Reigniting the debate on access to justice

11th August, 2015

Laura Turner, Genus Law

About Genus Law Legal Services

Just months after the increase of court fees, the Ministry of Justice has now announced plans for court closures as well as further court fee increases. As the debate on access to justice reignites, Laura Turner at Genus Law highlights the proposed changes and discusses ways to avoid them impacting your business.

In a nutshell

• 91 courts and tribunals across England and Wales will close, including magistrates’ courts, county courts, crown courts, tribunal hearing centres and combined courts. In addition, 31 courts and tribunals will be integrated

• Civic and other public buildings, such as town halls etc, could be used for hearings instead to provide alternative ways to access court and tribunal services

• There will be an increase in the maximum fee for money claims from £10,000 to at least £20,000. From 9 March 2015, fees are currently payable on 5% of the value of a claim up to a maximum fee of £10,000

• There will be an uplift of 10% for all remaining fees charged in the civil court system. This proposal would not include any of the fees that have already been increased above cost, but would include the fees for judicial review, assessment of costs and enforcement proceedings, as well as all civil proceedings in the High Court, County Court, Magistrates Court and the Court of Appeal

Increasing access to justice?

During the debate of the previous fee increase, Lord Faulks, who proposed the motion in the House of Lords, echoed the views of many of their Lordships that he is passionate about access to justice and about the rule of law and made the point that a properly funded court system is required. Whilst this may be so, in the same breath he warned that litigation is very much an optional activity.

This has caused outrage amongst some critics. In response to the latest proposals, Law Society president Jonathan Smithers said: ‘The government introduced dramatic hikes to court fees just months ago. These latest proposals will increase fees by up to 1,320 per cent for some cases. They will deny individuals and small businesses access to justice, crippling them when trying to recover monies owed to them’.

Prevention is better than the cure

With the two sides divided on the issue, at Genus Law we accept such changes are a real possibility and we are on hand to advise how best to deal with any disputes.

We offer a range of services to prevent disputes, assist you if they should arise and in many instances highlight ways in which you could avoid court altogether.

As a modern, corporate law firm, one of our unique approaches which distinguishes us from others is to provide our clients with cost certainty from the outset. That way if you have a dispute and your case goes to court, you wouldn’t have to pay uncapped solicitors fees in conjunction with increased court costs. In addition we will always discuss the alternative ways to settle a dispute before embarking on litigation in an attempt for you to avoid the court fees altogether.

We do this by taking time to understand your business, encouraging without prejudice negotiations within disputes and providing you with a fixed price should a matter proceed to court.

Coming soon…

We will shortly be announcing a range of tailored litigation packages. We believe we are the first legal firm to provide such products. These packages will be free from exclusions and again provide our clients with costs certainty from the outset through an entire claim. In the meantime, if you have any queries or concerns on how the proposed court fees may impact your business please feel free to contact a member of our team or call us on 0113 320 4540.