The president of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, has called for the government, lawyers and judges to work together to solve the problem of the spiralling costs of litigation.
Lord Neuberger spoke to a packed audience at the Royal College of Surgeons as he gave the final of this year’s series of Blundell Lectures, a legal institution celebrating their 40th birthday.
Answering questions at the end of his talk on property law in a changing world, he said that the cost of litigation had increased disproportionately and that this was a “problem” faced by the legal system that was difficult to resolve.
Referring to the pressures felt by the courts, he said: “At the moment the government is cutting costs and has cut costs quite strongly. There is a risk if you cut costs too far.”
In terms of rising costs, he said that some judges, particularly district judges, are feeling that they are not seeing cases that they should be seeing because people cannot get legal aid and are in danger of “having their rights trampled on”, while if those litigants do turn up in court they often appear in person, and are unable to put their cases effectively.
He continued: “I think that is a problem. It is a problem which has to be solved, in part by the government, in part by judges, in part by lawyers. Sometimes judges and lawyers are too ready to point the finger at the government. I would hope that the government might find more money but I think lawyers and judges have a serious role as well.”
He said that real steps were being taken to make the justice system more efficient and cheaper, and that the government was serious about making the court system more efficient, through improved IT systems and greater use of larger court centres, while the opportunity for online resolution of disputes – akin to solving problems on eBay – “may be an answer”.
Referring to the advantages of “quick and dirty justice” for smaller claims, he said: “We may have to give up the idea of lawyers working as heavily on a case as they do. If somebody has a claim for £10,000 and it is going to cost £100,000 to resolve it is ludicrous.”
Expressing the hope that cheaper ways can be found to resolve smaller claims, he added: “It will be less good justice, but it will be proportionate justice.”
Addressing the 300-strong audience – a Blundell Lecture record – Lord Neuberger addressed a number of recent Supreme Court decisions and key areas of property law, including the much-discussed Lawrence and another v Coventry (t/a RDC Promotions) and others – commonly referred to as “Coventry v Lawrence” – but, when asked, felt it would be “inappropriate” to say much about its potential impact in the field of right to light cases. While he said it inevitably would have an impact in that area, any cases would have to be judged on its individual merits.
Extracts from Lord Neuberger’s speech, “Property law in a changing world – a view from the Supreme Court” will be featured in the Practice & Law section in a future issue of Estates Gazette.
