"Its not a system, it's a racket" Jack Straw MP referring to the system of referral fees,selling of information etc to claims management companies.

The gist of the story was the selling of information and alleged passing-on of information including garages, credit companies etc. Whiplash claims were described as costing the insurance industry £8bn a year and The Times describing whiplash as "an injury that no scan or Xray can detect".

Publication of the Legal Aid,Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill indicates the Government will proceed on the back of its response to the Jackson review,part 2 of the Bill setting out proposals upon litigation and funding.

The Bill went to the commons on the 21/6/11 and will be scrutinised by the Public Bill Committee with a report by the autumn. 

Can a party withdraw an admission of liability given to the other party prior to legal proceedings?

The point was considered In Annie Woodland v Swimming Teachers association and others by the Court of Appeal. CPR r14.1A considered. The rule was applied following a tragic accident to the claimant,then an infant,when she suffered a brain injury during a school swimming lesson. In response to a letter of claim claims handlers engaged by the associations insurers denied liability but then accepted liability 5 years later after a report by HSE.

The admission was then retracted and proceedings were issued seeking in excess of £2million.

At first instance the Court agreed it was in order to uphold the retraction and before the CA the Court applied the test as to whether the withdrawal of admission was appropriate. The CA found the Judge at first instance had analysed the issues fairly including new evidence, prejudice and the interests of justice and found the withdrawal was appropriate. 

The Government announced a new review of health and safety measures following-on from Lord Youngs review "common sense common safety".
The Government has announced that Professor Lofstedt,a risk management specialist, will review health and safety legislation and Employment Minister Chris Grayling states

"The purpose of health and safety regulation is to protect employees in the workplace..but Britains health and safety culture is also stifling business and holding back economic growth"

The review will be completed by July/August 2011 with the Government set to make further announcements in the autumn. 

Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings has become the first company to be convicted of "Corporate Manslaughter" following the death of a man who was working in an unsupported trench which collapsed.

The prosecution alleged that the system of work was unsafe and that industry guidelines were ignored. The defendant company were fined £385,000 over 10 years as the Court heard that they were in a difficult financial position. Ken Clarke the Justice Minister brought a raft of reforms to the House of Commons-responding to the Jackson report and upon Civil Justice procedure looking to provide a quicker cheaper and more proprtionate system. 

The Claimants lobby is crystallising with the support of Esther Rantzen and Andrew Dismore and publication of a survey by the Access to Justice Action Group.

As the effects of the austerity measures start to bite, with significant cuts in public spending the HSE faces cuts of up to 35% between 2011/12 and 2014/15. It is against this backdrop that it is anticipated there may be changes to the way in which the HSE operate with the suggestion there may be more prosecutions, allowing prosecutors the chance to claim costs,claims for investigations by HSE professionals, and for investigations leading to improvement or prohibition notices.

It is highly unlikely that fines will reduce, so with the added potential of new and enterprising methods of raising revenue being looked at its highly likely that financial burdens upon companies will increase. 

In a significant judgement, the Court of Appeal delivered a unanimous decision in the Atomic Veterans litigation (Ministry of Defence and others) which has important implications upon limitation and causation.

• Knowledge of a significant injury will start time running and the clock cannot be re-set

• Discretion of the Court (to allow the case to go on) includes a general merits test and weakish cases should fail

• The court reinforced the normal "but for" test confirming the unusual Fairchild exception will only apply in the rarest of cases 

Since the publication of the MOJ consultation upon the implementation of the Jackson report and Lord Young's report, there have been one or two interesting commentators coming forwards.

Lord Sugar entered the debate upon claims management companies describing a "new breed" of "vulture type lawyers" referring to claims management as "almost a licence to print money".

Furthermore in the case of Pankhurst v White + MIB 2010 EWCA Civ 1445 described the funding arrangements made by the claimants lawyers as "grotesque" 

 

 

The latest “crash for cash” league table has been published by the IFB with Birmingham coming out tops in the unfortunate “crash for cash” league table in the country. Birmingham, Liverpool, Blackburn, Manchester and Leeds take the top 5 places with Bradford, top placed in 2009, now relegated to 8th place. Sheffield, Warrington and Leicester are chart movers for the first time coming in at 11th,14th and 17th respectively. Since its formation in 2006, the IFB has been instrumental in helping the police make 415 arrests for fraud resulting in 89 convictions. 

The review of the pre action protocols has been concluded and the final draft version of the proposals for PI protocol have been forwarded to the Rules Committee for final approval. This is a further important step towards more transparency and increased speed and costs reduction. The draft with the input of FOIL members (Forum of Insurance Lawyers-which Just Law are members of) and claimant solicitors solidifies obligations on both sides to provide more information, claim details and encourages rehabilitation and alternative methods of dispute resolution. The final response of the Rules Committee is awaited. 

The Ministry of Justice indicated on the 26/7/10 its intention to consult on the implementation of the report prepared by Lord Justice Jackson (the Jackson report) and its review of costs and funding in civil litigation. This much awaited announcement is seen as a positive step and it is anticipated that the government will start a consultation in the autumn. Jonathan Djanogly Under Secretary of State for Justice indicated existing CFA arrangements are a serious concern and that reform of the CFA regime should “lead to significant costs savings whilst still enabling those who need access to justice to obtain it.” Additionally the statement indicates that the review will look at Lord Young’s review of Health and Safety law and the “compensation culture”.