Commenting on the results from the 2024 general election, Matthew Maxwell Scott, Executive Director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said:
"We congratulate the Labour Party on its massive win and look forward to working with the new Lord Chancellor and other policymakers to support consumers in the civil justice system.
“Labour’s civil justice inheritance is in a poor state. Record waits to get to court, delays in the modernisation programme, long overdue consultation responses and a wholly inconsistent approach to uprating costs and fees means consumers and their representatives have to work in a third rate system that badly needs improving.
“It is troubling that Labour did not refer to civil justice at all in its manifesto, but hopefully due to lack of space rather than lack of attention. Getting the system back on its feet will bring dividends in terms of enabling people to get on with their lives, which will help deliver the economic growth the new government has promised.
“We repeat our call for Labour to announce a civil justice commission, drawing together experts from across the wider sector, in a collaborative effort to examine the reforms of the last 20 years and suggest practical, value-for-money improvements. These will include how data, better rules, technology, alternative dispute resolution and new forms of funding, including legal expenses insurance, can be used to return to a first class justice system at a time of constrained budgets.
"In opposition, Labour pledged to launch an investigation into the dysfunction in the motor insurance industry. If it chooses to proceed, this must be with the consumer - be it as a premium holder, taxpayer, defendant or claimant - at its heart, and not cave in to vested interests.
"We plan to lobby the new government to bring civil justice up the political agenda. Criminal justice grabs the headlines but it is the civil justice system that most people look to resolve disputes, settle employment cases or seek compensation following negligence from others. Tackling civil justice will send the public a clear message that Keir Starmer's Labour government will put the consumer first."