Date 6 May 2011
On 29 March 2011 the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke launched a consultation on plans to overhaul the handling of civil cases, saying the current system had become "slow, stressful and expensive" after "15 years of stagnation". The consultation 'Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system' sets out, and seeks views on, proposals to reform the civil justice system in the courts in England and Wales.
Most individuals, small businesses and large corporations want to resolve their problems quickly, cheaply and in a confidential way. The Government’s proposals are based around the following principles:
Proportionality
That disputes should be resolved in the most appropriate forum, so that processes and costs are commensurate with the complexity of the issues involved.
Personal Responsibility
That wherever possible citizens should take responsibility for resolving their own disputes, with the courts being focused on adjudicating particularly complex factual or legal issues.
Streamlined Procedures
Procedures should be citizen and business friendly with services focused on the provision of timely justice.
Transparency
To ensure that there is clear information on the dispute resolution options open to citizens so that they can take action early, make informed decisions and more readily access the most appropriate services.
The key proposals are:
- increasing the financial limit below which claims may not be commenced in the High Court from £25,000 to £100,000;
- increasing the upper jurisdiction threshold for small claims (excluding personal injury and housing disrepair) from £5,000 to £10,000, £15,000 or £25,000;
- requiring all cases below the small claims limit to have attempted settlement by mediation, before being considered for a hearing;
- introducing mediation information/assessment sessions for claims above the small claims limit;
- introducing a simplified claims procedure on a fixed costs basis, similar to that for road traffic accidents under £10,000, for more types of personal injury claim;
- exploring the possibility of extending the framework of such a scheme to cover low value clinical negligence claim's and examining the option of extending the upper limit of those simplified claims procedures to £25,000 or £50,000;
- introducing a dispute management process and fixed recoverable costs by specific case types up to £100,000;
- encouraging greater use of online services; and
- providing a simpler and more effective enforcement regime.
Together, these and the other proposals outlined in this consultation, should mean fewer cases coming to court unnecessarily, more rapid resolution, lower costs to participants and thus a system that delivers justice more effectively.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are some of the heaviest users of the civil justice system and they particular stand to benefit from such reforms. However, if any tiny increase in the small claims threshold encourages more claims against businesses, the inability to recover the costs of defending such cases will mean industry has to consider carefully how it deals with this type of dispute and likely adopt new methods to address them.
Watch this space.
If you would like more information or advice relating to a specific matter, please do not hesitate to contact Robert Ryall on 01727 798000 or any member of the Commercial Dispute Resolution team.
© SA LAW 2011
Every care is taken in the preparation of our articles. However, no responsibility can be accepted to any person who acts on the basis of information contained in them. You are recommended to obtain specific advice in respect of individual cases.