Co-operative Legal Services: Podcast with Christina Blacklaws
Co-operative Legal Services was the first large organisation to be authorised by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority as an Alternative Business Structure. In this podcast, I talk to Christina...
View ArticleEfficiency in the Criminal Justice system – pleas online – minor motoring...
In February 2015, the Government announced that – from March 2015 – it would be possible for those charged with minor motoring offences to plead online.People charged with summary motoring offences,...
View ArticleImpact of fees on the work of Employment Tribunals – post implementation review
When fees were introduced in the Employment Tribunals, in July 2013, the government made a commitment to review their impact. On 11 June 2015, the Government announced the start of that review. The...
View ArticleLitigation (crowd) funding – a new approach
Litigation funding is normally associated with high value commercial cases. Litigation funders provide the financial resources for high cost litigation and commercial arbitration on the basis that they...
View ArticleRevolution in the Justice system?
On 23 June 2015, the Lord Chancellor delivered a major speech on his vision for the development of the Justice system. Mr Gove is not shy of taking on existing established practices – witness his...
View ArticleReview of the Courts and Tribunals estate: consultation
On 16 July 2015, the Government published proposals for reviewing the numbers of courts and tribunals buildings, with as view to amalgamating some and closing others. At present (and despite recent...
View ArticleFees in Immigration and Asylum appeals: Government proposals
In May 2016, I noted here that the Government had published a consultation paper on proposals for new fees, to be charged in cases being brought to the Immigration and Appeals Chambers of both the...
View ArticleReview of Civil Litigation Costs: Supplementary Report – Lord Justice Jackson
When Lord Woolf started out on his major programme of reform of the Civil Justice system – which came into effect with the introduction of new Civil Procedure Rules in 1999 – he was concerned about a...
View ArticleEmployment Tribunal fees: back to the drawing board
Until the coming into force of the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013, a claimant could bring and pursue proceedings in an Employment Tribunal (ET) and appeal to...
View ArticleReshaping the Court estate: a further consultation
The programme of transformation of the justice system depends on the closure of a significant number of existing court buildings and reinvestment of the savings of running costs and the capital...
View ArticlePreventing digital exclusion
A great deal of effort is currently being put into finding ways of using IT to deliver legal services, whether in the form of: providing legal advice and assistance to those who need it; conducting...
View ArticlePost-implementation Review: Legal Aid – progress report
The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) was a multi-faceted piece of legislation, dealing with a number of issues of great importance to the English Legal System. Part 1...
View ArticleCovid 19 and the English Legal System (8): guidance on new working practices
As readers of this blog will already be aware, I have been considering the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the English Legal System. There will, I am sure, be many more blog entries to come. For...
View ArticleCovid 19 and the English Legal System (9): introduction of a common platform...
Moves towards doing more court and tribunal business via remote links, rather than by personal appearances in courtrooms, had begun even before the Covid 19 pandemic struck. Indeed, the use of virtual...
View ArticleProposed Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission
One proposal that caught the eye in the Conservative Party’s manifesto for the December 2019 general election was that, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, it would be necessary to look at...
View ArticleThe state of legal services in England and Wales: new report from the Legal...
A second report on legal services which was published towards the end of 2020 is that by The Legal Services Board. Entitled The State of Legal Services 2020, the Board reflects on some of the Board’s...
View ArticleReview of pre-action protocols in civil litigation – consultation from the...
When Lord Woolf published his landmark report, Access to Justice, way back in 1996, one of his aims in making his recommendations for changes to civil procedure was to encourage parties contemplating...
View ArticleDeveloping policy on Alternative Dispute Resolution
Many people acknowledge that if disputes can be resolved in ways that do not involve a hearing in court, this can be more effective and flexible than litigation. But use of alternative dispute...
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