header-logo header-logo

Keep things in proportion

26 June 2014 / HH Judge Simon Brown KC
Issue: 7612 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Costs
printer mail-detail
lawstories_brown

Simon Brown QC presents a reduced guide to the recent history of the P word

  • Philosophically, it is “an open-textured concept”—a “porous” one (Wittgenstein and Waismann) (Chap 3; para 5.3 of Jackson Review).

  • Historically, it is something “not extravagant” in relation to sums in issue and complexity of case. (Evershed Report 1953)

  • Jurisprudentially, it has emerged from Europe since 1957: “Under the principle of proportionality, the content and form of Union action shall not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties” (Para 4 of Art 5 of the Treaty of European Union).
  • Regulatorally, it became enshrined post-Woolf in the overriding objective of the Civil Procedure Rules under CPR 1.1 (2) (c) as “dealing with cases in ways which proportionate to: (i) the amount of money involved; (ii) to the importance of the case; (iii) to the complexity of the case; and (iv) to the financial position of each party”, ie costs in relation to four
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll