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08 January 2014 / Dominic Regan
Issue: 7589 / Categories: Opinion
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A matter of interpretation

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What does 2014 hold for the Jackson reforms, asks Dominic Regan

It is over before it began. The speedy, decisive and blunt judgment in Mitchell v News Group Newspapers [2013] EWCA Civ 1537, [2013] All ER (D) 314 (Nov), represents the real implementation of the Jackson reforms. Oh yes we had new words back in April but interpretation is everything. Any doubt should now evaporate.

A matter of default

Contrary to the views expressed by some this case was really nothing to do with budgeting. It was about default and the way that courts should deal with non-compliance. The offending breaches were in the context of the defamation pilot scheme which had been running for years already.

The Master of the Rolls went out of his way to praise the costs judge.

Lord Dyson rightly acknowledged that forgiveness is still available under CPR 3.9, a measure that has been rewritten but not abrogated. The new battleground will be to distinguish minor lapses from major ones as the former ought to be overlooked.

Uncertainty

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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NEWS
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NLJ this week: CPR tweak closes third-party disclosure gap
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
NLJ this week: Court of Appeals wrestles with Mazur fallout
The long-running Mazur saga edged towards its finale as the Court of Appeal heard arguments on whether non-solicitors can ‘conduct litigation’. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School reports from a packed courtroom where 16 wigs watched Nick Bacon KC argue that Mr Justice Sheldon had failed to distinguish between ‘tasks and responsibilities’
NLJ this week: Appeal court reins in ‘wrong defendant’ switcheroo

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: Driving test fraudsters steer towards jail
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
NLJ this week: Deepfakes demand data law muscle
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
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