By Rupert White


The appeal of England and Wales as an international venue for commercial litigation could be damaged by Courts Service plans to introduce daily hearing fees, solicitors have warned.



At the same time, a consultation paper issued this week unveiled proposals to means test civil court fee concessions on a sliding scale, bringing exemptions to up to half a million more households.



The Courts Service's proposals include a plan to pilot daily hearing fees in one or more of the Commercial, Admiralty, Technology and Construction, Patents Court and Chancery Division jurisdictions, 'probably' in 2008.



It also wants to cut £3 million from the family courts by not automatically exempting those in receipt of Legal Help. This follows the failure to recover more than 39% of family courts fees in 2005/6. Other civil court savings will be made by charging defendants the fees poorer successful claimants are exempt from.



Defending daily hearing fees, the paper said fees of 'a few thousand pounds... would be insignificant compared to the legal costs and the sums at stake in the cases', and claimed 'there is no evidence' that higher fees would make English courts less attractive.



But Tony Guise, chairman of the Commercial Litigation Association, slammed the plans as bad for business. 'Increasing costs and gross under-investment send a discouraging message about this government's failure to develop the courts, which attract billions of pounds of invisible earnings to this country,' he said. 'There should be no further increase in fees without increased investment in our courts.'



Simon Davis, president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, agreed that there is an 'obvious risk' that introducing daily hearing fees 'will play into the hands of those seeking to promote overseas jurisdictions rather than English courts'.



Other key proposals aim to encourage mediation before court by reducing or refunding fees if it settles cases, as well as the use of electronic systems such as Money Claim Online by cutting fees.



Small claims will, under the proposals, now cost money to bring no matter their value, but they will also be fee-free if settled by other means.



Law Society President Fiona Woolf said the Society is 'pleased' proposals are being made to improve fee remission, but 'fee increases place an unfair burden on people on low and middle incomes in society'.



She added: 'Courts provide an important public service and a greater proportion of the cost of running the courts should be met from general taxation.'