Law reform aims to make the law fairer, simpler and clearer, so people understand their rights and responsibilities. Simpler law reduces costs and burdens on citizens, businesses, taxpayers and the courts. We sponsor the Law Commission, and work closely with it to ensure that its programme reflects the Government's objectives and priorities. Our common aim is for the Commission, so far as possible, to take on projects likely to result in recommendations that the Government can accept and implement. An important part of this process is the inter-departmental Ministerial Committee on the Law Commission, established in 1999 and chaired by Baroness Scotland. In July 2002 the Lord Chancellor appointed John Halliday, an independent consultant, to undertake a review of the effectiveness of the Law Commission and of the overall law reform process.
We are taking forward a number of projects for reforming both substantive and procedural law, including a major review of the enforcement of civil judgments.
Our Service Delivery Agreement states that we will “develop and implement initiatives that make substantive civil law clearer, simpler and fairer, and, so far as consistent with that, reduce burdens on citizens, business, taxpayers and the courts”. The following represent the main initiatives for 2002-03.
We are introducing commonhold tenure, under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. This will give people occupying interdependent properties, in particular those living in flats, a way to own the freehold of their property without the disadvantages associated with 'flying freeholds' or long-term leases. The new scheme will be based on standardised documentation and be less complicated. Where disputes do arise, for example about the management of common parts in a block of flats, the scheme provides for the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution. We expect to make the necessary regulations to implement commonhold by the end of 2003-04.
In March 2002 we published a consultation paper on whether the courts should have power to order periodical payments instead of lump sums, when an injured person is awarded damages for future care costs and losses. Most respondents to the consultation agreed with our view that periodical payments are a fairer and simpler way to provide the right level of compensation in these cases. The full results of the consultation were published in November 2002. The Courts Bill, currently before Parliament, will give the courts power to order damages in the form of periodical payments in appropriate cases.
We will continue working with HM Land Registry to implement the Land Registration Act 2002 by October 2003 and to prepare for the introduction of an electronic conveyancing system by 2006.
Laws drafted in the past should not prevent people developing and using modern technology. We are reviewing other areas of civil law to identify where reform is needed in the light of new technology. In January 2002 we asked the Law Commission to consider the operation of the laws of defamation and contempt of court in the context of the internet. The Commission published a scoping study in December 2002, and we are considering how best to take forward its recommendations. In 2003 we also plan to publish a consultation paper on whether we need legislation to facilitate the making and storing of wills in electronic form.
We introduced a series of reforms to court procedures through the Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Directions and Pre-Action Protocols on 26 April 1999 (SDA 31). The reforms aimed to make procedures, and therefore costs, more proportionate to the issues at stake, to deal with cases faster, to encourage early settlement (out of court, where possible), and to discourage ill-founded claims.
The reforms have been generally well received. Overall there has been a drop in the number of claims issued, in particular in the types of claim most affected by the new rules. Evidence suggests that pre-action protocols are working well to promote early settlements. The number of settlements made at the last minute has fallen and settlements before the hearing day have become more common. Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which allows claimants as well as defendants to make offers to settle, has been welcomed by all interested groups as a means of resolving claims more quickly.
It is still too early to provide a definitive view on costs. The picture remains relatively unclear with statistics difficult to obtain and conflicting anecdotal evidence. Where there is evidence of increased costs, the causes are difficult to isolate.
We are determined to give customers the information and support they need in choosing appropriate enforcement methods and service providers.
| Target To increase the enforceability of civil judgments by achieving a 10% increase in the amount recovered per pound under executed warrants issued in the county courts over the period 2001-04, with this target to be reviewed and new targets set for 2002-04 by December 2001 (PSA 7). |
The performance of county court bailiffs on warrant enforcement has continued to improve steadily since 1998-99. They now collect 87 pence in the pound for enforceable warrants (July-December 2002).
The Department has introduced performance indicators relating to other methods of civil court enforcement to supplement those already in existence for warrant enforcement.
We want to make sure that we cover all methods of civil enforcement. We continue to discuss with representatives of private sector bailiffs a common method of recording performance statistics so that they can provide us with information on their rates of recovery.
Considerable progress has been made in the area of High Court writ enforcement. Having previously agreed upon a common set of definitions, and an initial target on enforceable writs, the Sheriffs (those court officers who enforce High Court writs) have compiled and produced interim performance statistics for the half year July-December 2002. These results showed a collection rate for enforceable warrants of 47.1 pence in the pound, against an initial target of 35 pence in the pound. Discussions continue with representatives of the Sheriffs to refine methods of target setting, statistical collation and presentation to represent more accurately the unique nature of their enforcement work. Provisions in the Courts Bill will enable us to bring forward detailed proposals designed to:
The Department also published in May 2002 the National Standards for Enforcement Agents. This was the first document of its kind to be issued across, and be endorsed by, the whole industry, and aimed to improve existing good practice, raise the level of professionalism across the whole industry, and increase awareness of rights and responsibilities. It has become a benchmark for professional standards across the civil enforcement industry.
We concluded our comprehensive review of enforcement in March 2003, with the White Paper Effective Enforcement. This put forward a package of legislative proposals to provide information for, and improvements to, court-based methods of civil debt and commercial rent recovery, and a single regulatory regime, bailiff law and fees structure for all civil warrant enforcement agents. The Review's proposals have been informed by the work of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Group on Enforcement Service Delivery. Options include introducing legislation to open up and regulate the civil enforcement market and to permit carefully controlled access to information so that enforcement will be fairer to creditors and debtors.
The Department has recently published the results of two research projects, commissioned with the assistance of HM Treasury's Evidence-Based Policy Fund, to explore issues raised in the First Phase of the Civil Enforcement Review and further to inform the work of the review team. Summaries of Professor John Baldwin's Evaluating the Effectiveness of Enforcement Procedures in Undefended Claims in the Civil Courts and Professor Elaine Kempson's Mapping the Can't Pay/Won't Pay Divide reports are available.
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