Jackson report into Civil Costs

Lord Justice Jackson (pictured below) has today published his report into civil costs. He’s made some wide-ranging recommendations. For A level students, this will be a report to refer to in future years, as, if implemented, the proposed reforms could make a big impact on civil costs.

In particular, it is recommended that, inter alia:

- Success fees will no longer be recoverable from the losing party;
- If the defendant wins, they will not be able to recover costs from the claimant unless there are exceptional circumstances;
- General damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity are to be increased by 10%.

The idea is that costs will be kept proportionate for defendants whilst still allowing solicitors to make a reasonable profit.

Now we can stand back and wait for the spin and counter-spin on this from claimant’s solicitors and defendant insurers to start…