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perhaps i am missing something but is the purpose of the civil justice system not simply to provide the people with a means to right any wrong that they may have suffered at the hands of another?
the average wage of the working person is about £25kpa gross and on that basis a very substantial proportion of the population have no access to justice as they cannot possibly afford the cost and risks of litigation.
the imposition of a complex web of rules and regulations, by people who earn considerably more than the average, has served only to put the cost of justice even further from the reach of the people without improving the quality of the end product.
the remedy is to simplify the system save for very high value cases, adopt a 'small claims' protocol for all claims below £50k and index link the limit. remove the right to recover costs altogether including pre-allocation and interlocutory hearings. we have all seen what happened when success fees were allowed, it fueled litigation and created significant imbalance in the system. abolishing costs recovery for all but very high value cases will put the pressure to keep costs down in the hands of those who are in a position to control them. small claims litigants are noticeably more prudent and although the relatively modest amounts at stake must have some effect the fact that litigants pay their own costs is a significant moderating factor.

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