Silence over Jackson 'leading to rumours of delays'

Francesca Kaye, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, has warned that silence from the government over implementation of the Jackson reforms is leading to rumours that all or part of them could be delayed.

“The silence is just terrible,” Kaye said. “We never know if someone is just telling us a rumour or if it has some basis in fact. I’ve even heard rumours that the whole thing could be put back.”

Just before Christmas, the MoJ announced that justice secretary Chris Grayling was reconsidering the timetable for extension of the RTA claims portal. An announcement of the new date has yet to be made.

Speaking on the eve of a seminar tonight on the impact of the Jackson reforms, to be attended by Mr Justice Ramsey, the judge in charge of implementation, Kaye said: “The delay in provision of the rules and regulations and the failure to disclose at an earlier stage the proposed transitional arrangements together with the dangers inherent in such late disclosure are a matter of immense concern to practitioners.

“In the short-term the big bang approach is likely to increase costs to clients, increase risk to both clients and the legal profession, increase satellite litigation, cause delay and uncertainty and, in fact, reduce access to justice.

“This is not what Lord Justice Jackson intended and is not what the government thought it was doing.

“We fear that to meet an artificial deadline we will get piecemeal implementation of rules and regulations which is the last thing any of us wanted.

“Had the draft rules and regulations been issued for consultation six months ago rather than the overwhelming and dark impenetrable silence we have experienced, practitioners might not feel so concerned about the target date of 1 April 2013.”