On the 26th April of this year the reforms resulting from the Woolf Report were implemented into the British justice system. The need was felt to improve the present system which the report held to be ‘too complex, slow and expensive’. The philosophy behind the report was that judges should be pro-active not reactive, the parties should move from being aggressive to co-operative and that the cost of the proceedings should be proportionate to the nature of the disputes.

The main aim was for greater case management to speed up the judicial process. Cases are now to be divided into different tracks depending upon the financial sums involved. The ‘Fast Track’ is one of the most novel and important developments in the reforms and where the new developments can be most prominently seen. Proceedings for claims between £5000-£15000 will be restricted to a thirty day pre trial period and one day in court. As a result much of the work must be completed before the trial commences and the parties will be expected to disclose the nature of their cases and any documents relied upon to the other party in this pre-trial period. A timetable will be set and deviation from it will result in heavy sanctions, it will only be in exceptional cases when the trial date may be postponed.

The process will also be accelerated by the use of technology i.e evidence can be given over the telephone, proceedings may be consolidated, parties can be penalised for bad behaviour in terms of delaying or being un-cooperative and ADR should be encouraged whenever possible.

By Paul Tebbit (General Secretary)