Megan Lee-Devlin Appointed Chief Executive of HMCTS

You may not think much about HM Courts and Tribunals Service until the day you need it. But if you are trying to follow a hearing, file paperwork or get a decision without weeks of confusion, HMCTS can shape the whole experience. That is why the government’s decision to appoint Megan Lee-Devlin as its next chief executive matters well beyond Whitehall. In the official announcement, ministers said she will take over as HMCTS moves into the next phase of court and tribunal modernisation. So this is more than a senior staffing update. It gives us a clue about what kind of courts service the government wants to build next.

First, a quick grounding point. HMCTS is the service that keeps courts and tribunals running: the staff, systems and day-to-day administration that help cases move from one stage to the next. Judges decide cases independently, but HMCTS is part of what makes the whole process usable for the public. **What this means for you:** when people talk about modernising HMCTS, they are talking about the parts of the justice system ordinary users actually meet - forms, waiting times, digital services, hearing arrangements and basic communication.

Lee-Devlin comes to the role from the Ministry of Justice, where she has been Director General for Justice Services and Transformation. According to the government announcement, that work has included digital change across prisons, probation and services for victims. She has also been responsible for the operational delivery of legal aid, lasting powers of attorney and victim compensation. That background matters because it suggests she is not arriving as a pure outsider. She has already worked across parts of the justice system where delays, paperwork and access problems can have serious consequences for people’s lives.

The government is clearly presenting her as a moderniser. In the official release, Courts Minister Sarah Sackman argued that courts and tribunals only work properly if people can actually reach justice, while Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Jo Farrar pointed to Lee-Devlin’s record in reforming services. We should read those claims carefully. ‘Modern’ only means something if the service becomes easier to understand, fairer to use and less draining for people who are already under pressure. Faster systems can help, but speed on its own is not the same as justice.

This is where court modernisation becomes a public issue rather than an internal management story. A better digital service can make a real difference if it cuts errors, reduces waiting and gives people clearer updates. But if reform mostly means moving problems online, then confusion does not disappear - it just arrives on a screen instead of at a counter. That is worth keeping in view because many court and tribunal users are dealing with stress, grief, money worries or unsafe situations. A service can be efficient on paper and still feel bewildering in real life. Good leadership at HMCTS has to hold both truths at once.

In her own statement, Lee-Devlin described the job as a major responsibility and said she wants to work with ministers, system partners, the independent judiciary and the 19,000 civil servants who deliver courts and tribunals. That mention of the judiciary matters. Judges are independent from government, while HMCTS manages much of the service around them, so the role sits right where public administration meets the justice system. She succeeds Nick Goodwin, who is moving to become Director General for Policy at the Ministry of Justice. So this is also part of a wider shift in who is steering justice policy and justice delivery.

Before the Ministry of Justice, Lee-Devlin led the Central Digital and Data Office in the Cabinet Office and earlier worked at IBM, PwC and McKinsey & Company on digital and organisational change. That CV tells you what ministers value in this moment: someone who can run large systems and push reform through complicated institutions. For the rest of us, the question is simpler. **What to watch next:** whether court users get clearer information, whether services feel more human as well as more digital, and whether modernisation improves access instead of quietly creating new barriers. That is where this story stops being about a job title and starts being about public trust.