Government proposals to limit lawyers’ fees in defamation cases risk ‘restricting access to justice’ according to claimant solicitors, while those representing defendants say they do not go far enough.

Following Lord Justice Jackson’s report on civil costs, justice minister Jack Straw last week announced a four-week consultation on ‘urgent’ interim plans to cap lawyers’ success fees in defamation cases at 10% of their fee. Lawyers can currently claim a success fee of up to 100% of their fee for winning cases, which Straw said has caused an escalation in costs and hindered press freedom, because newspapers face such high legal fees if they fail to defend a claim.

Andrew Stephenson, a partner at libel firm Carter-Ruck, said: ‘The 10% figure is arbitrary and appears to be based on the false premise that claimants always win defamation and privacy cases.’

Stephenson said that if the proposal were implemented, it would make it more difficult for people, including defendants, to find a solicitor to act for them under ‘no, win, no fee’ agreements. ‘It will restrict access to justice for many private individuals,’ he said.

Rod Christie-Miller, a partner at libel firm Schillings, said it would be better if other proposals such as the current costs budgeting pilot could be fully assessed before new changes were introduced.

‘The MoJ’s latest addition makes it all a bit of a hotchpotch and there’s an obvious risk that this will result in a less than perfect outcome,’ he said.

However, Jennifer Robinson, a libel lawyer at Finers Stevens Innocent who acts mainly on the defendant side, welcomed Straw’s reforms. She said the current high level of costs has ‘a chilling effect on free speech and legitimate publication’.