High-profile cases against multinational corporations may have to be scrapped under the government’s new litigation regime, lawyers suggested today.
Human rights lawyers warned they will not be able to afford to take on as many cases in the world’s poorest countries without the Conditional Fee Arrangement (CFA).
Martyn Day, senior partner of UK firm Leigh & Co, which brought a high-profile action against global corporation Trafigura in 2008, said the loss of the costs rules underpinning CFAs would be a ‘crying shame and an indictment of our system’.
Joined at a Westminster meeting by leaders from human rights charities and Labour’s shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter, Day predicted many cases may be dropped without the financial security the CFA can offer.
‘We would never dream of taking money off the claimants - it would be inappropriate and immoral,’ he said.
‘The only costs are those we get out of the defendants. The success fee makes it worth the significant risk we face and worth the investment.
‘We’re not going to walk away from this job because we love it, but the fact is we would be very picky about the cases we do and simply we would not be able to take on those that are marginal or risky.’
Campaigners are concerned that civil litigation reforms - mostly based on proposals put forward last year by Lord Justice Jackson - are being pushed through on a ‘one size fits all’ basis.
They noted that rules relating to UK motoring claims were not necessarily appropriate for human rights groups seeking to secure concessions for victims in the poorest parts of the world.
The Foreign Office is believed to be concerned about CFA proposals in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, whilst Liberal Democrat MPs in particular will be put under pressure by human rights lobbyists over the summer.
Representatives from Amnesty, Friends of the Earth and Liberty all spoke out against the government’s litigation reforms and will be the flag-bearers for campaigns to convince MPs and the Lords to oppose the bill in its current state.
Peter Frankental, business group manager at Amnesty International, added: ‘In a developing country the chances of victims getting access to justice are minimal in most cases.
‘It’s absolutely essential to defend the status quo and ensure more cases are heard in the future.’
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