News round up

CILEx statement on FRC proposals

Following the publication of Lord Justice Jackson's latest proposals to extend the fixed recoverable costs (FRCs) regime, CILEx President Millicent Grant issued the following statement:

‘We are grateful for Lord Justice Jackson’s recognition of the concerns expressed by CILEx members and others that FRCs are unsuitable in more complex cases.

‘The revised proposals are a more measured approach to the application of FRCs, and we welcome the acceptance that a controlled process is a precursor to a meaningful fixed costs regime.

‘We will carefully consider the revised proposals to ensure that neither access to justice will be unintentionally inhibited, nor the consumer’s interest prejudiced, and we look forward to a comprehensive consultation from government in due course.’

In contributing to the consultation that led to the report, CILEx liaised with members through its Specialist Reference Groups, and conducted a survey of members in relation to various possibilities for extending the regime and potential related issues.

On publication of the report, Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, and Sir Terence Etherton, the Master of the Rolls, released a joint statement about Lord Justice Jackson’s report:

‘In undertaking his review, Lord Justice Jackson has canvassed and received views from a broad spectrum of interested parties. The report now falls to be considered by us and the government, which is committed to consulting before any proposals are implemented.’

• Review of civil litigation costs: supplemental report - fixed recoverable costs, available at: http://tinyurl.com/y7qj9sbb
• Introducing fixed recoverable costs in lower value clinical negligence claims. A submission by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, available at: http://tinyurl.com/ydfhburu

New faces in UKSC and Appeal Court

Baroness Lady Hale has been appointed President of the Supreme Court (UKSC). Lady Hale was appointed Deputy President of the UKSC in June 2013, having been appointed first female Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in January 2004 and a Supreme Court Justice when it opened in October 2009. In addition, Lady Justice Black, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Lord Justice Briggs will all join the UKSC as Justices on 2 October 2017, the same date that Lady Hale will be sworn-in officially as President.

Meanwhile, several appointments have been made to the Court of Appeal in the light of forthcoming retirements, from autumn 2017, and vacancies that arise because of a number of changes, including the appointment of Sir Ian Burnett as Lord Chief Justice and Sir Adrian Fulford as Investigatory Powers Commissioner

The appointments are as follows: Mrs Justice Asplin, as Lady Justice of Appeal, and the following as Lord Justices of Appeal: Mr Justice Coulson, Mr Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Peter Jackson, Mr Justice Leggatt, Mr Justice Newey and Mr Justice Singh.

 

Judge sets out to ‘demystify’ late sittings reform

Sir Adrian Fulford has written an open letter, in his capacity as the Judge in Charge of Reform and in the light of public comments ‘particularly from members of the legal profession’, in an ‘attempt to demystify’ the proposed Flexible Operating Hours Pilots, saying that he regretted the ‘extent of the widely-broadcast misunderstandings and ill-informed comments from a range of sources.

He continued: ‘Legal professionals have raised a number of concerns about flexible operating hours, and most particularly it has been suggested there will be an adverse impact on diversity in the legal professions and the judiciary. Concerns have also been expressed about the practicalities as to how greater flexibility in operating hours will work in practice.’

'We have listened to these concerns, but the whole point of running the six comprehensive, detailed pilots is to test fully all the concerns that have been expressed. We approach this project with an entirely open mind as to whether increased flexible operating hours is a viable goal, and whether it should form part of the ongoing transformation of the justice system … I am absolutely clear that a significant, detrimental impact on diversity in the professions or the judiciary is not a price the judges are willing to pay for more flexible operating hours. These pilots will simply help us understand if this would be the case.'

Meanwhile, Susan Acland-Hood, chief executive of HM Courts and Tribunals Service revealed more details about the flexible court hours’ pilots in her blog post ‘Ensuring our justice system fits the needs of those it serves’ :

• In Newcastle and Blackfriars Crown Courts, one session will run between 9.30 am and 1.30 pm, and then another session (for different cases) from 2 pm to 6 pm.
• In Blackfriars, one version of the session will be where the morning is used for Crown Court cases; and the afternoon for magistrates’ court cases.
• In another courtroom in Blackfriars, test hearings of magistrates’ court cases will take place between 9 am and 11 am, with Crown Court cases from 11.30 am to 5.30 pm. Sheffield and Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Courts will test holding three magistrates’ courts sessions each day.
• In Sheffield, there will be test sessions from 8 am to 11 am; from 12 pm to 3 pm; and from 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm.
• In Highbury Corner, there will be test sessions from 10 am to 1 pm; from 2 pm to 5 pm; and 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

In Manchester and in Brentford, in the Civil and Family Court, the test will add either an early or a late slot onto the current court day, which will deal with particular kinds of work that lend themselves to a shorter, more flexible slot (the early slot will be from 8 am to 10.30 am; and the later will be from 4.30 pm to 7 pm).

Tenders for new 2018 civil contracts

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is opening tenders for new 2018 civil legal aid contracts across all categories in mid-September 2017. This news follows publication of the government’s policy consultation response to contract procurement proposals for the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme (HPCDS) (see page 37 of this issue).

The tender process to procure new face-to-face and Civil Legal Advice (CLA) contracts will open in mid-September 2017. The tender will be open for eight weeks, closing in November. We expect to notify bidders of the outcome of successful face- to-face tenders in March 2018, and CLA tenders in May 2018.

The tender process for HPCDS contracts will follow on from a number of market engagement events which will continue until September. At the time of going to press, the LAA said that dates and locations will be confirmed shortly, and will also ‘engage the consultative bodies in a consultation on the proposed 2018 HPCDS contract’. The tender for HPCDS contracts will then open in October. It will run for six weeks before closing in November. The LAA said that it expects to notify bidders of the outcome of their tenders in June 2018.

The LAA also reported that it will be necessary to extend current contracts beyond 31 March 2018 as follows:

• Some face-to-face and CLA telephone advice contracts (five-month extension, with new contracts starting 1 September 2018).
• HPCDS schedules (six-month extension, with new contracts starting 1 October 2018), and providers of the contract extensions will be notified in writing.