To all lawyers moaning about Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms: would you prefer the general rule as to costs in Spain?

The relevant part of article 394-3 of law 1/2000, of 7 January, relating to civil procedure [in Spain] reads: ‘When… costs are imposed on a losing party, they only have to pay… an amount that does not exceed one third of the damages…’

I thought not, but, as the recent case of MGN v The United Kingdom [2011] ECHR 66, [2011] ECHR 919 highlights, there is a major problem with costs in the English legal system, and I for one regard Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals as a step in the right direction.

Edgar Wagner, solicitor notary and Spanish lawyer, Anglo-Spanish Law, Sheffield