Ministers to consult on QOCS for libel

The government is considering introducing qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) for libel claims, justice minister Lord McNally told the House of Lords yesterday.

The announcement came as peers agreed to drop an amendment to the bill, tabled by Lord Puttnam, which would have set up a low cost arbitration scheme for libel claims along the lines suggested by Lord Justice Leveson.

Lord McNally said Leveson LJ's proposals introducing exemplary damages and giving courts wider powers on costs penalties had been included in the Crime and Courts Bill.

He said a 'no change' clause had been included in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to protect the draft Royal Charter, setting up the new press regulator, against political intervention.

Lord McNally said the Civil Justice Council had reported on the issue of libel costs protection at the end of last month and recommended that an adapted form of QOCS should be applied to libel and privacy cases.

"A number of adaptations are necessary, given the rather different nature and variety of defamation and privacy proceedings compared with personal injury claims," the justice minister said.

"We are now considering the CJC report, and as your lordships will appreciate this is quite a complex area.

"While the report does not represent a blueprint of the new rules to be applied, it does set out the issues that need to be addressed, and makes recommendations on how to address them.

"It will be for the civil procedure rules committee to make the rules on costs protection in due course, once the government have set out the way forward."

Lord McNally said the government aimed to launch a consultation in the summer on the new rules.

He had warned in previous debates that the Puttnam amendment was unacceptable to the government and pre-empted political discussions between the parties.

Earlier this year peers backed an amendment by Lord Fowler which would have removed from the Puttnam scheme a requirement on the courts to take into account pre-publication advice from the new press regulator when deciding on exemplary damages.