A report by a committee of peers examined the constitutional implications of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill. It highlighted the absence in the Bill of a sufficiently firm legal basis for encouraging the wider use of mediation and other alternative dispute resolution techniques.
Source: Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill, First Report (Session 2006-07), HL 13, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
A report said that there was only limited evidence to support the Community Legal Service strategy of radically restructuring legal advice services.
Source: Adam Griffith, The CLS Strategy: Is this really evidence based policy making?, Advice Services Alliance (020 7378 6428)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
A report examined litigants' experiences of, and satisfaction with, all stages of the small claims process. It also examined the key drivers influencing satisfaction. 7 in 10 were satisfied with the process overall.
Source: Ruth Gosling, Survey of Litigants' Experiences and Satisfaction with the Small Claims Process, Research Report 9/06, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Date: 2006-Dec
The government published its response to the Carter review of legal aid procurement (published in July 2006). It accepted the principle of a move to a market-based system for legal aid procurement.
Source: Legal Aid Reform: The Way Ahead, Cm 6993, Department for Constitutional Affairs and Legal Services Commission, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DCA press release | LSC press release | Consultation responses | Citizens Advice press release | Bar Council press release | Resolution press release | Times report | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
Researchers examined how and when clients of solicitors firms and advice agencies presented with multiple problems. It considered the ability of legal advice and information services to provide holistic approaches, and identified the potential for better service delivery.
Source: Richard Moorhead, Margaret Robinson and Matrix Research and Consultancy, A Trouble Shared: Legal problems clusters in solicitors and advice agencies, Research Report 8/06, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Date: 2006-Nov
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the family courts system.
Source: Response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee Report: 'Family Justice - the operation of the family courts revisited', Cm 6971, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2006-Nov
The government published a Legal Services Bill. The Bill was designed to reform the regulation of lawyers, introducing a new Legal Services Board and an Office of Legal Complaints.
Source: Legal Services Bill [HL], Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | DCA press release | Law Society press release (1) | Law Society press release (2) | Bar Council press release | NCC press release | Consumer Association press release (1) | Consumer Association press release (2) | Times report | FT report (1) | FT report (2) | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
The government published the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill. The Bill was designed to: reform the tribunal system; change judicial eligibility requirements to enable a broader, more diverse, spectrum of candidates to apply for judicial office; clarify and consolidate the law relating to bailiffs; enable creditors to enforce civil court judgments more effectively; and protect those who had fallen into debt and had no foreseeable way out of it, including a new personal insolvency procedure for those unable to access existing solutions.
Source: Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory Notes | DCA press release | Downing Street Briefing | Insolvency Service press release | Citizens Advice press release | Times report | FT report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report (by the umbrella body for independent advice services) supported the introduction of a strict quality threshold for all legal aid suppliers, and the use of peer review as the monitoring tool.
Source: Legal Aid: A Sustainable Future - The Advice Services Alliance s response to the Legal Services Commission and Department for Constitutional Affairs consultation paper, Advice Services Alliance (020 7378 6428)
Date: 2006-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the Draft Legal Services Bill. It said that ensuring that consumers got a better deal from legal professionals remained the primary objective of legal services reform.
Source: Government Response to the Report by the Joint Committee on the Draft Legal Services Bill, Cm 6909, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report | NCC press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that courts should be prepared to grant protective costs orders (removing or limiting liability for costs) in cases where the issues raised were ones of general public importance, and where the public interest required that those issues should be resolved.
Source: James Welch, Litigating the Public Interest: Report of the working group on facilitating public interest litigation, Liberty (020 7403 3888) and Civil Liberties Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Sep
The government began consultation on proposals designed to improve the outcomes for children involved in family proceedings. The existing legal and court process could be slow and sometimes adversarial, and could contribute to a deterioration of the situation between separating couples and their children.
Source: Separate Representation of Children: Consultation to inform the content of new court rules, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2006-Sep
An article showed how time worked against parents with learning difficulties in the child protection system and Children Act proceedings. Pressure to avoid delay (resulting from the prevailing wisdom that delay harmed the interests of children) made it harder for parents with learning difficulties to meet the standards and expectations enforced by children s services and the courts.
Source: Tim Booth, David McConnell and Wendy Booth, 'Temporal discrimination and parents with learning difficulties in the child protection system', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 36 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Sep
The courts service inspectorate said that children involved in private law proceedings were regularly being placed at 'unacceptable risk' by family court workers who failed to adequately assess cases.
Source: An Inspection Undertaken between October 2005 and March 2006 of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) Concerning Private Law Front-line Practice, HM Inspectorate of Court Administration (0117 959 8201)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
The government began consultation on proposals to reform the legal aid system, following publication of the final report by an independent review (chaired by Lord Carter). The proposals included: paying lawyers, as far as possible, on completion of cases rather than by the hour; a market-based system for legal aid procurement, with best-value tendering for contracts based on quality, capacity, and price; and changes to make the legal professions responsible for proper quality control over their members.
Source: Legal Aid: A Sustainable Future, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500) and Legal Services Commission | Legal Aid: A Market-based Approach to Reform, Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid Procurement (020 7210 0778)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DCA press release | LSC press release | Carter report part 1 | Carter report part 2 | Carter report part 3 | Bar Council press release | Law Society press release | IAS press release | Citizens Advice press release | Guardian report | Times report
Date: 2006-Jul
The draft Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill was published. The Bill was designed to improve the working of the tribunals system by providing a new statutory framework; widen the range of people eligible to apply to become judges; and unify and provide a new statutory framework for law on civil debt recovery.
Source: The Draft Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill, Cm 6885, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of draft Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | DCA press release
Date: 2006-Jul
The Compensation Act was given Royal assent, following a third reading of the Bill. The Act was designed to provide a statutory framework for the regulation of claims management services.
Source: Compensation Act 2006, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 July 2006, columns 39-122, TSO
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes to Bill | DCA press release | Hansard | HOC brief
Date: 2006-Jul
The government began consultation on proposals to make the family court system more accountable to the public. The system would be opened to the media so that they could report on a range of cases, including those where a local authority acted to take a child into care, or where parents disputed child contact or residence. The proposals also included new safeguards to ensure the anonymity and privacy of individuals.
Source: Confidence and Confidentiality: Improving transparency and privacy in family courts, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Cm 6886, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Consultation document | DCA press release | Hansard | OLSO press release | BAAF press release | Fathers Direct press release | Resolution press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the draft Legal Services Bill would give the government a series of powers that would seriously undermine the independence of the legal profession.
Source: Draft Legal Services Bill, First Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1154 and HL 232, Joint Draft Legal Services Bill (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DCA press release | Law Society press release | Bar Council press release | NCC press release | BBC report | Times report
Date: 2006-Jul
The Compensation Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to provide a statutory framework for the regulation of claims management services.
Source: Compensation Bill [HL], Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 8 June 2006, columns 419-501, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC brief
Date: 2006-Jun
A report highlighted concerns about the impact of proposed reforms of the legal services sector, including the plan by the Legal Services Commission to contract only with preferred suppliers'.
Source: Issues Facing the Advice Sector, Advice Services Alliance (020 7378 6428)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
A draft Legal Services Bill was published. The Bill was designed to improve choice, quality, and availability in the legal services market - including one-stop shops for house buying and dealing with bereavement.
Source: Draft Legal Services Bill, Cm 6839, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Draft Bill | DCA press release | OLSCC press release | LSC press release | NCC press release | Times report
Date: 2006-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the 'compensation culture'. It said that it was determined to tackle excessive risk-aversion in the provision of public services.
Source: Government Response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee's Reports: Compensation Culture and Compensation Culture: National Health Service Redress Bill, Cm 6784, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report 1 | MPs report 2
Date: 2006-May
The Law Society, the professional body for solicitors in England and Wales, was given a ?250,000 fine for failing to bring the system for handling complaints against solicitors up to standard required by the regulatory authority.
Source: Press release 18 May 2006, Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (0845 456 5150)
Links: OLSCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
A report expressed concern about the availability in Scotland of specialist legal service practitioners in family law, housing debt, welfare, consumer law, and in rural areas.
Source: Report by the Research Working Group on the Legal Services Market in Scotland, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2006-May
Judges said that the civil legal aid budget had been "scraped to the bone" over the previous ten years, threatening access to justice for poor and vulnerable people.
Source: Comments by the Judiciary on Civil and Family Legal Aid: Proposals for Procurement, Judicial Communications Office (general.enquiries@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
An article examined the utility of devising proxy models of legal need as a means of enabling the rational and equitable planning of legal services within a restricted legal aid budget.
Source: Deborah Baker and Stephen Barrow, 'Proxy models of legal need: can they contribute to equity of access to justice?', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 35 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An official complaints body said that the Law Society's final plan for securing effective and efficient handling of complaints against solicitors was "inadequate".
Source: Press release 3 April 2006, Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (0845 456 5150)
Links: LSCC press release
Date: 2006-Apr
An official advisory body began consultation on ideas for a more proportionate system for solving housing problems and resolving housing disputes.
Source: Housing: Proportionate Dispute Resolution - An issues paper, Law Commission (020 7453 1220)
Date: 2006-Apr
A government agency began consultation on a national 'preferred supplier' scheme, designed to radically change the way the 2 billion legal aid services budget was spent each year - by setting higher entry standards for law firms and advice agencies wanting to do legal aid work.
Source: Quality Relationships Delivering Quality Outcomes, Legal Services Commission (020 7759 0000)
Links: Consultation document | LSC press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined the size and nature of the civil legal advice sector in England and Wales. It sought to: define the sector; establish what organizations/individuals it was comprised of; estimate the extent of supply of advice (with reference to workforce/cost implications); and explore the drivers which shaped it.
Source: Matrix Research and Consultancy, Estimating the Size and Nature of the Civil Legal Advice Sector in England and Wales, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Date: 2006-Mar
A five-year strategy was published for the Community Legal Service. It proposed a civil legal aid system which was more focused on people in greatest need; more co-ordinated and cost effective; and more able to tackle the causes of legal problems.
Source: Making Legal Rights a Reality: Strategy for the Community Legal Service - 2006-2011, Legal Services Commission (020 7759 0000)
Links: Strategy | LSC press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report sought to develop a strategy for helping people - especially vulnerable and socially excluded people - obtain independent advice to resolve problems they faced and disputes in which they became involved. It used new evidence to provide a better understanding of the damaging effects of unresolved problems and disputes on people's lives, and people's experiences of trying to resolve them.
Source: Getting Earlier, Better Advice to Vulnerable People, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | DCA press release | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Mar
A new Tribunals Service was launched (as an executive agency of the Department for Constitutional Affairs), providing common administrative support to the largest central government tribunals - those that heard appeals on immigration, tax, freedom of information, employment disputes, benefits, special educational needs and disability, criminal injuries compensation, and mental health.
Source: Press release 31 March 2006, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: DCA press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined the adequacy of the regulatory regime covering advertising in respect of compensation claims for personal injuries. It said that there was no straightforward link between public mistrust of the claims process and advertising for claims companies.
Source: Chris Edwards and Liz Holme, Effects of Advertising in Respect of Compensation Claims for Personal Injuries, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a government agency said that there was strong evidence that early, good quality legal advice helped people overcome their problems. It also showed how spiralling legal problems had a significant impact on the public purse.
Source: Causes of Action: Civil Law and Social Justice (2nd edition), Legal Services Commission (020 7759 0000)
Links: Summary | First edition | LSC press release
Date: 2006-Mar
Two linked reports by a committee of MPs examined the compensation system, including the effect of the move to 'no win, no fee' conditional fee agreements, the Compensation Bill, the National Health Service Redress Bill, and risk aversion in public bodies. It called for an education programme to make clear that risk management did not equate to the avoidance of all risk. The Health and Safety Executive should ensure that it adopted an approach which was proportionate, and did not over-regulate vulnerable sectors.
Source: Compensation Culture, Third Report (Session 2005-06), HC 754, House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Compensation Culture: National Health Service Redress Bill, Fifth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1009, House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, TSO
Links: Third Report | Fifth Report
Date: 2006-Mar
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on small claims procedures.
Source: The Courts: Small Claims - Government Response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee s Report, Cm 6754, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2006-Feb
A new book examined aspects of the machinery of the civil justice system and its impact on society.
Source: Ross Cranston, How Law Works: The machinery and impact of civil justice, Oxford University Press (01536 741727)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Feb
A study provided evidence on the operation of funding arrangements in several areas of personal injury litigation and examined, for the first time in detail, the funding of clinical negligence cases. Conditional fee agreements were found to be the predominant means of financing personal injury claims. The complexity and value of personal injury claims run under CFAs had not changed significantly since the introduction of rules allowing for recovery of success fees and after-the-event insurance premiums. CFAs had become a significant source of funding for new clinical negligence cases.
Source: Paul Fenn, Alastair Gray, Neil Rickman and Yasmeen Mansur, The Funding of Personal Injury Litigation: Comparisons over time and across jurisdictions, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Date: 2006-Feb
Researchers evaluated in-court advice pilots in Scotland. The in-court advice services were seen to be well placed to meet unmet legal need for people involved in court proceedings. Demand for the services was high, and there were high levels of satisfaction with it. The pilot clients were largely local authority tenants, and those with housing cases involving debt and other financial and social problems (such as health and family problems).
Source: Sue Morris, Patsy Richards, Eddie Richards and Claire Lightowler, Uniquely Placed: Evaluation of the in-court advice pilots (Phase 1), Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Date: 2006-Jan