Could satellite litigation be avoided following the Jackson reforms, asks David Greene
It appears that the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary are bent on introducing the Jackson reforms next April. Perhaps the only doubt is as to the precise date in April.
Revisiting Jackson
The Court of Appeal revisited one of the elements of the Jackson reforms recently. In Simmons v Castle [2012] EWCA Civ 1288, [2012] All ER (D) 90 (Oct), the Court of Appeal reviewed its decision made in July in which it announced that, with effect from 1 April 2013, general damages in tort cases would be increased by 10% from current levels.
The way in which the Court of Appeal addressed this reform was itself novel, in that the reform was tagged onto a personal injury claim which had gone to the Court of Appeal on one element of the judgment at first instance. The increase in general damages had absolutely nothing to do with the point before the court, but the court used the occasion to make the announcement about the increase of 10%.
The decision
