress in addressing fragmentation of system, says Chair

The Administrative Justice Council has been struck over its first year of operation by the extent of the fragmentation of the administrative justice system, and the way in which its leadership and governance has developed in a piecemeal fashion over the years, its Chair has said.

Writing in the AJC’s first annual report, Sir Ernest Ryder, who is also Senior President of Tribunals, said: “We have tried to address that question by putting the ‘user’ at the heart of our endeavour and our desire to help build a more coherent and collaborative administrative justice system that streamlines the decision making and appeals processes, making them more effective, efficient, fair and accessible for users.”

The AJC was set up in March 2018 as the successor body to the Administrative Justice Forum. It provides oversight and advice on administrative justice across the UK. 

Sir Ernest said the organisation had made “remarkable progress” in its first year, pointing to the establishment of the full Council, a Steering Group and three panels - the Pro Bono Panel, the Academic Panel and the Advice Sector Panel.

The AJC Chair said the panels had identified key areas within the administrative justice system that needed scrutiny and/or improvement and had undertaken and commissioned the work outlined in the annual report.

He added that the AJC’s first four areas of focus are:

• The improvement of first instance administrative decision-making;
• The impact of the courts and tribunals modernisation programme;
• The impact of ombudsman reform; and
• The relationship between the tribunals and ombudsman.

It has developed four research projects underneath these themes which seek to improve different parts of the system:

• a polluter pays proposal to improve first instance decision-making;
• a project which demonstrates the impact of incorrect decision-making by the Department of Work and Pensions to both the individual and public purse;
• a stakeholder engagement survey to show the capacity of frontline services to assist people with appealing online; and
• an ombudsman and tribunals familiarisation programme to improve the relationship between the ombudsman and tribunal service.

Speaking about the report, Sir Ernest Ryder said: “We have made huge strides, in addressing some of the ongoing concerns in administrative justice. Our annual report demonstrates the hard work by our three panels in identifying real problems for users of the system. Over the year, they have produced research-based projects which will lead to practical recommendations for change. I look forward to working with the Council and the panels in the year ahead and to seeing the development of current projects and the tangible benefits to the user experience.”