Sir Rupert Jackson’s reforms will have a far-reaching impact on the civil justice system for years to come, so what is his legacy, asks Professor Dominic Regan in NLJ this week.
Sir Rupert, who is soon to retire, was in 2009 given the difficult task of coming up with reforms to deliver civil justice at proportionate cost. The result was drastic change introduced on 1 April 2013 ranging from the ‘overriding objective to Pt 36’ to sanctions for procrastinating solicitors to sweeping reforms on costs.
Regan reports that there are two areas where Jackson has been ‘traduced’: the wrongful allegation that the abolition of legal aid was his idea, and the association of his legacy with the ‘dreadful Andrew Mitchell “Plebgate” saga’.
In fact, neither allegations bear out. Regan concludes: ‘Our civil structure has been transformed more by him than anyone else in living memory. That is his legacy.’
Read Dominic's piece in full, 'Jackson LJ: a lasting legacy', here.
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