The Woolf Reforms | A Level Notes Law 9084

The present system of civil justice is based on the reforms recommended by Lord Woolf in his report, Access to Justice (1996).

• In 1995 Lord Woolf stated that a civil justice system should:

• Be just in the results it delivers.

• Be fair in the way it treats litigants.

• Offer appropriate procedures at a reasonable cost.

• Deal with cases at a reasonable speed.

• Be understandable to those who use it.

• Provide as much certainty as the nature of particular cases allows.

• Be effective, adequately resourced, and organized.

The report found that virtually none of these points was being achieved in the civil courts, and criticized the system for being unequal, expensive, slow, uncertain, and complicated. The report contained 303 recommendations. The most important ones proposed:

• Extending small claims up to £3,000 (from the then limit of £1,000).

• A fast track for straightforward cases up to £10,000.

• A multi-track for cases over £10,000, with the capping of costs.

• Encouraging the use of alternative dispute resolution.

• Giving judges more responsibility for managing cases.

• More use of information technology.

• Simplifying documents and procedures and having a single set of rules governing proceedings in both the High Court and the County Court.

• Shorter timetables for cases to reach court and for lengths of trials.

The suggestion to raise the cap on small claims to GBP 3,000 was made before the final report was released. Until committing itself to the majority of the legislation, the Labor Government, which came to power in 1997, ordered the Middleton Report as a 'second opinion.' It opposed much of the Woolf measures but proposed that the small claims cap would be extended to £ 5,000 and the fast-track path to £ 15,000 (which has subsequently been raised to £ 25,000). In April 1999, the criminal justice structure was significantly changed as a part of the Woolf and Middleton studies.
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