Queen sets out legislative agenda

TV cameras will be allowed to roll in courtrooms beyond the Supreme Court, courtesy of the Crime and Courts Bill.

The Bill, part of the legislative programme outlined in the Queen’s Speech this week, will also reform the selection process for senior judges, and create a single county court system and a family court.

A Defamation Bill will aim to discourage forum-shopping and modernise defamation law. A draft Justice and Security Bill, which will allow evidence from the security and intelligence services to be heard in secret courts, is likely to dismay civil liberties campaigners. However, the fact it is in draft form means it will be delayed for at least a year.

Employment lawyers will be closely following the progress of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. It reforms the employment tribunal system, encourages early resolution through Acas and is likely to raise employment tribunal fees. There are proposals in the Children and Families Bill, to introduce flexible working and shared parental leave, while the Public Services Bill will seek to bring in controversial reforms to public sector pensions.

Caoimhe O'Neill, partner at Charles Russell, said: “With the additional intention of introducing a Pensions Bill to provide ‘dignity in retirement’ and the fact that auto-enrolment in pension schemes will commence in 2012, the time is ripe for a wider discussion about how we plan for our retirement and what role the State will play in that.”

The Children and Families Bill sets a six month deadline on care cases and proposes a shake-up of the rules on adoption to speed up the process. This implements the recommendations of David Norgrove’s Family Justice Review, published in November 2011.

Stuart Ruff, associate, Thomas Eggar: “I think that while these proposals are laudable, it remains to be seen how they will work. The courts are inundated with applications relating to children and the current system can only cope with so much.”