Lord Justice Jackson published his review on civil costs on 14 January, recommending the abolition of success fees and after-the-event insurance in all civil cases where conditional fee agreements (CFAs) were used.Less than a week later justice minister Jack Straw announced the need for ‘an urgent interim measure’ to deal with success fees in defamation cases.
Straw announced a four-week consultation on proposals to limit the uplift charged by lawyers for winning defamation cases taken on under CFAs to 10% of their fee.
The current law permits lawyers to double their fee by claiming a success fee of up to 100% on top of their usual fee. This practice has been seen by some, seemingly the justice minister included, as contributing to the spiralling costs in defamation. Which in turn is thought to act to stifle journalists by deterring them from publishing articles that are in the public interest for fear of being sued, or forcing them to settle actions rather than defend them.
Straw is not happy with this situation and appears anxious to defend the freedom of the press.
‘Freedom of expression and investigative journalism are fundamental protections to the democracy of this country,’ he said.
‘Lawyers need to recover their costs and be rewarded for their efforts and the risks they undertake when providing people with access to justice in "no win, no fee" cases. But evidence suggests that the regular doubling of fees that currently takes place is simply not justified and the balance of costs between claimant and defendant needs to be reconsidered.'
Reforming the libel laws has been on the government’s agenda for a while, it is fair to say, but still the speed of this response to Jackson is curious.
I have been racking my brains to think of the last time the government responded so quickly to any report or consultation, and what the reason for its rapid response on this occasion could be.
Why would a struggling government that faces the prospect of a general election in months, and whose actions and policies have been met with increasing criticism by the press, want so urgently to make such a press-pleasing gesture?
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