LORD WOOLF REFORMS

Lord Woolf reforms

Lord Woolf Reforms

Introduction

The report titled Access to Justice brought a number of principles into limelight which should be met by the civil justice system so as to ensure uninterrupted access to justice. These principles are as follows.

The results delivered by the system should be just

The system should treat plaintiffs fairly

The costs of the procedures should be reasonable

The time span spent on cases should be low, and the system should be comprehensible for those who use it

The system should provide certainty for every case as much as possible

The system should be effective and organised having adequate resources (Thorp, 1999, pp. 26-30).

Problems of the Civil Procedures

The problems of the civil procedures due to which Lord Woolf introduced these new reforms included very high costs for conducting the trial and sometimes these costs even exceeded the total value of the trial. In addition to this, the civil procedures took a very long span of time to announce the results of any trial. The most crucial thing, which is worth-mentioning, is that there existed no equality in the civil procedures as they always favoured the powerful and wealthy litigants ignoring those who do not have sufficient resources to run their trial. As a result of this, uncertainties increased as the people feared the conclusions inducing the fear of the unknown in them. Moreover, the civil procedures are very adversarial as cases are run by parties and not by the courts or the rules of the courts. The rules of the court are routinely ignored by the parties in the civil procedures. Lastly, the civil procedures are ambiguous and incomprehensible for the general public (webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk).

The Basic Reforms of Lord Woolf

According to Lord Woolf a system where the courts can effectively manage cases is required. These courts will be deciding various elements amongst which setting realistic timetables, ensuring that the timetables and procedures are complied deciding as to what should be the procedures that suit each of the case. The defendant cases should be assigned to any of the following three paths

An expanded small claims jurisdiction with a financial limit of £3,000

A new fast track for straightforward cases up to £10,000 with strictly limited procedures, fixed timetables, which may last to 20-30 weeks to trial and fixed costs

A new multi track for cases above £10,000 providing individual hands on management by judicial teams for the heaviest cases and standard or tailor made directions where these are appropriate.

The New facet of Civil Litigation

Lord Woolf believed that is his suggestions are accepted and implemented the face of civil litigation would be revolutionized. The new features of the new landscape of the civil litigation include; avoidance of litigation wherever possible, encouraging people to start court trails for resolving their disputes, when no other settlement can figure out any solution and after utilizing the available and appropriate means. In addition to this, litigation would become more co-operative and less adversarial, as the parties would be expected to be more cooperative and open to each other ...