A CJC working group has been set up to consider and review a series of discrete topics relating to civil litigation, which will ultimately feed into the Ministry of Justice’s Post‐Implementation Review of the Jackson reforms, which is due in early 2018. The group is chaired by Rachael Mulheron of Queen Mary University of London and the deputy chair is Maura McIntosh of Herbert Smith Freehills.
The first topic being considered by the group is the procedure of concurrent expert evidence, also known as hot‐tubbing. This was introduced as part of the reforms as an optional procedure to be adopted at the direction of the judge. It involves hearing evidence concurrently from the experts in a particular discipline, with the judge leading the questioning and discussion, rather than having each expert give evidence and be cross-examined separately. The working group has issued a survey to judges, experts and legal representatives aimed at eliciting experience and views of the technique. Please click here to complete the survey for legal representatives. Responses are due by Tuesday 31 May.
Other areas will be considered by the group on a rolling basis, with the other proposed initial topics being: the role which BTE (before-the-event) insurance might play in improving access to justice; and QOCS (qualified one-way costs shifting) and private nuisance claims.
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