Minutes from the latest meeting of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee (CPRC) has re-ignited Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans for a new Intermediary Track in personal injury civil litigation.
The Intermediary Track was recommended by Sir Rupert Jackson in his blueprint for civil litigation reform, but was abandoned by ministers as too complex and costly to put into place.
The new track will sit between the fast track and multi-track, and house claims valued at between £25,000 and £100,000 or of an appropriate level of complexity.
This return to the idea of a new track comes despite the government maintaining that the new draft of the CPR rules, specifically to accommodate the extended fixed costs regime, will be signed off in December ready for April 2023.
ACSO executive director Matthew Maxwell Scott said the return of the Intermediary Track will come as a surprise to the sector, particularly as last year's consultation on the new regime clarified that an extended fast track was preferred instead for simplicity and consistency.
In support of the change in preference back to the new track, the CPRC confirmed that perceived practical difficulties that the new track was thought to represent for the courts are now easier to overcome than first thought.
Matthew Maxwell Scott said: "The effectiveness of the MoJ's entire consultation process must be open to question. It is right that cross-industry stakeholders have the opportunity to respond to such far reaching proposals, but it is extraordinary and frustrating that, after expending time, effort and energy on detailed submissions, a significant element of consultation has been 'scrapped at a moment's notice with hardly any explanation."
"It hardly inspires confidence that the MoJ is open to a collaborative approach to fixing the very serious issues in civil litigation."
Turning to the fixed costs regime (FRC) Maxwell Scott said MoJ officials confirmed in the CPRC minutes that ministers are considering regular inflationary uplifts for extended fixed costs. FRC is to be subject to further MoJ policy work with plans to be published in due course.
Matthew Maxwell Scott commented: "For too long, inflation has been allowed to eat away at static fixed costs. Lawyers, medical experts and others have been forced to exit the market as a result of diminishing margins, with a negative impact on consumer choice and access to justice.'
Without a formal adjustment process, consumers seeking redress will be forced to choose between tackling giant insurers without representation, or losing up to 50 per cent of their compensation through fee agreements with lawyers trying to make ends meet. They also risk a much reduced choice in medical expertise to rely upon, and fewer barristers to help properly present it in court."
He added: "Policy requires more than simply trying fixed costs to an index, we urge minsters to commit to regular and formal review of standards in the whole sector."
"In civil litigation, costs, rates, fees, damages guidelines, claims tracks, discount rates; they all crucially interplay with one another but at the moment they are reviewed and adjusted in silos, at different intervals and often adjusted using different metrics."
"We urge Ministers to bring professionalism to the FRC regime, which will enable our members to plan with certainty and ensure access to justice for consumers is maintained."