Rules for the implementation of Jackson reforms laid in Parliament
The Ministry of Justice has laid out its rules for the implementation of the Jackson reforms. The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2013 (SI 2013/262), laid in Parliament last week, cover the bulk of Lord Justice Jackson’s civil justice reforms, including the introduction of qualified one way costs shifting (QOCS), damages-based agreements and tighter costs management.
Any party which fails to file a budget despite being required to do so will be treated “as having filed a budget comprising only the applicable court fees”.
Courts must in future deal with cases “at proportionate cost”, apply new rules on Pt 36 awards, and require parties to provide an upfront estimate of the costs of expert witnesses.
Julian Chamberlayne, head of the travel law team and partner at Stewarts Law, says that the biggest surprise in the new CPR for personal injury and clinical negligence lawyers is that the QOCS exceptions will still “expose successful claimants to interlocutory, issue based or proportional costs awards, but only up to the level of damages and interest awarded”.
“All prior indications were that this particular chink in the QOCS armour would only relate to successful Pt 36 offers by defendants. After the event insurers have been slow to reveal the detail of their post-Jackson products and there is no sign that they had anticipated a need to provide cover for interlocutory, issue based or proportional costs awards.
“The inevitable result is that finalisation and pricing of the new ATE products will go even closer to the wire. In catastrophic injury cases, the combination of these risks could result in cost liabilities of several hundred thousand pounds.”
The new rules come into effect on 1 April.
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