Many circuit and district judges would like to see fixed costs across the fast-track, the deputy head of civil justice claimed last week.

Lord Justice Dyson said he personally agreed that the problem of disproportionality is so serious in some cases that there is a 'pressing need' for action - specifically, some form of fixed costs.


Currently there is a fixed-fees scheme for road traffic accident (RTA) cases worth less than £10,000 that settle pre-issue. Though there has been support for post-issue fixed fees from the Civil Justice Council - and they formed part of Lord Woolf's original Access to Justice recommendations - they are likely to be resisted by claimant lawyers.


Lord Justice Dyson also backed an increase in the £1,000 ceiling for personal injury cases brought in the small-claims track, although did not suggest a figure. He told the Law Society's dispute resolution section annual conference that he understood the access to justice argument - made by the Society and others against any change - but said proportionality was important too.


Any decision on fixed costs is ultimately for the government. The Department for Constitutional Affairs confirmed this week that the long-awaited report of the ministerial working group on the so-called compensation culture, which will include proposals on the track limits and personal injury claims process, will be published by the end of the year.


This may include research on how well the RTA scheme has worked since its launch in January 2004, although anecdotal evidence is positive. However, the deal that paved the way for it promised that fees would be uprated after two years, but there is no sign of this happening.


Fraser Whitehead, chairman of the dispute resolution section, said judges should look at the level of damages as much as costs. He added: 'Putting parties on an equal footing is as much about resources as procedure. Fixed costs must not hand justice back to the wealthy.'



Gazette columnist David Marshall, former president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said it would be more sensible to extend fixed fees step by step - such as to all fast-track cases pre-issue - rather than 'picking artificial figures' and applying them to all cases.



A Law Society spokesman agreed that any extension to fixed fees must be 'carefully considered' so as to avoid creating 'perverse incentives and unintended outcomes'. Before it is done, he added, mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that any fixed rates are reviewed on a regular basis - fast-track trials rates have not changed since 1999.