Pre-action protocols: Civil Justice Council proposes bespoke protocol for commercial cases, including mandatory pre-action "dispute resolution process"

The Civil Justice Council (CJC) has published the second and final part of a report following a fundamental review of the regime of pre-action protocols (PAPs) which parties are expected to follow before civil proceedings are commenced in the English courts.

Part 1 of the report (discussed here) was issued in 2023 and recommended substantial changes to the current PAP regime, including significantly extending the current obligations in the "default" general PAP, which applies to all cases not covered by one of various separate PAPs for specific types of claims. That included introducing a mandatory requirement that parties engage in some form of pre-action dispute resolution process – which could be either a formal ADR process involving a third party neutral (such as a mediator) or an inter-party meeting.  

Part 2 of the report sets out the CJC's recommendations regarding the existing subject area PAPs. It also proposes a new general PAP specific to multi-track proceedings in the Business and Property Courts – including a similar obligation to engage in a pre-action dispute resolution process.    

For more information, see this post on our ADR blog.