“Enough is enough”: The Justice Bill
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill 2011 was presented to Parliament early this week. Its second reading took place on 29th June 2011.
With significant legal aid cuts and the abolition of recoverability of success fees and ATE insurance premiums, many in the legal market and also Human Rights activists are less than happy. We can expect to see some powerful lobbying from both sides.
The Bill includes proposals on legal aid, criminal and civil matters. It backs Jackson LJ’s recommendations on civil litigation costs, in sections 41 – 43 and section 51:
- Section 41 – success fees will no longer be recoverable from the defendant. The claimant will pay the success fee which will be up to a maximum percentage of specified descriptions of damages awarded in the proceedings.
- Section 42 – introduces Damages Based Agreements as a means of funding PI claims.
- Section 43 – insurance premiums (ATE insurance) will no longer be recoverable from the defendant with the exception of expert reports fees in clinical negligence maters.
- Section 51 – allows additional amount in settlement offers, not exceeding a maximum damages percentage to be prescribed within the rules.
There is nothing specific in the Bill regarding Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting nor the proposed 10% increase in General Damages. Implementation may be done via changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (rather than via primary legislation) but this lack of clarity is a concern.
The Bill has caused quite an uproar within the claimant PI lobby as well as the Access to Justice Action Group and Human Rights activists. The Law Society has vowed to continue campaigning against the legal aid cuts.
The rage is further intensified due to the fact that the Bill has been fast-tracked to a second reading only 8 days after the first took place, when Parliamentary protocol requires two weekends to elapse between the two readings. Some one is in a hurry. We understand that the current objective is to enact these reforms by Spring 2012.
For more information, contact: adi.frankovitch@horwichfarrelly.co.uk
