Legal System Incomprehensible Because Of 'torrent Of Legislation', Says Senior Judge

A senior judge has said that the legal system has become incomprehensible to judges

and the public because of a "torrent" of legislation that a new government should put an end to.

Judge Charles Harris, QC, president of the 600-strong Council of Circuit Judges, told The Times that judges now had to have criminal law explained to them by academic experts as it had become so complex.

He also felt that civil law was so complicated, terming some laws as being "completely beyond the grasp of people to whom they apply".

"Law which is not readily comprehensive is unfair law, because those to whom it applies have to spend time, money and anxiety in finding out by litigation what their obligations are."

Judge Harris, who heads the judicial rank responsible for all serious cases in the Crown and county courts, stated that an average of 2,629 laws a year had been produced by the last three prime ministers.

He added that in the last eight years, there were between 40 and 70 Acts of Parliament and more than three thousand statutory instruments a year.

"Some substantive civil law is so complex that it is wholly inaccessible to the laymen to whom it applies and not much easier to understand for lawyers."

Using the consumer credit laws as an example, Judge Harris said: "Academics graze contented in its thickets, while the people to whom the law applies have no choice but to sign contracts which they do not understand."

The editor of Archbold, the criminal law compendium described the state of the criminal laws as a disgrace.

Judge Harris called for a bill to rationalise and consolidate the criminal laws, prune out all the statutes and put an end to all legislation.

"It is vital to remember that laws should not be run up in haste and flung, as a palliative reaction, at every problem which may arise."

The judge's comments came on the heels of a warning by another judge that members of the public are "best off having nothing to do" with litigation.

Using lawyers' bills and the complexities of modern court cases as an example, Lord Justice Mummery of the Court of Appeal stated that: "I am sympathetic to all litigants who get caught up in our legal system."

Judge Mummery, Britain's foremost employment law expert added: "The law is best kept as far away as possible; you're best off having nothing to do with it".

These comments were made by the judge when he rejected Devon lord of the manor's appeal against a bill for almost 15,000 his company received after an Employment Tribunal hearing.

"A travesty of justice" is how David Piper, Lord of Manor of Warleigh described the compensation award after a disability discrimination claim, as he made his argument.

However, Lord Justice Mummery stated that Mr Piper's challenge to the payout had "no reasonable prospect of success".

by: Nelly Hall

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