Gone are the days of the Olympian model of a judge peering down on the contestants, patiently listening to what each wishes to say and then pronouncing the just result.In future, the procedural judges will descend to the foot of the mountain, roll up their sleeves and take an active part - making the would-be litigants address their minds to the correct issues, and taking management control over their cases with a keen eye on the guiding beacon of the 'over-riding objective'.This Olympian analogy of the shift from the reactive to the pro-active judicial approach is no mere journalistic device in an effort to find something new to say about the Woolf reforms.

The comparison actually originates from the top of the mountain itself - from a speech given by the head of civil justice, Sir Richard Scott, at the first open meeting of the Civil Justice Council in Nottingham last month.Clearly, the message to be pro-active under the new rules has deeply penetrated all levels of the judiciary.

This particularly applies to the designated civil judges (DCJs) whose central role will influence adoption of the new culture by the courts and their users.

To say that some of the DCJs - and through them the district judges - view their new pro-active powers with enthusiasm may be an understatement.

After 26 April, they will be able to use the 'this is one I made earlier' approach, having already had some practice since 1 March - using their new powers to assess costs of interim hearings lasting less than one day.So if solicitors do not know how the new rules operate, they should not expect much sympathy from the new breed of interventionist judges.

According to one DCJ, the financial effects of proportionality in the fast track will mean no 'villas in Spain' for solicitors.And the seductive attraction of the pre-action protocols - now beginning to proliferate - is not to be regarded as the key to an easy life.

These protocols, which cover, inter alia, disclosure and experts, support the new expectation of openness and co-operation between parties from the outset.

In a less complex area of litigation, such as road traffic accidents, the norm may become an early split trial on liability unless there is good reason to have the contrary.However, filled with their new powers to take the lead, the pro-active judges will need to strike the right balance and must be careful not to force the pace too much - not every case can be solved by alternative dispute resol ution, and a trial will often be the only way to get to the truth that is expected by those who seek justice.

Nobody could quibble with the words - from the top of the mountain - by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine: 'An effective justice system is central to the wellbeing of our society.

If people who have been injured at work or who have received shoddy goods or suffered any civil wrong cannot seek effective and affordable redress, their confidence in a country governed under the rule of law will go'.

Thus he concluded his speech at the Civil Justice Council roadshow where Lord Woolf - relieved no doubt that his massive achievement on access to justice is about to see the light of day - was happy to poke a little fun at himself while urging everyone to embrace his culture change.

He quoted a stanza written in 1928 by Reverend Charles Inge about a certain Monsieur Coue:This very remarkable manCommends a most practical planYou can do what you wantIf you don't think you can'tSo don't think you can't - think you can!Pro-active encouragement indeed.