The road traffic accident claims portal should be ‘given a chance’ before the government becomes distracted from the ‘bigger picture' by rushing to implement the Jackson reforms, the president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers warned last week.

Muiris Lyons told an audience at APIL’s annual president’s lunch that the RTA claims process, which was implemented on 30 April last year, had addressed Jackson’s concerns in 75% of all personal injury cases ‘at a stroke’.

Lyons said that although the RTA process had had a ‘difficult birth’ and ‘remains an outpatient’ that required monitoring, it would provide a ‘streamlined, fast-track procedure with fixed costs’, which was what Jackson sought through his proposals.

He added: ‘I hope that the Ministry of Justice will agree [in its consultation] with my view that in a sense Jackson has missed the boat and that the landscape has dramatically shifted since his review.

‘Given the impact the RTA claims process has had, Sir Rupert’s proposals have become something of a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

‘It therefore frustrates me that so much time and effort is being devoted to these issues, when there are so many more important issues affecting injured people where the government could and should take the lead.

‘By focusing so much on the issues of funding and costs, there is a very real risk that this government is failing to see the bigger picture… And what is the big picture?

‘It’s one where a decade after the Law Commission reported that general damages were too low, their recommendations remain unimplemented.

‘It’s a picture where long overdue reforms to the coroners system are being shelved; where the draft Civil Law Reform Bill is being shelved despite having cross party support; where despite almost universal recognition of the urgent need for an employers’ liability insurance bureau, it remains merely a proposal; where, to shave £17m from a £2.1bn legal aid budget, the government proposes removing legal aid for clinical negligence.’

Lyons added: ‘The government now has the opportunity to reflect on the consultation process and has a real choice.

‘Sensible measured reforms that achieve costs savings yet protect injured people and preserve their access to justice can be achieved.

‘As the consultation process implicitly recognises, full-blown Jackson is neither necessary nor desirable.

‘The debate has moved on a long way since Sir Rupert’s year-long inquiry. The RTA claims process should be given a chance.’