Commentary on Sections Miscellaneous Section 45: Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice
107.This section inserts the Northern Ireland Court Service, the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission and the Life Sentence Review Commissioners into the list of organisations which the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland shall inspect under his powers which are contained in Part 3 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. Subsection (6) inserts new subsection (6A) into section 47 of that Act and will exclude from inspection any judge or other person making judicial decisions or exercising judicial discretion, so that the Court Service is only subject to inspection in respect of court administration. The section also provides that the Lord Chancellor is included in the process of consultation on the Chief Inspector’s work programme (subsection (4)) and in receiving any completed reports in respect of the Court Service and the Legal Services Commission (subsection (7)).