Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

Lord Justice Jackson is indefatigable. He has not abandoned the issue of the cost of litigation on which he produced a major report at the end of 2009. Since then the Government has taken steps to implement some of Jackson’s proposals. But in his opinion, these have not yet gone far enough. So he has taken a recent opportunity to argue that now is the time for much greater use of fixed costs in the course of litigation.

He set out his views in a lecture delivered in January 2016. You can read the lecture at https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/fixedcostslecture-1.pdf

It is not yet known how far the Government is likely to take his proposals, but with the ferment of reforms currently surrounding the civil justice system (among others) it is reasonable to suppose that at least some further extension of fixed costs will be introduced in the not too distant future.