Woolf reform workingCIVIL PROCEDURE RULES: drop in number of claims issued in High Court and county court The Woolf reforms have been given a ringing endorsement by a study from the Lord Chancellors Department (LCD) showing falling claims and appeals, and rising rates of settlement.

The report Emerging Findings, an early evaluation of the civil justice reforms comes two years after the introduction of the new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) in April 1999.

It found an overall drop in the number of claims issued in both the county court and High Court over the first 18 months following the reforms, from about 220,000 cases to 175,000 cases a year.

While the number of tort and contract cases, which are affected by the CPR, has fallen, other fields unaffected such as landlord and tenant claims have risen.

The number of settlements in general has risen, and those taking place at the door of the court have dropped, according to Court Service statistics in the report Fast-track cases, compared to equivalent cases previously allocated to a district judge, have seen a steep rise in pre-hearing settlement, from 50% the year preceding the reforms to 70% the following year.

Multi-track cases the equivalent of which previously settled in 63% of cases settled in 72% of during the first year following the reforms.The report found that the average time taken between issue and hearing dates for cases going to trial dropped to 522 days in 2000, compared to an average of more than 600 days between 1994 and 1997; data for 1998 and 1999 is unavailable.

However, the time between issue and hearings for small claims has increased.

But the number of appeals seems to have fallen sharply.

In 1997 and 1998, 609 and 520 civil appeals were set down respectively whereas since April 1999 only 55 applications have been made for civil appeals, of which 43 were allowed.The report found that pre-action protocols, single joint experts and case management conferences have been a success, albeit based on anecdotal data.

A general pre-action protocol is now being developed, and the LCD this week published a consultation paper seeking comments on a proposed pre-action protocol for judicial review cases.

CPRs for housing and land law will be introduced this autumn.The findings follow a Law Society report finding practitioners in favour of the reforms but expressing concern over judicial inconsistency and rising costs (see [2001] Gazette, 29 March, 1).

LINKS: www.open.gov/lcd Jeremy Fleming