Source: https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/civil-law/woolf-reforms.php
Timestamp: 2017-03-28 23:30:32
Document Index: 11586295

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'art 36', 'EWCA ', 'UKHL ']

Woolf Reforms | Law Teacher
Woolf Reforms “The Woolf reforms may have reduced cost and delay but they have had a detrimental impact on civil justice overall.” Discuss Background
Therefore in this light it should be stated over here that in March 1994, the Lord Chancellor set up the Woolf enquiry whereby ways of reducing delay and accessibility of civil proceedings, and of reducing their cost were to be looked[14]. On 26th April 1999 New Civil Procedure Rules and the accompanying Practice Directions came into force. These rules constitute the most fundamental reform of the civil justice system of the 20th century, introducing the main recommendations of Lord Woolf in his final report, Access to Justice. He described his proposals as providing ‘A new landscape for civil justice for the 21st century'[15]. Woolf Reforms- The need for reform
Lord Woolf when he began his examination of the Civil law process identified diverse problems[20]. Interim report published by him in June 1995 sates that ‘the key problems facing civil justice today are cost, delay and complexity, these three are interrelated and stem from the uncontrolled nature of the litigation process. In particular there is no judicial responsibility for managing individual cases or for the overall assessment of the civil courts[21]…..; Heilbron Hodge who called for a ‘radical appraisal of the approach to civil litigation form all its participants' paved the way for Woolf report and accompanying reforms . It was analysed[22] by Lord Woolf that without effective Judicial control the adversarial process of the civil courts was ‘likely to degenerate into an environment in which the litigation process is too often seen as a battlefield where no rules apply' immediate effect of which would be disproportionate expense and unpredictable delay[23].
Ø Judges will be deployed effectively so that they can manage litigation in accordance with the new rules and protocols Ø The civil justice system will be responsive to the needs of litigants.
As a result of the Woolf Reforms Part 36 was put in place which promotes greater incentive for the parties to settle their differences now. Under Part 36 procedures exist for either party to make an offer to settle their disputes and was significantly revised with effect from 6th April 2007. Now a part 36 offer can be made before the proceedings start and also in the appeal proceedings. ‘Offeror' is referred as a party making the offer and ‘Offerre' is the one who is receiving it. Upon acceptance of offer by the claimant a duty is cast on the defendant to pay the sum offered within 14 days, failure to do so will allow the claimant to enter judgement. Any pre- action offer to settle while making an order for costs will be taken into consideration by courts. A side refusing it will be treated less generously. It happens in offers which are open to the other side for at least 21 days after the date they were was made. Lord Woolf suggested that for a settlement offer to qualify as an offer under Part 36 it must be made in writing with the intention to have the consequences of part 36. As regards Defendant making the offer, a period of not less than 21 days must be specified whereby defendant liability for claimants will be established if the offer is accepted. Revised Part 36 however allows the withdrawl of any offer after the expiry of the ‘relevant period' as defined in Rule 36.3.1.c without the court's permission[34].
Michael Zander stated that when the defendant paid a sum of money into the court account as an offer of settlement, the case would end upon acceptance of the money. However if the offer is refused by the claimant, the defendant can still increase his payment-in. Upon further refusal the case will go on trial and will be determined by the outcome. If the Claimant does not recover, more than the amount paid in, the court will order him to pay the cost of both sides from the date of payment-in. It would be worth mentioning over here about the technique called as Calderbank letter because technically the system applied only to cases which concerned a damage or other money claim whereas under this if the defendant makes an offer of settlement ‘without save as prejudice to costs' it would virtually be treated by the courts in the same way as if it was payment into court. Pre -CPR this rule 36 was applied inflexibly. Post 1999 the courts can mitigate the harshness of the traditional rule where the claimant was automatically ordered to pay the cost of both the sides upon failure to secure a penny more than the amount paid in by the defendant. New rules now provide for the Claimant's offer which was considered to be a big change. For money claims Part 36 payment apply. However, where the claim is not monetary the defendant can still make a part 36 offer (as opposed to part 36 payment) and thereafter the same basic rules shall apply. However courts discretion is open . All in all allowing the claimant to make an offer of settlement under the CPR has proved to be a welcome step[35]. The analysis of Part 36 will be discussed in the next section.
Cases involving amounts betweenw 5,000-15,000 are for this track unless they are deemed unsuitable. A set timetable of no more than 30 weeks to trial, limited pre -trial procedure, trial restricted to no more than 3 hours which was further extended to 5 hours, restriction on oral evidence form experts and recovery of standard fixed costs was the concept well established over here[41]. Multi track
ADR though have not part of the Court system it has been brought into connection through the CPR. Lord Woolf in his Final Report urged that people should be told and encouraged to resort to growing number of grievance procedures, or the ADR before taking up the judicial review proceedings. These ADR are featuring prominently in the rules as CPR 1.4(1) states that ‘the court must further the overriding objective by actively managing cases'. However, Woolf commented that ADR cannot be imposed compulsorily on parties at dispute in civil litigation[43]. There are no complex court procedures to be adhered while using ADR and also it saves a lot of time and avoids the ever escalating litigation costs.
As a result of the reforms much positive have happened, culture has become less adversarial, there is better exchange of information between the parties before the start of litigation and settlement now focusses on the substantive issues in the case[47]. ‘Cards on table' culture as it can be called is a major factor leading to settlement. Communication and exchange of information at an early stage always help[48].
In case of large claims which were subject to court timetables solicitors thought the speed has become quicker. As regards cost it was acknowledged that costs increased because of ‘front-loading' as now more work is required to be done at an earlier stage.[51]
Evidence regarding protocols suggested that it had some impact in reducing costs as earlier exchange of information could lead to speedier settlements because both sides become aware of the issues much sooner. Case management evaluation received a mixed response. Experience in relation to High Court Masters in London was perceived as positive one leading to a greater incentive to reach agreement before hearing. However, outside London the experiences were not that positive[52]. Judicial statistics reveal number of claims falling to less than 1,90,000 in 2005 as compared to 2,20,000 in 1998. . All this has happened since the coming into force of Woolf reforms, though favourable economic climate also accounts to this[53]. Cases have diverted from being litigated in the courts as a result of the use of pre-action protocols and claimant offers under part 36 which encourage pre-trial settlements . Result being that only 8 per cent of cases which are listed for trial settle at the time of trial and 70 per cent settle much earlier. This is suggestive of the fact that the reforms have been a positive step in the out-of-court settlements which has the advantage of providing a quick/speedy end to the dispute coupled with reduction in costs. First evaluation of the new Civil Procedure Rules by Government[54] pointed that overall reforms have been beneficial. It was stated that cases are not settling at the doors of the court but much earlier. Litigation is regarded as last resort by lawyers and clients who make more use of ADR. Pre-action protocols were believed to be a success. All these facts were further supported by the latest research[55] into the civil justice system[56]. A major official study published by the institute of Civil Justice at the Rand Corporation in California (Kakalik et al.,1996) looked into the effect of American Civil Justice Reform Act,1990 based on a 5 survey of 10,000 cases. The study suggested that JCM lead to a reduced time to disposition . Early use can yield reduction of one and a half or 2 months to resolve cases that last at least 9 months. Discovery timetable further reduces time to disposition and reduces the amount of hours spent by a lawyer working on the case. However one drawback is that case management will ultimately lead to approximately 20 hour increase in lawyers work overall[57]. There have been so far only 2 proper research studies of the impact of Woolf reforms. The first one was carried out for the Civil Justice council and the Law Society (Goreily et al.')[58]. The second was conducted for DCA by Professors Peysner and Seneviratne[59] on the case management aspects of the reforms[60].
Ø Part 36 offers or payments -and especially the possibility of part 36 offers by claimants - seem to be helping to achieve earlier and perhaps more settlement
Ø Considerable efforts have been made to promote consistent approaches to case management throughout the country. Judicial Statistics reveal average waiting time from issue of claim to trial has reduced form 85 weeks in 1998 to 52 weeks in 2005 in the county courts[63].
5) Procedural timetables for the fast track are doomed to failure[72] because of the inability of huge proportion of firms failing to adhere to prescribed timetables for range of reasons. Thus, disproportionate and unjust sanctions will be imposed causing injustice to clients for the failings of their lawyers[73]. Rand report further reflects that case management leads to problem of front loading[74] as it adds to the lawyers work hours with more work needed at an earlier stage and thus more costs[75]. There were others who criticised the reforms and it was argued that out of court settlements creates injustice, because parties usually hold unequal bargaining positions because of their financial background[76].
Lord Justice Jacksons preliminary report on costs review also confirms the view that costs of litigation have increased as a result of ‘front loading' [77]. Another problem as cited by Lord Phillip is that courts are under resourced to deal with case management and the modenisation of civil courts and introduction of IT has failed to go hand in hand with Woolf reforms[78]. Mr. Justice Burton of the QBD[79] assessed the new rules and outlined problems along with the benefits of reforms. Problems were identified as ‘ inflexibility on part of court in not allowing the extension of time between parties themselves, risk of lawyers and clients exploiting ‘standard' disclosure by concealing important documents, single joint experts usurping the role of judges, time guillotines being pushed on parties and assumptions by judges while making summary assessments. Benefits listed include: pre-action protocols, encouraging settlement, judicial intervention and Part 36 offers to settle[80].
Court of appeal allowed the claimant's appeal who was not given indemnity costs or interest as his 95-5 offer under Part 36 was considered ‘derisory'. It reflects the uncertainty created by the new rule[82].
The case started in November 1995 and ended after 10 years in November 2005 with the claimant abandoning the claim against the bank. Law Lords over here reverted to pre-CPR philosophy and the majority decision resulted in 10 more years of fruitless litigation with skyhigh costs. Zuckerman commented that such an approach would be fatal to CPR reforms unless the judiciary be persuaded to embrace the overriding objective of dealing with cases justly[84]. It needs to be mentioned that though there was criticism, it was only in minority and the reforms have achieved a lot as they were directed to promote a culture of settlement and co-operation.
It can be easily concluded, overall the Reforms were supported by both branches of the legal profession, judiciary and both the lay and the legal press welcomed them[85]. Promoting settlement and avoiding litigation can be the biggest boon to litigants who otherwise when get entangled in the costly and everlasting court procedures suffer a lot. The reforms intended to focus on reduction in cost and delay, however they did not escape criticism and reduction in cost is still considered to be a debatable area. But the reforms were a step in the right direction and were deemed triumphant as they have resulted in justice being accessible to wider proportion of society especially when problem is of small nature and can be quickly and cheaply dealt with in lower courts[86]. Wholistically, the advantages/positives of the Reforms outshine the disadvantages. The reforms were a positive way for the future, still a lot of work needs to be done in a few areas for making timely, inexpensive justice available to the lay man. Reduction in cost of litigation as a consequence of reforms was not fully realized but nonetheless it cannot be said that reforms had a detrimental impact on civil justice overall as timely exchange of information between the parties does promote culture of co-operation and settlement if not always and as a result of the reforms problem of delay in litigation were well catered[87]. There was a move away from the adversarial culture and increase in out of court settlements was seen. It can be concluded that the foundation stone for a better and prosperous litigation culture has been laid, what needs to be done now is to rectify the shortcomings of the Woolf reforms and build on the so called revolutionary/ much needed positive reforms aiming to avoid litigation and promoting timely settlement of disputes, so that parties no longer are faced with the never ending litigation process. As an old Chinese proverb goes “ A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”. [1]Seeking Civil Justice: A survey of people's needs and experiences, 1995, NCC.
[5]Civil Justice Quarterly, 1988, pp 281-312, also Richard Thomas. ‘Civil Justice review -Treating litigants as consumers', 6 Civil Justice Quarterly, 1990, p 51.
[13]Peysner and Seneviratne, ‘The Management of Civil Cases: A Snapshot' (2006) 25 Civil Justice Quarterly 312
[16]Genn, Judging civil justice: the Hamlyn lecture 2008( Cambridge university press,Cambridge: 2010 (Chapter 2) , pg 55.
[17]Supra 81
[18]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 51-52
[19]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 373-374
[20]Ibid 19, pg 335
[21] Access to Justice, Interim report of Lord Woolf, 1995; http://www.dca.gov.uk/civil/interim/chap1.htm
[22]Lord Woolf, Access to Justice, Interim Report ( Lord Chancellor's Department,1995), Chapter 3, ‘ The problems and their causes'.
[23]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 123,124 n 125.
[24]Lord Woolf, Access to Justice, Final Report,http://www.dca.gov.uk/civil/final/overview.htm
[25]Class notes, Annette Morriss. [26]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 60-61.
[27]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 339.
[28]Elliot and Quinn, The English Legal System 10th edition (Pearson:2009), Chapter 22, pg 521.
[29] Ibid 26.
[30] Lecture handouts, Module leader: Jackie Davies; September 2008.
[31] Ibid 30.
[32] Further Findings: A continuing evaluation of the Civil Justice Reforms: http://www.dca.gov.uk/civil/reform/ffreform.htm
[33]David Capper; Keeping Woolf from the door- The Reform of civil procedure in Northern Ireland ;434 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly [Vol. 50, No. 4]; http://heinonline.org/HOL/TextGenerator?handle=hein.journals/nilq50&collection=journals&id=446&print=21&sectioncount=2&ext=.txt
[34]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 345.
[35]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 82-85.
[36]Elliot and Quinn, The English Legal System 10th edition (Pearson:2009), Chapter 22, pg 523.
[37]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 342.
[38]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 51.
[40]John Peysner,Mary Seneviratne: The management of civil cases: a snapshot,Civil Justice Quarterly ,2006
[41] Ibid 38.
[42] Ibid 41.
[43]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 141, 143 and 144.
[44]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 108 and 111.
[45]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 374.
[46] Ibid 45, pg 366-369.
[47]Goriely et al, More Civil Justice? The Impact of the Woolf reforms on Pre-action Behaviour (Law Society and Civil Justice Council, 2002, chapter 5.1, Conclusion; areas of review.
[48] Goriely et al, More Civil Justice? The Impact of the Woolf reforms on Pre-action Behaviour (Law Society and Civil Justice Council, 2002, chapter 3.6, pg 262
[49] Ibid 47, page xii, summary.
[50] Ibid 47, chapter 2.7 Settlement, pg 162.
[51] Ibid 47, chapter 2.8, pg 170 and 172.
[52] Goriely et al, More Civil Justice? The Impact of the Woolf reforms on Pre-action Behaviour (Law Society and Civil Justice Council, 2002, chapter 3.2 , pgs 199 and 212.
[53]Elliot and Quinn, The English Legal System 10th edition (Pearson:2009), Chapter 22, pg 530.
[54]Emerging findings: an early evaluation of the civil justice reforms(2001). [55]The Management of civil cases: The courts and the Post-Woolf Landscape(2005)
[56] Ibid 53, pg 532 and 533.
[57] Elliot and Quinn, The English Legal System 10th edition (Pearson:2009), Chapter 22, pg 538.
[58]Goriely et al, More Civil Justice? The Impact of the Woolf reforms on Pre-action Behaviour (Law Society and Civil Justice Council, 2002, Research study no. 43, 420 pp.
[59]John Peysner,Mary Seneviratne: The management of civil cases: a snapshot,Civil Justice Quarterly ,2006. (summary of research)
[60]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 54.
[61]The management of civil cases: the courts and the post-Woolf landscape, 2005, DCA research report 9/2005.
[62]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 133.
[63] Ibid 60, pg 138.
[64]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 367.
[65]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 369.
[66]Judge Charles Harris, QC, Sad and unsatisfactory - but not destroyed, April 16, 2009, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6094646.ece
[67]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 59. [68]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 118.
[69] More Civil Justice? The impact of Woolf reforms on pre-action behaviour,2002.
[70]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 126.
[71]Michael Zander, Cases and material on the English Legal System 10th edition( Cambridge University Press,2007) Chapter 2 Pre-trial proceedings, pg 139.
[72]Kate Malleson, “The Legal System” pp112.
[73]Elliot and Quinn, The English Legal System 10th edition (Pearson:2009), Chapter 22, pg 539.
[74]Research by T. Goreily et al, Research by P.Fenn and N.Rickman and research by Professors Peysner and Seneviratne.
[75] J.S. Kakalik et al, Just, Speedy and Inexpensive? An evaluation of judicial case management under the civil justice reform act, 1996.
[76]Elliot and Quinn, The English Legal System 10th edition (Pearson:2009), Chapter 22, pg 532.
[77] Lord Justice Jackson, Civil litigation costs review, Preliminary Report(Judicial Office, 8th May 2009)
[78]Joshua Rozenberg ,Woolf on track in quest for a fair deal for all, 25 Apr 2002
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1392119/Woolf-on-track-in-quest-for-a-fair-deal-for-all.html
[79]‘One big question mark'(2000) Law Soc Gazette, 10 February.
[80]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 367. [81][2002] EWCA Civ 398,[2002] 3 All ER 263.
[82] Comments by G. Exall, Solicitor's Journal, 29 March 2002, pp 288-9
[83] Three Rivers DC v Bank of England (No 3) Summary Judgement [2001] UKHL 16, [2001] 2 All ER 513.
[84]Adrian Zuckerman, A colossal wreck - the BCCI - Three Rivers litigation, Editorial,Civil Justice Quarterly,2006
[85]D. Gladwell, ‘Modern Litigation Culture: the first six months of the Civil Justice reforms in England and Wales' 19 Civil Justice Quarterly, 2000 pp 9-18 [86]Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge.Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 369.
[87] P. Fenn, N. Rickman and D. Vencappa, ‘The impact of Woolf Reforms on cost and delay'(2009), www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/cris/papers/2009-1.pdf.
LawTeacherFree Law EssaysCivil LawWoolf Reforms