Post-Implementation Review of Part 2 of LASPO
The Ministry of Justice has published the Post-Implementation Review (PIR) of Part 2 of LASPO which focuses on civil litigation costs and funding.
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Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) assesses the impact of five statutory reforms implemented following Sir Rupert (then Lord Justice) Jackson’s 2010 Review of Civil Litigation (civil litigation costs and funding).
The publication of the PIR builds on the initial assessment, which was published on 28 June 2018.
The overall objectives of the Part 2 reforms were to reduce the costs of civil litigation and to rebalance the costs liabilities between claimants and defendants while ensuring that parties with a valid case could still bring or defend a claim.
The Government considers that, on balance, the evidence suggests that the Part 2 reforms have been successful against their objectives. The evidence available and the views expressed by stakeholders indicate that costs have been reduced, that fewer unmeritorious cases are being taken forward and that access to justice at proportionate cost is generally being achieved.
As the Part 2 reforms, as a package, have met their objectives and are functioning effectively, the Government is not proposing any amendments to the primary legislation. The Government will keep the detailed suggestions for reform of rules and regulations under review, as it will all aspects of the reforms more generally. While it is not proposing to make immediate changes, it may be that some of these issues are revisited at a later stage
The Government is very grateful to all those who contributed to the Part 2 review.
The Ministry of Justice has also completed a separate review of Part 1, which focuses on legal aid.