Lord Justice Jackson has published the preliminary report in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs.
The report is a major piece of work, deriving from four months of fact-finding, research and receiving submissions, and it extends to over 650 pages with three annexes and 30 appendices.
Writing in his foreword, Lord Justice Jackson thanked the team of assessors who have assisted him, and explained that the preliminary report was the end of a phase not the whole process:
“Today marks the beginning of the second phase of the Costs Review, namely the consultation period. The facts set out in the report have been gathered from many sources. They are not intended to support any particular conclusion. On the contrary, I hope to ascertain, with the assistance of the consultees, where those facts lead us.”
Lord Justice Jackson stressed that he had not formed a final view on any topic – in areas where he had formed a tentative opinion he had indicated this in the report, and invited people to respond and set out their own views.
He was under no illusion on the scale of the exercise:
“The issues in this Review are both complex and intractable – there are no simple answers. Nor are the facts straightforward”.
Amongst the topics which the preliminary report covers (with some illustrative examples) are;
- the basic facts – how much civil litigation there is, and what charges are made
- research and consultation into costs – academic studies, what court users and stakeholders think, statistical data
- how civil litigation is or could be funded – legal aid, before or after-the-event insurance, third party funding, conditional fee agreements (no-win, no fee), contingency fees
- fixed costs – assessing the present regime
- personal injuries litigation
- other specific types of litigation, such as consumer claims, housing claims, environmental claims, collective actions and defamation proceedings
- controlling the costs of litigation – case management, cost capping, recoverability of success fees
- regimes where there is no cost shifting – small claims, employment tribunals
- the assessment of costs by the court
- review of costs systems in other countries.
The timetable for the rest of the review is that Lord Justice Jackson will be consulting upon his preliminary report for the next few months, before preparing his final report for publication in December, in line with the original review timetable.
The consultation process invites written submissions by 31st July 2009, and seminars are being held in Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and London in June and July to discuss issues arising from the review and preliminary report.
Notes for Editors
- The panel of assessors who are assisting Lord Justice Jackson are: Senior Costs Judge Master Peter Hurst, Mr Justice Cranston, Jeremy Morgan QC, Michael Napier QC, Colin Stutt, Professor Paul Fenn and Andrew Parker.
- Some biographical details for Lord Justice (Sir Rupert) Jackson. He was president of the Cambridge Union in 1971, and called to the Bar in 1972 (Middle Temple). In 1987 he was appointed as a Queen’s Counsel, and in 1999 he was appointed as a High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division. He was Judge in charge of the Technology and Construction Court 2004-2007, and in 2008 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal.
Ends
