James Taylor of Bevans Solicitors discusses access to justice.

Job satisfaction for Solicitors lies in many areas, but for me, providing access to a civilised system of dispute resolution is high on the list. When I hear tales of the Italian mafia or read of the lawlessness in places like Iraq, I realise what an important function the courts provide to people all over the world.

Indeed, access to justice is one of the principles of the controversial Human Rights Act.

We can all think of crazy examples of justice gone wrong, burglars suing for slipping on the soap or whatever, but the plain fact is that without a system of enforcement, the rights and responsibilities that we all have as members of a human society are pretty meaningless.

So, as a taxpayer, I am happy that some of my taxes should go towards funding an efficient Court service.

The policy of the government now, though, is to recover from users, to the greatest possible extent, the costs of that service. That is reflected in some simply huge increases in the fees charged by the Courts to commence proceedings.

There are exemptions for those on means tested benefits, but for other court users, the price of justice has increased exponentially this month. For more details on the fee increases take a look at http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/using_courts/fees/index.htm

The highest court fee to be paid on issue was previously £800. This applied to all cases over £150,000.00.

This has been replaced by a stepped fee structure so that at the highest a claim for £300,000 or more will attract an issue fee of £1700.00.

Non-monetary claims now cost £400 to issue rather than £180.

The percentage increases since 1998 are remarkable.

1998 – 2004
Total percentage increase for money claims between £15,000 – £50,000 167
Total percentage increase for money claims between £50,000 – £100,000 133*
Total percentage increase for money claims between £100,000 – £150,000 200
*percentage calculated using lowest fee in the range in 1998.

(Taken from the Civil Justice Council’s response to the Court Fees Consultation of 2004.)

It seems entirely possible that use of the Courts to enforce civil rights may be deterred by high fees. Small businesses will be adversely affected.

It is right that litigants should think carefully before using state sponsored dispute resolution schemes, but on the other hand, the rising cost of using that system will obviously act as a deterrent to the aggrieved. The use of alternative dispute resolution procedures are of course to be encouraged, but making the ultimate forum for complaint so hard to access can only damage society as a whole.

For further information please contact Business Development Manager, Adrienne Halladay (ahalladay@bevans.co.uk) or Marketing Assistant, Vanessa Kilcoyne (vkilcoyne@bevans.co.uk). Alternatively you can telephone on 0117 923 7249 or visit www.bevans.co.uk