What have been the recent rulings that seek to reinforce the new costs management culture, asks Sue Nash
It is well over two years since the costs management regime was introduced via LASPO following the recommendations in Sir Rupert Jackson’s final report. It is worth repeating Sir Rupert’s succinct foreword: “In some areas of civil litigation costs are disproportionate and impede access to justice. I therefore propose a coherent package of interlocking reforms, designed to control costs and promote access to justice.”
Access to justice
Note the emphasis on access to justice. In the recent case of GSK Project Management Ltd v QPR Holdings Ltd [2015] EWHC 2274 (TCC), [2015] All ER (D) 63 (Aug), Stuart-Smith J said: “If access to justice is to have any real meaning, then the aim of keeping costs to a reasonable minimum must become paramount.”
He also went on to urge that “procedural squabbles must be banished and a culture of co-operative conduct introduced in their place”. He also cited with approval Edwards-Stuart J, who in Gotch
