Consultation Response: Cost Recovery in the Civil Courts

The Department of Justice launched a consultation on improving cost recovery in the civil courts in December 2018. This outlines proposals to double the planned court fee increase from a 5% uplift to a 10% uplift to be applied to all existing fees from 1 April 2019. There is also a suggestion to create new fees for work that is carried out by NI Courts and Tribunals Service but for which no fee currently exists, including the introduction of a fee for a Review Hearing in the High Court of £195 before a Master and £261 before a Judge with the aim of covering the cost of administration and judicial time.

The Bar’s response to the consultation outlines our view that another increase in costs, alongside the creation of new fees, could have a negative impact on access to justice for court users in the civil and family courts. The Bar is concerned by this continued shift in paying for the justice system away from the state and towards litigants who appear before the courts to resolve their legal issues; it is not only those accessing the justice system who benefit from the existence, availability and proper administration of such a system, but all members of society as a whole.

Read the Bar’s response in full.