A blueprint for coherent reform of the way law is done was unveiled today by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer. 

A blueprint for coherent reform of the way law is done was unveiled today by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer.

The programme is set out in a document, Doing Law Differently, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA).

The programme charts constitutional changes introduced by the department, including changes coming into effect over the next week - changes involving the role of the Lord Chancellor - as well as plans and proposals for the future.

The document also gives outline details of a cross-Government review of the operation of the criminal justice system and, especially, the courts with the aim of making the operation of the courts simpler, speedier and with a more extensive use of summary justice.

Lord Falconer said:

"The law needs to be done. But the way we do law needs to change. We need to do law - but we need to do law differently.

"Our maxim for the way we do justice must be: speedy, simply, summary.

"For instance, people want much speedier justice. They want to see an end to delays in court, with the aim of seeing a crime followed as quickly as possible with it being dealt with by the courts: crime today, court tomorrow.

"Britain's justice system is one of our country's greatest strengths. We need to sustain our system, but improve and reform it too. That's what the programme of reform set out in Doing Law Differently aims to do."