Litigants bringing claims up to £25,000 could access court without lawyers
The Briggs Review has recommended setting up an online court for claims up to £25,000, which litigants could access without lawyers.
In his interim report of the Civil Courts Structure Review, published this week, Lord Justice Briggs identifies “a clear and pressing need” for an online court, which would give litigants effective access to justice “without having to incur the disproportionate cost of using lawyers.
The online court would process cases in three stages: first, a largely automated, interactive process to identify the issues and provide documentary evidence; second, conciliation and case management by case officers; and third, resolution by judges. On screen, telephone, face-to-face and video meetings would be held to discuss each case.
The case officers would take over some of the judge’s more routine tasks, but parties would have a right to have these decisions reconsidered by a judge.
Briggs LJ is consulting on the basic details of the process. Practitioners are asked for their views on whether the online court should be a branch of the county court governed by the Civil Procedure Rules or entirely separate, what types of claims should be included, the appeal process, and whether the losing side should pay the other side’s costs.
Written responses must be submitted before the end of February.
As for the existing civil courts, Briggs LJ says it is a priority to put in place the structure and software for all the re-organised courts as soon as possible, provide extra training and staff for judges, and ease the burden on the Court of Appeal.
He wants a stronger concentration of civil expertise among the circuit judges and district judges, and for all civil work with a regional connection to be tried in the regions, regardless of value.
Welcoming the interim report, Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, said: “The time is ripe for reform, and it is in any event essential and unavoidable.”
Briggs LJ began his review of civil court structures and judicial processes last July, will publish a fuller consultation by the end of May, and will complete his review by the end of July 2016.
