Costs lawyers to have a greater role from April
Costs lawyers are to play a greater role in monitoring the civil justice system as the Jackson reforms bed in.
The Association of Costs Lawyers (ACL) will have a seat on the new Costs Committee being formed by the Civil Justice Council. The 14-member committee will be chaired by Mr Justice Foskett, a member of the Civil Justice Council, and will meet for the first time on 14 April. Senior Costs Judge Peter Hurst is the committee’s vice-chair.
Its remit is to conduct a review of the guideline hourly rates (GHR) and make recommendations for change to the Master of the Rolls by January 2014. It will then review the GHR on an annual basis.
It will also monitor the operation of the costs rules, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and make appropriate recommendations.
The committee will replace the Advisory Committee on Civil Costs, which the MoJ abolished. The MoJ decided not to follow Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendation to create an independent Costs Council.
ACL chairman Iain Stark says: “Our association has now come of age.”
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