Opinion

I vowed when I took up office as president of the Association of Her Majesty’s District Judges last March that my mission was to persuade the government to return to funding our civil courts to a realistic level and, as the recession brings more and more individuals to the county courts, to ensure that all of those who need it have access to free and efficient expert advice and assistance from a duty solicitor or CAB or other advice agency which is independent of HM Courts Service.

The Supreme Court’s decision in R (on the application of E) v Governing Body of JFS [2009] UKSC 15, [2009] All ER (D) 163 (Dec) provides a fine example of the law of unintended consequences.

There is much speculation—and perhaps in some quarters trepidation—about the impending report of Jackson LJ on the costs of civil procedure.

Charity evolved from an individual’s determination to help those not provided for by the state.

The Supreme Court decision of 25 November on bank charges in Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc and others is on the face of it surprising.

David Cameron made a fool of himself in his ill-fated attack on “elf and safety”. He got caught out citing as true a “myth” identified on the health and safety executive’s own website. Senior Tories are rallying to his aid to bolster his somewhat similar attack on the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998).

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a consultation proposing that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) be given the power to impose civil monetary penalties—known as fines to everyone else—of up to £500,000. It is worth repeating just to make clear what we are talking about here: the ICO may get the power to issue fines of up to half a million pounds, without having to go to court.

As well as urging government and the Legal Services Board to undertake proper research on the effect of referral fees, Council has decided that the society should argue that referral fees do not have a place in markets for legal services and that payment of referral fees by all providers of legal services should be banned.

The Bar got record numbers of delegates for its annual conference. Over 400 paid to attend this year’s event which had the theme of access to justice. The Bar’s success is somewhat in contrast to the Law Society. It has quietly buried its annual conference in the face of member apathy.
Those attending the Bar conference got the usual balance of general keynote speakers and more specialist sessions. Desmond Browne QC gave the usual bullish presentation as the current chairman of the Bar.

Do you remember Big Bang in April 1999? It heralded the implementation of the civil litigation procedural reforms devised and trailed extensively by Lord Woolf. They were designed to “save expense” and to ensure that cases were dealt with “proportionately”.