Law Society criticises government proposals for 10% increase to selected court and tribunal fees
The Law Society has expressed concern that the Government is seeking a 10% increase in court fees “while managing an increasing broken system”.
Chancery Lane’s comments came in its submission to a Ministry of Justice consultation on increases to selected court and tribunal fees from 2024. The proposals also included establishing regular fee updates every two years.
An MoJ impact assessment published alongside the consultation suggested that local authorities would be among the court users affected by the increases.
The impact assessment revealed that court and tribunal fees accounted for £727m in income against £2.3bn in running costs for HMCTS in 2022/23.
“While the running costs of HMCTS have been impacted by increases in the general level of prices, court and tribunal fees have not been updated to reflect these changes. The last update took place in 2021 and applied to 128 of the over 300 existing court and tribunal fees. Prior to this, fees were last increased in line with changes in the general price level in 2013. The result of this ad hoc approach is that the value of many fees has fallen in real terms, and especially so since 2021.”
The Law Society said: “In principle, we do not oppose a periodic increase in line with inflation, however we're concerned that the government is seeking a 10% increase in court fees while managing an increasingly broken system.
“We're concerned how this may impact the public’s ability to access justice, particularly against a backdrop of high inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.
“If all fees for HMCTS are to be automatically uprated in the justice system, that should apply to all fees and costs, including legal aid and ‘help with fees’.”
Chancery Lane also called for the introduction of a minimum service level standard across all jurisdictions that includes clear processing times, guidelines and performance metrics that define expectations for efficiency.
This would help manage expectations, alleviating some of the stress and frustration that delays can cause, and ensure timely access to justice, it argued.
“Where these standards are not met, end users should be reimbursed appropriately, such as getting a refund of a proportion of the fee they've paid to use the system.”
The Law Society argued that “with its backlogs and delays”, the current court system does not offer people good value for money.
“Investment is needed immediately to ensure we have courts that are fit for purpose and that court users are getting value for money.”
It noted that digitising existing processes was supposed to make them more accessible, quicker and cost efficient for court users.
“Despite the good intentions of the court reform programme, court users and legal professionals have faced growing delays in the court system and increased costs in dealing with inefficient technologies,” the Law Society said.
“We therefore think the Government should bear the cost of the challenges created by the reform programme.”
The consultation closed on 22 December 2022. The MoJ is currently analysing the feedback.
