The MoJ has denied it will be wholesale privatisation:
Responding late on Monday night to claims that a sale was actively being considered, an MoJ spokesperson stated: "We have always said we are determined to deliver a courts system that is more effective and efficient and provides improved services for victims and witnesses. The proposals being considered are not the wholesale privatisation of the courts service.
"We are committed to the firm, fair and independent administration of justice."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/may/28/moj-denies-privatisation-courts-serviceSo we can be sure the judges will still be employed by the state. Below that - who knows?
On 26 March Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling released a statement announcing that administrative and cost efficency reforms for the court and tribunal service were under consideration.
Grayling’s statement said: “We need to look at the way we deliver our services to provide a more efficient service that delivers access to justice quickly and effectively, while delivering value for money for the taxpayer. At the same time, we must preserve the independence of the judiciary which lies at the heart of our constitutional arrangements.”
He went on to say that the reforms would seek to enhance the UK’s reputation as an international centre of litigation and dispute resolution, adding: “I also want to ensure that those who litigate in our courts pay their fair share, and that it is possible to raise the revenue and investment necessary to modernise the infrastructure and deliver a better and more flexible service to court users.”
Baker & McKenzie litigation partner Jeremy Winter said: “No one could object to the idea of improving the efficiency of the court service. However, I am sure that any privatisation involving the courts would immediately result in significantly higher court fees charged to litigants. This would reduce access to justice for the ordinary litigant, and is also likely to discourage foreign litigants from using the UK courts. Since the UK legal profession makes such a valuable and important contribution to UK exports, that is something that the Chancellor ought to be concerned to protect.”
http://www.thelawyer.com/news-and-analysis/practice-areas/litigation/lawyers-criticise-court-privatisation-proposals/3005318.articleIt's standard practice for British governments to sell government buildings they're still using, rent them back from the private sector, and get shafted in the deal (or, more precisely, shaft future governments and taxpayers). This looks very likely to happen. The question will be whether the people who do the things like organise the juries, clerks of the court and so on will be privatised. We have some privately-run prisons (by some very incompetent companies), so I think the Tories would be willing to do this too.
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