Could fee remission mitigate the legal aid drought? Peter Thompson QC offers some tips
Denying a litigant access to a lawyer is to deny him access to justice. Every lawyer knows that. But we now have another impediment to justice that is becoming increasingly prominent—payment of the court fee. This requirement now runs across all civil litigation in the courts and also the employment tribunals. It is not chicken feed. Take claims within the small claims limit. A claimant owed £3,001 has to pay £540 for a day in court and for a claim of £5,001 the levy is £790. And the defendant with a judgment in default has to act promptly not just to apply to set it aside but also to get £155 together to pay Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service.
Civil legal aid used to cover payment of the fees as part of the government-funded service. But today almost all the funding has been withdrawn for contract cases: all that remains is a litigation subsidy in the form of fee remission. In the bad old
