Civil Justice System 1 – Civil Justice System
Key issues in civil justice/civil litigation
Delay
Disproportionate costs being incurred – litigation so expensive no-one can afford lawyers
How to encourage settlements
Illustrates
o How ‘costs shifting’ works – in Eng system, in most courts, loser has to pay the winner’s legal costs
o How CFAs (no win, no fee agreements) operate
What is the Civil Justice System
Public good that serves more than private interests
Civil courts contribute quietly + significantly to social + economic well-being
Play a part in the sense that we live an orderly society where there are rights + protections
Civil Justice Reforms
Since 19th Century – reforms have been ongoing
Main issues prompting reforms: speed + access to courts
Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 reformed the legal professions + the courts
Woolf Report led to reforms
o Main findings: COST, DELAY, COMPLEXITY trilogy
o Adversarial system to blame + Promotion of ADR (Courts as the last resort)
o New Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) implemented April 1999
Access to Justice Act 1999 changes legal aid rules + replaces them for ‘no-win, no-fee’ arrangements
o Did not help litigants access justice
o Indicated that govt wanted to promote ADR by mediation within legal system
Parties should try ADR options before seeking legal aid for legal representation
Reinforced by funding codes indicating an application for funding can be refused
Cuts to legal aid – Legal aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO)
o In midst of financial crisis, new reforms = underway
o Coalition govt pushed a ‘Transforming Justice’ agenda to…
Further erode weak legal aid system to stop advance of unnecessary litigation into society
o Coupled with a review of costs in civil litigation conducted by Lord Jackson (Jackson Report) 2010
Allows contingency fee agreements, blocks recovering success fees
After the event insurance premiums in no win no fee cases, scraps referrals
+ intro = foxed costs, up to £25000, wants to promote before event insurance
Civil Court Structure Review (Lord Briggs Review)
o Creates the online court
Used by people with minimum assistance from lawyers
Own set of rules + money claims up to £25,000
o Other changes = case officers, enforcement of judgements in the county courts meditation + ADR
o Deployment of judges + calls for a review of routes for appeals
o Number of courts + divisions + boundaries between jurisdictions need to be settled
What is the Civil Justice System
Inc laws governing substantive contract, tort etc (substantive law)
Inc machinery supporting these laws (the courts, ADR bodies, tribunals)
Inc procedural laws
Inc all the personnel contributing to the operation of the system
o Judges + Legal professionals (barristers, solicitors etc)
Hopkins v Monroe 2 tweets 18 May 2015 – Katie Hopkins to Jack Monroe
Mixed up Jack Monroe + another person – tweets suggested Monroe = vandalised war memorial
Case shows: Delay – Civil claims = quite slow – tweet in mrch 2015, hearing almost 2 years later
o Finally resolved – permission to appeal refused, almost 3 years later
o Expense – claim = expensive: lawyers have to be paid – costs= more than 4 x amount of damages
o Alternatives – ADR – ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ – saves money
Key issues in civil justice/civil litigation
Delay
Disproportionate costs being incurred – litigation so expensive no-one can afford lawyers
How to encourage settlements
Illustrates
o How ‘costs shifting’ works – in Eng system, in most courts, loser has to pay the winner’s legal costs
o How CFAs (no win, no fee agreements) operate
What is the Civil Justice System
Public good that serves more than private interests
Civil courts contribute quietly + significantly to social + economic well-being
Play a part in the sense that we live an orderly society where there are rights + protections
Civil Justice Reforms
Since 19th Century – reforms have been ongoing
Main issues prompting reforms: speed + access to courts
Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 reformed the legal professions + the courts
Woolf Report led to reforms
o Main findings: COST, DELAY, COMPLEXITY trilogy
o Adversarial system to blame + Promotion of ADR (Courts as the last resort)
o New Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) implemented April 1999
Access to Justice Act 1999 changes legal aid rules + replaces them for ‘no-win, no-fee’ arrangements
o Did not help litigants access justice
o Indicated that govt wanted to promote ADR by mediation within legal system
Parties should try ADR options before seeking legal aid for legal representation
Reinforced by funding codes indicating an application for funding can be refused
Cuts to legal aid – Legal aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO)
o In midst of financial crisis, new reforms = underway
o Coalition govt pushed a ‘Transforming Justice’ agenda to…
Further erode weak legal aid system to stop advance of unnecessary litigation into society
o Coupled with a review of costs in civil litigation conducted by Lord Jackson (Jackson Report) 2010
Allows contingency fee agreements, blocks recovering success fees
After the event insurance premiums in no win no fee cases, scraps referrals
+ intro = foxed costs, up to £25000, wants to promote before event insurance
Civil Court Structure Review (Lord Briggs Review)
o Creates the online court
Used by people with minimum assistance from lawyers
Own set of rules + money claims up to £25,000
o Other changes = case officers, enforcement of judgements in the county courts meditation + ADR
o Deployment of judges + calls for a review of routes for appeals
o Number of courts + divisions + boundaries between jurisdictions need to be settled
What is the Civil Justice System
Inc laws governing substantive contract, tort etc (substantive law)
Inc machinery supporting these laws (the courts, ADR bodies, tribunals)
Inc procedural laws
Inc all the personnel contributing to the operation of the system
o Judges + Legal professionals (barristers, solicitors etc)
Hopkins v Monroe 2 tweets 18 May 2015 – Katie Hopkins to Jack Monroe
Mixed up Jack Monroe + another person – tweets suggested Monroe = vandalised war memorial
Case shows: Delay – Civil claims = quite slow – tweet in mrch 2015, hearing almost 2 years later
o Finally resolved – permission to appeal refused, almost 3 years later
o Expense – claim = expensive: lawyers have to be paid – costs= more than 4 x amount of damages
o Alternatives – ADR – ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ – saves money
