This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request ''Resolver"'.

Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 16:25:42 +0100
Subject: Re: Fiona Watts: Information request - 'Resolver"
From: Fiona Watts <[FOI #400698 email]>
To: "HMCTS Customer Service (Correspondence)" <[email address]>

Dear HMCTS Customer Service (Correspondence),

My apologies; correction

Since December 2014 not 2015.

Yours sincerely,

Fiona Watts

-----Original Message-----

Dear Ms Watts

Thank you for your email of 12 April,  which has been passed to this team
of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to respond as the agency
responsible for the administration of the courts in England and Wales.

Your enquiry did not fall under the Freedom of Information regime and was
treated by the department as 'Official Correspondence'.  It may be helpful
if I explain that the Freedom of Information Act (2000) gives individuals
and organisations the right of access to all types of recorded information
held, at the time the request is received, by public authorities such as
the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).  Section 84 of the Act states that in order
for a request for information to be handled as a Freedom of Information
(FOI) request, it must be for recorded information.  For example, a
Freedom of Information request would be for a copy of a policy, rather
than an explanation as to why we have that policy in place.  On occasion,
the Ministry of Justice receives requests that do not ask for recorded
information, but ask more general questions about, for example, a policy,
opinion or a decision.

A)   Perjury is a criminal offence and should be reported to the police.
The offence of perjury is defined by the Perjury Act 1911 and involves
someone wilfully giving false information whilst under oath in judicial
proceedings. The Act also dictates that it is an offence that is triable
on indictment only. This means that there has to be a formal statement of
the charges that are being brought against the person in order to initiate
the criminal proceedings. Any such allegation would need to be considered
by the police at some stage and referred to the Crown Prosecution Service
for a decision to be made about whether the matter should be taken to
court.  This does not, however, determine that the police must make a
decision to investigate all allegations of perjury that are put to them. 
Part of the function of the judge is to decide between conflicting
evidence that which he/she finds most credible.  
 
In relation to your questions about Resolver, this is an additional method
by which a customer can complain, but customers can still contact the
appropriate court or tribunal directly (if preferred) if they wish to
complain about our service.  The ability for customers to make
administrative complaints through Resolver was introduced between November
2016 and March 2017.  Resolver is an independent company and their website
helps consumers raise and resolve issues with a range of
organisations.  Resolver is not owned or run by HMCTS.  Further
information about Resolver can be found at their website: resolver.co.uk.
 
If a customer attempts to raise a complaint about the outcome of a case
through Resolver (and we would consider perjury within that categorisation
as affecting the outcome of a case), then it does provide the following
information:

 

It is an important feature of the UK constitution that the judiciary are
independent.  The decision of a case is independent of HM Courts &
Tribunals Service (HMCTS), which is responsible for the administration of
courts and tribunals only. HMCTS is not responsible for judgments in your
case.

 

Further information about potential actions is then provided (i.e. how to
complain about a judicial decision or judicial conduct etc).  This
information replicates information provided on our existing complaint form
EX343 - 'Unhappy with our service - what can you do?

 

Resolver has recently been introduced nationally and HMCTS will continue
to consider ways to promote it with our customers and monitor its
effectiveness.

 

Kind regards

Karen Hamilton
Customer Investigations Officer | HMCTS Customer Directorate

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