A phoney war or a £15bn headache for the government? Kerry Underwood counts down to the Coventry v Lawrence finale
The legal New Year feels like 1939, waiting for an inevitable war anticipating the Supreme Court hearing of Coventry v Lawrence, listed for 9, 10 and the morning of 12 February 2015, to be heard by Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Clarke, Lord Dyson, Lord Sumption, and Lord Carnwath. It may turn out to be a phoney war with the Supreme Court maintaining the status quo and upholding the right of the UK Parliament to govern the costs regime in the UK courts. Or it may not.
Background
The case is about whether the system of recoverability of additional liabilities, that is success fees and after-the-event (ATE) insurance premiums, in place from April 2000 to April 2013, breaches the European Convention on Human Rights, which forms part of our domestic law due to the Human Rights Act 1998.
