header-logo header-logo

Civil Justice Council reports on pre-action protocols

29 August 2023
Issue: 8038 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Technology , Legal services
printer mail-detail
The Civil Justice Council (CJC) published part one of its final report on pre-action protocols last week.

The CJC pre-action protocols working group, chaired by Professor Andrew Higgins, began work in late 2020. The report discusses the potential for digital pre-action portals to make dispute resolution more accessible and efficient, as well as examining the risks involved.

It recommends compliance be made formally mandatory, except where cases are urgent: for example, where the limitation period is expiring or an urgent injunction is sought. Online pre-action portals ‘should be accessible and workable for both professional court users and litigants in person, and digital assistance or paper-based alternatives must be available for litigants in person who are technologically disadvantaged’.

Special provision is made for vulnerable parties—all online pre-action portals should include a question asking parties about their vulnerability, so that extra support can be provided.

Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls and CJC chair, said: ‘Pre-action protocols are an essential part of the wider pre-action civil justice system.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
back-to-top-scroll