
The exchange of witness statements is governed by rules breached more often than any other provision of the CPR, according to Professor Dominic Regan, of City Law School, NLJ columnist.
In NLJ this week, Prof Regan laments that the logic behind the rules is ‘impeccable’ yet compliance falls short―he describes this as ‘inexplicable’.
However, it’s too late to save the logical CPR rules for those taking cases in the business and property courts, which have introduced their own witness statement reforms from 6 April. These reforms set out ‘onerous obligations’, which Regan argues need not have been necessary had the judiciary been tougher.