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emotional time.
Unfortunately, we are no
strangers to the effect that increases in
court fees can have. Those wishing to
pursue employment tribunals were the
guinea pigs for fee increases. In April
to June this year, the number of claims
fell by 67 per cent compared with the
same period in 2013, just before the
fees were introduced. That means
many hard-working people have not
had the opportunity to have their case
heard.
Civil court fees, first increased by
the government in March this year
despite serious concerns from the
judiciary, Law Society and Bar Council,
amounted to a 600 per cent rise for
some claims. A further increase was
proposed fewer than six months later,
taking the increase to more than 1,000
per cent in some cases. The Law
Society canvassed its members to find
out how their clients would be affected.
Solicitors told us that people would be
put off going to court when they have
genuine claims, while those out of work
due to injury caused by negligence
would not risk losing what little money
they had left on court fees, even if they
had a strong claim.
Our members also told us that small
businesses - the backbone that the
country’s economic recovery depends
on - would suffer as large companies
would be given an incentive to deny
liability, knowing that the injured
parties would not be in a position
to fund expensive court fees of up
to £20,000 to recover £200,000.
Fewer large companies and insurers
would settle out of court even if they
were clearly liable. Small businesses
employed more than 14 million people
in 2013 and, according to the European
Commission, provided €473 billion or
49.8 per cent of the gross added value
of the UK economy. As well as making
a disproportionate contribution to job
creation they play a key role in growth
by driving competition and stimulating
innovation.
It is right that individuals and
businesses pay a contribution to the
courts system, but these punitive
court fee increases are tantamount
to treating justice like a commodity,
putting justice out of reach for many
ordinary people. Landlords will
struggle to recover their properties,
couples will face higher fees when
going through the stressful process of
a divorce and small businesses could
buckle under the burden of unpaid
debt from larger customers.
The story in the criminal courts is no
better.
The criminal courts charge has been
beleaguered since the off. As I write,
rumours abound that the government
is minded to throw the towel in and
scrap the ill-conceived policy. They
have just abandoned a multi-million
pound tendering exercise for a fine
recovery agency to collect the charges.
The ill-fated procurement exercise
itself wasted £8.7 million of taxpayers’
money.
Aside from the futility of charging
defendants - often the poorest and
most vulnerable in society - far beyond
their means, the policy has had a
chilling effect on justice. We have
heard stories of defendants changing
their plea to guilty, because they fear
they will wrongly be found guilty and
so attract a higher charge than if
they were to defend their innocence,
sometimes in excess of £1,000. More
than 50 magistrates have resigned in
protest at the charge. One has been
susp