Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Ackner (Crossbench). It was answered on Wednesday, 15 February 2006.

Courts: Costs

Question: My Lords, it is common ground that the Civil Justice Council is there as a watchdog over the civil courts and that in the past the former Chief Justice and the Chief Justice before him have combined with the council and the Council of Judges to condemn the policy that has just been mentioned. I should make it clear that this is not a frontal attack on the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor, Dieu soit merci; it is a frontal attack on that most powerful member of the executive, the Revenue. The Revenue has decreed that full costs incurred in the civil courts should be recovered. It is what has been colloquially known as the cream of the office cat. Would your Lordships not agree that it is totally wrong and has been condemned on the basis that it interferes with that vital concept of access to justice? Will the noble Baroness say how she can fit the two in together?

Answer: My Lords, I pay tribute to the work of the Civil Justice Council, with which I have had the pleasure of working closely. I say to the noble and learned Lord that the concept of full cost recovery in one sense misleads us because the taxpayer makes a significant contribution—in 2004–05, nearly £104 million or about 23 per cent of the total costs involved. I repeat what I said at the beginning: we believe that the policy that we are pursuing is appropriate and correct and that it ensures, alongside the issues of remission, that those who need access to justice get it.

Secondary information