The idea would establish the courts service as a commercial enterprise

Courts in England and Wales are facing wholesale privatisation under revolutionary plans that would end the system that has existed since Magna Carta.

The idea would establish the courts service as a commercial enterprise, paying its way and freed from Treasury control, with court buildings and thousands of staff put in the hands of private companies. It would save the Ministry of Justice £1 billion a year.

Funding for the courts would be generated by bigger fees from wealthy litigants and private sector investment, with hedge funds encouraged to invest by an attractive rate of return.

To counter judges’ fears that privatisation would erode independence, the courts could be placed under a Royal Charter — as proposed for regulating the press.

Chris Grayling, the Justice