MPs to hold a scrutiny session on the Courts and Tribunals Bill

Tuesday, 17 March at 2:30pm, The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

The Justice Committee will hear from the Victims' Commissioner, the former President of the Law Society, a KC and a senior representative of the Crown Prosecution Service during a legislative scrutiny session on the Government's Courts and Tribunals Bill.

MPs on the cross-party committee, chaired by Labour MP Andy Slaughter, issued a call for evidence in February to inform its scrutiny of the Bill. It was introduced in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 25 February and passed its second reading on Tuesday, 10 March. 

Discussion will focus on the Government's planned structural changes to the operation of the Criminal Courts in England and Wales based on the recommendations made in Sir Brian Leveson's Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, including proposals on how and where cases will be tried.

MPs will also explore the impact on victims of changes to the Criminal Courts, the role of the Magistrates' Court, diversity and proportionality and the proposals for judge-only trials.

Witnesses for Tuesday, 17 March at 2.30pm

• Claire Waxman OBE, Victims' Commissioner
• Tom Guest, Director of Legal Policy, Crown Prosecution Service 
• Richard Atkinson, Former President of the Law Society 
• Keir Monteith KC, Garden Court Chambers, Co-author of the Racial Bias and the Bench Report