I see that the Lord Chancellor has argued that it is not court fees that put people off litigating, but 'the cost of the lawyers' (see [2005] Gazette, 27 October, 4).

This is clearly wrong. The average man on the street would be concerned solely with the total amount of costs that he must pay for his case. If his bill jumps up by hundreds of pounds as a result of an increase in court fees (some of which will increase by as much as 650%, then it is disingenuous to claim that he will be consoled by the thought that it is not his solicitor who is profiting, but the state.


Jonathan Pidduck, Gambrills, Folkstone, Kent