Looking ahead: embracing Jackson and helping self-representing litigants

This is my final contribution to ‘View from the Bench’ as President of the Association of Her Majesty’s District Judges (ADJ) so it feels right reflect on the past year and take a look at to what is in store in 2013.

2012 has seen many changes affecting the county courts and the work of the district judges. Many courts were closed, a few retained a hearing centre facility which I regard as vitally important to local communities. I fear that with several old and expensive buildings still within the court estate, there will be more closures ?to come.

It was inevitable that the creation of ?the Business Centre in Salford would remove from individual county courts some administration work with the inevitable consequence of a reduction in the need for locally based staff. It is a shame for all the court users including judges that it has been in so many cases the experienced staff who have moved on. We must continue to support and encourage the staff who remain.

Solicitor’s efforts

The reorganisation of the county courts has also seen a drive to reduce the number of hours during the working day that court counters have been open to users, including solicitors. Reduced opening hours and limited “appointments” pilots are continuing, alongside the Loughborough telephone pilot, and there will be evaluations of the pilots that will determine the arrangements for the future.

Also worthy of note is the rise in self-representing litigants. The way solicitors are picking up the baton and finding ways of helping litigants who otherwise will have no legal advice is heartening. In particular, family practitioners are getting together to devise rotas or some form of duty solicitor scheme that is enabling those involved in Children Act and financial remedy proceedings to be much better informed than they would otherwise be when they enter the court arena.

David and Goliath

The other trend during 2012 that cannot be ignored is the progressive reduction in the volume of civil litigation, including civil court trials. Is this good news? Not necessarily so. Probably the most important element of our unwritten constitution is the rule of law. For the rule of law to prevail, there must be access to the county court so that all civil disputes can be resolved according to law when other methods of dispute resolution have failed.

While judges support the concept of mediation in all its various forms, the only fully regulated dispute resolution system is the courts and tribunals service and there is a risk that an unregulated system of resolving disputes outside the court process will see a dilution of the application of important legal principles. Solicitors are at the heart of this debate ?and while common sense will always ?play a part in settling a dispute, I can foresee too many disputes going the way of Goliath when David ought, according ?to law, prevail.

Embracing new rules

This leads me to look forward to April 2013 when the wide-ranging reforms envisaged by Lord Justice Jackson will reach implementation stage. By the end of March 2013, every district judge will have attended a training course and will be ready to manage cases and to manage costs in order to give effect to the rules. The vast majority of cases will not be affected by the new rules relating to cost-budgeting. Most claims fall into the small claims track category where the rules relating to costs have not changed, or into the fast track category where there will be a regime of fixed costs.

The directions questionnaire in multi track cases will be a vitally important document. District Judges are being exhorted to apply the rules robustly and the changes to CPR3.9 will make it more difficult to obtain relief from sanctions. That said, those solicitors who conscientiously embrace the new rules have little to fear.

The ADJ is currently considering what is called the “whiplash” consultation paper and will respond in due course. District judges are also awaiting the completion of the arrangements to extend the value and the application of the RTA low value claims scheme and it remains to be seen whether the inclusion of EL and Pl and higher value claims will be as successful as the initial scheme has clearly been.

It will also be interesting to see what secondary legislation will arise from the crime and courts Bill which not only creates the single county court and the family court but also enables new arrangements for the deployment of judges. Work in modelling the single county court and the new family court is proceeding apace and if all goes according to plan, April 2014 will herald yet more significant changes in the way civil and family disputes are resolved. Never has it been so important to watch this space.